Risk & Business

Recently, the board of directors for Volkswagon were served with a lawsuit from shareholders over the now well documented emmissions fraud. This will be a high profile case and will certainly expose the risks that directors and officers of companies have. Even in small business the claims against board members is increasing. General liability policies do cover the directors of companies in their capacity of business  but only for property damage and bodily injury. However the general liability policy has no coverage for the directors when they are sued personally for thier oversight or fiscal decisions. This is where the D&O insurance policy comes into play. These policies are written to specifically cover suits against directors and officers for thier personal liability in running companies.  Laws in most states allow directors to be sued, and is the reason for having these policies in place if you have a business that is controlled by a board. Talk to your insurance professional

Small business trucking operations help create the backbone of our economy. However many are paying higher insurance premiums and are being penalized by the misuse of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety data. The SMS (Safety Measurement System) was developed by the Federal Government to identify those trucking risks that need to be scrutinized for roadside checks and onsite inspections. Unfortunately, insurance carriers and the courts are using the data to determine insurance rates and civil liability. The SMS data website clearly states that the data is for determining which trucking risks should be inspected. However the public availability of the data is enhancing its use for other purposes. This creates a big problem for small business trucking.  The data is flawed in the sense that small violations can be weighted inappropriately and this data is used as gospel by insurers and the legal community. Many trucking operations who have fantastic loss ratios but problematic SMS scores, ar

Effective in 2014, the Federal Government enacted parity laws for mental health programs in employer sponsored health plans. The legislation taken from the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity act of 2008, puts the burden of compliance on small business. Gone are the financial and treatment limits that affect out of pocket costs. Also the number of mental health days and visits are no longer limited. What does this mean for small business? It means that employers are going to have to review their plan options with mental health in mind. If the plans they are choosing to offer for their employees do not have mental health parity with other coverages,  then the small business owner could be in violation of the law. To make matters even more confusing, States that have similiar laws must also be complied with. If your State does not have parity laws on the books then the Federal legislation will dictate. Small business owners should consult with their health administrators and brok