Risk & Business

Every business owner has heard from their insurance professional that they should buy an umbrella policy. For those who have one , you are better protected. For all the owners reading this blog that do not have one, lets take a few minutes to try to convince you to buy this important policy. Your business is exposed every day to risks that could occur in your operations, work force, autos, and your products. Your general liability policy and your other liability limits in your auto and work comp policies, are your first line of defense. However what happens when the limits in these policies run out? This is where an umbrella policy kicks in. It provides the back up limits you need to cover the unexpected claims that could exhaust your first line of defense in your underlying policy limits. In addition this policy is 1/4 of the costs of your other policies. You can also add layers with higher limits and each layer costs less the higher you go. Many of these policies have deductibles t

Every business owner at one time or another find themselves having to request a certificate of insurance from their agent. This could be to show coverage for adding a new vehicle, equipment, property, or complying with contract terms, etc... However what most do not know is that a certificate of insurance is not part of the policy. The certificate is just a summary document of what coverage could apply in the actual policies. The certificate itself has bold language on the top of the form stating that the document is issued " as a matter of information only" and "does not amend, extend, or alter" the coverage in the policies. So why are certificates requested and issued so frequently when they are not part of the actual insurance policies? The main reason is that most people do not understand  nor have the time to review insurance policies to determine if there risks and interests are covered. The certificate of insurance was the creation of the industry. It was t