Public Liability Insurance: Is Your Company Protected?

Most business owners realize that liability insurance is an essential part of protecting your business. Especially in the construction industry, business owners need to make sure that their company, and them, are covered in case of an accident.

In this industry, many clients insist on Public Liability Insurance coverage to be in place before you can even start work. To avoid unnecessary delays, you should be looking into getting a policy as soon as possible. Public Liability Insurance is important because it protects you, your company and its assets against claims of negligence against a member of the public or damage to property. Although every business owner hopes that they will never need to use this policy, accidents do happen and it’s always best to be prepared.

There are a variety of construction-related policies available to businesses. It is important to do your research and find the policy that works best for you and your company. Polices vary depending on things like: how many people need to be covered, whether tools and/or machinery need to be covered, temporary employee coverage, etc. If you look around you can even find great discounts for new customers, and discounts for not having any claims for a certain amount of time. As a business owner, you should find out exactly what you need before looking into a policy.

As finding a policy can be confusing and time-consuming, there are options available to help you through the process. Some websites offer services that can search through different insurance providers and their policies to help you find what you need at the best price. This can be a tremendous help for people that don’t have a lot of time to devote to the process. By searching a variety of companies and prices, and getting instant quotes online, you can save yourself a lot of time and money and help avoid any delays that being without a policy may cause.

If you are a business owner in the construction business, you need to have liability insurance. It makes your company look prepared and reputable and can save your business in case of an accident. Make sure that you are getting the right policy by comparing several different insurance companies and get quotes to ensure that you are getting the best deal possible. If you take advantage of these online insurance comparison services, make sure that you find a website that gives quotes, compares several companies, and can make the insurance buying process as easy as possible.

Prepaid Legal Services Plan-What Do I Really Need It For?

In a life that seems to throw all types of obstacles a person's way, one often wonders if there is a way to circumvent these things from having such adverse affects on what is considered normal for us.

When illness grabs ahold of us, we expect our medical insurance to bail us out, we expect the same thing from our car and home insurance companies. But guess what, our legal protection and our identity rights don't mean as much to us as it should.

That's what has made me take a closer look at several companies that offer some type of prepaid legal protection. In researching these prepaid legal companies I question the need for such an added expense to my already growing monthly output.

I ask myself do people really need these services or is this some type of fear driven product.

Years ago I used a legal professional because my dad lost his battle with severe illness and I needed help sorting through the final details of his life's legacy.

The thing is, dad had no updated will so we were kind of left in the dark on what to do. I'm currently reading how some prepaid legal services offer will preparation as one of the cornerstones of what they do.

Getting a will prepared is not something I just think about throughput the course of my day. Maybe it should be because I read somewhere that 70% of people die without a will.

Most prepaid legal service organizations insist that you get your will professionally done as soon as you join with the organization-actually they highly recommend it.

The interpretation I'm getting from different prepaid legal sources is that they want to be the voice of people who might have legal troubles but can't have lawyers on retainer. Furthermore, I would probably be the equivalent to retaining a whole firm to use at your discretion.

So if I had to get a will done, handle a crooked mechanic or contractor, or enforce a warranty a prepaid legal plan would allow me to do these things simultaneously. I could just unleash my law firm who are supposedly there for me.

To bad I don't have a myriad of legal situations ready to engulf me; not yet at least. Maybe the will thing could work out for me-I don't have one but I don't really have anything to leave behind either.

I guess right now I'm thinking like most people when they say that "that'll never happen to me". I should be looking at it as something that I do need but hope to never have to use-with the exception of the will prep.

Umbrella Insurance Protects Your Assets

At some point, you have probably heard of umbrella insurance, but have no idea what it is. Well, first off, it does not cover the umbrella you protect yourself from the rain. It is a figure of speech. An umbrella policy is designed to shield you from almost everything that your home and auto insurance does not, as well as fill in gaps in coverage when the limits of your regular policy are exhausted.

Every day, there are personal lawsuits filed against ordinary citizens, with the reasons ranging from the frivolous to the justified. When and if this happens to you, you need to be prepared. More often than not, people are sued and have no extra protection to block the plaintiff from going after their personal assets in the lawsuit. To protect yourself from such a quandary, you need to have umbrella insurance.

An umbrella is often referred to as excess liability. This excess liability coverage kicks in when the underlying limits on your home or auto policy have been exhausted, or if you are sued personally for something that neither your home nor your auto insurance covers. Depending on the company, you can purchase anywhere from 1 to 5 million dollars worth of excess coverage, sometimes as high as 10 million.

The amount of coverage you select really depends on how much you are worth. If you have 5 million dollars worth of personal assets, you should get a 5 million dollar umbrella. It is not uncommon for someone to buy a 5 or 10 million dollar umbrella policy even if that number far exceeds their net worth, because the coverage is so cheap to buy.

Most insurance companies will not offer you the coverage unless you have both your home and auto already insured with them. Also, the insurer will require that you maintain a certain level of liability on the home and auto policies in order to qualify for the excess policy. Usually, you must maintain at least $250,000 of bodily injury liability per person, $500,000 per accident, and $100,000 for property damage for your autos, and $500,000 of liability for your home.

The coverage is cheap. It is possible to obtain 1 million dollars worth of excess liability for as little as $120 dollars. The more cars and homes you have, the higher the price for the insurance, but the cost is still low. In addition to your home and cars, liability associated with any other conveyances you may have, such as boats, motorcycles, and other recreational vehicles, may also qualify for coverage under the umbrella, depending on the insurance company.

You are probably wondering when the umbrella would actually come into play. Here is an example: If you are involved in an auto accident where you crashed into a pedestrian who was walking on the sidewalk, resulting in medical expenses for that person that costed more than what your auto policy covered, the umbrella would be used. Or, if that pedestrian then decides to sue you for negligence and seeks punitive damages, your umbrella can be utilized to cover your legal expenses and to pay any judgements levied against you.

It is also important to understand that the excess liability covers you for all sorts of things that have nothing to do with your cars or homes. Things such as personal injury protection are covered. This includes false arrest, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, defamation, invasion of privacy, wrongful entry, or eviction.

Also, some umbrella policies provide coverage for you if you are sued in connection with any charitable boards or organizations of which you are a member. You may have to contact your insurance company and pay an extra premium for this type of coverage.

I hope this has helped illuminate to you the importance of having umbrella insurance. Without it, your personal assets are totally vulnerable in any lawsuit or legal action. Talk to your agent about it and ask how much it costs. Even though multi-million dollar lawsuits are not common, they can happen. So, an umbrella is probably worth it.