Page 21 - Tennessee 811 Magazine 2018 Issue 2

know you expect your insurance agent to get you the best policy tor
the money and he really wants to do that, too. sometimes, however,
the agent is stuck in the old patterns, and writes everyone the way
he always used lo—but it's your livelihood, your equipment, your
property. its not about him, it's about you
ge n Double check for you|'self—mzke sure your liability is at least $1 million
per occurrence, $1 million aggregate. You can get lower limits tor less money,
Ey view. seams but why? its a business expense, and you dehnitely need a miminum of 5.1
The com Center, In: million. The courts are run of liability lawsuits, legal hills are skyrocketing.
A-c~s""r MS Ask your agent it Legal Detense is inside policy limits—ur outside You want
outside because that leaves the entire million to pay the ludgmenl if you
lose. I hate to say it, hutl have recently seen policies with liahility limits or
,, ‘ s3nu,noo per occurrence and $500,000 aggregate I don't know how much that
insured saved—but it sure wasn't $700,000: 1 agree it's not otten you need the
F , ' full million—hut suppose you do ..
. { Does your policy contain EBL (Employee Benehts Liability)? You know what
, 1: . ' that means—you hire someone and your bookkeeper neglects to add him
-, .tt _ -. g to the insurance at the right time. BANG! He has a heart attack or cancer
); u -_ ’ ’ and is now uninsurable. But he wasn't uninsurahle hetore the heart attack
— ' » — back when your hookkeeper forgot to add hiin—guess who's liable? You
> are, because by law you have to include everyone, and thats what EBL—
contained within your liability policy, covers Employee Benefits Liability
r.-:. you need it it's not a bit expensive.
ffi, __ Now here's a good one admitted vs non-adinitted company your coverage
_ r, ,j.‘: W — is placed with. Depending on what lube you are doing, every company won't
"8 Z" ’/5-\‘ .2 ' ~ write every 101: category A lot of companies are non-renewing rooters, tor
. ~.‘ >.;_,. ‘Q example, when this happens, agents otten have to go through brokers to
‘ get coverage tor you. You'll know because there will be tees and taxes as
part of your premium Most state insurance commissions require that you
must try admitted carriers flzsl—b2fur2 you go to the broker/non-admitted
companies. since non-admitted companies do not contribute to various
states" cuaranty Fund (which is to pay claims IF the specific company goes
, ‘ under). your non-admitted carrier's policy must be stamped stating there
‘ I is no c.uaranty Fund in case your company goes bankrupt. Sulutlon? ANY
" company rated ”A” by Alvllzest is not, repeat not, likely to go under.

‘ Auto Covenge—ask your agent how this is written Does it cover what is
known as "any auto"? Or does it only cover "scheduled Autos"? yes, it is
possible to have a newly purchased vehicle covered without ever telling your
agent — at least until renewal in tact, there is more than one way ..one, or
course, is "substitute vehicle," like fur when yours is in the shop or otherwise
not on the road The other is either written "Any Auto" or Fleet Automatic.
nr — it's never a good idea to not tell your agent, and make sure you hack it
up with a paper trail. it your agent gets kidnapped to Mars, you have proot
you notified. case closed.
l>ruperty—unless there is some good reason the buildings should have
the tullest, most complete coverage. what you want to see on your policy is

1 "special", "RC” (not ”ACV"), 90%. If you see words like ”basic” or "broad,"
1 ask why. These two coverage types only cover certain things—which is OK
I it your building is old, needs repairs, etc. lts all you can get tor a building
like that. But NOT it it's either new or in good repair. And it's never OK it
your building is near enough to a road where someone could accidentally
3 A 3‘ ,urnp the curb and strike il—becaus'2 it won't he covered. lzepairs will have to
- . .4,‘ come out or your pocket. so there really wasn't any savings atter all.
" I know your agent is a good guy—and I hope he's a good agent, not stuck in
* old patterns and attinrdes. But it he is, try to hring him around to the right
way of thinking .. .
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