I am so excited to announce to you that as an Orr & Associates client you have access to BizAssure, Premium Business Consulting Service at no charge. BizAssure offers free help for our clients, offering quick answers to your business questions. Right when you need it. Right over the phone. BizAssure can help you with your legal, accounting and human resourse questions, and much, much more.
Orr & Associates has invested in this program on your behalf to help protect our clients because we recognize that protecting your business can require more than insurance. For example, we help clients with fire insurance, but we have seen more clients suffer financial loss from issues involving firing an employee than an actual fire burning their building. Protecting yourself from this kind of "fire" is just as important to your financial future and we are pleased to provide this service as a benefit to you for placing your business with Orr & Associates.
All you need to sign up for this program is an in-force insurance policy with Orr & Associates (it can be any line of business). You will need to sign the BizAssure membership agreement and get it back to me. Shortly after that you will receive a welcome packet from BizAssure with your membership number and directions on how to access their service representatives.
Those of you who are already O&A clients can give me a call and I will get the BizAssure membership agreement to you, or you will notice that is will be included with our quote to you upon your policy renewal.
If you would like more information about this program before signing up, you can always give me a call or you can check out their website at www.bizassure.com.
I hope that you take advantage of this wonderful service. We do not make any additional money from your BizAssure membership. It is purely a benefit we offer to our clients. As a BizAssure member myself, I have used the service for legal advice, employment practices advice, tax advice and much more. Trust me, no question is too big or too small. Once you become a member we encourage you to use the service and experience how this consulting service can benefit your business.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
California Admitted vs. Non-Admitted Carriers
I get asked quite often about admitted and non-admitted carriers when providing quotes to my clients. This is a good question since it causes confusion about the type and quality of the coverage we are offering. I hope the following explanation helps to clarify the difference. For more information, please visit my website at www.insuranceprotection.net.
Some insurance companies do business in California on an "admitted" basis and some do business on a "non-admitted" basis. This designation does not indicate the financial strength of the insurance company or the insurance company's ability or willingness to pay claims. An independent company that rates insurance companies can be visited on the web at: www.ambest.com. For example, Evanston Insurance Company is a non-admitted carrier in California and they have an A, IX (9) rating. This is a very high rating and you can see the explanation of the ratings at the A.M. Best website. Lloyds of London also does business in California on a "non-admitted" basis and has a rating of A+15. By comparison, a large percentage of our building contractors are insured with a company called Lincoln General. Lincoln General is admitted, but has a lower rating of A-,VII.
You can also check the California Department of Insurance for more information. http://www.insurance.ca.gov/. The list of companies that are allowed to do business in California on a "non-admitted" basis are on what is called the LESLI list. You can type this in the website's search for more information on this list. I have been told that the requirements for being on the LESLI list are actually more stringent than for those that want to pay the dues to be on the list of companies doing business on an "admitted" basis.
In a nutshell, I see no problem with non-admitted companies and think that you should look at the financial rating of a company as determined by A.M. Best instead of whether a company wants to pay into California to be called an "admitted" company. We send requests for quotes out to underwriters and receive back quotes from admitted and non-admitted companies in nearly equal amounts depending on the work being performed by the insured. We ask them for the best price with solid companies, but we can ask them specifically to provide us quotes only with admitted companies if you want to see if there is an admitted company that would insure you and at what price. Keep in mind, however, that often times if the underwriter provides us with a quote from a non-admitted carrier it is because there is not an admitted market for the type of work you may be doing.
Some insurance companies do business in California on an "admitted" basis and some do business on a "non-admitted" basis. This designation does not indicate the financial strength of the insurance company or the insurance company's ability or willingness to pay claims. An independent company that rates insurance companies can be visited on the web at: www.ambest.com. For example, Evanston Insurance Company is a non-admitted carrier in California and they have an A, IX (9) rating. This is a very high rating and you can see the explanation of the ratings at the A.M. Best website. Lloyds of London also does business in California on a "non-admitted" basis and has a rating of A+15. By comparison, a large percentage of our building contractors are insured with a company called Lincoln General. Lincoln General is admitted, but has a lower rating of A-,VII.
You can also check the California Department of Insurance for more information. http://www.insurance.ca.gov/. The list of companies that are allowed to do business in California on a "non-admitted" basis are on what is called the LESLI list. You can type this in the website's search for more information on this list. I have been told that the requirements for being on the LESLI list are actually more stringent than for those that want to pay the dues to be on the list of companies doing business on an "admitted" basis.
In a nutshell, I see no problem with non-admitted companies and think that you should look at the financial rating of a company as determined by A.M. Best instead of whether a company wants to pay into California to be called an "admitted" company. We send requests for quotes out to underwriters and receive back quotes from admitted and non-admitted companies in nearly equal amounts depending on the work being performed by the insured. We ask them for the best price with solid companies, but we can ask them specifically to provide us quotes only with admitted companies if you want to see if there is an admitted company that would insure you and at what price. Keep in mind, however, that often times if the underwriter provides us with a quote from a non-admitted carrier it is because there is not an admitted market for the type of work you may be doing.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Performance Bonds
It seems I have gotten a lot of calls lately from my contractor clients asking about performance bonds. Being in a building project myself where my general has abandoned the project (thankfully not a client of mine), I can see why people are requiring this type of bond before allowing a contractor to begin work on a given project. Usually there is a required bond amount set forth by the owner or other interested party and this bond becomes available to that party should the contractor fail to complete the project or portion of the project. Contractors usually have to have these bonds in place, or at least the cost included at the time of bidding a particular project. So, I get calls wanting to know how much these bonds cost so that the contractors can include the price in the bid. Well the rates on bonds is associated with the credit and financial outlook of the contractor. Generally the rate is 3-5% of the bond amount depending on credit. Depending on the size of the bond the application process can be lengthy, and it can take a few days to get the formal quote from the surety company.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Welcome
Welcome to my weblog and thanks for paying my site a visit. The intent of this blog is to bring some clarity to the maze you face when buying insurance for your business. You probably get confusing messages along the way between what you are told you should have and what someone else is requiring you to have to protect your business. You've probably got all kinds of new terms thrown in your face that you need an insurance dictionary to help you translate. I'm here to help. You can check out my website for additional information or feel free to send any questions my way and I will make sure your topics get addressed here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)