Cargo Insurance – Are You at Risk of Exposure?

Cargo Insurance – Are You at Risk of Exposure?

When you are in business for yourself, either as an owner/operator or a larger fleet, you run the risk of losing all you have worked so hard for by one careless assumption in regards to your Cargo coverage.  Many Cargo insurance policies have what we refer to as the “unattended” clause.  What does this mean to you?  Let’s say you are hauling a load of laptops and while on the road, nature calls.  You pull into the truck stop to fill one tank and empty another.  While away from your locked, unattended truck, someone comes up and kindly relieves you of your truck and trailer and all of the laptops.  Chances are, your Cargo policy will not cover the theft of the laptops because you left your truck and trailer “unattended”.   While a little on the melodramatic side, this story could be your reality if you are not aware as to what your policy does and does not cover.  Our specialty in the truck insurance industry can help you avoid this nightmare.

The Importance of Insuring your Trucking Business

The Importance of Insuring your Trucking Business

If you run a small trucking business and operate under your own authority there may be specific commercial insurance policies you should consider. Bear in mind, insurance laws concerning trucking businesses vary between states, and also during the course of carrying out your business duties you may cross from one state into another, so it’s crucial you understand the trucking laws that relate to your business.

Here are some insurance policies you may need to purchase in order to operate your trucking business:

• Truck cargo: This coverage helps cover the cost, if all or part of your cargo was lost or damaged due to theft, fire or accident. When you consider the possible cost of some the cargo you haul, then this coverage becomes almost a crucial requirement.

• Physical damage: If your truck is damaged due to your involvement in an accident, or another unexpected event, this type of coverage usually helps cover the cost of repairs.

• Liability: This coverage usually includes bodily injury liability and property damage. Typically it helps pay for damages you may potentially cause to property and other people while driving your truck.

Remember, before you make your final insurance decisions, find out if there are insurance laws relating specifically to your trucking business. By choosing the most appropriate coverage, you’re not only financially protecting your business, but also your livelihood.

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Why you should Consider Key Person Coverage

Why you should Consider Key Person Coverage

As a California small business owner, no doubt you’ve invested in insurance coverage to help financially safeguard your business. One insurance policy that may be vital to your business, but is often dismissed as an unnecessary expense, is key person insurance.

In a small business, the responsibilities are spread amongst a few employees, and if one of those key employees were to experience a disability, serious illness or worse, how would your business cope? Key person insurance is designed to safeguard your business against the disruption this scenario would likely cause. Depending on the coverage you choose, the policy may provide your business with a monthly benefit or a lump sum payout.

Here are the three main uses for key person insurance coverage:

•    Either to reassure your financial backers of the ability of your business to continue trading, or pay back business debt.

•    Help replace lost profits due to the absence of the key person.

•    Recruit, hire and train a permanent or temporary replacement for your lost key person.

As you can see, the loss of a person key to keeping your business financially afloat and running smoothly can be a disaster. By investing in a key person insurance policy you may be helping to financially protect your small business against the unexpected loss of a vital employee or business partner.

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Insurance Information for Small Businesses

Insurance Information for Small Businesses

Are you a small business owner? It’s likely you’ve work long and hard to achieve your business objective. The next step is financially protecting your business with the right insurance coverage.

There are many types of coverage available to small business owners, and you’ll need to assess your business risks in order to select the most appropriate policies. Property coverage protects your business property, premises, physical structure and inventory from disasters including theft, fire, windstorm and some perils.

Business interruption provides insurance protection for your cash flow if your business operations were temporarily disrupted by an environmental disaster or internal crisis that is covered by your policy. In a society where lawsuits are commonplace liability insurance is another wise coverage for any business to have. This type of insurance may help pay for the costs associated with injury claims from customers harmed while on your business premises.

In the state of California workers’ compensation is required by law even if your business only employees a single person.

Because certain areas of California are prone to flooding and earthquake, coverage for these possible disasters may also be worthwhile considering. Bear in mind earthquake and flood insurance must be purchased as a separate policy. Our agent can tell you more, so call us for information or to arrange quotes for your business insurance.

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Why Does your CA Business Need Liability Insurance?

Why Does your CA Business Need Liability Insurance?

Small business owners in CA have many day-to-day tasks to content with. Keeping things ticking along smoothly and keeping everyone happy as well as being productive and profitable may seem an endless task. The demands on your time can sometimes be overwhelming. One thing you can do to help protect your enterprise is purchase the appropriate and adequate business insurance portfolio. This may include coverage for different types of contingencies such as:

•    General Liability coverage – covers defense of claims of injury caused about by products or services.

•    Property insurance- coverage for theft, fire etc.

•    Business Owners Policy (BOP) – this may cover things such as business interruption, vehicle and liability.

•    Auto insurance – for any business owned vehicles.

•    Professional liability – this allows for defense of claim for damages due to professional services you have provided.

Your insurance agent can discuss in detail the requirements your particular business needs in California. Every business is different and tailoring your insurance package specifically for you can save you money. It can also reduce the risk of a certain situation not being adequately protected. It can provide you as a small business owner with security knowing you have correct coverage, leaving you with more time to dedicate to the day to running of your business.

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The Cost Involved with Recruiting Workers in CA

The Cost Involved with Recruiting Workers in CA

When starting a new business in California, the ‘to do’ list is probably extremely long, from purchasing business insurance, to hiring new employees. In the rush and bustle, be sure you understand the possible costs involved with hiring employees, before you go ahead and schedule interviews.

•    Recruiting expenses: Even if you utilize online job boards and forums you will need to spend time researching and locating sites, developing job descriptions and reading and evaluating responses. While there may not be a cost in terms of money, it may be considerably expensive in lost productivity.

•    Training: Depending on your area of business, new employees may need to go through comprehensive and potentially expensive training before they’re ready to be productive.

•    Set up costs: Do your employees need individual computers or desks and chairs? What about lockers and uniforms, do you have any?

•    Salary and benefits: Keep in mind that if you want quality, loyal employees, you must offer a competitive benefits package.

Hiring people to help operate your business may be far more costly than you originally thought, so take into account all aspects of hiring before contacting potential employees. Having a workforce will also affect your business insurance choices, as you are likely to require workers’ compensation insurance.

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Developing Quality Workplace Relationships

Developing Quality Workplace Relationships

There are numerous potential advantages of cultivating positive relationships with your workers, including reduced staff turnover, increased productivity and an overall happier workplace. Unfortunately this is often overlooked when business owners become caught up with mundane business tasks such as book keeping and business insurance considerations.

Ways to develop quality workplace relationships:

•    Listen to your employees: Listening and valuing their ideas and input can be a significant factor in building successful employee relationships.

•    Provide constructive feedback: Although listening is important, offering useful assessments of your employees’ ideas is also important. This shows you’re interested in what they have to say and may encourage them to continue developing suggestions.

•    Keep employees informed: It’s beneficial for your employees to believe they’re valuable enough to be kept informed of key decisions, even if they’re not directly affected.

•    Be honest: You expect truthfulness and trustworthiness in your employees, so it’s reasonable for them to expect the same level of honesty from you.

Good employees are hard to find and even harder to replace, so it’s a wise business decision to ensure they know they’re a vital part of your business team. Having a happy and valued staff may also lead to fewer claims on your California business insurance policies such as your workers’ comp or even your employment practices liability coverage.

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Home-Based Business and Liability Insurance

Home-Based Business and Liability Insurance

Are you thinking of starting a home-based business? One of the many things you need to consider before officially opening your business is your California business insurance coverage. There are many business insurance options to choose from, and most are a clear choice, but an important policy that may be overlooked is liability coverage.

The basic categories of business liability:

•    Bodily injury: This is when a client or customer sustains an injury while on your business premises, or sustains physical harm by you at their home.

•    Personal injury: This type of injury involves the reputation of a business or individual, such as copyright infringement, libel, slander and other similar forms of damage.

•    Product liability: This type of liability is when your completed work causes a loss to a client or customer. For example, you accidentally infect a customer’s computer with a serious virus through software created by you.

•    Advertising injury: Advertising liability coverage offers financial protection against losses caused by your written or spoken advertising.

Lawsuits can be prolonged and extraordinarily expensive. Without liability coverage, a lawsuit may have the potential to bankrupt your business. It’s a smart idea to assess all possible liability risks involved in your business, and purchase the appropriate California business insurance to help financially protect your business.

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Could Twitter Help Increase Your Sales?

Could Twitter Help Increase Your Sales?

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Has the risk of having a libel-related lawsuit filed against your business prevented you from promoting your online enterprise on social media sites? The good news is, with the increasing popularity of social media sites, insurance companies have created policies that offer financial protection against possible social media issues. Promoting your business on these sites may be a key sales producing strategy, so consider upgrading your California business insurance policy to include social media liability coverage.

When it comes to promoting your online business on social media sites, many business owners dismiss Twitter’s 140-character rule as too limiting to be useful. Although Twitter has been around for a number of years, well before modern smart phones became available, the site was originally designed for use on mobile phones. Now, with more and more consumers using smart phones to communicate online, along with review products and purchase, it could be a worthwhile consideration.

Although Twitter is a great way to communicate with your targeted consumer group, it has a wealth of other business promotion possibilities. For example, use Twitter to introduce special offers, to announce last minute changes to business events and post links to compelling blog posts and articles relevant to your business.

Keep in mind liability issues including copyright infringement, plagiarism, defamation, and misappropriation of an idea are often unintentional, but dealing with a lawsuit while being underinsured is risking bankruptcy. Don’t take the chance; ensure your California business insurance provides coverage for these potential problems.
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Making a Successful Online Video

Making a Successful Online Video

Placing a video on your business website can go along way towards creating interest in your products or service. However, there are key elements that may help make your online video as successful as possible. Remember to include any business video equipment in your California business insurance policy for protection against theft, fire and other unexpected events.

• Keep it simple: Keep in mind too much complex information may turn people off, so stick to everyday language in your video. Dialogue, graphics and props should all be kept to a minimum.

• Keep it short: Although there isn’t a strictly recommended time limit for a business video, keeping it no more than three to five minutes is probably a smart idea. When you want to get across more information than five minutes worth, consider making more than one video.

• Educate and inform: How-to and instructional videos usually attract customers who are interested in your products or service. Another consideration is dropping your FAQ page and presenting them in a video format. This could be particularly useful for products that are intricate or detailed, and have specialized instructions.

Always remember the people who are likely to be viewing your video are your target customers group, so communicate with them in a manner familiar to that particular consumer group. Depending on your product or service, you may be using your video equipment off your business premises, so be sure your California business insurance extends to off premise protection.

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