We’ve Got Your IT Business Covered With Technology Insurance

In order to achieve the level of success you want, you have to have a clear understanding of what you want to achieve. The first step to accomplishing this is specifically writing down your major definite aim.

We easily get consumed by the day to day duties of our roles and stressors of our life that it becomes easy to let our unconscious mind forget our goal. You have to learn to train yourself to speak, think and write your definite aim in everything you are doing. This will help to ensure that everything you are doing is purposeful towards your definite aim in some way. This consequently also means to be able to block our all information and thoughts that don’t help you reach your definite aim.

What do you want to accomplish in the next 5 years? Where do you see yourself progressing to? It is time to put the pen to paper and set yourself up for the ultimate success!

Many people don’t think vision impairment is a major disability, but it’s one of the top ten causes of disabilities in the United States. What’s more, 63 percent or more of American adults are wearing glasses or contact lenses. If you’re a small business owner and not providing your employees with high-quality group vision insurance, here’s why it’s important, along with a few considerations and warnings.

What Do You Mean by Group Vision Insurance?

Vision insurance is the term that’s used for describing health and wellness insurance plans that are intended to reduce the amount of money people must pay for routine eye exams (preventive eye care), besides prescription eyewear, such as eyeglasses and contact lenses. Furthermore, there are some vision plans offering discounts on LASIK, PRK and other types of elective vision correction procedures.

What Are the Basic Advantages of Offering High-Quality Vision Insurance?

Although vision insurance typically isn’t a requirement for small business owners, there are still several reasons for including it in employee benefit packages. In fact, many employees appreciate the vision and dental benefits even more than getting increases in salary.

• When you offer high-quality group vision insurance to your workers, you help in boosting company morale.
• It can be easier to not only hire the best employees for your small business but to also keep your top workers.
• When their eye health is good, employees are more likely to work harder and longer so that your company continues to prosper and grow.
• You can bundle vision insurance with health and dental coverage. This can result in lower prices, which saves money for your employees.

What Are the Types of Group Vision Insurance Plans?

The two main types of group vision plans include:

• A vision benefits package—This group vision plan offers vision care that’s paid for by either an annual membership fee (that’s deductible each year for each member, along with co-payments for services) or an annual premium.
• A vision discount plan—With this plan, vision care is provided at a fixed rate that’s reduced once members pay for a yearly premium or membership fee and deductible.
• With both these types of plans, members receive basic coverage, which includes comprehensive eye exams, besides a pair of eyeglasses or contact lenses.
• These plans both allow for out-of-network eye care services. This entails people paying a provider in full at the time of their appointments and getting reimbursed later by their insurance company for part of the cost. 

Considerations and Warnings 

• Before buying a vision insurance group plan, make sure you thoroughly read all the terms of the policy and understand what you’re purchasing. For example, know the benefits and costs for whatever plan or plans you considering buying.
• In most cases, employees pay for their group vision insurance via FSAs (flexible spending accounts) or payroll deductions.
• Also known as a “cafeteria plan”, an FSA is a plan that lets employees use their pre-tax money for buying vision insurance or other health benefits they choose. Because the policy is paid for with income that’s been designated for health expenses and isn’t taxed, it saves you money.
• Eye problems are expensive, costing our country $68 billion each year in healthcare expenses.
• Your overall health can suffer because of vision problems.
• Regardless of their age group, people need to have regular, annual eye exams or sometimes get them even more frequently.
• Eye health is just as important as the physical health or dental health of your employees.
• A recent study, involving American adults (40-65 years old), showed that vision insurance improved the eye health of people who had this coverage. The group with vision insurance had more eye exams and claimed that they didn’t have problems reading printed materials, while the group without vision insurance did report visual difficulties.
• To secure group vision insurance, you’ll need to provide documented evidence that your business is legitimate and that you have at least another full-time employee, in addition to yourself.

Questions? For all your questions regarding insurance, visit the insurance professionals at InsureYourCompany.com. We mainly focus on single-person LLCs in tech and small New Jersey businesses, even though we do work with a wide variety of businesses. Please contact us.

Your parents always warn you growing up that not everyone is going to like you and that is normal and okay. Your parents were right, every one doesn’t have to like you or may not get along with your personality.

However, that doesn’t give you a free pass to not ensure your personality and attitude is courteous, thoughtful and warm, so others feel comfortable to be around you. We all have bad days, that is just a part of life. But you have to ensure that you are approachable at work so that your colleagues feel comfortable asking you questions and working alongside you in projects. If you have a hard exterior, your body language will reflect that and make others not feel they can come to you when they need assistance or want to work with-you.

Ensure that you have your mind right walking into the office everyday because a positive mental attitude is reflected on those around you. If you can handle a tough situation without getting flabergasted and frustrated, your colleagues will relax and be able to more thoroughly think through the issue and focus on the task at hand better. Being able to-be courteous of your colleague’s frustrations, thoughts, concerns, and abilities will reflect in your work and ability to tolerate more.

A smile can go a long way. It is hard to not smile back when someone takes the time to smile at you. Use your smile more and watch those you work with automatically brighten up, even just a bit.

If you run a business, one of your biggest decisions is choosing the right insurance coverage. Also, if you’re like many business owners, you may have a hard time determining which type of policy is best for your company. When buying commercial property insurance, you have different options regarding coverage. You can choose “full replacement cost value” insurance or you can select an “actual cash value” policy. Here’s how these two insurance policies differ and why a full replacement cost policy may be the best option for a business.

What Is Full Replacement Cost Value? 

Simply put, “full replacement cost value” refers to how much money is needed for replacing a property with a new one that’s of the same quality and made of comparable material. In most cases, a full replacement cost commercial insurance policy works best for businesses.

Let’s say a thief breaks into your office and steals one of your fax machines. An insurance policy providing full replacement cost value would cover the cost needed to replace it with a similar one. It doesn’t matter if your stolen four-year-old fax machine had considerable wear and tear, such as dents and scratches. You’ll still receive full replacement cost for a new one. In other words, depreciation is not a factor.

What Is Actual Cost Value? 

Actual cost value (ACV) is the cost needed to replace an item with a new one that is like it and of the same quality. However, the depreciation cost is subtracted from the value of the item. Also called “market value”, ACV is the replacement cost minus depreciation. In other words, it’s the amount of money you would get for the item when selling it in the marketplace. For example, consider how used merchandise for sale on eBay is priced lower than brand new items.

Summary and Considerations 

• Both types of policies are based on the current cost of what it takes to replace a damaged or stolen item with a new one.
• The sole difference is that ACV deducts for depreciation, while a full replacement cost policy does not.
• ACV can be somewhat complicated. It can be extremely difficult to determine the value of items that are one-of-a-kind. What’s more, often there’s the problem of determining depreciation for items that are now obsolete or no longer useful.
• Generally, an ACV policy is less expensive, meaning the premiums are cheaper.
• On the other hand, an ACV policy may not be the best choice if your business has been operating at the space for a while because you’re more at risk for depreciation, meaning you’ll receive less for your losses.
• Although ACV policies have lower premiums, most business experts recommend full replacement cost value coverage over ACV policies.
• Keep in mind how over a period of a decade, the cost you pay in premiums can be minimal if your business suffers from a huge financial loss and even needs to rebuild, such as recovering from a hurricane or another type of natural disaster.
• It’s important to thoroughly review all the exclusions on an insurance policy, regardless of which one you choose. This is because examining the exclusions can help you decide if you need additional insurance.
• If you’ve kept the same office space for several years, it’s critical you have your commercial property reviewed to ensure your policy is based on a correct valuation.
• There are two types of property: real property and business personal property.
• Real property pertains to land as well as outdoor fixtures, buildings, and permanent equipment and machinery. Business personal property refers to items you can move easily, such as office furniture, telephones, and computers
• Do you have at least one business loan? If so, it’s essential you know the terms of your loans.
• Consider that most lenders have the requirement of a business having a  full replacement cost insurance policy in their lending agreements. 

Selecting insurance for your home or business doesn’t have to be overwhelming when you let an experienced and highly trained insurance specialist help you make the right choice. If you’re unsure which type of commercial insurance policy is best for your business, please contact us. We work with a wide range of business, focusing mainly on single-person LLC’s in tech and small New Jersey businesses.

Commercial property insurance covers loss or damage to a business’ land and equipment. How much subscribers actually receive, however, depends largely on the terms of their individual contracts. When an event triggers an insurance policy, insurance companies have several ways of determining the value of lost property. Two of the most used valuations are replacement value and actual cash value. What do these terms mean? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each method?

Defining Replacement Value and Actual Cash Value

When your insurance claim is approved, adjusters must determine the exact dollar amount to award the policyholder. Of the many ways that exist to arrive at that figure, replacement and actual cash value are the simplest and most popular options.

• In a replacement value agreement, the policyholder will receive enough money to buy a comparable version of the lost item. Payment is meant to enable the subscriber to buy an item of the same material, quality, and purpose as what was lost. Adjusters can grant amounts up to the policy’s full limit.
• Actual cash value policies award policyholders an amount based on the fair market value of their lost item. In this valuation, depreciation weighs heavily on the final payout. Actual cash calculations begin with the price subscribers would pay to get a new version of their lost item. Then the payout is adjusted to reflect the number of years the item was owned, condition at the time of loss, and other factors that would limit the fair market resale value of the item.

The exact meaning of actual cash value can vary by location. Check with the insurance experts at Insure Your Company to find out the latest legal definition for your area.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Different Valuation Methods

Both replacement and actual cash value policies offer unique benefits to subscribers.

Replacement value policies:

• Are easy to understand. Their simple terms significantly reduce subscriber frustration.
• Offer the highest payout in the case of accident or loss.

Actual cash value policies:

• Offer lower premiums for temporarily cash-strapped business owners.
• Can be supplemented with high-value umbrella insurance for greater protection.

They also have drawbacks that should be considered when building a financial protection plan.

• Commercial property owners should carefully consider available cash reserves before signing up for a replacement value policy that covers anything less than 100% of your property’s value. In the case of a catastrophic loss, partial coverages may leave you with a significant funding gap.
• Resource-strong businesses can use actual cash value policies to protect their goods and equipment at minimum cost. Even with the insurance payout, younger operations, recently expanded businesses, and those that rely on specialized tools and materials may not have the cash to replace vital components after a loss.

Which One is Right for You?

Not sure which type of contract is best for your business? Answer these questions to help you understand how different valuation methods can affect your commercial business.

• How much of your company’s assets are liquid? How long do you expect that to last? If you plan to keep a large cash reserve on a regular basis, it may be worthwhile to opt for lower premium actual cash value coverages. If all your resources are tied up in improvements and expansions, protect your investment with higher-value replacement contracts.
• How difficult is it to replace your tools, equipment, and buildings? If you can replenish your workbench with a trip to the local hardware store, actual cash value plans are a great way to reduce monthly expenses. Research facilities, specialized medical practices, and other businesses that use rare and high-value items benefit from the increased payouts from replacement value policies.
• What other policies do you already have in place? In many cases, a large accident or loss will trigger multiple policies. An insurance agent can help you understand what your existing policies cover. Use this information to decide which valuation system works best for your business.

Insure Your Company offers commercial insurance packages that are customized for your business. Still not sure which policy is right for you? Contact our representatives for a personalized assessment of your commercial insurance needs.