2018 - InsureYourCompany

Do you know your insurance score? If you’re like many people, you may not even realize that you have an insurance score, but this is a critical factor for determining insurance premiums. Here’s what you need to know about insurance scores, along with how to improve a negative score.

What is an Insurance Score?

Simply put, an insurance score, which is also known as an insurance credit score, is a numerical ranking or point system. Based on various factors, insurance scores are used by insurance companies for predicting risk and underwriting decisions, besides deciding how much to charge for premiums.

Your insurance score is the main factor for determining the total premium you need to pay for insurance policies, which includes health, auto, homeowners and auto policies. Insurance companies use several types of property claim databases, such as CLUE (Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange), A-PLUS (Automated Property Loss Underwriting System) and others to come up with an insurance score.

How Insurance Scores Differ from Credit Scores

Maybe you’re thinking that an insurance score is the same as a credit score, but they’re different. Insurance scores pertain to odds of having another insurance claim or accident in the future, rather than being based on your ability to repay borrowed money, which is a credit score. In other words, your insurance score focuses more on stability issues, while your credit score emphasizes the amount of credit that you’re able to manage.

Why an Insurance Score Matters

A favorable insurance score is important because it can mean paying lower premiums. On the other hand, having a lower score can show that you belong to a group that is more prone to having future claims. However, if your credit history has some items that are below average, you may still have the chance of obtaining a lower rate since below-average factors, as well as above-average factors, are evaluated.

Positive Insurance Score Factors

To get a positive insurance score, you need to have a good credit history. Another factor linked with a favorable score is not having any late payments or past due accounts. Furthermore, it helps to have several open accounts that are in good standing, in addition to a low use of available credit.

Negative Insurance Score Factors

If you have too many past-due payments and/or collection accounts, you probably have a negative insurance score. Also, having several recent applications for credit can be a reason for an unfavorable score. Using too much available credit can be another factor for a bad insurance score. Other problems that can negatively affect your insurance score are liens, foreclosures, and bankruptcies.

How You Can Improve Your Insurance Score

If you do have a low insurance score, take heart. Fortunately, there are several things you can do to improve your score, which can lead to lower insurance premiums.

Pay your mortgage and loans on time.
Reduce your overall amount of debt.
Be sure your accounts are in good standing.
Restrict the number of credit applications you make in a short span of time.
Find out the amount of available credit you have. Consider that if you’re using all or most of your available credit, it’s generally seen as a negative factor.

Information That Can’t Be Used When Determining Your Credit Score

Some information about you cannot be used when coming up with a credit score, such as:

Race
Ethnicity
Gender
Age
Income
Religion
Address

Other Considerations and Warnings

Insurance scoring is fair because your insurance company won’t reveal information regarding their scoring system, meaning you don’t have to worry about misuse.
Although your income can’t be used for determining a credit score, it can still influence it, since a higher income can increase your ability to pay your debts and improve your credit score.
Review your credit history by getting a report from one of the three primary credit agencies, which include Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Be sure there aren’t any errors, and if you do find mistakes, correct them immediately.
Even though you may have a favorable insurance score, other factors can also determine your premium rates and terms of your policy, such as a poor driving record.

Questions? Visit the insurance pros at InsureYourCompany.com where we work with a wide range of business but mostly focus on single-person LLC’s in tech and small New Jersey businesses. Please contact us.

In your career, it is crucial to work with your colleagues as a team in order to have a successful business. The advantage of working together and the ability to have cooperation amongst each other as a unit is that each person is able to contribute their different experience and views. This then makes the project/task at hand the best it can be! The most successful people in the world will always have a team around them to bounce ideas off of, brainstorm, work through projects together and help to overall expand each other’s capabilities.

We previously discussed definite aim, in order to be cooperative you must use your definite aim and write it down. This will create a habit to build your cooperation between your conscious and subconscious mind, to ultimately have you be successful.

Nonprofit organizations play a huge role in helping society. Even though their main goal is to help people, instead of creating a profit, they’re still considered small businesses. This means their people and assets need to be protected. Do you run a nonprofit organization? If you do, you probably don’t have a large number of funds in your operating budget to pay for unforeseen disasters or lawsuits that could lead to bankruptcy. That’s why it is so important that you get the correct insurance coverage to protect your nonprofit organization. Here are six of the most important commercial insurance policies you’ll need for operating your nonprofit organization.

General Liability Policy

This type of policy, which is also known as a “commercial general liability” (CGL) policy covers your nonprofit organization against claims involving someone suffering from bodily injuries, such as “slip-and-fall” cases. It also includes different types of property damage that can occur from your premises as well as from your products or operations.

A general liability policy covers a nonprofit organization for any damages that are required to pay to customers, visitors, associates or whoever is hurt on your business property. However, these types of insurance policies do not apply to the employees at a nonprofit since they’re covered separately by workers’ compensation.

Property Insurance

Property insurance protects your building and the stuff your nonprofit organization owns. As a nonprofit organization, you may not have a lot of business property. However, it’s still critical that you get property insurance, considering that some of the worst insurance claims are linked to property, such as vandalism or burst pipes in an office.

If you rent, property insurance still covers any items that belong to your organization, such as equipment, furniture, inventory, supplies, machinery, lighting systems, carpeting, and other fixtures and belongings, that could be damaged or lost from theft or natural disasters. These include earthquakes, fires, storms or other catastrophic events.

Auto Liability Insurance

Auto liability insurance is required if the people working for you, including volunteers, use vehicles, which includes their own vehicles. It covers injuries caused by a driver to people and property when working for the nonprofit organization. What’s more, you may live in a state that requires additional auto insurance, which includes PIP (personal injury protection) and UM/UIM (uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage).

Directors and Officers Insurance

Directors and Officers (D & O) Insurance cover the directors and officers (which typically includes volunteers) of a nonprofit organization. Consider how they could mismanage a nonprofit’s finances or cause fraud. When this occurs, you need to have the right coverage to defend them, besides cover the cost for financial damages. Some claims are not covered in a D & O policy, such as damages from fraudulent or criminal behavior. Another example is claiming from one director of another director.

Malpractice Insurance

This type of coverage, which is like D & O insurance, is also known as “errors and omissions” insurance. It provides protection against liabilities that are caused by an organization being mismanaged, besides other types of claims that can occur at a workplace, such as sexual harassment or discrimination. In addition to covering directors and officers, it also covers a nonprofit’s staff and volunteers.

Cyber Liability

Unfortunately, cyber theft is occurring more and more with nonprofits these days, just as it is with other commercial businesses. Consider how cyber thieves can steal donor and employee data from computer servers of nonprofit computers. Cyber liability insurance also covers paper document exposure.

Considerations and Warnings

Additional insurance is needed if your nonprofit organization has employees.
If your nonprofit has volunteers, you may need a general liability policy that covers bodily injury, in addition to property damage. On the other hand, many nonprofits provide separate insurance for their volunteers.
Do you run a nonprofit organization from your home? If so, you may have to change your home insurance or renter’s insurance policy.
In order to acquire a contract, rent a space, secure funds, hold a special event or work with another nonprofit organization, you’ll need to show proof of general liability insurance.
Be sure that an insurance policy covers the actual replacement amount for replacing the property. In other words, it’s not the market value of the item, which would be considered “used goods” or what it was worth before becoming damaged.

For all your insurance needs, you can depend on the insurance specialists at InsureYourCompany.com. Although we work with a wide range of businesses, we mainly focus on single-person LLC’s in tech and small New Jersey businesses. Please contact us and find out more about our many products.

Insurance is a way for us to ensure our loved ones are provided for in case of an unexpected illness, accident, injury or even death. For employers providing a group plan for their dedicated workers often come with many questions about continued coverage, eligibility, exceptions, exclusions and more. When it comes to covering dependent children, changes in the law recently extended coverage for kids up to twenty-six years of age.

PPACA Pushed Policy Changes

During the Obama administration, part of the PPACA (Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act – aka Obamacare) increased the age of minor dependents to remain covered under their parent’s plan through their college years. Perhaps meant to extend healthcare for youngsters getting a higher education, according to provisions under the law, dependents can remain on their parent’s policy even if they:

Don’t share a residence with their folks
Aren’t financially dependent on their parents for support
Weren’t claimed as dependents on their parent’s income tax return
Aren’t full or part-time students
Are married and have dependents of their own

In this case, dependent children don’t necessarily need to be biological offspring of the parents. They also include those who have been legally adopted, stepchildren and those kids dependent upon their future parents for support during the adoption process. However, coverage does not extend to grandchildren or children-in-law (or those from spouses of dependent children).

Enrollment & Exceptions

In some cases, the insured (especially those covered by specialty groups like Unions or large corporations) may be denied benefits and eligibility for their dependents under special circumstances. For example, if the child in question has the opportunity to enroll in an alternative insurance plan through their employer at zero or low cost to the dependent in question, the provider could require them to take this option.

Other restrictions may include certain enrollment dates that may fall during a specific time of the year. Events such as a marriage, divorce, legal separation or death may come with an expiration date thirty days after this type of change has occurred. According to an excerpt from a notice sent to California small employer groups by a major insurer:

“Employees who want to add children who are younger than 26 years old to their health plan have a one-time special enrollment right under the law. This enrollment right applies to adult children under 26 who were denied coverage in the past because they exceeded the maximum dependent age, or who were enrolled and lost coverage because they reached the maximum dependent age under your policy. The special enrollment right must last for at least 30 days even if your open enrollment period is less than 30 days.”

Stay or Stray?

If a twenty-something dependent is already covered, shouldn’t be anything in order to continue coverage. If parents don’t wish to protect their adult children with coverage under the age of twenty-six, they should contact their provider immediately. It’s important for business owners to be aware of the law when it comes to how they are legally insuring employees, their spouses, and dependent children both today and in the future.

As a small business owner, it’s difficult enough (if not impossible) to keep up with all the changes in policies, procedures and current laws when running a profitable company. Wading through all the paperwork and legal mumbo-jumbo involved with new or repealed insurance provisions and regulations is our job and not yours.

Still have questions on details for dependent coverage? Please feel free to contact us at InsureYourCompany.com where we specialize in serving single-person LLC’s and tech industries in New Jersey. We’re experienced in this field and many other industries so we’re happy to assist everyone in the small business spectrum in the Garden State. Give us a call today and we’ll be happy to discuss your options.

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.

If you are not enjoying what you do in your career, it will slowly seep into other aspects of your life and chips away at your psyche. If you are working too long of hours, feel overwhelmed by the tasks at hand, feel pressure to perform you will be climbing an exhausting uphill battle. When you are exhausted, overwhelmed and feeling pulled in a thousand directions at your job your work will suffer, causing you to have even more stress.

So, how do you make your current role go from something you aren’t enjoying into a role you do? You have to start off by changing your work attitude into a mindset of gratitude and look for parts of the role you love. You will see a spike in your energy, mindset, ability to take control of your workload and better overall performance. Stop yourself from merely going through the motions, take pride in what you are producing and ensure each thing you work on has your stamp of expertise all over it. Being able to take ownership of the tasks given to you and going above and beyond with them, will increase your value as an employee to the business. This in turn (over time) increases your job status and compensation.

Change your mindset and that will change your career projection.