Catastrophe Liability Protection

How much liability protection do I need to carry to protect me and my family? Unfortunately there is no simple formula which you can use to calculate how much liability insurance you really need. With your home or a commercial property, there are computer programs which will help determine the construction replacement Please contact us, and we will prepare a quotation for your review on this very important catastrophe liability protection.
cost of the building, but there is no such program in the area of third party liability claims. Some insurance companies claim they make you “legal” for less, but in Ohio, for example, that means bodily injury limits of $25,500 per person/$50,000 per accident and property damage limits of $25,000. Any kind of serious accident will wipe out those limits in a heartbeat. As a bare minimum, we recommend no less than $500,000 in Personal Liability and $250,000/500,000/100,000 in Automobile Liability, but higher limits are available and recommended. This is where the Umbrella Liability Policy comes into play. These policies are written in increments of $1,000,000 with $1,000,000 being the lowest limit you can purchase. Limits of $1,000,000 to $5,000,000 are usually available, and higher limits are also available depending on the circumstances.

Insurance Things to Consider on Rental Properties

Over the last few years many homeowners have turned into landlords.  With the real estate market drop, those that decided to purchase a new house also decided to not sell their prior home for fear of a financial loss on the property.  Instead, they have turned their prior house into a rental.  The trend still continues today even after the real estate market has rebounded some because landlords are seeing great cash flows from renting.  

Here at Fey Insurance Services we insure a number of these properties and on occasion we are asked by clients if we have any insurance tips in renting a property.  When asked we always mention these five things:

1.  Temperature Requirement in the Lease:  It is a good idea to include a clause in your lease that requires the tenant to keep the heat no colder than 59 degrees.  This is important because around the Holidays many tenants will travel and if they want to try and save a buck they may turn off the heat.  Pipes do not enjoy this especially with a polar vortex threatening again this year.  This way, if they do turn the heat off and pipes break you can pass that damage on to the tenant.

2.  Renters Insurance for Tenants:  Since you may have passed on the risk of pipe freezing damage to your tenant you then want to make sure they have insurance in place to pay for such damages.  Requiring tenants to have renters insurance is a good idea.  Not only does it protect their contents (which is excluded under your policy), it protects your property if they are negligent in causing damage to your property.  I would recommend they have liability limits at least the value of your property.

3.  Dogs:  Know your states laws on dog attacks.  For example, in Kentucky there was a law recently passed that could drag landlords into dog attack claims.  This may make it difficult to get insurance for a property that has a dog.  If you are going to allow dogs to live on your premises it is best to limit which kinds as some insurance policies exclude coverage for "vicious dogs".

4.  Loss of Rents Coverage.  Make sure your rental property insurance policy includes coverage for loss of rents.  If you sign a year's lease with someone and then have a fire a month later, you are going to be out 11 months of rent or at least however many months it takes to rebuild the house.  You can recoup this loss with loss of rent coverage.  Also, make sure that you have enough loss of rent coverage.  Many polices give  you 10% of your dwelling limit or give you a flat $25,000.  Add up your annual rents and make sure you have enough coverage.

5.  Certificates of Insurance from Contractors:  Unless you yourself are handy, you may be employing contractors to do fixes around your rental property.  We strongly recommend you ask these contractors for proof that they have insurance.  If they were ever to cause damage to your tenants contents or to your tenants person, you would want to make sure they have insurance to cover such things.

Small Businesses Need Liability Insurance

Today many small businesses are popping up.  The reasons for this vary.  Many want to be their own boss, some people are creating their own job since they are unable to find one or many corporate companies are encouraging their employees to become 1099 consultants to help save on benefits.  Either way, people are setting up on their own and it is to these people that I write this blog article.  

Start up costs are a difficult things to manage when you are just beginning your business.  Many demands are placed on your budget but one thing I would encourage you to put top on that list is liability insurance.  All business, big or small, should have liability insurance to both protect the business itself and its customers.  Here are four reasons I would strongly recommend liability insurance even for theone person shop.

1) Contracts:  Contracts are king these days.  Customers require contracts to do business with you.  In many contracts you will see insurance requirements so it is best to have that in place at all times to be able to meet those requirements, especially if you are bidding for a job.  Many start up business work out of their home but for those that lease space elsewhere you will find insurance requirements in your lease contract that need to be met.

2) Slip and Falls:  As I write this article Ohio is dealing with cold weather, snow and ice.  Already claims are coming in where people have slipped and injured themselves outside of businesses.  Whether you are negligent or not in these situations there is still a cost to defend yourself when someone comes to your door on crutches handing you their medical bill from the fall they took on your premises.  

3) Product Liability:  Retailers who sell products have the exposure of something going wrong with their products and causing injury.  Especially if your product is used in cooking or toys for children, this risk is always there and could be very costly.

4) Property Damage to Others: Contractors face this risk the most.  If you are mowing a customer's yard and cause rocks to damage near by cars or houses you will be liable to pay for the damages.  If you are a contractor working on a customers building and end up damage a portion of the building you are not working on, that damage will be your responsibility.  

These are just four examples of where businesses risk having claims.  Each of these would be covered by a general liability policy setup for your business.  Be sure to consult with an independent agent that can help pinpoint the type of coverages that best suit your business and stay protected from unexpected expenses.

To Shovel or Not to Shovel? Here's the law in Ohio

This is an article posted on "Ohio Insurance Institutes" website:

As far as Ohio law goes, homeowners don’t have a legal obligation to shovel sidewalks due to a natural accumulation of snow and ice, but this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t at least try to maintain them.


In December 1993 the Ohio Supreme Court upheld this law when a guest attempted to sue a homeowner in Franklin County for a slip and fall outside of the homeowner’s house.

In the case Brinkman v. Ross, the court ruled that you are walking at your own risk when Mother Nature calls. The case stemmed from a visit by the Brinkman’s to the home of the Ross’ in February 1989. Ms. Brinkman slipped outside the Ross home breaking her ankle. She sued her hosts in Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. The court threw out the complaint, indicating that it had long been established that Ohio homeowners are not obligated to remove natural accumulations of snow and ice.

The decision was reversed in the court of appeals, saying that if a homeowner knows of a hazardous condition and invites guests to visit, there is an obligation to at least warn them. The case then went to the Ohio Supreme Court where the judgment was overturned.

It’s up to your guests and other pedestrians to assume that due to the nature of Ohio winters, there’s always a risk of a slip or fall due to the natural accumulation of ice and snow.


Local snow removal ordinances

Local municipalities may invoke snow removal ordinances. If your city or township has an ordinance that requires residents to keep walkways free of snow and ice, then you have a responsibility to maintain your sidewalks. Some Ohio cities with snow removal ordinances levy fines for not removing snow in a timely manner while others issue warnings.

However, a local ordinance does not automatically implicate a homeowner if someone slips and falls on their uncleared property.

Examples of local snow removal ordinances/requirements
Below are links to information and/or ordinances for a handful of Ohio communities. The Ohio Insurance Institute suggests checking with your local municipality on any snow removal policies or requirements. Many provide this information online.

• Centerville

• Dublin

• Forest Park

• Fairfield

Pools and Insurance

A few weekends ago we all celebrated Memorial Day. Traditionally this is the weekend where many pool owners open up the family pool for the summer. Pools are cleaned, chlorine is checked and pool toys are brought out of storage. There is, however, one other step pool owners should take when opening the pool. That step is to make sure their homeowner insurance is up to date to best protect them if something happens to the pool and or to a summer guest.

The pool itself has coverage on your homeowner policy under Section I, Other Structures. Normally this coverage is 10% to 20% of the amount of insurance you have on your home. Let’s say you have your house insured for $200,000; under a typical homeowner policy you will have $20,000 in coverage for Other Structures. As a pool owner you need to ask yourself, is that enough to cover my pool if it was damaged? If not you may need to increase your Other Structures coverage.

Liability is always a big concern when a pool is involved. It is important for pool owners to know that many insurance companies require pools to be fenced. If they are not the pool owner may find their homeowner carrier canceling their insurance. So if you are someone that currently doesn’t have a pool but plan to add one, make sure to include a fence in your planning process.

Umbrella insurance policies are something we at Fey Insurance Services always recommend but if you are a pool owner we strongly recommend them. Unfortunately drowning is a real risk when you own a pool. Heaven forbid this ever happened at your pool but if tragedy did strike you would want to have all the liability coverage you can to help protect you.

So before you pull the winter cover off your pool, be sure to consult with your insurance agent and do a review of your homeowner insurance. Enjoy the summer!

Host Liquor Liability

Over the next several months there will be many reasons for businesses and individuals to host events and parties where alcohol may be served. Businesses may have happy hours for celebrations such as Mardi Gras, March Madness, St. Patrick’s Day, and Cinco De Mayo where they will be providing alcohol for employees or customers. Individuals may use the same reason to have friends and family over to celebrate and consume alcohol. Taking my party hat off for just a moment and putting my risk management/insurance hat on, let me discuss something called Host Liquor Liability.

This is a coverage that often is part of a Commercial General Liability (CGL) policy and also included in homeowner policies as long as the individual and/or businesses are not in the occupation of making, selling or distributing of alcohol for money (meaning bars, distilleries, wineries, restaurants, etc. would have a different coverage simply called Liquor Liability). Host Liquor Liability is a coverage to help protect in cases where injuries happen because of alcohol incidents. One common example would be a participant is driving drunk and as a result crashes and injures people in an auto accident. Wherever the drunk driver last consumed alcohol could find themselves facing a lawsuit for injuries that were caused by the driver. They could be pulled into the situation because it was at their event and under their supervision that this driver consumed alcohol and then got behind the wheel intoxicated and drove off.

So here is one key thing about host liquor liability that all your employees, customers and/or friends and family will like to hear: if you are going to have an event with alcohol you are best to give it away. If at your event money changes hands and people are then able to consume alcohol you would have violated the no making, selling or distributing of alcohol for money rule. If you are having alcohol at a charity event the alcohol would have to be donated for the event or have a very good paper trail showing that none of the moneys collected to get in the event went toward the purchase of alcohol. Now, if your event is going to have a cash bar you will need to look into purchasing two items. The first is a temporary liquor license from the state and the second is a Liquor Liability insurance policy. Both of those can be costly and time consuming to acquire so your best bet is to just give it away… and be more popular with your employees, customers, friends and family.

Ohio Workers' Compensation for Your Home or Business (repost from Oct 29th, 2009)

If you are in the State of Ohio and employ at least one employee to whom you pay $160 or more in a three month period, you are required to carry Ohio Workers’ Compensation. Your employee could be with your business or simply a babysitter or person you hire to mow your grass.

In Ohio you buy Workers’ Compensation from the State’s Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. Their website address is www.ohiobwc.com or you can call them at 1-800-OHIO-BWC.

Unfortunately your Homeowner Policy Personal Liability cannot help you in situations where you are paying the employee more than $160 in a quarter, so we highly recommend that you purchase an Ohio Workers’ Compensation policy if you are in this situation.

Workers’ Compensation pays for injuries to your workers and includes not only medical expenses but loss of income benefits, too.

The website at www.ohiobwc.com is actually very helpful. If you decided you need to buy a policy, you can do it all on-line including paying for the coverage and printing out a temporary policy to show you have the protection.

Please feel free to contact one of our friendly agents if you wish to learn more about workers’ compensation.

When on The Go... How Your Homeowner Liability Insurance Follows You

Homeowner liability insurance provides financial protection against legal obligations of the insured arising out of activities and conditions at the premises where the insured maintains a covered residence.

This coverage also extends to a personal activities of the named insured and household members anywhere in the world. You are on vacation in Europe- you’re covered; your child is on a mission trip in Mexico- you’re covered.

The homeowner policy defines an insured location as:

1. The qualifying residence premises where the named insured resides and which is shown as the residence premises described in the declarations.


2. The part of the premises used by the named insured as a residence and shown in the declaration, such as a seasonal residence.


3. Any premises used in connection with a residence as defined by one and two above.


4. The part of any premises not owned by an insured where the insured is temporarily residing. Examples would include a hotel room or vacation condo.


5. Vacant land, other than farmland, owned by or rented to an insured. Vacant land is generally defined as land upon which no man-made structures exist. An exception to this is land owned or rented to an insured on which a one to four family dwelling is being built as a residence for the insured.


6. Burial plots or vaults of an insured.


7. The part of premise occasionally rented to an insured for other than business use. An example would be a rented hall for a wedding reception.
   

An insured is defined as the person named in the declarations; that person’s spouse, as long as a resident of the household; relatives residing with the insured at the residence; and persons under the age of 21 and in care of the named insured, spouse or resident relative. This would include foster children or children for which the insured has guardianship.