Necessity of insuring your business: Have a look
March 24th, 2011Insurance is the wisest decision taken by anyone. When one thinks of starting a business there are many complexities and there are a number of components that make up your business, there are so many things that can seriously undermine your business, and so insurance is a necessity for anyone who is serious about establishing a long-term and successful venture.
One needs to understand the type of business insurance they would require. By getting the right type of insurance, you can protect yourself from sudden and paralyzing damages, while saving time and money.
There are many types of business insurance offered you can choose the one which suits you the most.
Property: in this policy protection is given against incidents resulting in a loss of property to your business. Commercial property insurance covers any physical loss that your business may sustain due to natural phenomena like storm, tornados, and earthquakes.
General liability: a commercial general liability insurance policy covers 5 aspects of your business. Premises liability fro injury caused in business premises. Products and completed operations for injury by a worker to customer or from product to customer. Advertising injury as a result of injury from false advertising including false arrest. Damage to rented premises caused by you.
Professional liability: also known as errors and omissions or mal practice is protection for negligence arising directly from your profession.
Last you’ll have to look for what is called home based insurance, as your home insurance may not cover any damages and losses sustained by or in your house due to business operations. Check your home insurance before getting home based business insurance policy, as your homeowners insurance may already offer this or it may be available if requested.
There are many things that may harm your business. It is therefore simply good business to spend a little more time and money to secure a good business insurance policy keeping your business from sudden collapsing due to an unfortunate event.
How to Deal with a Parking Lot Accident
March 14th, 2011A parking lot accident can ruin your day. Some parking lots are nothing short of being a deadly trap. It is not uncommon to see people backing out of a parking spot talking on their cell phones or texting. Most parking lots in America are considered private property, which means different rules apply to them. Here are some ideas that will help you in case you are in a parking lot accident.
- After the accident, pull your car out of the way and into a safe location.
- Exchange names, addresses, phone numbers and insurance information with other drivers. Make sure you SEE the driver’s license and insurance information of all other drivers. Insist that all parties must exchange information for insurance purposes. If they do not want to comply, call the police.
- Get the names, addresses and phone numbers of any witnesses. This is one of the most important tips I can give you regarding parking lot accidents. Witnesses can help verify what happened during the accident.
- Even though you may be upset, take note of the facts surrounding the incident such as time, date, location, weather conditions and parking lot conditions. Write them down. Take pictures if you have a cell phone with a camera.
- Call the police. Do this even if someone has already done it or several hours have passed since the time of the collision. Most police officers will not come to a parking lot accident (private property = no jurisdiction). However, if they do not come to you, you can go to the closest police station and file a “walk-in report”. Write down everything you know and exactly what happened. This will help you later on to document your claim. Sometimes this will be the only piece of evidence that will come in. DO THIS WHILE IT IS FRESH IN YOUR MIND.
- Even if your parking lot accident is minor and the damages are not significant, call the Gannon Agency right away – we can give you information on how to proceed. This will protect you in case the other party makes a claim against you. Remember that a parking lot accident is the single most disputed accident out there.
- If you do not have a witness, talk to the business owners (or managers) of stores in that parking lot. Many parking lots in America have surveillance cameras and it is likely that the accident was recorded. This will be the single most important piece of evidence.
- If there is no video, take pictures of the parking lot or draw a diagram of the accident. It can simply be boxes and lines to show the position of the vehicles. This will help your insurance claim’s adjuster determine how much visibility you had, etc.
How to Determine Who is at Fault:
People are expected to drive their vehicles with care and thought. Failure to do this is the cause of many accidents and can lead to lawsuits. There can be no-fault accidents, in which case the person who had the right of way is not responsible for the loss. However, if you were backing out of a parking spot and hit a car, you would be at fault since you had the greater duty of care when backing out of your spot. Even though the other person may not have had their lights on or was driving very quickly, because they had the right of way, they’re not at fault. Now if both parties are backing out of parking spots and collide, the loss could be considered 50/50 in which case both parties are partially at-fault.
How to Avoid Parking Lot Accidents:
Park far away from other vehicles, if possible Use a turn signal when making a turn, even in a parking lot Park in the center of a parking space – not on the lines Pay EXTRA attention when pulling into and backing out of parking spots Drive VERY SLOWLY in parking lots – be careful when entering and exiting a parking lot Do not park next to obstructions or hazardous objects Try to get an End parking spot A worthwhile investment that I strongly recommend is getting the back-up sensors installed on the rear bumper of your car, especially if you drive a pickup truck, SUV or van. The back- up sensors will run about $300 – $400 but if it prevents just 1 small claim it was well worth it, especially when you consider that most people have a $500 collision deductible.
Few key points to understand before life insurance cover
February 1st, 2011Obtaining a life insurance policy to protect yourself as well as your family is essential. There are many things to consider before applying for life insurance policy cover. Though most of the people have general concept or perception about life insurance but having more depth knowledge will surely help you in gaining best life coverage amount.
Buying life insurance coverage
- You must obtain life insurance cover earlier in your life in order to get lower premiums. Do not wait the time until you absolutely in dire need of life insurance coverage. Actually when you will be older, it will be more difficult for qualifying for an insurance policy. Therefore covered yourself with life insurance policy in earlier stage of your life.
- You need to choose the best insurance company buy your insurance plan. You need to consider direct company plans for short term basis also in order to keep secure your money invested in life insurance. You can also withdraw your money in any emergency if you invested in short term insurance plan.
- It’s really interesting to see varying prices of different companies. Therefore you have to shop around to get the quotes from different companies in order to monitor premiums and other charges. Since technology is providing several things in the favor of human beings, so we can use the internet to search out the best insurance company which will provide us good coverage at lower premiums. You can compare prices, rates, charges and premiums of different companies over the web. The insurance companies who are prevailing in the market offer best plan. However you need to decide which plan is best suited to your budget and give more security.
- Another considerable point is stay healthy in order to get the best rates. It is obviously correct that the healthier you will be the better rates you get. It means anything which shortens your life expectancy will raise rates and premiums automatically. So you must be cautious towards your health to take best rates on your life insurance policy.
- You must keep reviewing your coverage frequently to get the relevant information about your coverage. Another considerable point is reviewing your options. There is a plethora of options available to choose from in life insurance policy plans. Therefore you need to monitor the best plan which gives you more benefits of your insurance policy.
Finally, it is not end up here to knowing about life insurance plan. There are several perspectives still available to understand. However these points are the basic points that will help you to get the best plan and how to keep it active according to your requirements and needs. Having life insurance policy leads you a secure and worry-free life. Therefore, everyone must have to consider basic points for contacting to any agent of Life Insurance Company. Do remember that always choose the renowned insurance company which has a reputation in the market in order to keep you invested the money safe. Make sure that your chosen insurance company is authorized one.
Multi –car discount
December 9th, 2010Have you planned to buy a new car for yourself this year? Are you aware about the types of car insurances available in the automobile insurance market? If yes, then it would help you in many ways, but if you are not aware about car insurance policy, the best and immediate thing that you can do right now is to consult auto insurance company, especially if you are searching for any unique kind of car insurance like multi-car insurance and the discounts thereof.
One of the largest auto insurance discounts is the multi-car discount, and you can easily avail the discount anytime after you have bought the car. The multi-car discount is a cheap option, and moreover, it offers you the best solution in order to give you complete peace of mind. Look out for Auto Insurance Montgomery County, or you can also search for professional and more organized insurance companies out there in Warrington, Bucks County, Southampton, Levittown etc.
Let’s discuss about what multi-car insurance is all about? How it is discounted for your car? For example, if you have one car at home, it is quite obvious that you’d go for single car insurance, but if you have more than one car and automobile to your home, how you go about? What you’d like to do in such a situation? Would you go for separate car insurance for a new car? If yes, then would it be a feasible option to carry forward, especially if you end up paying ridiculous car insurance policy premiums every month! Keeping all these repercussions and hindrances in mind, auto insurance companies came out with an effective multi-car insurance policy discount that not only offers comprehensive car insurance policy but also handsome discounts to the car owner who have more than one car in his or her possession.
As per the guidelines and instructions of multi-car discount insurance policy, if you insure more than one vehicle on single auto insurance policy, you can save on the monthly premiums by almost 10 to 35 percent. Moreover, the multi car discount policy also comes a handy option if your kid who’s between 16 and 18 years of age insisting to drive the car. It is significant to note here that child auto insurance is expensive and it turns out to be really expensive if you have more than one male kid and both of them are insisting to drive the car. But, with multi-car discount, you just don’t have to struggle to buy a highly expensive car insurance policy for your kid. All you need to do is to include the name of your kid within your insurance policy and get set started to make him drive your precious car, because now he’s completely safe.
Now cover your damage cause due to volcanic Eruption
November 12th, 2010Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes are natural phenomenon that nobody can evade and nobody can prevent … not even most experienced army of scientists too. In such a situation the only thing a lame human being can do is to enter into a compromise, and that is the right solution for everybody. The best way to do a compromise and which also turns out to be beneficial is to hire an insurance company and shop for home, life and car insurance against the disasters of volcanic eruptions.
You can easily shop for insurance deals against volcanic eruptions if you hire an experienced natural disaster special company. There are many insurance companies that offer a complete range of insurance solutions against the natural disasters and calamities, including volcanic eruptions. Insurance Company Bensalem is one of them, besides; you can also search for seasoned and professional insurance company out there in Warrington, Bucks County, Southampton, Levittown and many more. These insurance companies are aware about all the natural causes that can strike, and how to help an individual in those hours of need. The natural disaster and calamity insurance is done to help an individual financially from the loss which has occurred from any human or natural disaster. These disasters largely include, fire, floods, earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, thundering, lightening, Tsunami, Katrina, Rita etc. The significant thing to find out here is the extent of damage. If the extent of damage is really huge, then certainly the insurance claim is big, and most of the times it is 100% insurance coverage. Likewise, if the extent of devastation is not huge the insurance company will make the assessment of the damage.
In most of the cases the damages due to volcanic eruptions are more intense and widespread. Families staying close to a dormant or active volcano are given volcanic eruptions insurance coverage and it is a special type of coverage that offers more than what is lost as the result of serious natural calamity like volcanic eruptions.
The best way to know what will be the insurance coverage, and how much you’d otherwise get in the insurance coverage will largely depend on various factors. In such a situation it is always a good idea to check out with a professional insurance company that will provide you with the best and most updated information over the insurance coverage. This will turn out to be helpful for you and your family in case of natural disasters, just like in case of volcanic eruptions.
Shop for the insurance company online that provide you with comprehensive and exclusive insurance cover against volcanic eruptions. With the disaster of the type like a volcanic eruption, there’s always customized solution available, provided you hire professional insurance company for your needs. A professional and experienced insurance company can do a lot to help you in extreme critical situations.
“Kids’ Safety Korner”
October 22nd, 2010Halloween Safety Tips!
When kids get excited they can be reckless. And what could be more exciting that playing dress-up and getting free candy! It’s a fun-filled combination that could also lead to accidents and injury. So, let’s have fun AND be safe. Check out these tips…
The Costume
- Fire-proof materials are a must. And use light-colored material, or put reflective tape on them so drivers will see your child.
- Make sure the length will not trip your child
- Mask eye holes should be large enough for good peripheral vision. Better yet, skip the mask and try a hypoallergenic, non-toxic make-up kit. It will be more fun, too!
- Make sure any props have smooth, flexible edges in case your child, or someone else, falls on it
Trick-or-Treating
- Remind your kids that “all the time” safety still applies-like looking both ways before crossing, crossing with the lights, not getting into cars with strangers, staying on sidewalks or walking against traffic, etc.
- Either escort your children or make sure they travel in groups of three or more.
- Give them flashlight and an emergency cell phone, if you can.
- If you’re not going with them, map their route for them. Ask them to call if they plan on deviating from the map.
- Advise them to not eat anything while out. While tampering is rare, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Have a fun dinner before they go and they’ll be less likely to eat while out.
YOUR House
- Remove things that might cause someone to trip, including wet leaves and other slippery things
- Turn on outdoor lights and replace burnt out bulbs.
- Make sure any open flame-like candles and jack-0-lanterns are well away from walking paths. Let’s not lights any costumes on fire! Battery powered items are preferable
- Control your animals..for their safety and the safety of the kids. Pets can become unexpectedly frightened and “defend” themselves as a natural reaction.
- Consider alternative to candy for teats. Try fruit rolls, mini boxes of raisins, popcorn packets than can be prepared later. Even non-food treats the kids can use.
There’s a ton of information on the web about Halloween safety. Search for Halloween Safety or check these sites out…
www.sosnet.com/safety/hallowween.tip.html
FREE Halloween bags!
Visit the Gannon Insurance office and get free Halloween bags for your little ones. The bags include a coloring book, crayons and some treats!
Thanks very much for your business. We appreciate it!
Be Extra Careful When Driving or Pay Deerly!
October 22nd, 2010The Real Danger May Surprise You
Hitting deer is part of where we live. There are lots of roads, lots of cars on those roads and lots of deer crossing those roads. Car/deer collisions are inevitable.
A deer can cause a lot of damage to a car. Sometimes the driver or passengers get injured, but its rare. Even rarer still are serious injuries (for humans, that is) resulting from a deer hit. Where things get bad for the humans is when they swerve to miss a deer and instead find trees, embankments, bridge abutments and other cars.
So here are some tips for safe travels during our fall deer season.
Tips To Keep You And Your Loved Ones Safe
- Slow down. That’s pretty simple and always a good idea. Going 50-55 mph on a back road with a 35 mph limit is a recipe for deer disaster.
- Be extra alert during the fall. This is when deer are most active. It’s rut season, and they’re all running around with their hormones out of control.
- When you see one, assume there’s more! When that deer crosses the road 150 yards ahead of you, it’s likely her buddies are waiting in the wings. Slow down. Look carefully and proceed cautiously. AND put on your 4-way flashers! Even worse than hitting a deer is getting rear-ended by the guy coming up behind you.
- Brace yourselves animal-lovers…I love nature and animals as much as the next guy, but there’s a cold hard fact to face here. You, your passengers and other drivers are MUCH more likely to be seriously hurt, or even killed, when you swerve to miss the deer. I know it’s an eye-blink reaction to swerve. I’ve been there. But try not to.
- What should you do? Apply your brakes, keep the wheel straight and keep your car under control. Will you hit the deer? Maybe. But trading your life for its life, though unfortunate for the deer, seems a justifiable trade-off to me. Will you feel bad hitting and even killing the deer? Probably. But it won’t compare to hurting or killing another person instead.
- Did I mention…slow down! Low speeds allow you shorter braking distances. Maybe you can keep your car under control and NOT hit the deer, too.
“Is There An Impact On My Policy?”
In addition to these safety tips, keep in mind that hitting an animal is considered a “comprehensive” claim on your auto policy. It has no impact on your continued eligibility for insurance.
But, if you miss the deer and wreck your car, that goes on your record as an at-fault accident – affecting your price and eligibility for insurance. (I know that doesn’t seem fair, but don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just letting you know how it works.)
Why? Because, unfortunately, people lie – especially to insurance companies. When someone wrecks their car and says, “I had to swerve to miss a deer”, the adjuster has no way to verify the truth of it. If insurance companies accepted everybody at their word, suddenly every accident that ever occurred would be met with the explanation, “I had to swerve to miss a deer”!
Unfortunately, the few dishonest people penalize the honest majority. Such is life. So, if you miss the deer, but hit something else, it’s an at-fault accident as if the deer had never been there. (And sometimes it never was!)
Finally, people ask, “What if I hit the deer AND wreck my car?” Answer: That’s a comprehensive claim – NOT an at-fault accident.
Be careful out there. Watch out for the deer. You’ll see more and more in the coming months. Be cautious behind the wheel, and have a beautiful and safe fall season. Go Penn State!
Protect yourself from climatic threat: Umbrella Insurance
October 16th, 2010Umbrella insurance is a one stop solution for those business geniuses and creative businessmen and businesswomen who think in the future, and who really want to keep going ahead even if some kind of potential hapless situation strikes in their business. Just like you carry your umbrella to protect you from rain or heat, similarly, you opt for an umbrella insurance to protect your valuable financial assets. As compared to the professional liability insurance, umbrella insurance provides more extensive coverage, rather a comprehensive coverage that will help you in the event where your basic coverage soaked.
A foresighted businessman, or business woman or for that matter any individual who always wants to be protected, umbrella insurance is there to give them all the protection life long. With plenty of insurance companies listed out there on the internet, it becomes almost difficult to know which company will provide the best umbrella insurance. Whether it is insurance Company Bensalem, Levittown, Warrington, or Southampton, you need to do an extensive shopping comparison to get a better idea on the umbrella insurance and see the maximum number of benefits covered under an umbrella insurance policy.
Again, you also need to think from a wider perspective. Umbrella insurance is not all about protecting your business in case of any disaster, or protecting your fixed assets, in fact, the insurance policy has been designed to protect you completely as an individual. You just can’t remain oblivious about your responsibilities that you have against your immediate family. Can you? Therefore, umbrella insurance policy is the right means to opt for. The insurance also serves a complete ideal option in case you get entangled in any lawsuit might be due to wrong business decision or anything for that matter. Umbrella policy can also be your best choice in case you are about to lose all immovable assets either as the result of natural disaster, or any financial crunch.
You know pretty well that in life any kind of eventuality can occur anytime, and therefore, it is umbrella insurance that will offer you the right protection, just when you require the most. All you need to do is to hire a professional insurance company that can look after you and prevent you from those financially critical situations by offering you umbrella insurance.
The two most significant advantages of umbrella insurance policies are:
1. It gives more comprehensive and more secured coverage to you than all the other individual policies known to you.
2. The policy covers your significant assets and that too at relatively easy monthly premiums.
Umbrella insurance policy is designed to give you complete coverage and extended coverage all through the years and all through those difficult times.
Newsletter July-August 2010
September 7th, 2010Click the link below to read the Ultimate Protection Consumer Awareness Newletter for news and tips to make your life easier, safer, and happier!
Garage Owner Outraged – Your Information Is Safe!
September 2nd, 2010The other day we got a fax from a garage owner who wanted to give us a piece of his mind. He was quite upset. Why? He needed an ID card for an inspection, and the owner didn’t leave one with the car.
Well, our policy is pretty simple. We don’t release your information to anyone without your permission. So, in such a case, we’ll call you to make sure it’s OK. Why?
First, there are privacy laws – the Graham-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 for one, and the Pennsylvania Information Security Program Regulation for another.
Now, in all honesty, I haven’t read either of these laws word for word. I leave that to the attorneys. But I know what they say … we are legally bound to protect your information from all unauthorized access, period. I and my staff take that responsibility very seriously.
Second, identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in America, perhaps the world. I’m not going to release information about you to someone else just because they call and ask for it! It doesn’t matter if they claim to be a family member, a mortgage company, a bank, a car dealer, another insurance agent … or a garage owner. For all we know, the person on the other end of the phone is a criminal. It’s unlikely, sure. But I’m not going to be the one who takes that chance, when all it takes is a simple phone call to you to make sure.
Here are only some of the other ways we protect your privacy …
- We have a written Information Security Program in compliance with state law. All employees are required to read, understand and sign off on their responsibilities for protecting your information.
- We maintain the most modern computer firewalls to stop hackers from getting into the system. PLUS … we have a consultant try to hack in to ensure the firewalls are working!
- All documents – with as little as just your name on them – get cross-cut shredded and turned into confetti!
- And, going back to the beginning of my story … we don’t release your information to anyone without your permission.
Well, this garage owner was beside himself. But don’t worry! We don’t let anyone bully us into violating your privacy. We simply call you and get your permission. Almost every one of our clients thanks us for contacting them first. They appreciate us protecting their information.
Can it be a small hassle sometimes? It can be. So, here are some tips to help you avoid the hassle…
- Whenever possible, give current documents to third parties, so they have no need to contact us.
- If that’s not possible, give us a quick call or e-mail in advance and let us know who you’re dealing with. That way, we can help them immediately when they contact us. This is especially important when buying a new car!
- Make sure we have your current phone numbers, so we can get your permission pronto when needed.
Privacy laws are in place to protect YOU. Yes, sometimes they get in the way of a hassle-free life. Unfortunately, we can’t have it both ways. So, rest assured we place the privacy of your information first. The hassle of a 30-second phone call today far outweighs a stolen identity. I hope you agree.
Thanks for your business!
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