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How to Celebrate Safely

If childhood memories of 4^th of July festivities include such harmless fun as swimming holes and homemade ice cream, feel free to revive those traditions this year. But if you intend to “have a blast” (literally) until dawn’s early light, you’d be wise to take a few things into consideration.

Burn in the U.S.A.

The “rocket’s red glare” is a patriotic concept, but not when it’s the red glare of police lights because of illegal rockets you’re setting off in the backyard. If your city regulations forbid personal fireworks – heed the law.

But if you live in an area that allows you to buy, sell and use fireworks, have fun – but be cautious. You don’t want to be responsible for starting a blaze. Keep a water bucket or garden hose nearby while igniting and watching them light the sky. Don’t place fireworks in your pockets and be sure to dispose of them properly. Soak the fireworks and their packaging in water before discarding them in the trash. 

Freedom isn’t Accident-Free

If your neighborhood residents are allowed to set off personal fireworks which means you’ll be lighting up a Roman candle, a box of sparklers or a Piccolo Pete, be extremely careful. Remember that there’s a risk of burns, blindness and other possible injuries when you handle fireworks.

A couple of the worst offenders are bottle rockets and the seemingly tame sparklers. You can injure your fingers while twirling the long wands in the air because they burn at high temperatures. Plus, unfortunately, we tend to let kids handle sparklers when they’re too young to heed safety precautions.

There are several effective ways to minimize the possibility of a 4^th of July emergency:

• Point fireworks away from people, houses and vegetation.
• Don’t try to relight a dud, which is a firework that doesn’t ignite the first time.
• Never handle fireworks if you’ve been drinking alcohol.
• Wear safety goggles.

Stars & Scrapes

Celebrating outdoors with friends can mean fun in the sun. But sometimes mishaps turn a great day into a disaster. Consider the following rules:

• Hire or assign a lifeguard if swimming is a part of the party. Drownings often occur during group events, as no one assumes responsibility to keep a watchful eye.
• Use insect repellant to prevent insect bites and cover your skin with sunblock to minimize burning.
• Monitor grills at all times to keep little ones from burning fingers. Keep individuals at least 3 feet away from the barbecue.

In all likelihood, it will be an incredible nation’s birthday as always. But taking the time to go over details can make doubly sure it’s a safe holiday and leaves you with only memories of a good time.

After all, remembering the 4^th of July should include signing the Declaration of Independence, not signing an incident report!

Inland marine insurance is often misunderstood. In fact, most business owners don’t know what inland marine insurance is, despite the fact that this type of coverage could be vital in protecting some of the owner’s most valuable property.

Most of the confusion comes from the name.  Inland marine insurance was originally conceived to protect goods as they were shipped overseas. Today, however, the reach of inland marine insurance has increased to cover goods in transit over land, and even those that aren’t in transit at all.

More specifically, inland marine insurance covers a couple of different areas. One of the primary coverage that it offers is for valuable items in transit (over the water or on dry land). This could include anything that needs to move from one site to the other, such as equipment, rare art, high-priced merchandise, etc. … It can also include tools, both expensive and inexpensive, that your crew takes with them when they perform a job.

Many accidents happen during transit. A vehicle transporting the item could get into an accident, workers could drop or bump fragile items while moving it, or it could just be damaged from general rough handling. If any of this happens, inland marine insurance can cover the damage.

Beyond transit, there are other areas where inland marine insurance provides coverage that other types of insurance might not. For example, inland marine insurance also covers buildings that are under construction (builders’ risk/course of construction), computer data and accounts receivable.

Many business owners are surprised to learn that their business’s data and accounts receivables can be covered by insurance. Consider how valuable your data is, including all of your accounting software, lead tracking data, policies, procedures, and other electronic assets. If that data is lost or corrupted, it could drastically affect your profits, at least in the short term.

Finally, construction companies and contractors often overlook or decide not to purchase, inland marine insurance.  Thus, if tools or equipment are stolen, whether it be from a work truck, job site, or storage location, other more commonly purchased policies will NOT cover this type of loss.  Inland marine insurance must be placed to protect against stolen tools and equipment.

As you can see, inland marine insurance is a relatively complicated type of insurance, but that doesn’t mean it should be ignored or overlooked. It’s best to speak to a knowledgeable insurance broker to determine if inland marine insurance is a good idea for your business.

At Fusco & Orsini Services, we’d be happy to provide you with a free consultation to more thoroughly explain all the features of inland marine insurance and to help you determine if your business needs the protection of an inland marine insurance policy. Call us at (858) 384-1506 or contact us through our website.

A situation: Let’s say that you have some big potential clients coming into your business to learn more about the services that your company offers. You and your team have spent weeks putting the finishing touches on a presentation, and you’re sure that you’ll blow the potential clients away. As an after-thought, you send an intern out to bring back sandwiches for everyone.

 

Well, even though your presentation does impress your visitors and they sign on right away, not everything goes according to plan. The intern gets into an accident on his way back with the food, and the other driver sues your company for damages.

 

Many business owners don’t realize that any time they send an employee out for an errand or any other purpose related to the business, their company can be held liable if that employee causes an accident, injuries or damages, even if they’re driving their own car.

 

That’s why if your employees make trips for business purposes in their personal vehicles, you need to make sure that your company is covered by a non-owned auto liability insurance policy (it can be added to a business auto policy or business owners  policy(BOP) for a very small cost).

 

In a nutshell, non-owned auto insurance covers your company in the event that an employee causes damages or injuries while using their personal vehicle for company business.  You should definitely consider purchasing non-owned auto insurance if employees regularly use their own vehicles for business purposes such as:

• Picking up supplies for the business
• Picking up lunch or other meals for the business
• Delivering supplies to customers or clients
• Driving to meetings with vendors
• Making house calls to customers
• Driving to events on behalf of the business

 

It’s important to note that non-owned auto liability insurance only covers liabilities related to the business, not the employee. That means that if an employee has an accident while driving to the home of a customer, the non-owned auto insurance coverage will cover the business if it gets sued but will not cover any of the employee’s liabilities. In most cases, the employee’s own auto insurance should cover their own liabilities.  Furthermore, non-owned auto liability does not cover physical damage to non-owned vehicles.  Thus, in the example used above, the damage caused to the employee’s vehicle would not be covered by the employer’s policy.

 

Certain personal auto insurance policies now exclude claims that arise when the car was being used for business. It’s important for your employees to be aware of whether or not their personal auto policy has this exclusion, as it could put them at significant risk if they get in an accident when driving for the company.

 

Overall, it’s best to sit down with a knowledgeable insurance broker to determine if your company could benefit from non-owned auto insurance. At Fusco & Orsini Insurance Services, we’ll discuss how your employees use their vehicles to see if non-owned auto insurance is right for you. We can also help your employees find a strong and comprehensive personal auto insurance that won’t exclude coverage for accidents that occur during business use.

 

To learn more about non-owned auto insurance, give us a call at (858) 384-1506 or visit www.foagency.com.

If you or your employees regularly travel in rental cars as part of the job, or if your business rents trucks or other vehicles in order to provide a service, then it’s a very good idea to purchase hired auto liability insurance (it can be added to your business auto policy or business owners policy for a small cost).

Hired auto insurance protects your company in the event that you get sued for an accident, injuries or damages that you or an employee caused while driving in a rented (hired) vehicle when being used for business.

Many business owners don’t realize that if an employee is driving a rented vehicle for company business, the company could be held liable in the event of an accident for third-party injury or damage.

It’s important to note that hired auto liability insurance does not cover damages to the rental vehicle, so it’s probably a good idea for you and your employees to buy physical damage rental car insurance even if you already have a hired auto on your business auto policy.

You also need to be aware that your employee could still be liable if they cause an accident in a rental vehicle.  Hired auto insurance only covers the company if it gets sued, and not the employee.

Whenever your employees are on the road as part of the job, you need to make sure that your business is covered. If your employee is the cause of a bad accident, the damages could easily overwhelm their personal auto insurance policy or the basic rental car insurance policy. That means injured parties are going to come looking to your business for damages.

Further, your liability extends beyond your employees.  For example, if you (the business owner) happen to drive rented or leased vehicles at any time, you too are liable in the event of an accident.  Thus, it is important to add hired auto liability coverage to your business auto policy.

Hired auto insurance is relatively inexpensive, usually less than $150 a year, and can be added to a business auto policy or business owners (BOP) policy. In our opinion, purchasing hired auto coverage is a must if your and/or your employees rent vehicles even just a couple of times a year.

Want to learn more about hired auto insurance or see what policies are available for your business? Give Fusco & Orsini Insurance Services a call at (858) 384-1506 to schedule a no obligation, no pressure consultation with one of our insurance brokers. We’ll sit down and discuss the personal insurance needs of your business and then help you find the most cost-efficient, comprehensive coverage available. You can also visit www.foagency.com for more information.