Talk to Your Insurance Agent About Options for Your Business

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Starting a small business can seem like a good idea. Due to high unemployment rates, many job seekers resort to accepting the first job they are offered. This often results in worker dissatisfaction due to not liking co-workers, supervisors, or the work itself. By starting a company and working for yourself, you set your own hours and provide a service or product in which you have an interest. Plus, if you do not like your boss, you have only yourself to blame. A common mistake that people make when planning to start their own business is failing to take into account the need for specific safety measures. Sit down with an insurance agent before opening a business to find out what types of insurance you may need.
One very good reason to have insurance for your small business is that people are litigious. Slipping and falling in a big box store is the ideal situation for an opportunistic plaintiff, but any company will do just fine when it comes to collecting on an alleged personal injury. A general liability policy will protect you from possible bankruptcy resulting from legal fees, judgments, and settlements stemming from an injury at your business. Obtaining a general liability policy is probably less expensive than you think, and an insurance agent can help you find coverage for only what you need based on your location and the type of organization you are operating. Another strategy used by the professional plaintiff is to file a lawsuit if they are involved in an accident with a company vehicle. If your business transports employees, products, or equipment in its own vehicles, those vehicles should be insured. Alternatively, non-owned auto liability coverage will offer protection in the event that employees using their own cars on company business are involved in an accident and lack adequate insurance coverage.

A business owner’s policy may be a good option for you if you are concerned about premium costs. This type of policy bundles together some of the most popular types of coverage into one package at an affordable premium. An owner’s policy often includes business interruption, property, vehicle, liability, and crime coverage.

Finally, you may want to consider a new type of coverage known as data compromise. Given the very public data breaches that occurred during the 2013 holiday season, it might be a good idea to discuss with an insurance agent whether or not you could benefit from this type of coverage. If you have non-public information about your clients or employees, you are responsible for protecting that information from being stolen. Some policies allow you to quickly respond to a breach by informing affected customers, credit monitoring services, and good faith advertising expenses, which can help restore your reputation following any unwanted attention.

Starting a business is a significant investment, and having appropriate insurance plays an important role in protecting that investment. Not insuring your company can be far costlier than annual premiums in the event of an accident, crime, or other disaster.

How Driving Licence Insurance Can Save you Money

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If you were asked to list your most highly prized possession, it’s likely your driving licence wouldn’t make the top 10. Yet, when you consider all that it enables you to do, it might be worth a little reconsideration.
Having a driving licence affords a level of independence and freedom that previous to, would not have been possible. Whether it’s popping to the shops at a moment’s notice or not having to rely on train times to dictate your daily plans, it’s safe to say that your little pink card makes life a whole lot easier. So what are you doing to protect it?

With life’s everyday demands and stricter sanctions on speed limits, it can be all too easy to tot-up points on your licence. These can, in turn, lead to a driving ban. In the UK last year, 92,136 motorists were disqualified from driving (IAM, 2014) emphasising that licence loss is very much a reality.

If you were at risk of losing your licence how would you cope?

The legal fees involved in a motor prosecution defence can be eye-wateringly expensive, not to mention stressful. And if you were disqualified as a result, adapting to your new circumstances can be difficult. Without the freedom to drive away at a moment’s notice, you’d have to rely on taxis and public transport to get from A to B. In time, the daily cost of travel can really mount up, an added expense you could do without.

The great news is that there are many insurance products out there specifically designed to give disqualified drivers a helping hand. Some insurers for example, offer a disqualification benefit, providing monthly instalments to the insured during their disqualified period. This benefit can be used to finance alternative transportation costs, providing a clever way to combat post-ban bank-balance woes.

Typically, these policies also include much more than just a disqualification benefit, offering services such as motor prosecution defence to try to prevent your disqualification. Always in the hands of a trained professional, motor prosecution defence provides another way to save money by side-stepping unexpected legal costs, helping to evade or at least reduce the effects of your prosecution.

Insuring your driving licence will help ensure that, whatever lies in the road ahead, life can drive on smoothly.

How a Home Warranty Benefits Buyers

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Entering into a contract to buy a house is not a small commitment. When entering into a real estate transaction, buyers can utilize numerous tools to protect themselves. A home warranty is one way to ensure that you will not experience unexpected expenses from repairs to your residence.
Reliable Repairs

When something goes wrong with an appliance or system covered by a home warranty, you can simply call the insurance provider to schedule repair service. For example, if the heating or cooling system stops working or the refrigerator begins making a funny noise, you can call to make a claim. The company will handle the situation, stepping in with a professional who will diagnose the problem and resolve the issue. The professionals who provide service under the terms of the home warranty will be pre-screened to ensure high-quality workmanship.

Protection from Expenses

Having a warranty in place will protect you from unexpected expenses. During the initial term of the contract, you can avoid typical expenses that accompany wear and tear on systems and appliances. Once the initial policy expires, you also have the option of renewing it to continue your coverage. In this way, you can insulate yourself from many of the service expenses associated with owning a home. Most policies do not institute service limitations. This means that you can receive repair or replacements for as many components as necessary.

Fast Claims Process

When you call for a claim, you can anticipate a fast turnaround for service. The insurance company will respond quickly with a qualified contractor who will visit to inspect the problem. Once diagnosed, the company will quickly perform the repair or replacement. If a contractor is not available within a specified time period, most companies will allow you to use a different contractor outside of their approved network to ensure fast service.

Replacement

Appliances and systems wear out over time and with use. With a home warranty in place, if a covered appliance or system breaks down and needs to be replaced, the policy will cover the cost to replace and install the new system or appliance.

Locksmith Services

Many policies also offer locksmith services to policyholders. With this service, if you lock yourself out of your house, you can receive free assistance from the locksmith as a service of the contract. Check to see whether the contract stipulates a limit on the number of times per year you can call a locksmith.

Appliance Upgrades

If you opt to upgrade appliances before they wear out, your policy may provide you with significant discounts for your purchases. Check the terms of the contract to learn whether you can receive discounts on future appliance purchases.

Build Your Own Plan

Explore options for building a coverage plan that fits your unique needs. Many companies offer customization options, such as choosing which items are included in the plan and determining the desired level of coverage. This ensures that you don’t pay for coverage that you don’t need.

When you have a home warranty, you can relax after a home purchase knowing that you have coverage in place that will protect your budget from unexpected expenses and costly repairs.

How New Technology Can Help Achieve First-Time Deliveries

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Efficiency is paramount for a courier company, and in order to maximise potential profits, successful first-time deliveries need to be happening regularly. Read on to find out how you can achieve this and ultimately make your company smarter and stronger.
What Am I Doing Wrong?

Hopefully you aren’t doing anything wrong yet! The question is, how can you make what you are doing better and more efficient? The first step is learning to accept and trust the new technologies that are becoming increasingly popular for delivery work. Companies are constantly looking for the latest device that will allow drivers to plan routes quickly, avoid hazards on the roads and optimise potential shortcuts and opportunities.

Telematics There are numerous telematics providers that can help your company achieve these all-important first-time deliveries and, in addition, make the most of your vehicle when it’s empty. Delivery software such as Fleetmatics, Causeway and Masternaut (to name a few) can all provide solutions for your business in terms of maximising profits. This could include tracking software, which involves locating vans with empty loads and allowing exchange members to take more deliveries on their return journeys. Assigning more delivery work to a single driver will not only be better for the environment, but will most certainly be better for your company’s bottom line.

Some software allows data insight into your vehicles (speed, fuel usage, mileage etc). This makes large fleets simpler to manage and more cost-effective. Others such as Microlise can help further reduce the environmental impacts of your vehicles, as well as improve your driver safety and performance.

Mapping Data

Planning and customizing routes can make delivery work far easier and more resourceful. Technology like a planning application can map several routes at once to a location, choosing the most appropriate for your journey based on traffic data. A driver can then visualise the route and compare it with those they have previously driven. Using this software, a driver can also re-order the stops to suit any unexpected changes along the way.

Once a route is accepted on the computer or mobile app, it can automatically notify the customer of a one-hour ETA time slot. This has been largely successful among its users, with 98% of deliveries being received first time. Again, this programming can be customised by the driver.

Informing the customer in this way can make your company appear extremely reliable and efficient – if you are on time, of course. The customer can also begin to trust the couriers, as they are able to interact with them through the technology – choosing a time slot for the delivery of their package and adding extra information for the driver where necessary.

Norman Dulwich is a correspondent for Courier Exchange, the world’s largest neutral trading hub for same day delivery work in the express freight exchange industry. Over 5,400 member companies are networked together through the Exchange to fill empty capacity, get new clients and form long-lasting business relationships.