Where Insurance is an Art
In conjunction with Prepademy, I’ll be teaching the revised curriculum for The Institutes Associate in Claims Class, AIC 37, Managing Bodily Injury Claims, beginning August 28, 2013. For more information about this exciting web-based training opportunity, click this link.
We’re just winding up the Workers Compensation portion of the AIC. Prepademy is a convenient and easy way to study for your Associate in Claims designation.
Germond re-certifies her Senior Professional in Human Resources certification.
As part of my dedication to continuing education, I recently received my Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) re-certification. This renewal of my SPHR certification means that I stay current in human resources issues facing today’s business owners and claims departments.
The SPHR is the industry gold standard among human resource professionals. I keep up-to-date in this important area for two reasons: 1) because SPHR training supports me in becoming a more skilled curriculum developer and trainer and 2) because a lack technical talent both in the US and abroad impacts the insurance industry now and will even more so in the coming decades.
Here is the most recent version of Cavalcade of Risk, a bimonthly risk roundup. This month’s focuses mainly on health insurance, but there are always good risk management topics covered.
Cut rate auto and homeowners insurance may cost you big in the long run.
You no doubt frequently receive solicitations and ads from insurance companies promising to save you money on your auto or homeowners insurance. Most consumers are looking at each expense they pay to cut costs. However, buying cut-rate insurance may cost you much more in the long run.
Insurance is your first line of defense against life’s calamities. After a loss, these are just a few of the problems a good insurance company can help you solve.
Provide prompt and courteous service year round after a loss.
Provide knowledgeable adjusters who can assist you in making important post-loss decisions.
Find a top-rated repair shop to repair your damaged car.
Promptly and conveniently provide a replacement vehicle while your vehicle is in the shop if you purchased rental coverage.
Pay for a similar alternative living space if you are unable to occupy your home after a loss.
If you are sued after a loss, provide a strong defense with excellent legal counsel.
Provide prompt board-up services after a loss.
Help you locate a trustworthy contractor if your home or roof is damaged.
Cut-rate insurance carriers cost less because they generally provide fewer services and less coverage. The decision to purchase insurance should go beyond price. Protection for your home and family after a loss is priceless.
Several of my friends have recently been involved in auto accidents and found themselves lacking rental reimbursement coverage and gap coverage. Gap coverage helps make up the difference between a totaled new car and its depreciation if the vehicle is damaged while the owner is still “upside down.” A good independent insurance agent can help you avoid these necessary coverage gaps.
Don’t get suckered into buying insurance solely based on the lowest premium. If you have a loss, cheapest may cost you.
I’m teaching the new and improved Associate in Claims class, AIC 44 Workers Compensation Claims Practices, on-line at Prepademy. This class begins Thursday, May 23 at 5 p.m. Pacific time.
Register with Prepademy for a great preparation for the AIC 44 class. Visit this link for more information.
As a former workers compensation claims manager, I love teaching this class, especially in its new, streamlined format. And if you miss the live presentation, Sandy Masters, the owner of Prepademy, makes the classes readily available on line so you can view them at your convenience.
We hope you can join us!
Hoarding behaviors are on the rise. Take proactive steps to address problems head-on before they escalate to save you repair costs and potential liability.
Today animal and other hoarding cases are mainstream news and the stuff of television reality shows. Early in my career, I worked for a group of self-insured cities and experienced my first case of animal hoarding, if you consider a rat an animal.
In a small Bay Area apartment complex, fellow tenants walked by an apartment unit and noticed a rat sunning itself once in a while on the windowsill. No biggie, they thought. “Live and let live” is a Bay Area core value. Eventually as they passed, however, they noticed the curtains were chewed at the bottom. Still not a big deal. Until one morning, lots of rats were hanging out on the sill and the neighbors decided to peek under the ever-shortening curtain hem. What they saw freaked them out. There were many, many rats, hundreds in fact, scampering about or chillin’ on the furniture, maybe even watching Animal Planet. Neighbors called the management company which turned to the city for help. As the city’s claims representative, I arrived right after a Hazmat team.
Sure, it started out innocently enough – two rats that bred. Then those rats bred. Then the tenants turned their bedroom into the “rat room” and moved into the living room. Soon, rats were everywhere, hundreds when I arrived, as city workers in respirators caged and counted.
“Domestic squalor” is a term used by professionals to define people who slowly destroy their own living quarters. Those who stockpile may experience extreme loneliness after the death of a partner or may have a mental disorder. However, despite the reasons one begins to hoard, landlords must proactively manage these issues to reduce liability. After all, others have to live near these blighted properties.
If you own a rental unit, you probably have a hoarding story or two of your own. Tenants who store papers, hoard animals or even cook meth may be in your story repertoire. Managing the general factors that encourage or discourage these types of problems and others in housing risks can help you to avoid contending with a big, big mess. Those factors are environmental, biological and equipment-related.
Environmental factors include crowded hallways, inadequate lighting which encourages acts like using dark areas as toilets, overgrown landscaping and floors in poor condition.
Biological factors include not treating vermin infestations, such as roof rats we harbor in inner city Phoenix. These pesky creatures destroy wiring and bring a host of other problems, including mites, rat waste and odor. Bedbugs, too, have become a national problem.
Equipment factors like leaking boilers and other poorly maintained equipment are frequently the root cause of other injuries and incidents like mold.
Only by frequent condition assessments of your tenant-occupied properties can you hope to discourage hoarding and other problems. Here are some tips to help you reduce the exposure to hoarding losses.
Landlording is never simple, but with many living alone without family support, hoarding behaviors are on the rise. Take proactive steps to address problems head-on before they escalate to save you repair costs and potential liability.