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What is EPLI?

So happy you asked!  EPLI stands for Employment Practices Liability Insurance, and it’s probably the coverage your business needs but doesn’t have.  EPLI protects business from lawsuits involving employees or former employees who feel they have been wronged by someone at the company.  While we would like to imagine that this is a rare occurrence, the fact of the matter is that these lawsuits happen all the time.

60% of all companies have been sued by a former employee.  That is a staggering figure that should put even the most confident of business owners on high alert.  Out of those lawsuits, the most common type is an Employment Practices claim, not a property or General Liability claim!  Any size business needs this coverage, but if you have even ten employees or more, it should be mandatory in order to adequately protect your company’s assets.

One of us will probably sue you.

What does it cover?

According to our partners at USLI, a good EPLI policy should contain:

• A commitment to defend all claims even if they are later found to be groundless, false or fraudulent.
• A responsibility to bear all defense costs above retention as well as not having defense costs erode limits of liability.
• Coverage for FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) claims.
• A “Defense and Settlement” provision.
• A “Full Prior Acts” provision that covers (most) client actions that happened before the policy started.
• Punitive damages should be included in loss.
• Full Severability

The bottom line is that a proper EPLI policy should protect you from labor disputes, inappropriate behavior claims and other employer-employee disagreements while making sure there is coverage for settlements and other legal costs.  That’s a lot of valuable protection for the most common lawsuit a business can face.

Search results for: labor attorney.

Part of your risk portfolio.

EPLI is an important addition to the collection of policies that protect your business.  While most coverages that you have are contained in a Commercial Package Policy (CPP), there are other policies that are not part of a package.  Employment Practices Liability is one of those, like Commercial Auto or Cyber Liability, that need to be added separately to make sure that you are completely covered.

Do I need EPLI?

How do I get EPLI?

The best way is to contact your agent, or one of ours here at Alliance.  We love helping business with EPLI coverage, and recommend this vital protection for all of our businesses as a part of their risk management portfolio.

Fill out the form below and let us know if you need EPLI – and find out how reasonable it can be to make sure your business is safe from this common risk.

How can I lower my auto premium?

It’s something we hear every day.  There isn’t a person in America that doesn’t think they pay too much for auto insurance, and whether that is because they’ve heard it on television or because they probably ARE overpaying, most of us want to pay less for the coverage we have.  So let’s look at some sure fire ways to reduce the amount we pay – today.

And there’s a bonus secret at the bottom of the page.

Secret #1 – Set up automated bank payments.

Say what?  That matters?

It sure does.  This is a simple, easy fix that just about anyone can do to get a discount on their car insurance.  As I spoke about in my Package Policy blog and video, insurance companies love loyalty – and who doesn’t?  Signing up to pay by EFT, bank draft, whatever you want to call it, tells the company that you will pay in full and on time every month, making you the perfect customer.  Insurance companies reward such behavior because it is in their best interest to do so – and it is in your best interest too!  So make sure you sign up for automated payments and give yourself an easy break on your auto premium.

This is also great because it helps prevent a lapse in coverage, which can really mess you up.  A lapse can lead to higher premiums and fees to reinstate your policy.

Wait, did I pay my car insurance?

Secret #2 – Or just pay the whole thing at once.

You can do that?

You sure can, and paying your entire premium, or what we call Pay in Full, is a great discount for those able to take advantage of it.  This discount exists for similar reasons to the automatic bank payment secret, as the ultimate way for your insurance company to know that you will pay on time is if you pay it all up front.  Makes sense right?  This method of saving on your auto premium is one that can be available to just about anyone for those can can plan for it.  Even if you think you can’t afford to pay it all at once this year, sign up for automatic bank payments first, set aside money to pay your premium next year as you go, and then pay next year’s premium off at all at once when your policy renews.

We are all going to pay for the entire amount of premium anyway, so paying up front really isn’t that different from stretching it out.  It is more of a mentality shift, as in the modern era we expect all things to be paid month-to-month.  But trust me, when you find that you’ve saved $50-200 a year on your auto premium, you’ll be happy you planned accordingly.

I just cut out avocado toast for a month and paid my car insurance.

Secret #3 – Get a renters insurance policy.

I need another policy?

Well, yeah, you do.  If you have a car you probably live somewhere, either in a house or in an apartment.  Over 90% of homeowners have insurance for their home, so this goes mostly to my renters (though you homeowners really should combine your policies under one carrier for the same reasons I’ll get to in a sec).  For those of you that don’t know, the best discount you can get is the multi-line discount, or a package/bundled policy discount.  This is usually somewhere around 10% off of your auto premium, which is huge.  And not only do you get this discount on your auto policy, you also get a discount on your other policies with the same carrier as well, such as a renters (or homeowners), personal umbrella policy, or anything else.

All of this is really a no-brainer for you renters out there, because with renters insurance being usually less than $200 a month, the discount can almost pay for itself!  Depending on your situation, adding a renters policy can make your auto-renters combo a buy-one-get-one-free deal (but not guaranteed, so don’t quote me on that).

It’s cool – my shoes are covered under my renters policy.

It pays to pay and stay.

So the real secret?  Pay the right way, get the right policies, and stay with the same company.  If you pay with automatic bank transfer or in full, and if you have your personal belongings covered with the same company either through your home or renters policy, you save money on your auto premium.  Period, end of story, all the time.  It works.  You should do it.

And one more way to save money is this:

Bonus Secret!

Stay with the same company!  Most companies offer discounts for loyal members and will give breaks to customers that have been with them for three years or more.  So if you are thinking about switching and you’ve been with a company for two years or so, call your agent and ask if you might be getting a discount soon for being so cool and loyal.  The answer may surprise you.

If you find yourself wondering how you pay, or if you’ve decided to go ahead and get a renters policy, fill out the form below and let us know!  We’d love to hear about how we can help you save time and money, all the while giving you a little more peace of mind.

Aren’t they the opposite?

We typically think of investing and insurance as two completely different things.  With investing, you put your money somewhere with the hope that it grows, giving you a return on what you put down.  With insurance, you put your money somewhere to avoid paying more later if something bad happens.  But they share one really important thing in common: risk.

Hey y’all, watch this.

Look at your portfolio: you’ve got all your bases covered, your investments are careful and diversified, protecting you from risk.  You know how to protect yourself in the market and you watch your balance grow every year with satisfaction.  Putting your eggs all in one basket means the possibility of losing everything, so intelligent investors will avoid this in order to minimize any potential fallout.  Diversification is just many ways of avoiding risk.  But minimizing risk – while maximizing return – is the name of the game.

So what about insurance?  Do we look at our own lives the same way we look at our investments?  Most of us do not, thinking that if we have our automobiles insured and our house covered then we are probably fine.  But if we thought about insurance the same way we thought about investing, we would look at it quite differently.  To start, let’s look at how exposed to risk we actually are.

How Exposed Are You?

You probably have your cars, trucks, and home covered from risk in the form of auto and homeowners insurance.  But what about your boat?  Your motorcycle?  Do you have an umbrella policy to protect against liability risks like lawsuits and other unknown circumstances?  If you’re a business owner, is your business insured?  Do you have a Life insurance policy to protect your family from the worst possible scenario?

Each of these represent a risk that insurance has been created to cover.  But most of us don’t have all of the policies to cover the entire “portfolio” of insurance risk.  Not only that, but some of the policies we do have don’t cover everything we think they do.

My work-from-home business is covered by my house.  Right?

So, if we looked at insurance the same way we look at investing, what would that look like?

Minimizing Insurance Risk.

Insurance works by transferring risk from the consumer to the insurance company.  And to make sure we minimize as much risk as possible, we should have a policy that covers all of our exposures.  Auto, Home, Boat, Motorcycle, Personal Umbrella, Life and Health are all pieces of a larger portfolio of insurance, policies that help you manage risk in your personal or business life.  Another way of looking at it is to imagine that each policy is a piece of armor.

The complete Package Policy.

Your auto and homeowners insurance may cover your head and your heart, but what about the rest of the body?  Each additional policy helps cover another part of you that is exposed to risk, resulting in complete protection that can help keep your family safe no matter what takes a swing at you.

Making sure that you’re completely covered is the main reason to insure all of your risks.  But there’s another reason to have all of these policies, especially if they are with the same company.

Maximizing Return.

With investing, maximizing return is all about making the most money for the least amount invested.  With insurance, it is about spending the least amount for the maximum coverage.  Just paying as little as possible on your auto insurance isn’t always the best strategy – you never hear someone bragging about only paying the minimum into their 401k, do you? – having a small premium but only having minimum limits of coverage is often a terrible idea.  Even a small accident can leave you owing money out of your own pocket.

What do you mean my $30 a month policy doesn’t cover this?

Instead, savvy consumers find value in a variety of discounts, none better than the multi-policy discount.  Not only is this a big discount (usually around 10%) but it affects every policy you have with the same company, adding wave after wave of value.  Making sure that you have your policies with the same carrier can help to give you a big boost when it comes to maximizing the most coverage for the least amount of premium.

Know Risk, Know Reward.

It turns out insurance is kind of like investing:  risk plays a big part in both, and you want to make sure you maximize the value you get from what you pay into it.  But in investing we try to minimize risk, while in insurance we try to transfer it to our insurance company.

If we ignore risk and leave a boat without a boat policy, jewelry that isn’t added to your homeowners policy, or a family that doesn’t have life insurance, we are simply rolling the dice in the game of life.  Investors rarely take such reckless, cavalier attitudes with their money, so it is surprising that so many of us have this attitude with the things that matter the most in our lives.

How bad could it be?

Don’t gamble with your life.  Call us, email us, or fill out the form below for an annual insurance review to find the missing gaps in your risk portfolio.  Being proactive can save you from some massive unseen headaches in the future – and can probably save you some money to boot.

Motorcycle (safety) season is here.

The sun is out, the leaves are green, the water is warm – all reasons to get the bike out, wipe it down, and hit the road.  Whether you ride all year or just for quick trips in great weather, now is the time to enjoy the experience that only your motorcycle and a great ride can give you.  But, as insurance agents, we want to make sure you come back from the ride in one piece.  So let’s talk about motorcycle safety.

I know, I know, no one wants to.  But whether you are hitting the mountains for the Parkway, or heading downhill for a little get-together at the beach, or just going to the store for a loaf of bread, the chances of you having a great time are increased exponentially if you do it safely.  And it’s more than just remember to fill up on gas – though you probably should.  So let’s go over some of the basic things we can do to be safe on the road.

Sweet ride.  Wish it had gas.

The Overhead View

How big of a deal is motorcycle safety?  Look at it like this: motorcycles only make up 3% of vehicles that are on the road, but account for 13% of all people killed in traffic accidents.  I’ll let that sink in for a minute.  And it isn’t just young guys out being stupid that are getting hurt.  36% of motorcycle deaths were riders aged 50 and up.  Add all that up and you have a small population of people that are on motorcycles, but they are much more likely to be hurt or killed in traffic accidents, no matter what their age.

Luckily, there are a few things we can do that help prevent us from ending up as a bad statistic.  Starting with that thing that goes on your cranium.

Check Your Head

I’m sure everyone has told you this already.  Your spouse has told you, your co-worker has told you, heck, even usually cool guy in your fantasy football league has told you: wear a helmet.  But it isn’t just that everyone likes telling you what to do – but they totally do.  No, there’s actually science and math that backs this all up, so lets get that.  I promise, no nagging.

Here’s the basics according to the CDC: helmets reduce the risk of dying by 37%.  They reduce the risk of head injury by 69%.  The total economic cost of accidents without helmets is $1 Billion per year.  Crazy right?  Wearing a helmet is the cornerstone of motorcycle safety, and knowing how they work and how to care for them is super important.  Also, never buy a used helmet – any impact such as a crash will use up the structural integrity of the helmet even if it looks the same.  Helmets are useless after they have suffered such an impact, so don’t risk your own head to save a few bucks.

See Dan, I told you I wear a helmet!  Now trade me Aaron Rodgers.

The Road More Traveled

Lot’s of riders think that regular or “surface” roads are safer than highways and freeways, but the math isn’t on their side.  A whopping 91% of accidents between passenger vehicles and motorcyclists happened on country or urban roads, making highways astoundingly safe by comparison.  And the most dangerous place on these streets for motorcycle safety?  Intersections.  One study found that more than half of all accidents involving a motorcycle occurred at an intersection.  Take care not to speed through them, always stop at stop lights and signs, and pay particular attention to vehicles coming from behind you.

Does my beard count as protective clothing?

No Such Thing As Beginner’s Luck

When it comes to motorcycle safety, being a rookie isn’t a good thing.  It takes more skill to handle these well-built machines out on the road than it does a car or truck, and the time to find that out is not the day you get your first Harley because you always thought they looked cool.  Treat yourself and your motorcycle with the respect it deserves and take a safety course.

Wait, what?  You’re too cool for school?

Well check this out: over 50% of motorcycle accidents involve a newbie with less than five months of riding experience.  Pair that with the fact that over 80% of motorcycle accidents end up with someone being injured or killed, and you can see just how dangerous being a new rider can be.  A new rider has a very good chance of being in an accident and hurt or even killed.  Signing up for a course is a sure fire way to get experience and training before you hit the road.  Some courses even have awesome tracks for you to test out and can teach skills that will put you ahead of your friends who are getting into the bike life with you.

A great resource for courses and what they are like is the Motorcycle Safety Foundation.

Good news: I can handle my ride now.  Bad news: I’m lost.

Fishes Get Stitches

It goes without saying, but that has never stopped us before.  DON’T DRINK AND RIDE.  43% of all fatal motorcycle accidents involved an inebriated rider.   Getting on your bike after you have had a few is simply a throw of the dice, and you or your passenger could pay the price if you come up sevens.  Or almost half of the other possible outcomes.

Another fact from the National Safety Council is about the type of motorcycle you ride.  According to their research, from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, “‘supersport bikes’ have driver death rates about four times that of cruisers or standard bikes.”  Take care in selecting the right bike for you, and if you do have one of the faster models, make sure you treat it with the care.  Four times more likely to die is no laughing matter.

What’s with all the black and white photography?

Take It Easy

The main piece of advice here is to treat your motorcycle with respect.  It is a vehicle that requires more skill and care than your average automobile or truck.  So treat them right, take it easy, and make sure you don’t end up as a statistic to be quoted because you got careless.

There are monetary benefits as well to being a safe motorcyclist.  A clean claims history can make a huge difference in your insurance premium, saving you hundreds of dollars a year.  Additionally, higher risk bikes are more expensive to insure, so having a clean record will make a massive difference in you being able to afford taking your new pride and joy out on the road legally.

To find out how motorcycle safety helps you with your insurance rate, call or email us today.  Or fill out the form below to speak with one of our agents ASAP.

How Much Is My Net Worth, Really?

Most of us think we have risk figured out.  We have our cars insured with full coverage, we have our homes or our apartments covered under homeowners or renters policies, respectively.  Almost everyone now has health insurance, and heck, a lot of us even have LIFE insurance.  We’re doing great, right?  Nothing could threaten what we own, let alone our entire net worth.

Unfortunately, these coverages aren’t usually enough.  If you have significant assets, even a mundane car accident could lead to a lawsuit that results in a hefty settlement.  While the liability section of your auto or homeowners policy provides substantial liability protection, usually between $100,000-300,000, the fact of the matter is that courts routinely award greater settlements than what these policies cover.

So, first thing’s first.  How much are you worth?  Because that is how much you have to lose.

Not sure?  Check out a super helpful Net Worth Calculator like this one.

Yes, that’s including your Blockbuster stock, Mrs. Conner.

How Likely is a Lawsuit, Really?

Considering that there is an entire industry dedicated to producing them, fairly likely.

According to the U.S. Financial Education Foundation, “[i]t is estimated that over 40 million lawsuits are filed every year in the Untied States and the total number of registered lawyers exceed one million.”  That’s a lot of paper getting pushed around by a lot of attorneys.  While many deal in matters that have nothing to do with tort law, there are hundreds of firms across the country who make their living by civil litigation such as suing after an auto accident or tripping in front of a person’s home.

It is incredibly easy to find information online urging people to file a lawsuit.  A great example is from Nolo.com, where they have an entire post called “Reasons To File A Car Accident Lawsuit.”  They go so far as to say this in the article:

Personal injury litigation boils down to money. If your lawyer believes that your case is worth significantly more than what the insurer is offering, and it is unlikely that the insurer will increase its offer in pre-suit injury settlement negotiations, then it is time to file a lawsuit. (Emphasis added.)

And what profit-minded attorney wouldn’t think they can get more?  After all, AllLaw.com says litigation lawyers make their money from contingency fees that are based on a percentage of the settlement, and “most contingency fees are between 33 and 40%.”  In order to make real money, they need settlements, and that means encouraging your fellow Americans to take you to court.

Let’s get down to business.

You also need to be on the lookout for Personal Injury suits.  These are lawsuits where someone feels injured or insulted and retaliates in court for damages.  Unfortunately, with the rise of social media and online interactions, these kinds of lawsuits are becoming more and more common.  Similar suits are for defamation, libel, and slander.  While you can be sued if you injury someone physically, you can also be sued if your teenager harasses someone else online.

How Much Will a Lawsuit Cost Me, Really?

It depends on if the suit involves an injury, and the opinion of the jury.

If someone is hurt in an accident, the costs can be exponentially increased.  Not only are medical expenses typically included in a settlement, but also loss of wages and, the wild card, pain and suffering.  Generally, the more severe the accident, the more all of these will cost.  If the worst happens and someone is killed in an accident that you caused, settlements average over $1,000,000.  In cases tried as Wrongful Death suits, awards can go as high as $30-150 Million.  These staggering numbers can see just one accident wipe out a family’s entire savings and all assets.

How Can I Be Protected, Really?

Really?  Get a Personal Umbrella Policy.

Come at me, bro.

These policies, also known as Excess Liability policies, offer liability protection that sits on top of your existing auto, home, and other base policies.  In the event that a lawsuit or legal fees are over what your base level policy provides, your Umbrella policy kicks in, offering over $1 Million to $5 Million dollars in extra protection.  And the crazy thing is that these policies aren’t even expensive.  A $1 Million Umbrella policy is typically between $200-300 a year.  That is a ton of extra coverage for not a lot of money, especially for something that could save you from losing everything you own.

If you have any assets at all, you really should be getting this necessary coverage.  When a trip to the grocery store can routinely cost $200, it should be a no-brainer to get $1 Million dollars of coverage for the same price.

For more information, call us, email us, or fill out the form below, and let one of our helpful agents walk you through what you’re really worth, and how easy it is to protect the whole enchilada.