I’m working with a Dallas area consulting firm which has experienced explosive growth over the past year in terms of both people and revenues. They are negotiating a lease for their first office space and will move out of the owner’s home in the coming months. It’s a very exciting time for them involving a lot of moving pieces, insurance being one of them.
I’ve been working with two general contractors this week. One is a custom home builder and remodeler in Dallas, and the other is a roofing company in Frisco. Both are getting general liability policies with a blanket coverage option for additional insured’s, and both wanted to understand what an additional insured is and why it matters to them.
I work with a number of clients who own rental property; some are just starting out with their first property while others have been at it for years and own multiple units. Most people who are starting with their first rental property tend to insure them with the same company that insures their primary home and cars. Those that own multiples may continue to insure theirs in the same way, but is this the best way?
I attended a class on cyber liability insurance earlier this week. It was hosted by one of my commercial insurance companies in their Richardson office. It covered a brief history of this insurance, outlined what’s covered, requirements, potential liability issues and impact, as well as data breach trends.
Hurricane Dolly struck South Padre Island on July 23, 2008 with winds near 100 miles per hour, a four foot storm surge, and 12 to 15 inches of rain. Damage to structures on the Island and in Port Isabel, across the bridge on the Texas mainland, was pretty moderate and consisted of mostly damage to roofs. Power was knocked out to most residents and businesses for one to two weeks. Anything perishable, whether in a business or home spoiled.
Over the past several weeks, I’ve had discussions and quote requests from 4 small business owners in the Dallas / Fort Worth area. Each of them is living the dream having started and building a successful small business through all of the hard work and long hours it takes to build a successful company. Each of the businesses are in different industries, but what was remarkable is their similarity as it related to their commercial insurance. Their commercial insurance coverage didn’t adequately protect them.
Unless you’ve totally unplugged from all news media and the internet over the past week, you’ve heard of the Heartbleed bug. The Heartbleed bug (it’s not a virus) is a vulnerability in the OpenSSL library, the software that makes your website and other sites secure when a person is reviewing banking records, making a purchase from your company, or updating their information or method of payment in their on-line account.
Over the last few months, I’ve worked with a number of small businesses around the Dallas / Fort Worth area regarding their commercial insurance. In each case, I begin the conversation by letting them know that getting a commercial insurance quote is much different than getting a quote for car insurance. In order to provide them with an accurate quote there are several items of information I need to gather to present to each of the underwriters I work with.
I’m currently working with several small business owners regarding their commercial insurance needs. One of the questions each of them have asked is what commercial insurance do they need to adequately protect themselves and their businesses. The answer is it just depends on the business. Some need general liability, others need business property coverage, and a couple need professional liability or errors and omissions (E&O) coverage.
On the afternoon of April 17, 2013 a fire broke out at the West Fertilizer Company in West, Texas, a town located a little more than an hour’s drive south of Dallas and Fort Worth on Interstate 35. The first responders to the fire included 10 members of the West Volunteer Fire Department, along with 2 other people who pitched in to help. At 7:50 that evening, an explosion rocked the West Fertilizer Company killing 15 people including the 12 people who responded to the fire and injuring about 200 people in town.
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