Business insurance

Insurance in the time of corona

DaveGragg Business insurance, Business owner, Insurance agent
plague doc
Who wants to help me bring these bad boys back in style? (I guess I should have known http://www.plaguedoctormasks.com was a thing.)

If we’re lucky, the biggest threat COVID-19 poses is to the economy.

Social distancing means folks aren’t going to work, aren’t going out to eat, to the movies, etc., etc.

It’s better than watching a lot of people die, but it’s going to suck. The economy relies on people moving around and spending money.

So what can your insurance do?

Health insurance could be pretty important.

Life insurance is probably a good idea, too. You already have that in place, right? Because coronavirus probably isn’t going to get you, but that doesn’t mean something else won’t.

Other than that, I’m afraid your insurance may not be able to help a whole lot.

Call your agent if you have problems making a payment. They may be able to help — or at least make sure you know your options.

One of the things I’ve always impressed on small business owners is the importance of a provision that helps pay the bills if they have to rebuild after a covered loss.

So business income coverage that helps, right?

No.

An outbreak isn’t a covered loss.

I was frustrated when I found it out, too, but it actually makes sense.

An outbreak like this has such a small chance of happening and widespread, disastrous consequences that there’s no way to properly take it into consideration when companies figure premiums.

Either the premiums are so small the company wouldn’t bring in enough money to actually pay out as claims if they’re needed, or they’re so high that no one can afford them.

A tornado, earthquake or hurricane can devastate a region and an insurance company can absorb the loss and move on.

COVID-19 is knocking the entire nation to its knees.

There’s only one group that can help the economy keep moving in the short-term and recover in the long-term — the American taxpayer. And we’re still waiting to see how, exactly, the state and federal government plan to do that.

Business insurance — A small business saver

DaveGragg Business insurance, Business owner , ,

I feel bad for the guy I really do.

But it could have been easier.

Landscaper insurance
These things are expensive. Make sure you have a way to replace them if someone steals it. photo credit: Jo Zimny Photos James & The Giant Lawnmower! via photopin (license)

A post came through my Facebook feed.

A wife in Arkansas complaining about the lowlife who stole her husband’s lawnmower, weedeater and blower that he used in his business.

“This is my husband’s business…..our livelihood! I am a stay at home mom……this is what supports our family. This is what feeds our family!!”

I know. I sell things that no one ever wants to use.

But if you need it, that investment in small business insurance can save your livelihood and keep food on the family table.

It can replace what’s been stolen. Or blown away. Or burned.

It can pay you while you’re getting your business back up and going. 

There’s a whole host of things insurance can do.

It’s not always cheap. But it’s a whole lot cheaper than not having it.

Food Contamination Shutdown — Business coverage for restaurants

DaveGragg Business insurance , ,

Most of the time, a case of food poisoning means we won’t be getting too far from the bathroom for a while. Uncomfortable, but something we’ll recover from.

For a restaurant, it could be mean the end of a business.

I heard an ad on the radio the other day, a Springfield restaurant owner trying to lure customers back after a well-publicized series of health inspection failures.

If you’re in the Ozarks, you’ve probably already heard the ad or the closure, so I won’t go into details.

But if you’re a restaurant owner, I hope it makes you question, “What if?”

That’s the basis of my job as an insurance agent — asking “What if?” then finding a way to plan for it before it happens.

So, What if my restaurant had to shut down because of food poisoning?

Food contamination shutdown and food-borne illness business interruption are two of the coverages that you can include with your Restaurant Business Owners Package with Farmers.

Similar to business income insurance, these two coverages can pay for the loss of income if the health department shuts down your restaurant because of an actual or suspected contamination.

It can also help pay for loss of income because the health department announces that a case of food poisoning was traced back to your restaurant — or another restaurant with the same name.

Obviously, your best line of defense is keeping an eye on your kitchen staff to make sure nothing happens in the first place. But these are two ways Farmers can help you get back to where you belong.

Cyber security

DaveGragg Business insurance, Home insurance , ,

Another day, another story about criminals trying to get your credit card data.

So, short of hoarding cash and staying in your home — which carries its own set of risks — what do you do?

I have an app for that. Or at least an insurance policy.

For homeowners, every Farmers homeowners package includes Identity Fraud protection of $30,000. In a nutshell, if someone manages to get your information, Farmers will pay the legal bills to get your identity back.

Think of it as passive detection.

It’s included for homeowners, but we can also add it to our renter’s insurance policy.

We also have the option for active detection with Farmers Identity Shield. The Shield monitors your credit files and provides an annual report with details of your credit file and public records.

And if someone does manage to get ahold of your information, they will guide you through the identity recovery process and a whole lot more. You can get more information by calling me (417) 708 9583 or you can check out www.farmersidentityshield.com.

That may be all an individual needs, but what what can a business do to protect itself?

Most of the Business Owners Packages that Farmers offers include Cyber Liability and Data Breach coverage.

So if someone does manage to break in to your system and steal your clients’ data (Just like what happened at Target) Farmers will help you hire a telemarketing agency to let your clients know what happened. It will also reimburse you for the credit monitoring you’ll have to do for your customers.

Sounds a lot better than paying for all of that yourself, doesn’t it?

www.farmersagent.com/dgragg

The importance of business income insurance

DaveGragg Business insurance ,

The news last night interviewed an employee of Industrial Wood Products who worried about her coworkers after this fire destroyed their workplace.

My job as an insurance agent is to help you get ready before bad things happen and then recover afterward.

Now, when most people think about insurance, they think about getting the money to rebuild their business’s physical location.

But there is also a coverage called “Business Income” that is absolutely critical in instances like this one.

It pays you (as the business owner) the income that you’re not making because your place burned down.

Let’s be optimistic and say that it will take six months to rebuild the plant. Could you go without income for six months? Could your employees?

That’s right. The Business Income rider includes the money you would pay your employees. So that when your business is rebuilt, you won’t have to look for new employees because the people who work for and with you won’t have to have had to find a new job to pay their bills.

To be clear: I know nothing more about the fire or the business than what’s in the news; I am not commenting on the insurance in place at Industrial Wood Products. But I hope they had Business Income coverage so that the woman on the news and her coworkers won’t spend the next few weeks trying to find a new job.

 www.farmersagent.com/dgragg