Business Insurance Medical Expenses


Included in the general liability portion of most business insurance policies is coverage known as “medical expenses.” Medical expenses are also commonly referred to as medical payments or med pay.

General liability for business insurance in Florida is intended to cover your business in the event that a third-party claims to have bodily injury or property damage as a result of your negligence as a business owner.

Medical expenses are intended to prevent the injured individual from suing as a result of having received prompt financial compensation for their medical bills, rather than having to go through a lengthy insurance claims process or file a lawsuit.

Business insurance medical expenses allow for the insured to pay small nuisance claims without the need for costly legal expenses. Business insurance medical expenses generally have a limit of $5,000 per occurrence.

A common example of when medical expenses may be utilized is in the event of a trip and fall, when the place of business is not at fault.

Medical expenses are not always included within your business insurance policy’s general liability coverage. Review your insurance policy for details regarding whether medical expenses are excluded from your coverage. Reasons for exclusion (or reduction in coverage) may be due to a high number of previous occurrences or if your place of business has a high hazard for trip and falls.

For a business insurance quote contact McGriff-Williams Insurance, Gainesville, FL

 

Florida sinkholes cause concern among homeowners


With the recent sinkhole in Jonesville, Florida many Alachua county homeowners are questioning their insurance coverage. Although all homeowners insurance policies have Catastrophic Ground Cover Collapse coverage, not all policies include sinkhole coverage.

In order for a home to be covered under catastrophic ground collapse there must be structural damage to the building (including the foundation) and the structure must be categorized as “condemned;” additionally, the insured structure must be vacated by the governmental agency authorized by law.  Catastrophic ground collapse is defined as geographical activity that results in the abrupt collapse of the ground cover or a depression in the ground cover clearly visible to the untrained eye. Structural damage such as settling or cracking of the foundation or building does not constitute a catastrophic ground collapse loss. If the building was considered condemned and therefore catastrophic ground collapse coverage did apply, “contents coverage” would be applied; however, it is rare that catastrophic ground collapse coverage applies due to all the requirements.

Many homeowners insurance policies no longer include sinkhole coverage. In fact, only a limited amount of insurance companies offer this coverage for new policies, and of those that do some have a higher deductible. Although some companies may not include sinkhole on new policies, if your current policy includes sinkhole coverage and you renew your policy, some companies “grandfather” you in. Coverage for sinkhole loss does not have to meet the requirements of catastrophic ground collapse coverage. A building does not have to be condemned or deemed uninhabitable in order for sinkhole coverage to apply. Structural damage caused by cracking of the foundation or building would be covered if caused by sinkhole activity. A “sinkhole” is defined as a landform created by subsidence of soil, sediment or rock as underlying strata are dissolved by ground water.

It is advised that homeowners review their insurance policies to determine whether sinkhole coverage is included, and to contact their insurance agent if they have questions regarding their coverage. We advise you to ask your insurance agent the following three questions:  (1) Does my homeowners insurance policy include sinkhole coverage? It is important that you confirm that sinkhole is included in addition to catastrophic ground collapse, as we previously mentioned catastrophic ground collapse is included on all homeowners policies, but sinkhole is not. (2) If your policy does have sinkhole, what is the deductible for this coverage? (3) If your policy does not have sinkhole coverage, ask your agent if you can buy it back.

Florida Auto Insurance: Comparative Negligence


If one person is at fault in an automobile accident, the person whose negligence caused the accident typically pays for the resulting damage. In automobile accidents where both parties are at fault, negligence is distributed between the parties based on the states method of determining fault.

In the United States, one of two methods is used to determine who is at fault in an automobile accident: comparative negligence or contributory negligence. In both instances, fault is determined by the insurance company adjustors based upon further investigation.

In states that use comparative negligence, such as Florida, each party is determined to be a certain percentage at fault for the accident, and drivers are entitled to claims according to those percentages. This form of comparative negligence is known as pure comparative negligence. A total of thirteen states (including Florida) use pure comparative negligence to determine fault in automobile accidents.

The following is an example of how pure comparative negligence would apply:

Assume driver A and driver B are in an accident, and it is determined that driver A was 20% at fault and driver B was 80% at fault. Driver A would be responsible for 20% of their own damage and driver B would be responsible for the remaining 80% of damage for driver A. Driver B would also be responsible for 80% of their own damages, and driver A would be responsible for the remaining 20% of driver B’s damage.