Posts Tagged ‘finance’
What Is General Liability Insurance And Who Needs It?
If you decide to have a small- to medium-sized business, you’re aware that every time you open the doors you expose yourself to a multitude of possible liabilities. Regardless of how cautious and conscientious you are, it’s simply just not feasible to protect against every conceivable situation that could appear in the course of daily operations. Couple this inescapable fact of life together with the litigious world we are now living in, and defending your property and assets with adequate general liability insurance becomes critical.
Who Needs It
General liability insurance (also referred to as commercial general liability or CGL) is critical for anyone who is starting a new business venture, or who’s worried about better protecting an existing one against lawsuits. Regardless of whether your place of business is a retail store, office, mobile location, or online, a CGL protects your financial assets in case you are sued.
What It Covers
In addition to being the most-widespread form of coverage for small business proprietors, general liability insurance is at the same time by far the most all-inclusive. The policy includes any legal expenses associated with a covered liability claim filed against the policy holder, as well as any sort of general or compensatory damages (punitive damages are excluded, however) which may be awarded to a plaintiff.
There are usually three kinds of claims insured by CGL, although a fourth (including “advertising injury” resulting from intellectual property infringement, libel, and slander) could also be incorporated into some policies. The different kinds of claims paid by all general liability policies are:
- Personal injuries resulting from any action or negligence on the part of you and your employees
- Bodily injuries suffered by customers, employees, vendors, and visitors while on the premises of your business
- Property damage caused by the actions or negligence of you or your staff
How Much It Covers
General liability insurance plans pay for insured claims up to a maximum amount during the policy term. Due to the fact many business owners desire additional coverage for their financial assets beyond the total amount insured by their policy, umbrella policies (which give coverage for amounts beyond the policy limit, and provide coverage in any gaps in the insurance policy) are typically added onto active insurance coverage policies. Of course, as is true with every plan, the amount covered is negotiable dependent upon your particular business’ profile.
What It Costs
A GCL plan may cost from about a few hundred to several thousand dollars a year, depending on the size and type of business you have. Figuring out exactly how much coverage you need and, as a result, how much it will cost, demands an assessment of the total risk involved with your business, the area in which your business is located, and any additional factors applicable to your particular case.
What Is The Minimum Coverage Required For A Small Business?
For a small or medium sized business to properly guard its assets, commercial general liability insurance is usually considered the minimum, and in some cases, the only coverage that the company will need. Larger businesses with several physical locations, considerably more employees and greater revenues, typically require supplemental coverage on certain assets but, for the majority of smaller businesses, a standard CGL (commercial general liability policy) is an all-in-one bundle offering suitable levels of coverage at a reasonable price.
What Does A Typical CGL Cover?
The conventional CGL policy provides coverage against four primary kinds of claims, including: bodily injury, property damage, advertising injury, and personal injury. These types of claims represent the categories most-often faced by small business owners, and general liability insurance affords them a way to purchase one insurance policy against all four types of exposure, rather than four separate policies.
How Much Coverage Is Provided?
There are areas of certain businesses which require additional coverage beyond what is provided by a CGL, but the standard coverage provided against the aforementioned “big four” liabilities is generally sufficient for the majority of ventures. Although the exact amount insured by each policy may vary greatly, as a general rule of thumb, all commercial general liability insurance plans cover the fees associated with defending and settling against a covered claim. If the particulars of your business open you up to the possibility of extremely large judgments against your business, you should consider supplementing your CGL with an umbrella policy.
What’s An Umbrella Policy?
“Umbrella policy” is the name given to any type of supplemental insurance which offers a specified monetary level of coverage above and beyond what is written into the base policy. Basically, the umbrella policy is used to cover you against attorney’s fees and judgments that exceed your standard general liability insurance plan’s limits.
This type of policy is usually inexpensive, but the peace of mind that it affords you would be well worth it even if you had to pay out a high premium for it. As with any type of insurance policy, umbrella coverage plans vary greatly in the level of additional protection they offer, and can be tailored to suit your particular needs.
Summarizing The Benefits Of A CGL
Together with the fact that a CGL will cover the four most important things to a small business owner (property damage, bodily insurance, advertising claims, and personal injury claims), it also accomplishes this in the most-economical manner possible. By combining multiple individual plans into one comprehensive policy, it is almost always less expensive than it is to purchase all of the policies individually.
If you are a new business operator, or are just interested in bettering the quality of coverage on your existing venture, the commercial general liability insurance policy is the place to begin. By shopping on the web for this type of coverage, it is possible to find the perfect amount of protection at a price that easily matches your budget.
Reclaiming PPI – Writing A Professional Letter
Many people who were mis-sold payment protection insurance are now eligible to claim back the money they spent on their premiums. This includes writing a letter to the company who sold them the PPI to start the process moving. This guide looks at what needs to be included in the letter. Firstly, it is very important that you write a good, professional letter that makes it very clear what happened and what you want to happen now so you maximize your chances of a good response.
Whenever you are writing a letter, it is important that you include relevant details at the top of the page so the person you are writing to can identify you and also get in touch if they need to. This is why you should make sure to include your address and other details such as email address and phone number. So your lender can identify your case, also remember to include the number or identification code of your PPI policy – this should be on your policy documents.
Now, you need to open your letter by stating your intent. The first thing you will need to do is to tell the lender what you are writing about (refer them to the PPI policy details you set out above). Then you will need to tell them what is wrong – that you were mis-sold your policy – and tell them that as a result, you want to claim back the premiums with interest. This will make it clear what your letter is about so there won’t be any doubt.
After you have written the opening paragraph, you need to state your reasons for wanting to claim back your PPI. For example, if you were mis-sold the policy, how did this happen? Were you ineligible for payment protection insurance but were sold it anyway? Did you even know you were buying it at the time you took out your policy? Did the lender not give you all the information? Keep things brief and just stick to the facts, telling them exactly what happened.
Once you have written out your reasons for claiming back your payment protection insurance premiums, you need to state what you would like the lender to do as a result. Specifically, you should tell them that you would like them to respond within the standard eight weeks and write again that you hope they will refund your PPI premiums. Then all you have to do is sign off the letter in a professional manner, sign and print your name and send it to the lender in question.
Find Out More : Black Horse PPI Claims
Disclaimer – This information is to be used only as a guide. It should not be used as a sole source of information on this issue. We cannot be held responsible for any loss arising out of the use of this information.
If you think that you might have a case for reclaiming the money you spent on payment protection insurance, then it is important that you know the process for doing so. This article takes you through what you need to do to get your money back from the lender. Firstly, you need to know your case so you can be certain you are eligible to reclaim. You will also need to provide your documents from the original policy, so obtain them from the lender if necessary.
The next important thing you need to do for your case is to think back to the time when you took out the policy. In particular, think about how you actually bought the policy and whether everything about payment protection insurance was explained to you as it should have been. Your eligibility should have been made clear to you at the time and you should’ve been made aware that PPI was not compulsory. If you feel that you weren’t properly informed then you could have a case.
When you are satisfied you have all the information you need, write to your lender. Politely request a refund and outline your case to them so they know what you are talking about. Send them as much evidence as you can to support your case as well as all the necessary documentation; they might not give you the money back straight away but this will at least start the ball rolling. There’s a questionnaire agreed by the banks and FSA that you can use to help you.
You will then have to wait for a response from your lender to see what they say about your payment protection insurance. They might well turn you down the first time but then you should send them another letter outlining why you don’t agree with their decision and to say that you will be continuing with the case. Suggest that you will get in touch with the financial ombudsman to take the case further if they do not agree you have a claim.
Hopefully at this point, your lender will agree to refund your money as there is now a precedent set for reclaiming PPI. If, however, they still refuse to do so but you think you have a genuine case, write to the financial ombudsman. Detail everything that has happened so far in your case and include copies of the letters you sent and your lender’s reply. The ombudsman has a good success rate on PPI cases, so hopefully this should get the job done for you.
Find Out More : MBNA PPI Claims
Some Considerations When Looking For Affordable Auto Insurance
People, in general, hate paying for things that they don’t think they need. Even though it is a necessity and a legal obligation, many people really hate having to pay through the nose for their car insurance. This is especially the case if they never end up filing a claim and don’t take advantage of the policy that they are paying for.
If you are in this position then you will obviously want to find affordable insurance policies. There are several things that you can do in order to achieve this so let’s look at a couple of options.
The first thing to consider is whether or not you currently purchase a insurance policy from a specific provider. When it comes to the end of the policy do not simply allow it to rollover. If you show loyalty and you stay with your provider you should be able to get a discount as a result. However, it is important that you realise that your provider may not necessarily give up this information willingly.
Instead you should make sure that you get in touch with them immediately and ask them for a better quote. Tell them that if you do not get a better quote from them, you are simply going to leave and purchase a policy with a new provider. This will coax them into action and in most cases you will be able to save money.
If you are getting a brand-new policy then there are certain things that you should be doing. One of the most important of these is to make sure that you spend some time shopping around and looking for affordable quotes. By giving yourself a broader view of the market you should be able to identify more competitive policies.
Take a close look at the deductible on the policy. Do not make the mistake of trying to keep this deductible extremely low if you are trying to save money. By having a low deductible you will have to pay out higher premiums each month. If you raise your deductible significantly then your premiums will be reduced as a result.
When you are purchasing your auto insurance policy you also need to consider whether or not there are other policies you require. If there are then you should purchase them all from the same company and this will give you a multi-policy discount.