Let's Keep Our Lawns - and Ourselves - Safe in Pasadena, Maryland By: Jerry Nicklow, AAI, API, AIS For many of our neighbors in Pasadena, MD, Summer means more than sunshine and vacations. It also means working in the yard - often with tools that can be dangerous if not used properly.  So please take the time to learn the proper handling and operation of any tool that you will be using.  Each year about 400,000 people are treated for injuries from lawn and garden tools, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). It only takes a second for a devastating accident to happen, so don't let your landscaping efforts land you in the hospital, or worse! Follow these handy safety tips. Tool safety tips from the U.S. CPSC Dress appropriately. To protect yourself from debris when using lawn tools, wear eye protection, long pants, long-sleeved shirts, close-fitting clothes and no jewelry. Sturdy shoes are recommended, and ear plugs may be appropriate depending on how loud the ...

Is your workplace prepared in the event of a fire?

What would you say is the biggest cause of workplace fires? It's not equipment failure. It's not electrical faults. It's not storms or natural disasters. It's people and carelessness.

Every year, in more than 70,000 workplace fires across North America, an average 200 people die, thousands are injured and many firms are either put out of business or severely disrupted.

Why is general liability insurance not enough for sports organizations?

In order for most youth sports organizations to play on county or state owned fields they have to provide the municipality proof of general liability insurance coverage.  If that is all that t they need to use the field, why are some agents or insurance companies requiring them to also carry an accident insurance policy?  Generally, the general liability coverage is going to exclude coverage to the players themselves.  So for example, a fly ball hits a mom sitting in the stands at a baseball game, this would be covered, but the player gets hit by a pitch, this would not be covered.   The accident insurance policy fills in this gap and covers the player, if they are hurt while participating.

Have a Home Based Business?

Is it Properly Insured?

It seems like everyone has a home based business these days, from LuLaRoe, Tastefully Simply, Pampered Chef, Avon and making crafts or jewelry,   Now that you have this home based business you need to think about how this home based business will affect your  insurance coverage.    You have a homeowner’s insurance policy, so you are good right?  No.  A homeowner’s insurance policy is not designed to cover business activity and they have specific exclusions that pertain to businesses.   In most cases, the home insurance policy uses $2,000 of income (not profit) in determining if something is a hobby or a business.   You could exceed $2,000 just from having a yard sale at your home.   The homeowner’s insurance policy has generally made available coverage for volunteer activities or for typically teenager jobs, such as babysitting or newspaper delivery.  But generally speaking your home insurance policy is not providing any liability insurance coverage for your home based business.   

Excess Uninsured Motorist Insurance Coverage You have an umbrella insurance policy; therefore you understand the importance of protecting your assets.   An umbrella insurance policy is still the most affordable coverage, dollar for dollar that the insurance industry offers.  But, recently the insurance carriers have started making the coverage even better, by offering excess uninsured motorist insurance coverage on the umbrella.   Why is this important? In Maryland, uninsured motorist insurance also includes underinsured motorist insurance coverage.  Uninsured motorist are those drivers on the roadways that do not have any liability insurance at all on their vehicle.  Yes, I know that the law requires them to have insurance coverage to get their tags, but there is still more motorist then any of us would like that are driving with no insurance coverage.  A recent study showed that about 14% of all vehicles on the roads in Maryland are not insured.  Underinsured m ...

Why do I need Care, Custody & Control or Voluntary Property Damage Insurance Coverage? General Liability Insurance coverage is very broad, in fact it covers your premises, your products, your operation and your personal and advertising injury.  But it still does not cover everything.  There are two types of claims that most of our clients, assume are covered by a basic general liability insurance policy which are not covered.   Care, custody & control and Voluntary property damage coverage are not covered by unendorsed general liability insurance policy.   The names of these coverages seem difficult to understand, so I’ll explain why your business needs these coverages. A general liability insurance policy excludes personal property that is in your care, custody and control, including something that you are working on.   In insurance this issue of care, custody & control frequently arises.  Let’s examine what these terms mean. &nbs ...

Spring is here! The time of year when birds start singing, flowers poke their heads up and trees start getting their leaves. It’s also the time of year when people start clearing out the accumulation of winter clutter As you go about your spring cleaning chores, take the opportunity to make sure your home is safe and secure as well. Use the following Spring Home Safety Checklist as a guide. Carbon monoxide and smoke detectors. Many people change the batteries in their carbon monoxide and smoke detectors when they set their clocks ahead for Daylight Savings. But, if you’re not one of them, now is a good time to get it done. Flashlight batteries. In many areas springtime means thunderstorms. Make sure all your flashlights have fresh batteries in case the power goes out. Fire extinguishers. It’s recommended that be inspected every 30 days. So, if it’s been more than 30 days since you inspected the fire extinguishers in your home, now’s a good time to do ...

Is it just me or are we seeing more reports in the media these days about dogs biting or attacking people? It can be traumatic for the owner as well as the victim. For instance, I read last week about a case in California in which a lawsuit resulted in a payout of more than $1 million for a youngster attacked by a dog. That is a lot of money, so you need to make sure that you are properly insured. It turns out that around 1,000 bite victims end up in emergency rooms throughout North America everyday and there are close on 5 million bites in a single year. I am a dog lover,  we have a Yorkie and a Golden Doodle at home.   You may have also seen them on our Facebook page.   My daughter and I love to pet any dog that we see.  But, we know that not all dogs like to be approached, especially by someone that they don't know.    If you’re a dog owner, or you know someone who is, or you’re about to become an owner, here’s some useful information to help wise ...

Employee handbooks - what a yawn? Yes, they can be, both for employees and the souls who have to produce them. But if you don’t have one, you could be leaving yourself open to liability lawsuits (often with higher damages awards as a result) and a greater risk of workplace mishaps. And, you know, employee handbooks don't have to boring, if they're written succinctly and perhaps include illustrations. Nor do they need to be huge undertakings. They mainly need to encapsulate regulatory requirements and a guide to "how we do business around here" -- in other words: Hiring policies and equal opportunities Hours of work and, if appropriate, flexible working Wages including information about overtime and advances An outline of any employee benefits you offer Use of company property such as equipment, cars and phones Vacations and other types of leave Workplace behavior Health and safety Privacy and confidentiality Computer usage, Internet acce ...

How can Solar Panels affect my insurance coverage? Solar panels are a great way to reduce the dependency on fossil fuels as well as a way to earn a little cash for your business.  However, before you install solar panels there are some issues that deserve your consideration.   Businesses are turning to alternative power sources  and there are risks associated with these emerging technology and the exposures they create. Whether you are installing a solar panel array, leasing space to a contractor installing an array for another customer, or already have an array it is important to understand the risk exposure. The top 5 risk exposures from roof mounted Photovoltaic  (PV) systems are the blind spot, roof loading, severe weather, wind and fire hazards.  The blind spot, is which a ground fault to the grounded current-carrying conductor occurs undetected.  This then causes a second ground fault in the panel array and the ground fault detector/interrupter can not  de-ener ...