7/15/2008 GREAT NEWS
You may recall reading the information below or one of the articles NAPO News (9/2007, page 12) regarding Professional Liability. After much effort, we have finally been successful in adding an additional National market - The Philadelphia Companies - to provide the solution for this exposure. If you are currently a policy holder, please contact us for a proposal. If you are not yet a policy holder, please complete the Questionnaire behind the button on the front page - QUOTE MY BUSINESS INSURANCE.

7/10/2008 PROTECTION FOR BUSINESSES IN COASTAL AREAS NOW AVAILABLE.
If you have contacted us before and were not able to buy property coverage for your business, please try again. Our new program with the Philadelphia Companies is available for MOST coastal states without any change in coverage or deductible.

7/6/2008 PROGRAM NOW AVAILABLE IN ALL 50 STATES
In our new program underwritten by THE PHILADELPHIA COMPANIES, we can write coverage in all 50 states. If you have been turned down before, please contact us as soon as possible.

6/25/2008 - AM I "AT RISK" FOR A PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY CLAIM
In many businesses, the business owner provides advice or professional services for which customers pay a fee. If these services are in some way unsatisfactory, the customer may sue the service provider for professional negligence. Without question, YOU ARE A TARGET FOR THIS TYPE OF CLAIM. Professionals are now held more accountable for their mistakes than ever before. As time passes, higher and higher sums are being awarded to plaintiffs in malpractice suits. The need for professional liability insurance, written with adequate limits, has grown in direct proportion to these trends. In times past, the list of "recognized" professions was a short one. It included physicians, attorneys, accountants, architects and engineers to be professionals. That has changed. Below is a list of some of the "new" professions that are now recognized and for which "professional" liability is readily available:

Advertising Agencies, Appraisers, Auctioneers, Computer Software Companies, Data Processing Services, Financial Agents, Home Inspection Services, Investment Counselors, Management Consultants, Publishers, Shipping and Forwarding Agents, Social Service Agencies, Tax Preparers, Teachers

THE NAPO PROFESSIONAL CHALLENGE
The NAPO challenge arises from the fact that "organizing" is not yet a "recognized" profession by the courts or by the insurance industry generally. Professional liability deals with mistakes arising out of acts, errors or omissions in the rendering of or failing to render professional services that result in economic or physical loss.

To date the liability protection provided in the NAPOsure/Travelers program is written on a form that does not EXCLUDE professional liability arising from bodily injury or property damage in the classification. However, claims that allege only economic loss would not be covered.

Since many "organizers" extend their "professional" activities into some of the arenas noted above and in some cases, well beyond, we have been working to expand our program to be able to offer "PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY" specifically recognizing your professions.

WE NOW HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN THAT EFFORT
The Philadelphia Insurance Companies has just approved our new exclusive program for Professional Organizers. It includes your profession in the policy language. The Underwriters KNOW who you are and what you do and they are ready to provide this custom coverage for you.

4/25/2007 - The SUBCONTRACTORS' Dilemma - TO HIRE OR NOT TO HIRE-THAT IS THE QUESTION?
Should I hire an employee, or should I use subcontractors? My accountant says one thing, my attorney says the opposite. Why would I want the "hassle" of employees, instead of the ease of a subcontractor?

From the perspective of your insurance advisor, it is imperative that you understand your risks and your responsibilities if you choose the subcontractor alternative.

LIABILITY INSURANCE: Insurance underwriters attempt to measure the exposure to risk, and then try to assess a commensurate cost for that risk. That cost is your insurance premium.

If you have employees, part of that assessment of risk is the amount of payroll you pay annually. If you hire subcontractors, the cost you pay to your subcontractors is used in a similar way. However, the insurance underwriter ASSUMES that the subcontractors you hire have their OWN Liability Insurance. Otherwise, you will be charged for the insurance that they should have been carrying. The way most businesses manage that risk is by insisting on having a Certificate of Liability Insurance from every subcontractor that they use.

WORKERS COMPENSATION INSURANCE: Many organizers do not have employees, and therefore assume that they do not need to purchase Workers Compensation coverage. The courts, however, are making decisions that may impact your business. They look for compensation for injured workers, and YOU the CONTRACTOR are the logical first source.

If you hire a subcontractor, and he/she is injured on the job, and EVEN IF THEY ARE NOT YOUR EMPLOYEE, you, the employer may be held responsible for the injury or illness. The courts are assigning responsibility to the employer in more and more of these cases. You NEED to consider buying workers compensation insurance if you have hired workers - employees, or subcontractors.