Property Damage Liability Insurance in Business Coverage

There’s a chance that you might cause harm to someone else while trying to provide your business services. Sometimes, the problem you cause involves property damage. Because the damage might be your fault, you therefore might have to repay that other party for their losses. The appropriate property damage liability insurance policy will help you in this regard. However, always make sure that your policy applies specifically to the risks you might cause in your line of work. Here’s a little more information to help you choose your policy.

What’s a Property Damage Liability?

Liabilities are the responsibility you have to something else happening. To insurers, a liability represents the chances that you will do harm to someone else. This means that, if you cause harm to someone else, you might have to repay them. In other words, your insurance might have to pay them on your behalf.

A commercial liability insurance policy can help you pay for another party’s (like a client, vendor or other person) losses when you have to do so. Therefore, you’ll be able to avoid paying for these losses out of your own pockets. You can furthermore use coverage to pay your own legal fees, should a disgruntled customer decide to sue you for the damage you caused.

Among the liability policies offered for many businesses is property damage liability insurance. This coverage will apply when you make mistakes that damage someone else’s property or belongings.

This coverage is important for business owners because they might handle or come into contact with someone else’s belongings any day of the week. You might not intend to cause damage to those assets. However, sometimes, simple mistakes might lead to damage. Still, even if the accident was a mistake, it could still cost someone a lot of money. That’s why you need to have this resource available. It will help you avoid your own financial challenges in case you do have to repay someone.

Where can I get coverage?

In many cases, you get property damage liability coverage through a commercial general liability insurance policy, also called a CGL policy.

Small business owners might be able to obtain their CGL protection through what’s called a BOP, short for a Business Owners Policy. BOPs usually contain many of the most-essential types of coverage that small operations need, including property damage liability policies. The BOP will contain terms and limits that favorably apply to the small business that wants to keep cost and policy cohesion under control.

All the same, not all businesses qualify for BOPs because of factors like their size, revenue, and industry risks. Still, you need liability policies even if you can’t get coverage through a BOP. You might have to buy your property damage liability coverage through either a stand-alone policy, or through a commercial policy package, or CPP. CPPs allow businesses to combine various policies into one package, similar to BOPs. However, they’re more useful to larger businesses that need customized coverage.

What Will My Policy Cover?

You probably realize that your policy is supposed to help you pay in case you do damage to someone else’s property. However, that’s a broad definition. You might wonder exactly what types of customer belongings might sustain damage. Some of these might include:

• Property you damage while trying to fix or service it.
• Property in your care that awaits service or is waiting to be picked up by a client.
• Damage to someone’s home, business or other belongings when visiting their property.

Keep in mind, however, that to cover a wider range of property damage liabilities, you might need additional policies and endorsements. Here are a couple of examples:

• Property damage might be caused by an item you made and sold to a client. You might need a special product liability endorsement to cover this loss.
• Or, perhaps, problems will arise from project you previously completed for a client, which subsequently harms them or damages their property. In this case, you might need a slightly different products-completed liability endorsement for the damage.

The interesting thing about a commercial general liability policy is that it can often cover you for property damage that you cause both while on and off your business premises. Therefore, whether you work exclusively from an office, or make house calls, you’ll have a policy available.

Still, even with wide-ranging policy specifications, your policy likely won’t cover every type of loss. For example:

• Intentional property damage acts, like vandalism, that you or one of your employees might cause will usually not have coverage.
• If you cause a wreck while driving a company car, it is commercial auto liability insurance, not general liability coverage, that will pay for the other driver’s property damage.
• If claims exceed the limits of your property damage liability policy, then you might not have coverage for the excess costs.

Talk to your insurance agent about any questions you have regarding your El Paso property damage liability insurance. Our expert team can make sure you know when your policy will and will not cover you. We can also make extensions and increase the limits of your policy so that they will offer comprehensive protection at all times.

Getting older often merits a few special considerations for anyone. It doesn’t mean you need to become home-bound or isolated. However, you might need to take a few extra precautions to make your home safer to occupy. On one hand, you might install additional security mechanisms; on the other, you might need to make structural improvements to the home to adapt it to your needs. In many ways, these are positive changes that can make you feel secure at home for years to come. However, they will still have insurance risks attached. Here’s a little more information to consider.

At times, as you adapt to aging at home, you might need to take a closer look at your homeowners insurance. For example, you might need to increase portions of your coverage, including your liability and possessions insurance.

Understanding Aging in Place

America’s baby boomer generation is generally classified as people who were born from 1946 to 1964. This is one of the largest age generations in America, and they represent up to 75 million Americans. Therefore, the U.S. today faces an aging society at a faster rate than ever before.

In 2019, the youngest of this generation will turn 55 years old. The oldest are almost 73 years old. All of this generation is now of an age where they might need to start thinking about their long-term security as they continue to age in their homes. This is a phenomenon that many experts call aging in place.

Aging in place has its benefits. You can remain in your home throughout the years. However, this means being able to adapt your surroundings to suit your needs.

It is no secret that aging reduces your physical and mental wellness. It doesn’t happen drastically, and the effects of age might be relatively unapparent to you. However, no matter how far-fetched getting older might seem to you, it still will happen. If you aren’t careful, you might put yourself in harm’s way.

For example, your front porch’s steps might have no handrail. Therefore, if you begin to have trouble walking, you might begin to face a fall risk. At one time you might have thought nothing of going in and out of the house. However, given these new limitations, you might now see a problem getting around.

Scenarios like this one often can benefit from some special consideration. You might decide that it is time to install a ramp in place of steps, or to simply put a railing on each side of them. This consideration is how you can plan to age in place. As you begin to notice the effects of age, you can take steps to mitigate those. Therefore, you’ll better protect yourself, and can enjoy your home well into the future.

Adjusting Your Insurance At this Time

As you make aging in place a priority, this will lead to household changes. For example, you might:

• Make household renovations, such as by leveling surfaces, widening doors or installing rails.
• Install special equipment in the home, such as chair lifts or ramps.
• Place security systems around the home.
• Purchase special belongings like therapy pools or medical equipment.

These changes are supposed to benefit you, which they often will. However, they also impact your home in ways that may extend an impact to your homeowners insurance.

First, these changes might impact the value of the home. Therefore, you might need to make changes to the policy’s structure coverage or possessions insurance.

For example, if you spend a lot of money installing new stair banisters or a wheelchair ramp, this will cost money. It will also be a cost loss in case accidents occur. Therefore, you’ll want to make sure your policy will provide you with enough compensation to repair these belongings in case of damage. At times, you might also need to note on your policy that you own a specialty item, like a wheelchair lift, to ensure that your policy will extend to them.

Not only that, you might also need to adjust your liability insurance. Sometimes, home additions, such as therapy pools, might become higher liability risks to your property. There’s a chance someone might fall in and get hurt, for example. Therefore, you might need to increase your liability limits in order to adapt coverage.

Keep in mind, certain household additions, such as medical alert or home security systems might qualify you for a policy discount. They increase your security in the home, and therefore might reduce your insurance risks, leading to a reduced premium. You shouldn’t hesitate to tell your agent when you install these items.

All in all, any time you make a household change, contact one of our agents. We’re more than happy to help you learn more about what changes your policy might need as you prepare to age in place. With a careful attention to detail, you’ll be able to feel safe at home well into the future.

Working doesn’t mean you sit behind a desk all day in one spot. You might have to leave the office to do business. Or, you might work outside the office on your regular course of duties. Because you might not be on the business premises all day, you might wonder if accidents occurring offsite will qualify you for workers’ compensation? Can you receive benefits even if you are offsite when an accident occurs?

The answer: it depends. However, you will likely find that your workers’ compensation offers benefits in a wide range of working environments. Still, you likely have to meet at least one important stipulation to receive benefits—you must be officially at-work when they occur.

Understanding Workers’ Compensation

Workers’ compensation is a type of business insurance. It helps business owners provide employees with a supplementary income if they get hurt on the job.

A common example of a workers’ compensation claim is one where an employee slips and falls while working on a project, sustaining severe injuries. However, even injuries incurred while in the bathroom, or from years of repetitive motion on the job, might qualify for workers’ comp. The employer’s workers compensation can cover the employee’s medical bills, lost income, and might even provide them with disability benefits during their recovery.

Each state structures its workers’ compensation programs differently. Therefore, the type and amount of benefits, along with the qualifying injuries, will vary from case to case. However, nearly all states require most or all businesses within their borders to carry workers’ comp insurance. So, if you get hurt on the job, you will often have help available.

Qualifying for Workers’ Comp While Offsite

Working is a fluid situation, and getting up from your desk doesn’t mean you necessarily stop working. That’s why, in most cases, even if you aren’t at your worksite, you might qualify for workers’ compensation.

However, not all injuries sustained offsite will qualify. To receive any workers’ compensation benefit, you have to prove your claim. This usually means demonstrating that the injury occurred while you were officially on the job, and that you received the injury because of your working duties. Some offsite injuries might not qualify, given these (and other) regulations.

Remote Work

Working remotely might be any time that you have to work somewhere that is not your ordinary working environment. For example, you might provide IT services, and work from different clients’ sites to service their systems. Or, perhaps, you might be a traveling salesperson who drives hundreds of miles each month to visit clients. During these times, you are still at work. Therefore, you might qualify for a workers’ compensation claim. Even if you get hurt on another business’s premises, your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance can likely still apply.

Work-From-Home Employees

Working from home is still work. You might work from home permanently, or only a couple of days per week. In these cases, you will likely still qualify for all workers’ compensation benefits provided to anyone who works on the business premises. You will still have to prove that the injuries related to your working duties, however.

Driving Injuries

Plenty of people drive for work. Some are employee drivers or delivery drivers. Others might have to drive to work meetings or to meet with clients. Should car wrecks occur, the employee could get hurt. In these cases, they often can still qualify for workers’ compensation. Even if they drive their personally-owned vehicles, they can often get covered.

Work Events

Whether you can receive workers’ compensation for injuries sustained at a work event might depends on a couple of factors. If the employer is the event’s sponsor, then this is still an official event, even if it is casual. For example, even holiday lunches sponsored by the company are still work events. Therefore, you might be able to qualify for workers’ compensation. All the same, simple gatherings of employees, such as happy hours, might not qualify.

Recreation

At times the company might host or sponsor recreational events. For example, there might be a company outing to a carnival or sporting event. If you go on these events for business, such as to entertain clients, then you might be able to get workers’ compensation. However, not all company recreational events will qualify. That does not mean you cannot file a claim, however.

Personal Lunches

Whether you qualify for workers’ compensation during lunch breaks will depend on a variety of scenarios. For example, if you get hurt while eating in the company lunch room, you might get benefits because you were onsite at the time.

However, if you leave for lunch, and an accident occurs while you are at the restaurant, you might not be able claim workers’ comp. All the same, exceptions during these times might exist. For example, if you must attend a business lunch, or even go to pick up food for your coworkers or boss, you might still be able to file for workers’ comp.

Your workers’ comp eligibility will vary based on multiple factors. Therefore, don’t hesitate to talk to your employer about the way an injury offsite can receive benefits.

Are you planning to retire in the next few years? It is a big step to take, that’s for sure. But, retirement also opens up a whole new chapter of your life. All the same, a new chapter means making some changes to your life. That also means reexamining your financial assets and your insurance coverage, including your car insurance. Retirement means that your need for coverage might change. What parts of your policy should you look at adjusting?

You don’t necessarily have to make major changes to your car insurance when you retire. However, if you think about how your need for coverage changes, you might find benefits.

Driving Risks Change After Retirement

When you retire, your daily routine will likely change. You might no longer have to follow the same daily schedule you once did. Therefore, your driving routine might change.

On one hand, you might no longer have to brave rush hour traffic. You might no longer have to drive nearly as much as you once did. Most peoples’ overall driving actually drops in retirement.

On the other hand, however, your driving in retirement might actually increase. You could decide to take road trips, or spend a lot of time running the errands you couldn’t get to while working. You might even take on a part-time job, such as driving for a rideshare company.

Regardless of whether you drive more or less in retirement, your overall driving risks will change. That is because your activities change significantly. These changes might have an effect on your car insurance.

How Driving Risks Change

When setting your premiums, your car insurer will look at your overall likelihood of filing a claim on the policy. That is your risk rating. Those with lower risks usually pay less for their coverage. Retirement might affect your risk rating.

In some cases, these risks will change for the better. You no longer drive as much, so your risks of wrecks might decrease. You don’t spend as much time on the road, so the likelihood of encountering problems might drop. Your policy rates might actually drop for the better.

In other cases, however, your driving risks might change for the worse. For example, if you drive more in retirement, then you might face higher accident risks. Your car’s value might actually drop faster as well.

Additionally, aging does sometimes influence a driver’s personal risks. Middle-aged people usually pay favorable rates, because they have experience behind the wheel. However, as you get older, the infirmities that come with aging might actually cause your rates to rise. For example, diminished eyesight or lowered reaction time might raise your risk of accidents. That could therefore force insurers to raise your policy rates.

Therefore, the way these risks change could cause you to really need to examine your car insurance upon retirement. Agents understand how retirement might affect your specific policy. They can therefore help you better determine the right course of action.

Practical Steps for Changing Car Insurance in Retirement

As you prepare to retire, talk to your car insurance agent. They might be able to clue you in on various changes you might need to make. With the right care, you’ll always make sure you carry the right policy, but also pay the right price.

• If you will drive less in retirement, your agent might be able to lower your mileage rate on your policy. This change will reflect that you drive less, and therefore face fewer chances to have accidents. That could lead to lower premiums.
• Likewise, if you plan to drive more in retirement, tell your agent. They can help you decide if you need any additional coverage for these expanded risks.
• If you have paid off the cost of your car, you might not need to carry physical damage insurance anymore, like collision or comprehensive insurance. However, if you still want to receive compensation for your vehicle damage, you might benefit from keeping coverage. When you buy a new car, you will likely have to buy coverage again, however.
• Should you plan to drive for a business, like a rideshare, to make extra cash, personal auto insurance likely won’t cover you in full. You might need commercial auto insurance or rideshare driver insurance to supplement your basic policy.
• If you buy a leisure vehicle, like an RV or motorcycle policy, you will likely need specific coverage for these vehicles. Classic cars also usually need unique coverage.
• To ensure everyone and every car in your house has appropriate coverage, you might be able to buy a multi-car policy. You can insure numerous vehicles (and numerous drivers) in one place. This might help you save compared to buying separate policies. However, you might be able to tailor coverage within the policy to different vehicles.
• Some auto insurers offer policy discounts for retired people. For example, if you are a member of AARP®, you might qualify for savings.

Let your El Paso insurance agent be your guide as you adapt your car insurance. They can help you determine the right changes to your policy, but they can also make sure you pay a fair price.

You want every boating excursion you take to be safe and fun. However, you can never guarantee that problems will not occur. Accidents or other mishaps might occur, and when they do, they might damage your vessel or someone else’s. Worse still, they might hurt you, your passengers or other boaters. What can you do when these accidents occur?

Boating insurance usually offers a few incentives to help those injured in boating accidents. You, your family, guests and those in other boats might be able to use your coverage to benefit medical needs. Therefore, everyone might be able to use protection to recover from their injury losses.

Boat Insurance and Injuries

A boat accident could happen at any moment. Of course, a primary result might be property damage. However, the immediate secondary concern is the safety and health of all involved. Just as with car wrecks, boat accidents could cause severe injuries. Plus, because accidents involve water, they might even prove more dangerous to land dwellers.

Some of the injuries that might arise in boating accidents might include:

• Burns from fuel spills or fire
• Exposure or frostbite risks
• Drowning risks

These risks, of course, fall alongside any other type of injury like broken bones, cuts, head injuries and so on. It might also take significant time for those injured to receive medical help, and that could even worsen injuries. Therefore, the costs and severity of these occurrences could rise significantly.

Health insurance might be able to help the injured parties. However, some victims might have no insurance, and must pay for their losses out of pocket. Others still might accumulate uninsured medical costs regardless. For those who need additional medical assistance, boat insurance might be able to help out. Your own policy will often be able to provide help for both you and other people.

Boat insurance is usually not mandatory, though some states require it. However, you need it nevertheless. For assistance with injury costs, consider two types of coverage the most-important—medical payments insurance and bodily injury liability coverage. These are different types of coverage that apply to different people. Still, they both provide significant assistance in case of boater injuries. Make sure your insurance agent includes both of them on your policy.

Bodily Injury Liability Insurance

Sometimes, you might be the party who is responsible for an accident. In other words, you will be the at-fault boater. If that accident injures the people on the other involved boat(s), then you might be responsible for covering their losses. Bodily injury liability insurance might apply in these situations.

A bodily injury liability insurance policy applies to the harm the insured boater (you) causes to others (those on the other boat). So, if the accident is your fault, the other boater can rely on your insurance to pay for their medical costs. Likewise, should another boat cause your injuries, you could file against their policy for your losses, if necessary.

A benefit of this coverage is that is it can usually provide well over $100,000 in coverage. Therefore, you have significantly less risks of having to pay for someone else’s medical bills on your own. Not only that, but also, should the other affected party sue you, liability insurance might help you pay for your legal costs. Your own financial security will therefore remain a lot more stable.

Please note, if you ever loan your boat to a friend to use, they will assume liabilities by using the boat. To cover them, you might need to get a guest passenger liability policy provision. It can extend your liability coverage to the losses caused by others who pilot your vessel. Therefore, if they cause an accident, third parties might still have help with their losses.

Medical Payments Insurance

Liability coverage applies to the injuries you cause to others. However, it will not apply to your own injuries. Nor will it apply to those on your own vessel. For your own injuries, you will likely need a medical payments insurance provision.

With medical payments supplements, your policy will pay for some or all of the injury costs of you or your passengers. Coverage might pay for surgeries, x-rays, hospital costs and other medical needs. Some policies will also include a death benefit if someone unfortunately dies. Keep in mind, however, that the policy will have limits. Therefore, you might not be able to cover 100% of your cost losses. Nevertheless, appropriate limits can help reduce your costs.

Please note, a medical payments policy does not replace your health insurance. Nevertheless, it can help you cover the costs that your health policy might not. As a result, you can still benefit from coverage even if you have health coverage in general.

All boaters who want to avoid injuries and accidents during excursions should, naturally, make safety a priority. Not only must you navigate and use the boat correctly. You must also protect passengers by enforcing safety measures, like the requirements to wear life jackets. Never neglect these steps, and you will create a safer environment for your passengers.

Contact us for a El Paso boat insurance quote today!

All drivers present varying levels of risk when they get behind the wheel. However, some present more than others.  Most people carry car insurance to help protect themselves and others from the ramifications that these risks might trigger. Still, it is doubly important that the highest-risk drivers carry this coverage. As a result, the State of Texas has a legal way of forcing high risk drivers to carry coverage. It is the Texas SR-22 penalty. Why might you face this punishment from the state?

If you face this penalty, it doesn’t mean you just have to get car insurance. It means you also have to present proof of it and maintain it. That’s a heavier burden that the state places on others.

Texas At-Fault Laws

Texas is an at-fault insurance state. That means that if a driver is responsible for a wreck or other accident, then they have to cover the damage costs. It makes sense that you would have to pay for your own losses. Still, at-fault rules also require you to cover the damage you cause others in the wreck you cause.

To ensure drivers take responsibility for the accidents they cause, the state requires you to present proof of financial responsibility. Most people do that by getting car insurance. More specifically, they get auto liability insurance. Liability insurance applies to the damage you might cause to others. Texas requires drivers to carry:

• $30,000 bodily injury liability insurance per person
• $60,000 bodily injury liability insurance per accident
• $25,000 property damage liability coverage

So, if you hit another car when you run a stop light, the accident might be your fault. Therefore, it is your liability insurance that might pay for the vehicle damage or injuries of the other driver.

Since nearly everyone has to carry this coverage, it is doubly important that those drivers with the highest risks carry coverage. As a result, the state often imposes extra penalties on these drivers. One of those is the requirement to get an SR-22 penalty.

What are SR-22s?

SR-22s are certificates of verification that attach to your car insurance policy. They prove for the State of Texas that the listed driver has an active car insurance policy. High-risk drivers will face a requirement to get this certificate following significant traffic offenses. The offenses that might trigger the penalty are things like:

• Driving without the mandatory car insurance
• DUI charges
• A significant number of points on your license
• Having a license suspension

The SR-22 is not a car insurance policy itself, even though you register for it with your insurance agency. Rather, it is a form that proves that you carry the minimum required car insurance set by state law. So, to activate the form, you will have to carry car insurance with at least the state’s required 25/50/25 coverage limits.

Why You Must Keep Car Insurance Active

After you get the auto policy and the SR-22 form, you will have to file the form with the Texas Department of Public Safety.  After you submit that form, it will remain on file with the state for up to three years.

During that time, you must keep your car insurance active continuously. If you let your car insurance lapse during those three years, you will break the penalty that the SR-22 imposed. It will immediately trigger an alert to the state, who will cancel your driver’s license. Furthermore, if you commit further driving penalties during the duration of the SR-22, you will still face additional penalties.

You might wonder what the point is of having to carry this penalty? The simplest answer is that it helps protect not only you, but also other drivers. By requiring the highest-risk drivers to prove they carry car insurance through an SR-22, the state takes an important step in protecting others on its roads.

You already know that an auto liability insurance policy will pay for the damage you might cause to other people. Therefore, the SR-22 provides reassurance that those most-at-risk of harming others also have the ability to help those to whom they cause harm. Others will therefore have more reassurance that they can get help in case you make a mistake.

All the same, the SR-22 will also make sure that you, the driver, have insurance. Therefore, it is a positive piece of assistance when you need it. With coverage, you will be able to afford to cover the damage costs you might cause to others (which you hope never happen). Your own wallet won’t have to suffer as a result.

What’s more is that, in many cases, you can purchase more liability coverage than just the minimums required by the SR-22. For example, you might be able to get more than $100,000 in protection. Therefore, you might be able to pay for more of the damage costs for extremely severe losses. You already are a high-risk driver, so you could almost certainly benefit from the additional help. When you file for your SR-22, ask your Texas auto agent to increase your liability limits to offer more help.

El Paso isn’t close to the Atlantic Ocean. It doesn’t lie in a particularly flat area, either. However, just because you might not think the terrain is high-risk, there is still a flood threat in the area. So, if you plan to buy a home, you might find out you need flood insurance? Why is this?

Just because a flood doesn’t happen all the time in your area, that doesn’t mean it won’t. In many cases, floods can strike suddenly, particularly in low-lying areas. Indeed, if you live in this area, you might have a requirement to carry flood insurance. It’s there to help you recover from one of the most-devastating weather phenomena that might strike your community.

The Flood Insurance Industry

When you buy your home, your mortgage lender might require you to carry a homeowners policy. This coverage will protect the property itself, and contents within the home. Therefore, the coverage will help protect both the owner’s and the lender’s financial interest in the property.

However, when you open your homeowners insurance policy, you might find that it doesn’t include coverage for weather-related flooding. Why is this, you ask?

Because of the risks and costs associated flooding, most homeowners insurance policies cannot cover water damage. Therefore, flood insurance has to come as its own policy. Some flood insurance policies are entirely private policies. However, others come backed by the federal National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). It exists to help fill the coverage gaps that homeowners insurers cannot meet.

However, the NFIP sets certain requirements that mandate that certain homeowners carry flood insurance. Working with communities across the country, the NFIP has mapped a variety of at-risk areas called flood zones. Flood zones have various classification based on how likely a flood is to occur there. In many cases, in the most-at-risk areas, homeowners must carry a flood insurance policy. Lenders may refuse to issue a loan if they fail to do so.

Why You Need Flood Insurance

Flood insurance is essentially property and possessions insurance not included within a standard homeowners policy. You will make a claim on this coverage in case of things like flash flooding, storm surge and river flooding in your area. Therefore, in the event of something like a flash flood happens in your area, you might have to use this coverage to claim things like structural damage in the home, and damaged possessions.

In West Texas, given our dry climate and lack of elevation, the chances of flooding can increase during periods of severe weather. Therefore, homeowners who live in at-risk areas for floods can likely benefit from a flood insurance policy.

Characteristics of At-risk Areas

You might not know how to recognize a flood zone in your community. However, they are often flat areas near bodies of water. During periods of rain, the water levels of local bodies could rise and flood into the surrounding area. Furthermore, the lack of elevation and slope could allow water to pool near structures, rather than washing away.

Given that El Paso sits near the Rio Grande River and its tributaries, there are quite a few flood zones in the area. Plenty of residential areas exist near these zones. Therefore, if you choose to buy a home in a flood zone, you might need a flood insurance policy. Sometimes, the requirement is mandatory. Otherwise, it might only be an option, but a necessary one nonetheless.

Often, your realtor or lender will disclose to you that the home sits in a flood zone. Therefore, you will have plenty of warning to get a flood insurance policy from the outset of homeownership. Otherwise, you can contact both the National Flood Insurance Program® or the City of El Paso FloodPlain Administration Office.

Preventing Floods in Your House

Floods can happen anywhere, at any time. Sometimes, a burst pipe might spill water into your home. In other cases, an overflowing river might penetrate the home.

• In the event of home damage from internal issues, like burst pipes, your standard homeowners insurance will often cover you.
• Following weather-related floods, like river surges, flood insurance will often help you. Standard home insurance likely does not cover these losses.

Still, regardless of what policy covers water damage, each will have its limits. Therefore, the savvy homeowner will do what they can to prevent flood damage in the home whenever possible.

• Ensure that the home has clean gutters and drainage systems. This can help direct water away from the home.
• Check the home’s foundation, basement seals and seals around doors and windows. It can help keep water from penetrating the home.
• Also check the roof for damage and weakness. This can help prevent water penetration during precipitation.
• Keep a close eye on the local weather. Have a few emergency devices on hand, like sand bags and window coverings, to try to keep water out of the home.

If necessary, evacuate the home and don’t return until flood waters subside. Afterwards, call your flood insurance agent at (915) 562-0009 about the problem. They can help you determine the right way to make a policy claim.

Also Read: Steps to Recovering After a Flood at Your Business

Landscaping is as important as construction when it comes to ensuring a property’s integrity. If you don’t do it right, you could compromise the structure you seek to beautify instead. However, even as low-risk as beautification might seem, it still can be risky from time to time. The professional landscapers who spend a lot of hours working on the site could all get hurt through a variety of seemingly-mundane items. As a result, there could be a workers’ compensation risk to your employees. Here’s why.

Workers’ compensation is a type of insurance that every businessman needs. Should harm come to an employee, it might prove instrumental in helping them. Nevertheless, knowing what to look out for to reduce employee injury claims is also imperative to overall success. The better you protect your employees, the lower your workers’ compensation risks.

Workers’ Compensation Coverage for Contractors

As a contractor, you are a business owner. You must hire employees to complete work to the satisfaction of your clients. Nevertheless, you have to provide a safe working environment for your employees. Yes, contracting is dangerous work. However, it doesn’t have to be so to an extreme. Therefore, employees still have the entitlement to protection in case problems arise.

In such situations, workers’ compensation insurance becomes essential. Most businesses have to, by law, carry this protection. It comes into play in case an employee gets hurt or incapacitated on the job. The injured party will make a claim on the company’s workers’ compensation insurance. The policy will then pay the claimant a supplementary income. It might help cover their medical bills, rehabilitation costs and everyday bills.

In the case of a landscaper, manual labor will come with its fair share of injury risks. Therefore, it is always best to have workers’ compensation insurance on hand and ready to go in case an injury should arise. The employee in question will have to prove that they sustained the injury directly through their work. Still, a variety of potential risks might occur in the job site. The person in charge of the job need to remain aware of them at all times.

Common Workers’ Compensation Risks at Landscaping Sites

Think about some of the tasks you might do during landscaping. You might:

• Haul and lay brickwork
• Level, dam or raise the earth
• Plant trees or foliage
• Create drainage ditches or lay pipe
• Build small structures like arbors, sheds or fountains
• Spread mulch, seed or pesticides

In many ways, these might seem like straightforward tasks if you know what your are doing. However, there is always a chance that someone could get hurt in the normal course of duties. Therefore, you should keep a consistent eye out for some of the following risks.

• Slip-and-fall risks: The ground in and around landscaping sites is not yet in its prime state. Therefore, it is likely uneven, muddy, slippery and has more than a few rocks around. As a result, there is always a chance someone could slip, fall and hurt themselves, even while undertaking normal duties.
• Structure collapse risks: You might have the task of building a retaining wall for a property. Or, you might have to move earth to create dams, hills or other natural structures. Without doing so correctly, there is a risk of collapse from any of these structures. Should something fall, it could fall onto someone, or collapse under them. There are multiple risks, including burial, suffocation and head injuries.
• Head injury risks: Head injury risks might result from falling objects, collapsing structures and other hazards.
• Burn risks: If you use any source of heat on the property, there is a chance of burn risks arising. This might come from blow torches, controlled burns, electrical sources and even heaters used to dry materials or keep workers warm.
• Cut risks: Any multitude of items on a work site might cut employees, some severely. Shears, spades and hoes, and even thorns on roses could cause problems at any moment.
• Machinery risks: You might use backhoes, sod turners, plows and many other automated items on the work site. If used incorrectly, these items could harm your employees. Only those who have training in how to use these items should do so.
• Sun risks: Long days working in the heat could harm employees. They might sustain dehydration, sunstroke and sunburn. All of these items might lead to workers’ compensation claims.

These are just a few of the numerous workers’ compensation risks on landscaping sites. Even an employee who falls on their way to use the restroom might have grounds for a claim. Therefore, contractors need to do everything they can to prevent these injuries. You can generally do so by encouraging a safety-focused environment. Employers that enforce safety codes and require employees to look out for the rules generally have a much lower risk of ever having to file a claim.

In the event that someone does get hurt during the landscaping, provide them with the information for your workers’ compensation insurer. The insurer will then review the claim to see if the employee has grounds to receive a payout from a claim. If they do, the workers’ comp policy will provide the assistance.

Also Read: Everyone Wants Their Contractor to Be Bonded