ALL California employers must provide coverage for their California employees
New Year’s Commercial Insurance Goals for your California Business
The New Year is almost here and gives us all the amazing opportunity for fresh start. We get to put the setbacks of this year behind us and better prepare for the coming year. This allows us to reevaluate and reorganize to make 2017 better and more successful. As a California business owner, a great place to start is with your commercial insurance policies. The following guidelines will help ensure you have everything your company may need for your California business insurance policies to start the New Year.
Collect your Documents
Make sure you have digital and hard copies of all your current insurance policies/quotes and keep track of who has access to them. If you are up with the times and technology and refuse to keep hard copies of anything, just make sure to back up a second copy of your digital files elsewhere in case of emergency!
Make sure to also place your broker’s and claim reporting contact information in an accessible place in case of any urgent matters.
Know your Coverages
Stay up-to-date on all your insurance policies, keeping track of renewal and payment dates.
Assess the coverages of each policy to ensure that you are well protected and fully covered. Your broker can also help you through this process. Check the following
- For your California General Liability policy, check limits, deductibles, and exposures to see if you have enough coverage for the New Year, as some aspects of your business may have changed.
- For your California Property policy, go over any changes to your business, such as a new real estate or contents purchase in the last year, and inform your agent of any new properties and/or business personal property so they can be quoted.
- For your California Workers Compensation policy, assess the business’ actual gross payroll ran for 2016 and make sure you are on schedule with your projected figures you provided at the beginning of your current policy year. If there are drastic changes you may want to consider reaching back out to your broker to amend the policy midterm.
- For your California Commercial Auto policy, make sure you have the current ID cards for all your vehicles and inform your agent of any vehicles that have been purchased or sold or of any vehicle alterations that affect its value. Also, make sure all drivers are listed on the policy or filed with your broker. This can definitely affect the cost of your policy.
- For your Equipment Floater policy, make sure all equipment is scheduled.
- For any other commercial insurance policies not listed above, please make to check that information and coverage is accurate and up-to-date.
Embrace Change
Assess anything new to your California business and if it needs to be covered which may have been mentioned above but is summarized below
- Real estate, equipment, or tools
- New operations to your business that may not be covered by your current policy
- Changes to your online presence
- New employees, vehicles, or locations
- Additional out-of-state locations
Get Organized and Get Covered
Once you have assessed all of these aspects of your business, you may find you need updated documents or you may have to alter your policy to cover new changes to your business. Contact your California insurance broker with any questions or for assistance. Your broker will also be able to offer you any additional insurance quotes that you may need or be eligible for this year that you were not last year. Reevaluating your insurance coverage with your agent will ensure you are most accurately insured so you can start off 2017 with preparation and peace of mind. Contact us here at JVRC Insurance agent to get a quote or need answers to any questions you may have.
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Frequently Asked Questions about Business Insurance
Why is California Workers Comp Insurance so expensive?
Largely because of claims that occur, experience modifications, fraud and payroll amounts statewide
Where do we get the information we post on our blog site?
The Department of Insurance website, The WCIRB, The Insurance Journal and many other trusted sources
What is an experience modification?
It’s a percentage that compares the payroll and loss history of your company to a similar-sized company within the same industry. For example, if a company has a better than average loss record, their experience modification would be less than 100%. If that is the case you would receive a credit on your Workers Comp rates. If that is not the case however it would result in the opposite, an increase in rates. The experience modification can be closely compared to an individual’s credit score.
Why is Workers Compensation Insurance a necessary requirement?
It is illegal in the state of California to not carry it. There will be penalties, fines and many other consequences if a worker is injured and you do not carry it. Furthermore if there is a claim and you do not have California Workers Compensation Insurance at the time the employer is still liable for all costs relating to the injury which can be devastating to any company.
How does your insurance carrier determine what your experience modification number is?
This is calculated based on your payroll, premium paid and by your reported losses for the last three consecutive years
Who regulates and makes California Workers Compensation laws?
The Department of Insurance regulates the laws and the State Senate makes them
What is a Classification or a class code?
It’s a component used determine the price an employer pays for their workers’ comp insurance premium. Classifications are established for each industry and typically include all jobs or operations within a particular business.