Loss of business income coverage is often an overlooked coverage by most business owners.  Typically when I sit down with a business owner they are concerned that they have adequate coverage to rebuild their building and/or replace their inventory and that they have enough liability coverage to cover a potential lawsuit. 

A conversation that a business owner should be having with their agent is if I have a fire or another type of claim that closes down my location for a period of time what is the potential loss of income to my business?  In order to answer this question the business owner has to have a good handle on the total revenue and expenses of the business.  And an understanding that it can take a year or more in some cases to have your location repaired and up and running again. 

I usually recommend business owners to carry at least 12 months of loss of income protection and if they are on a tight budget 6 months.  This will allow you to have adequate time to get your property repaired or find a new location. 

This coverage allows you to pay for your employees wages while they are not able to work.  This way you don’t lose good employees because of an unforseen disaster.  As any business owner knows, employees are truly the heart of your business.  Having to find all new employees is a time consuming and difficult task.   

Now most small business owners insurance policies will automatically provide this coverage for the actual loss sustained, but some will not, so it’s important to ask the question.

If you would like us to provide a review of your policy, give us a call at 585-663-2004.

I’m sure there are a number of parents that worry about what a new school year brings for their children.  New course work, new challenges and new dangers.  I can’t come by all of your houses after school and help tutor your children, but I can help you make them safer.  This month I’ve included a list of back to school reminders and safety tips that you should review and share them with your children, which I pulled from the American Academy of Pediatrics website.   

Traveling to and from school

School bus:

• If your child’s school bus has lap/shoulder seat belts, make sure your child uses one at all times when in the bus. If your child’s school bus does not have lap/shoulder belts, encourage the school to buy or lease buses with lap/shoulder belts.
• Wait for the bus to stop before approaching it from the curb.
• Do not move around on the bus.
• Check to see that no other traffic is coming before crossing.
• Make sure to always remain in clear view of the bus driver.

Biking:

• Always wear a bicycle helmet, no matter how short or long the ride.
• Ride on the right, in the same direction as auto traffic.
• Use appropriate hand signals.
• Respect traffic lights and stop signs.
• Wear bright color clothing to increase visibility.

Walking:

• Make sure your child’s walk to a school is a safe route with well-trained adult crossing guards at every intersection.
• Be realistic about your child’s pedestrian skills. Because small children are impulsive and less cautious around traffic, carefully consider whether or not your child is ready to walk to school without adult supervision.
• If your child is young or is walking to new school, walk with them the first week to make sure they know the route and can do it safely.
• Bright colored clothing will make your child more visible to drivers.
• In neighborhoods with higher levels of traffic, consider starting a “walking school bus,” in which an adult accompanies a group of neighborhood children walking to school.

Before and after school child care 

• During middle childhood, youngsters need supervision. A responsible adult should be available to get them ready and off to school in the morning and watch over them after school until you return home from work.
• Children approaching adolescence (11- and 12-year-olds) should not come home to an empty house in the afternoon unless they show unusual maturity for their age.
• If alternate adult supervision is not available, parents should make special efforts to supervise their children from a distance. Children should have a set time when they are expected to arrive at home and should check in with a neighbor or with a parent by telephone.  

Most of these safety tips are pretty basic and mostly a reminder, but be sure to review them with your children because it never hurts to review safety tips, but it can hurt not to. 

First off, my daughter Kaci Kathleen VanScoter was born 7/18 at 8:42am, since that time Christine and I have learned a lot about babies.  In our brief stay in the hospital the nurses got to know us pretty well.  We frantically called the nurse’s station to come to our room and examine Kaci because she seemed to have very deep hiccups.  The nurse assured us that babies get hiccups and she is fine. 

The hospital thought they had gotten rid of us, but just over 24 hours after we were discharged, we were making a trip to the emergency room.  Kaci had spit-up ferociously, what appeared to be her entire feeding.  We were concerned with the projectile nature of the spit-up, so our pediatrician recommended that we go the hospital.  The doctor asked us a series of questions, such as, is she feeding ok?, is she having bowl movements?, is she lethargic?, we replied, she’s feeding fine, she’s filling the diapers alright and she’s as alert as you could expect from a new born.  He checked her out and then asked us the most important question of all, are you first-time parents? Yes, we are, then his tone changed and he assured us that babies spit-up and she is fine. 

I’ve also learned to watch where you keep hands when you’re preparing to bath her and she’s not wearing a diaper.  My hand got soaked and it wasn’t from the bath water.  Also when you’re changing her, be sure to get that new diaper on her as fast as possible or there could be a mess on the changing table.

Christine and I have learned a great deal in the just the first two weeks the hard way, so I thought I would do a little research so we won’t have to learn everything the hard.  So below are some safety tips for babies and children provided by Safe Kids Worldwide:

•  Keep soft things out of the place where an infant sleeps
•  Babies should be put to sleep on their backs
•  Put all plastic wrappings or bags where children can’t reach them
•  Infants should ride in rear-facing car seats until they weigh at least 20 lbs (9 kg) and are at least 1 year old. Do not put a rear-facing car seat in the front seat of a vehicle with an active passenger air bag
• Children over 1 year old and weighing between 20 lbs (9kg) and 40 lbs (18 kg) should ride in forward-facing car seats
• Children ages 4 to 8 weighing between 40 lbs (18 kg) and 80 lbs (36 kg) should ride in booster seats restrained with lap and shoulder belts. A regular safety belt won’t fully protect a child this size in a crash
• Don’t leave a baby alone on a changing table, bed, couch or other furniture. Keep one hand on the baby while changing diapers
• Always strap a baby into a high chair, swing, changing table or strollers
• Teach children a plan for escaping your home in a fire and practice it
• Before bathing children in heated water, always run your open hand through the water to check its temperature
• Keep hot foods and liquids away from table and counter edges. Never carry children and hot foods or liquids at the same time
• Always watch children near water. Don’t leave, even for a moment

Hopefully you can benefit from our learning experiences and these safety tips. 

There can be some confusion as to who should insure a young driver’s car of divorced parents.  The young driver may primarily reside with his/her mother, but the father may have purchased the car for the young driver to use and it is titled in the father’s name. 

The mother will need to add the young driver to her policy because the child primarily resides with her, but the father will have to include the car on his policy with the child listed as a driver because it is titled in his name. 

If the car is titled in the child’s name then he/she can obtain their own separate auto insurance policy.  That is if neither of the parents wants to run the risk and increased premiums of having an inexperienced driver on their policy.  It will be much more cost effective for the child if they are added to the parents’ policy because they would get the benefit of the multi-car discount for having more than one vehicle on a policy and a multi-policy discount assuming the parents have their homeowners or renters insurance with the same company. 

It is important that the child be listed as a driver of the car on the father’s auto policy and listed as a driver on the mothers’ auto policy to make sure that they have the appropriate coverage in case they are in an accident.  It will also help the child when it is time for them to go out on their own and obtain their own auto insurance policy. 

I’ve had this happen a number of times when a young driver will come to me to get auto insurance because they are purchasing a new car in their name and they think that they’ve been listed as a driver on their parents’ policy, but unfortunately they were never added.  This dramatically increases the cost of insurance for the young driver because it looks like they’ve had no prior insurance.  The insurance company has no record to draw from to determine if this driver has been acting responsibly or not, so they charge them a higher rate.  If the young driver can show me their parents’ policy that lists them as a driver, I’m able to get them a substantially better rate. 

Once the youthful driver has their own insurance, the parents can remove the child from their auto insurance policy.  The parents’ insurance company will most likely want to see an actual policy showing the child has their own insurance before they remove them.