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There are commercial truck policies for small companies and even single trucks, as well as larger policies available to provide coverage for large fleets of vehicles that might even include subcontracted commercial vehicles. Sometimes commercial truck insurance is called long-haul truck insurance.

This type of insurance isn’t like personal or recreational vehicle insurance. Commercial truck insurance offers different types of coverage that includes pollution liability, and even options to cover specific regional regulations for business vehicles. Some policies will let the owners base the policy on mileage or gross business revenues. Although this method means you pay more when business is better.

Covering the Cargo

Instead of covering the vehicles, motor truck cargo insurance offers protection to the truck owners if they loose or damage the freight they carry. This type of insurance is limited to a maximum load value per vehicle. The freight can be appraised before shipment in order to assess the specific cost of replacement value so that the trucking company is fully protected from liability.

There are options to insure the freight even if it’s not on the truck, for instance in a warehouse or terminal. If something happens and the freight can’t be delivered there is also an option that will help pay for storage. This option is called Warehouseman’s legal liability.

Types of Commercial Truck Insurance

There are statistics indicating that big trucks are involved in accidents where someone is killed or injured every sixteen minutes in the United States. Long-haul semi trucks have a bigger chance of becoming involved in multi-vehicle accidents that are often fatal. Having the right commercial trucking insurance is imperative to protecting your business.

Commercial truck insurance is often called semi-truck insurance. There are several types of coverage including:

• Primary Liability Insurance – is required by law in order to drive any type of motor vehicle on the roads. This type of commercial truck insurance covers those who are injured or their property damage because of an accident with the truck where the driver is at fault. Federal law requires $750,000 minimum coverage for each truck driver on the road. If the truck driver is at fault in an accident the policy would cover the amount up to the limit, then the truck driver or company would be liable for additional amounts. Often truck drivers and companies will choose to carry primary liability insurance in an amount that is higher than the minimum limits required.
• General Liability Insurance – is the part of the policy that would cover incidents that occur when you are not driving, including while stopped at a rest area, when loading or unloading the truck, theft or vandalism any time the commercial vehicle is parked. The specifics of general liability insurance coverage can fluctuate between different insurance providers. Make sure you don’t make assumptions and know exactly what your policy covers.
• Motor Truck Cargo Insurance – as discussed above, this type of coverage protect the actual cargo or freight that is being transported in the commercial truck. While not required by law, your clients may demand that you carry this insurance and that it be at a specific limit before they contract for your services.
• Non-Trucking Liability Insurance – is a form of commercial truck insurance that is sometimes referred to as bobtail or deadhead insurance. This coverage specifically protects your truck while it is stored or parked and empty of a load when you aren’t working.

There are also other forms of commercial truck insurance including a type specifically used by independent truck owners that operate their own vehicles. Known as Occupational and Accidental Injury Insurance, this part of the policy serves as a type of workman’s compensation for the driver/owner, paying for medical and living expenses if they are hurt on the job.

Insurance carriers have the right to request specific driver requirements in order for the insurance coverage to be valid. Besides a federal requirement that all drivers for vehicles over a certain size have a CDL or Commercial Driver’s License, the company can impose additional conditions that may include:

• Higher age limits
• Specified years of experience driving a truck
• Limiting the number of acceptable moving violations, at fault accidents, or major violations over a specified number of years

Summary

The many facets of commercial truck insurance covers liability for personal injuries and property damages, it covers the loss or damage of the freight you carry, and it covers the truck whether it is carrying freight, parked at a terminal, or in your driveway.

Whether someone falls and is injured on the church grounds, a volunteer hurts someone at the local bake sale, or a church vehicle hits a telephone pole, these are all circumstances where the church could be open to a lawsuit. Church liability insurance would pay for legal assistance as well as the damages or injuries if it is ruled that the church was at fault.

Unfortunately many church officers believe that parishioners of their church aren’t likely to instigate a lawsuit against the church. Unfortunately if someone is injured and needs care, or their property damaged, they likely will seek restitution. Consider if your child was injured enough to be hospitalized after participation in a church function or just attending Sunday school. Whether or not there was negligence, most parents would sue in order to take care of the medical bills and care of the child.

Besides that, not everyone who comes through the church doors are parishioners, and the employees and volunteers for the church also touch the lives of those who aren’t in the congregation.

Professional Services Liability Insurance

Often this type of church liability insurance is called Acts, Errors and Omissions Coverage. It may also be known as Pastoral Liability Insurance. Typically to get pastoral liability coverage the clergy has to be licensed or ordained. Without this, “clergy privilege” can be debated. The clergy will need to have the church provide professional liability insurance, particularly if the clergy has a degree in psychiatry, psychology, or something similar. This protects the church from lawsuits if someone believes they are hurt through any counseling.

This type of insurance can protect the church and its clergy from the following:

• Child Abuse Reporting Lawsuits – what is covered and what isn’t should be discussed with the agent. In some states and regions you can be put in jail if you don’t report child abuse as a crime.
• Counseling Malpractice
• Defamation
• Diversion of Funds
• Invasion of Privacy
• Misappropriation of funds
• Sexual Misconduct

Volunteer Liability Insurance

This area of liability insurance may require you to speak at length with a lawyer, insurance agent and/or broker to determine what works best for the congregation based on how volunteers are utilized. Volunteer coverage may also be based on state requirements. Many insurers that provide volunteer liability insurance require the church to follow at least a few rules in order for coverage to be granted. These rules may include:

• Volunteer applications
• Background Checks
• Signed Waivers saying that the volunteer won’t sue the church

Speak to your agent about these requirements. There are some insurance companies that will allow the church to use the above services through the policy provider at either no charge or at a reduced charge.

Church Liability Insurance Issues

As congregations consider their liability policies it is important to check what liability coverage you currently have and to set a time every year to update the policy and even get competitive quotes on the policy. In today’s world just about anyone can instigate a lawsuit, and if children are injured or hurt then the judgments can escalate in worth.

Whether you are in charge of a church, temple, or mosque, if you have day care or any type of school that is ran, sponsored by the church, or simply on church grounds…then you need to really understand what your church liability insurance covers and what the limits are.

Whether or not the lawsuit is frivolous, you will still need to address it and typically will be required to hire legal support. Church liability insurance can help you pay for legal council at this point and throughout the lawsuit proceedings. But some preplanning and research is needed to protect your church. There are many insurance companies that have reassessed policy limits and restriction when it comes to molestation and sexual abuse.

Check with your carrier and if you don’t have protection from the above, get coverage add it to your current liability

Summary

Church liability insurance can come in the form of a general policy but there are also specific areas that may have to be addressed under additional policies or riders. This includes covering the profession of clergy by having pastoral or professional liability insurance. Other areas that need to be considered include the volunteers of your church and their actions and responsibilities, and covering the church from lawsuits featuring sexual abuse and molestation.

Churches should never overlook liability insurance by hoping that parishioners won’t sue the church. Church liability insurance needs to be reviewed and updated often.

What is General Liability Insurance?

General liability insurance is intended to safeguard any type of business from large financial losses if there is a personal injury claim or property damage lawsuit. Whether or not your company is guilty of any wrongdoing, the cost to hire lawyers and defend your business can be expensive. The cost of legal defense is one thing that liability insurance will pay for.

It doesn’t matter what type of business you have, a general liability insurance policy can cover construction, counseling, medical, as well as insurance and real estate firms. Lawsuits against businesses occur all the time and for many reasons. Just some of the lawsuits that general liability insurance can protect you from include negligence, personal injury, and malpractice.

General Liability Insurance covers a wide variety of legal issues, including if someone is injured on your property or by a company vehicle, to property damage or harm caused by one of your employees to someone outside your organization.

If someone slips and falls in your store, or an employee knocks a hole in a client’s wall, the lawsuit for damages could bankrupt a company and run it out of business. General liability insurance will shield your business from lawsuits for damage, injury, or frivolous claims.

Getting the Best Price for General Liability Insurance

To find cheap general liability insurance it is important to do a little research to determine what policy limits and coverage details you need based on the type of business you have. Then when you shop for insurance you can compare the pricing from several companies for equivalent policies.

For instance, higher policy limits might be necessary for a medical professional than for someone in yard care. A contractor will need different coverage options than a dog groomer. So the first order of business in finding cheap general liability insurance is to establish exactly what you need, then get quotes.

General liability insurance typically covers almost any type of damage caused by you or your employees. While the coverage may be the same, the cost for the same insurance can vary quite a bit. One of the best places to find cheap general liability insurance is online. There are several services that allow business owners to multiple quotes by inputting the information once. These quotes will come from companies such as Nationwide, The Hartford, Allstate, as well as insurance agents based locally.

One such online general liability quote provider is NetQuote, The quotes are provided at no cost and without obligation.

Some of these online services will help you determine what type of coverage you should have and then quote the cheapest options. Typically a general liability insurance quote will include:

• Bodily or physical injury to an individual
• Damage to property
• Product liability
• Contractual liability as the business extends to an assortment of contracts for clients

General liability insurance can be extended to freelancers working for your organization, doctors who consult, and company directors or other officers of the company.

Next Steps for Getting Cheap General Liability Insurance

In order to get the best price and product for general liability insurance there are some general steps that you can take to insure you make the right choice for your business. These steps include:

• Check the Department of Insurance website for your state and get information on the top insurance carriers for general liability policies dealing with your industry. You can find the website by searching: State name Department of Insurance.
• Check out several online insurance brokers with an eye to those who provide quotes from the companies on the list generated from above. Check the about tab for the brokers and read about their general experience, the experience in your industry, and their education. Search the internet for reviews on the online broker.
• Reduce your list to five to seven insurance providers that you want quotes from. Use one or more online brokers to get a prices quote on the same policy limits and coverage for the insurance companies on your list. Using the internet will cut down on time and effort and give you a basis for comparing costs.
• Talk to vendors, customers, and other business owners and ask where they get their general liability insurance coverage. Make a few calls to local agents and get quotes on your short list of acceptable companies.

With the pricing stage of your research complete, pick out the top three prospects and verify that the coverage is the same for each price quote. Then research these companies for service levels, complaints, and reviews. This typically can be accomplished within a few minutes on the internet.

Now you are ready to choose the best provider for cheap general liability insurance.

What is Liability Insurance?

Liability insurance coverage protects the individual or organization from the legal liability of loss or damage. Business liability insurance offers various types of coverage for your company protecting you against the liability for damages done to someone outside of the company. This policy does not cover something done within the business by its employees, this is for what is termed a third-party, or someone outside the business (like a client or customer) that is hurt at your place of business or by an employee of the company, or damage is done to their home or other property. If awarded, the money is not paid to you, but to the third-party.

The damage might stem from someone falling in your store, a vehicle accident caused by a delivery truck, or if a contractor causes plumbing damage that floods a client’s home. There are various types of damage and injuries that business liability insurance will cover the cost of, while saving your company from financial distress. Just as there are several types of liability insurance that may cover products, professional services, automotive liability for business vehicles, and even to protect a business from its employees.

Certificate of Liability Insurance

The certificates of insurance typically consists of one or just a few pages, instead of the insured having to provide the entire, somewhat lengthy, insurance policy. This liability insurance certificate summarizes the terms and conditions of the insurance coverage.

Where the entire liability policy might hold proprietary information on the business, including rates, business volumes, and other information that the insured may not want made public, the insurance certificate provides only the basic information that proves the policy is in place

The certificate of liability insurance supplies information that includes:

• The insured’s name or the party or parties that are insured
• The agent or broker that issued the certificate
• Policy numbers
• Effective date of the policy and its expiration date
• The specific type of policy, including the insurance limits or exclusions, and what the policy is intended for

The certificate of liability insurance would also contain any key details, all disclaimers and events that would lead to cancellation of the policy on both the part of the insurer and the insured, as well as how and when the insured would be notified if the insurance coverage were to be cancelled.

Use of Liability Insurance Certificates

Business use of the certificate often follows a transaction where one party agrees to indemnify or cover the other person or entity. The certificate is used to show proof that there is coverage in place to financially uphold this agreement. Contractors and business owners often have to carry liability insurance to protect themselves or their company from any lawsuit due to loss or damages.

If contracted to do the work, the person hiring the contractor or business may want to see that you are covered for any negligence before they award the job. The certificate of liability insurance would then be used as proof that you carry such insurance.

Insurance Certificates – History

There is a standard form available through ACORD, which stands for Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development. This site provides information on insurance standards and changes in regulations.

There are other organizations, such as ISO or the Insurance Services Office, Inc that have introduced their own version of the insurance certificate. There are also non-standard forms available; these forms are sometimes referred to as manuscript forms instead of certificates.

Certificate of Liability Insurance Disclaimer

It is important to remember that this certificate is not the insurance policy, but merely a snapshot of what the policy entails. The certificate actually has a disclaimer that while it contains information about the policy as it was when the certificate was generated, it does not confer any rights to the holder of that certificate. There are also no indications on the certificate if there have been any modifications of coverage.

Summary

A Certificate of Liability Insurance serves as a simple rundown and proof that the insured has liability insurance that would protect others against negligence that causes loss or damage to property. This is not the actual insurance policy, but a breakdown of what the policy covers and its limitations.

It is important for the insured, as well as those who require proof of insurance to understand the what the Certificate of Liability Insurance covers, the limits of the policy, and when the insurance would cover any loss or damages caused by the insured.

As a type of ground and marine insurance, cargo liability is in effect when the goods are in an insured vehicle either in transit or while waiting at a terminal to be loaded. In fact, cargo liability insurance is divided into two varieties, marine and inland. Both forms are paid for by either a transit company or private contractor to guard against any liability that typically occurs from the time the goods are loaded into the truck or boat, until the cargo is unloaded by the company that bought the policy and delivered.

While the cargo is being transferred from one place to another the policy protects the person driving the truck or operating the marine vessel, the company who contracted to move the shipment, and the actual cargo. When the cargo is verified as delivered undamaged and intact, the insurance policy no longer applies. Liability now changes hands, it becomes the concern the person or company who accepted deliver, or falls to the owner as part of a general liability policy.

Inland or Motor Truck Cargo Liability Insurance

In the United States there is a Federal Law covering minimum levels of cargo liability insurance for the transportation and delivery of freight over land. The minimum levels are:

1. Loss or damage to each vehicle contents – $5,000
2. Loss or damage due to any one incident – $10,000
3. If something in the cargo spills into the street and is ruined, the first $5,000 of product would be covered by #1 listed above, with the company or driver held responsible for what is over and above the $5,000. The damage to property due to the spill that is outside the contents of the cargo is covered up to $5,000.

Again, these amounts are federal minimums and often shipping companies or private contractors will choose to increase the minimums depending on the cargo contents and the potential for damage liability. If property is lost or damaged, these issues are typically decided in a courtroom as part of a lawsuit and not by the police. The suit for damages would often include not just the cost of the product, but also any lost income, delay of business, legal fees, and more. The Motor Truck Cargo liability insurance covers these issues.

Marine Cargo Liability Insurance

Marine Cargo Liability Insurance is intended to protect loss of shipments due to theft on open water. It also protects the ship and its operators from any costs that come from the loss or damage of the cargo, as well as against delays and costs associated with delays and the loss of cargo.

Marine Cargo Liability Insurance has to take into account international trade concerns, delays due to bad weather and other incidents that aren’t as critical with delivery of goods over land. Sea-based transport liability must also consider that the cargo could become water damaged.

Often Marine Cargo Liability Insurance carries both a motor cargo element as well as marine. Often goods are transported over land, then over water, and again over land before ultimate delivery of the cargo can be completed. Being able to combine both land and marine liability insurance protects the company against gaps in policies and can reduce the cost of having two separate policies.

Annual or Single Transit Insurance

Transportation companies or private contractors have the option of two types of cargo liability insurance. They can purchase an Annual Transit Policy that covers all liabilities for the cargo they move through a full year or they can purchase Single Transit Insurance that covers liability for a single delivery.

• Annual Transit Insurance – This type of policy can have mileage limits incorporated in the coverage. This limitation is intended to protect the insurance company from disproportionate use based on the coverage. To manage this type of policy the shipping or trucking company would need to monitor and plan for continuing coverage.
• Single Transit Insurance – This type of liability coverage is typically used by shipping companies or is someone who either doesn’t ship regularly enough to pay for an annual policy or just needs to cover the risk of loosing or damaging one single shipment.

It’s interesting to note that small delivery package insurance, such you would use through a service like UPS or FedEx, originated as a form of Single Transit Insurance.

Summary

Cargo Liability Insurance comes in two basic types which are land and sea. Companies can get a blanket, annual transit policy or purchase a single transit policy for occasional shipments.

Existing Auto Insurance

If you already have car insurance, check your policy or talk to your insurance provider and see if the insurance can be used on a rental car. Often if the car rental is for personal use the current auto insurance policy can be used on a rental. Typically existing auto insurance will cover a domestic car rental, but not an international rental.

Check the liability limits of your car insurance policy to make sure it covers the rental agencies minimum limits. In fact you should find out all the limits for your existing car insurance and how the insurance policy would cover car rental insurance. Examples of this would be to know what your deductible is. If you have a $500 deductible on your personal auto insurance policy, then you will have to pay the $500 for any car rental accident.

Credit Card Covering Rental Insurance

The next step is to check on the credit cards that you might use to rent a car. Many credit card company offer insurance coverage if you use the card to rent the car. The credit card will also have specific liability limits assigned to it.

Often using your existing insurance or the insurance offered on a credit card will be cheaper that adding liability insurance to the cost of the rental car. Some credit card companies may offer this insurance and no charge, and some may offer the insurance at a cost that is lest than the rental agency.

Because the insurance coverage provided by credit card companies will vary greatly, it is recommended that you get the details of car rental insurance coverage in writing. Keep these details with you when your rent a car so that you will have proof of the coverage and able to refer to it if needed.

There are some credit card companies that will cover damage to the car you rent, but not to damage done to other cars. There are also some credit card companies that don’t offer liability coverage in the case of bodily injury or death. In this case you would need to have liability coverage from another source.

Rental Car Accident

It is important to understand what happens and how insurance is utilized if you have an accident in a rental car and the accident is determined to be your fault.

• Liability – whether the insurance comes from your personal auto policy or your credit card company, your liability insurance will cover damages caused to someone else, medical expenses for these injuries, and property damage up to your insurance limits. If you took any liability insurance from the rental agency then this insurance would pay first and your personal auto or credit card insurance would pay what is typically termed as “excess” coverage.
• Collision – Collision coverage will cover damage you have caused to the rental car. Any insurance purchased from the rental agency will pay first, and then your personal auto policy minus your deductible…or the credit card insurance will cover the excess.
• Comprehensive – Comprehensive coverage covers fire, theft, vandalism or collisions with animals. Sometimes your homeowners or rental insurance may cover theft, or your own auto policy will cover any excess charges, subject to your policy’s deductible.

Rental Car Company’s Liability Insurance

There are various types of insurance and waivers available at the rental agencies that expand your car rental liability protection. Often these liability insurance supplements cost from just a few dollars to almost twenty dollars a day. You might get a break for a week’s rental on this insurance, and it will often cover you for up to a million dollars of property damage and bodily injuries.

Purchasing this type of car rental liability insurance makes it the primary coverage on your rental car. If you have an accident this insurance pays first, then any personal auto policy or insurance from the credit card company would pay the excess up to their limits.

Before Renting a Car

Make sure your check with your insurance agent and see what your homeowner’s or renters insurance will cover if the car is broken into and things are stolen from the car. Then check your auto insurance policy and with your credit card companies to see what else is covered if you rent a vehicle. Then when you rent a car, check with the rental agency to see what they offer and the price, to fill any gaps and insure that you have enough car rental liability insurance.

Any time you are at fault in a vehicle accident you will need car liability insurance to cover your financial obligations due to the accident. There are minimum car liability insurance requirements that are set by the state you live in. It is important to not that often the required minimum coverage amounts are sufficient to cover serious motor vehicle accidents. If you are sued or there are medical and property liability expenses that your insurance limits won’t cover, you will be personally responsible to pay the difference.

There are two forms of car liability insurance. These include Bodily Insurance Liability or BI, and Property Damage Liability or PD.

Bodily Injury Liability (BI)

The Bodily Injury portion of your liability insurance covers you when you are in an auto accident that is determined to be your fault. This coverage applies only to those who are injured or killed and were NOT in your vehicle. Bodily Injury Liability will cover any pedestrian injuries, or cover passengers and drivers in other vehicles. The BI section of your vehicle liability insurance will also pay for legal defense if you are sued by any pedestrian or occupants vehicles other than your own.

Bodily Injury Liability Insurance can be used for medical and rehabilitation expenses, possibly time off work if the injuries are severe enough, and even to pay someone to maintain a home or take care of children if the injuries prevent the person from taking care of their home and family.

Property Damage Liability (PD)

If you or your car damages any property, for instance other cars, buildings, fire hydrants, bicycles, power poles, fences, or land…this damage is paid for by your Property Damage Car Liability Insurance if you are to blame for the auto accident. The PD portion of your liability insurance can also pay for attorney and court costs if you are sued because of property damage.

Understanding Limits

A car liability insurance policy will list the limits in three sets of numbers. This might be something like 50/100/25. These numbers stand for thousand dollar increments. In other words the 50 stands for fifty thousand dollars, 100 stands for one hundred thousand dollars, and the 25 would stand for twenty-five thousand dollars.

The first number signifies the limits on bodily injury coverage per person. This means that each person injured in a car accident that is determined to be your fault can collect up to $50,000 for their medical expenses and other charges. But the 100 is the aggregate or combined limit for all claims. This means that if three people are injured and have claims of $50k each, the insurance company would only pay for $100,000 and you would have to pay the additional fifty thousand.

The final number is the property damage coverage limit for your car liability policy.

Cover Yourself

It is important to make sure that your liability limits for both property damage and bodily injury will protect your family’s financial health. Often the minimum limits are per accident, not per person, so if you are at fault for a multi-car accident your liability could extend beyond what the insurance company will pay. This means that if your limit isn’t large enough, you will personally have to pay the difference.

The Cost of Car Liability Insurance

As with other types of vehicle insurance, the cost of liability car insurance will vary from person-to-person, state-to-state, and among the different insurance companies. Personally the cost for insurance will depend on your age, driving record, and your credit score. Other factors might be if the car is housed in a garage or on the street, if you are married or single, your grades if you are a student, and many other components. Your credit score will also be considered when your rates are set.

Compare Pricing Online

Online price comparison sites for car liability insurance can help you make sure you are getting both the best price, and the best policy that you can afford. The comparison sites will offer quotes on the minimum limits for your state, then allow you to see what the difference in policy price would be for increasing those limits.

You can also check the car liability insurance price with different deductibles, or with bundling other vehicles or even your home and life insurance with the same company. Using a comparison site to get pricing quotes also means that you won’t have individual hits on your credit report for each insurance quote that you’re given.

There are many online services offering the ability to check rates from multiple car insurance companies. One of these is BaseQuotes.

Canine Liability Facts

You may not want to think that your dog would hurt anyone, but there are many reasons to take the step of getting insurance against this possibility. The Insurance Information Institute has stated that in 2007 over 1/3 of all insurance claims made against homeowner liability policies were instigated due to dog bites. In the United States in 2007 almost five million people were bitten by dogs, over thirty people were killed by dogs, and the average cost of a dog bite claim was over $24,000.

Depending on the state that you live in there are different legal standards for dog owner liability. Most states will hold the owner liable for any damage an animal does, regardless if there is a prior history. Besides medical and property damage, the awards can also be made for mental anguish, even if the dog is aggressive but doesn’t bite. Some of the states will limit this liability if it is the first time the dog has attacked or been hostile.

Rare in the past, criminal charges are on the rise if the owner is found to be negligent, or if the canine assault is particularly brutal.

Homeowners Insurance versus Canine Liability Insurance

It is important that you know what type of coverage you have on your homeowner’s policy if you have a dog or are taking care of a dog and that dog attacks someone. Check if the policy is only good for attacks that happen on your site, or if you have taken the dog somewhere else, like for a walk.

There are many homeowner insurance policies that exclude paying for a canine attack if you are working out of your home. It is important to contact your insurance company and determine the extent of your coverage.

Because dog-bite claims are on the rise, there are many insurance companies that will have exclusions, conditions, or limits on a typical homeowner’s policy. There are some canine breeds that have even been blacklisted when it comes to liability coverage of any type. If you have one of these breeds you may need to get a specific policy that covers these dog breeds. The blacklist often includes the following breeds:

• Akita
• Chow
• Doberman
• Pit bull
• Rottweiler
• Wolf hybrid

The insurance company may also elect to cover the above breeds, with a change in coverage if the dog bites or attacks someone. At this point they could drop the coverage, charge a higher premium, or demand that in order to keep the homeowner insurance in place the owner must agree to exclude the dog from coverage. This waiver of coverage would mean the dog owner would have to pay for any future lawsuit or claim on their own unless they got separate canine liability insurance.

Canine Liability Insurance Protection

Having canine liability insurance does more than pay for medical bills and protect you from lawsuits if your dog bites someone. This type of insurance can also cover any damage done by the animal to property, whether it is yours or someone else’s. The protection also can extend to your business and any dog that is deemed to be under your control, whether it is your animal or one you are taking care of.

If you are renting a home and have a pet, you are responsible for any damage done by the animal to the property or anyone that comes on the property. If you don’t have canine liability insurance, the owner’s policy is not going to pay for the problems caused by your animal.

Canine Liability Insurance Costs

There are many factors that go into determining the cost of this type of policy. These factors would include if you have some type of protection under your homeowner’s policy and just need to extend this coverage, what type of dog breed you own, and whether or not this is just for your home or you need to cover a business.

Stand alone canine liability insurance policies can start at a couple hundred dollars a year, and increase dramatically depending on the plan limits, the state you live in, plan deductibles and more. Above all, the type of breed and the history of your particular animal will be taken into account when you apply for canine liability insurance.

All accountants are open to the possibility of making a simple mistake that can cost millions. Missing the date for filing taxes, adding too many zeroes or not enough zeroes, putting a decimal in the wrong place and many other minor errors can soon turn into a financial nightmare for the client and ultimately for the accountant who is held responsible for the fiasco they have created.

Keeping up with paperwork alone can be a disaster that leads to costly mistakes. It doesn’t matter if every number is in the right place and all the deadlines have been met, if the accountant isn’t able to back up their numbers with documentation that can be held accountable and ultimately part of a lawsuit.

Most accountants can’t afford to be held financially responsible for their mistakes. Imagine being the accountant for a large corporation and being responsible for the accounting for millions or even billions of dollars. One mistake could cost the company millions of dollars, probably much more money than the accountant has in their personal bank account. However, professional liability insurance is the key to ensuring that a mistake doesn’t cost the accountant their very own livelihood and personal financial stability.

Choosing Professional Liability Insurance for Accountants

Accountants who have realized the need to have professional liability insurance may think it is as simply as going to the Internet and finding insurance; however, this is not the best method and could wind up costing money rather than protecting assets. There are insurance brokers and mediators whose job is to consider every aspect of the accountant’s needs and the type accounting work that they are involved in and then recommend the best policy to meet the needs of the accountant.

Insurance mediators and brokers can be found on the Internet under the term “insurance” and “insurance brokers”. A Google search will result in websites that can help get quotes based on a series of questions that the accountant answers to help guide the query to the best solutions for professional liability insurance needs.

How Much Liability Insurance is Necessary?

Every accountant will have a different amount of risk that they can afford to take as well as a different level of accounting that they handle. This will have a large impact on how much liability insurance the accountant needs to carry. An accountant for a very small company or firm doesn’t need as much insurance as an accountant who handles the books for a multi-million dollar company. The amount of liability is simply vastly different.

Accountants who multi-task, such as those who handle the human resource aspects of a company in addition to the banking aspect of a small company have a higher risk level than someone who handles only the banking aspect. The reason is simply that the person doing only the accounting has fewer disruptions and is able to focus solely on accounting. The multi-tasking accountant has to be able to switch back and forth from one task to another and thus the chances of a mistake increase exponentially. These are the types of things that have to be taken into account when determining how much liability insurance is needed.

Best Practices

The accounting world, like any other profession has what is known as Generally Accepted Accounting Principles which are practices that are typically followed throughout the accounting world; however, these may not always be followed precisely by every accountant and this can lead to confusion over what the accountant is and is not responsible for in the area of mistakes. Professional liability insurance helps provide peace of mind if the accountant does make a mistake, regardless of whether or not the principles are being followed to the letter.

There are many other professions that require professional liability insurance and accounting is just another profession that can benefit from having liability insurance. No one is perfect and mistakes are bound to occur; however, when a mistake can be so costly as to affect finances and livelihood it is a good idea to have insurance to protect personal assets. All accountants should consult and insurance broker and determine how much insurance is needed and get a policy in place.