What is Builder’s Risk Insurance?

Builder’s Risk insurance helps protect your construction projects from certain kinds of property damage. It can also help cover additional soft costs, or expenses not directly related to construction, if property damage causes a delay.

What Does Builder’s Risk Insurance Cover?

Builder’s Risk Insurance covers the building, on-site construction materials , and liability in the event of loss or damage due to an insured event, such as fire, theft, or vandalism. A Builder’s Risk Insurance policy covers you from the beginning to the end of the project.

Issue: The team from Fixco is hired to do a major restoration job on a historical home. Unfortunately, even though the project was locked down for the weekend, vandals broke in overnight and caused property damage to the tune of $100,000.

Outcome: Builder’s Risk Insurance covers the costs of repairing the damages and supports Fixco hiring additional contractors to complete the project on time.

Where Is The Risk?

There may be two sources in a construction project from where various risks are calculated – external or internal risks. External risks consist of environmental impacts. Internal risks consist of the uncertainties which exist within the project.

Safety risks, quality of work, faults, productiveness and competency are considered as the major risks in a construction project. Here are a few more types of risk you may run into:

Economic Risk: Often related to supply of labor and materials, availability of equipment, price of construction materials, exchange rates and inflation rates.

Financial Risk: Associated with cash flows, interest rates, credit ratings, rentals, etc.

Legal Risk: These are linked to contractual clauses, codes and regulations, and building procurement.

Managerial Risk: Connected with human resource management, productivity, cost and quality control.

Technical Risk: These are associated with the technical factors related with the construction process, such as technology failure, design failure, equipment breakdown, and a range of health and safety aspects.

Political Risk: Includes interference of government in day-to-day business, public unrest, industrial relations, and project approval delays are included in this category of risk.

Environmental risks: Deals with soil conditions, weather and environmental impacts. The effects of the project on flora and fauna, geological surroundings, and people will fall under environmental risk.

For construction companies, risk management plays a significant role in the decision making process. Risks can be reduced, transferred or held back, but never eliminated. Loss minimization is one of the main reasons companies and organizations adopt Business Risk insurance.

Common Policy Exclusions… and Your Click Insurance Solution

1. Work vehicles…
   A business auto insurance policy will cover your valuable trucks and vans.
2. Employee theft…
   Ask us about a crime policy to protect your assets.
3. Flawed workmanship…
   For a complete package, your builder’s risk policy should have an accompanying general liability insurance policy.

Who Needs Builder’s Risk Insurance?

Typically, Builder’s Risk coverage is purchased by a property owner, general contractor, or any individual or business looking to build or do significant renovations. Not only is it a good idea to protect yourself and your property, but proof of Builder’s Risk insurance may be necessary to comply with local city, county, and state building codes. In a homeowner/contractor scenario, the prevailing theory is that the policy should be owned by the homeowner. If something untoward happens to the unfinished project, then the homeowner would control the insurance benefit.

Your construction project is a huge investment of time, effort, and money. Protect your final product and your bottom line with a Builder’s Risk policy, with the guidance of our insurance experts at Click Insurance. Call us at 617-580-3499 to get started.

5 Quick Life Insurance Tips

Are you thinking about getting life insurance coverage but you’re not quite sure what it does or how much you need? Life insurance doesn’t have to be complicated. Here’s a little information that will help you confidently navigate the life insurance process.

1. What’s The Use Of Life Insurance?

Life insurance offers you and your family peace of mind at a crucial time because, in the unfortunate event of your death, it can help cover funeral costs and living expenses for your family. Life insurance eases the financial burden for the loved ones who remain after you’ve “joined the great majority”.

2. When Is The Right Time To Get Life Insurance?

It’s a smart move to consider life insurance if you’ve recently experienced a major life event, such as:

• Having a baby.
• Getting married or entering into a relationship.
• Starting a new job.
• Buying a home.

3. How Much Life Insurance Do You Need?

A quick look at your financial situation will give you a starting point. Examine these things to help determine your optimal level of cover:

• Your level of debt.
• Your level of savings.
• The number of dependents you have.
• Your job.

4. Why Some Life Insurance Is Better Than None

It’s a good idea to get some life insurance coverage that meets some of your needs, sooner rather than later. Getting basic life insurance coverage in place would at least provide some financial support for those people most important to you. Having no insurance at all leaves them with nothing. Or worse, with debt.

5. Your Life Insurance Evolves With Your Life

When you’re young, life is a little simpler. That translates to your life insurance, too. For younger people with little debt and no dependents, a smaller amount of life insurance is a more appropriate choice. As you age, homes are bought and dependents are born, increasing the amount of coverage. Older still, and the kids have moved out of your fully-paid home. You can likely start to scale back on coverage. Life insurance should always meet your needs.

If you need help, one of our Click Insurance advisers will be happy to take the time to know your financial situation and understand what’s important to you. They are experts in insurance and its various products, so they can help ensure you get comprehensive, affordable coverage you need.

General Liability vs. Professional Liability

If you’ve thought about starting your own business, you’ve probably heard that you need to get insurance. But, do you need general or professional liability coverage? Or Both? What risks do these kinds of insurance protect against, and why are they so important? Here’s a quick breakdown:

• General liability insurance protects the general assets of your company in the event of injury to one of your customers, and/or damage to their property.
• Professional liability insurance covers the cost of legal settlements you are responsible to pay, and the legal fees incurred to defend yourself against a claim.

Like all of our insurance products, our liability policies can be designed to fit the needs of your business, no matter what the size.

Why Does My Business Need General Liability Insurance?

It’s important to reduce the risk of liability as much as possible, so the first step in protecting yourself and your business is to manage potential risks to customers and third parties. Your business is accountable for the effect of its actions on the public, so if you own a café, hair salon, or clothing retailer, you have a legal responsibility to the people that visit your premises. Similarly, if you are an electrician and your work requires you to visit a customer’s property, you have a legal responsibility to both the customer as well as the general public.

Why Does My Business Need Professional Liability Insurance?

Did you know that an inadvertent action can still be considered negligent? The law refers to these as “Unintentional Torts”- where an unplanned act leads to injury, property damage, or financial loss. These torts are considered negligent because they typically occur when one party fails to exercise a reasonable degree of caution. Even if it’s not intentional and without malice, like an error in meeting professional standards, it can be considered negligent. Unfortunately, even a customer’s misconceptions can lead to baseless lawsuits that require a defense.

4 Examples of Unintentional Tort Claims:

• Product liability claims.
• Medical malpractice.
• Accidents at the gym.
• Private host liability.

How Do I Know If My Business Is At Risk?

Think about it this way – anyone who provides a professional service to others is at risk. That includes lawyers, yoga instructors, doctors, hair stylists, realtors, trapeze artists, and more.

No matter the profession, the proper General and/or Professional Liability Insurance policy typically includes the following coverage:

• Negligence: Including alleged mistakes in professional services.
• Legal Costs: Providing for defense regardless of fault.
• Past work: For future, current, and past work completed, but only for a specified period of time.

No two businesses are alike, and each will have differing insurance needs. You’ve worked hard to build the business of your dreams. Make sure you protect it with our General and Professional Liability Insurance products.

Cyber Liability

Cyber attacks and data breaches can have a serious impact on businesses of all sizes, in every sector. If you use computers, you could be at risk for a cyber attack or data breach, so it’s extremely important that you carry cyber liability insurance to protect your business, your employees, and your clients.

What Is A “Cyber Attack”?

A cyber attack is any attempt to steal or damage your data. Hackers find vulnerabilities in a computer system’s defenses and bypass them. They may install ‘malware’ – software designed to damage data, or engage in ‘Phishing’ – a common way to gain access to a system by obtaining personal information under false pretenses. Phishing emails come in all forms, even from email addresses that may look familiar at first glance.

What Is A “Data Breach”?

Cyber attacks can lead to data breaches – where large amounts of information are leaked, and used by criminals to commit financial fraud. Data such as personal information of clients, employees, the business, or credit card details, purchase histories, and names and addresses can all be used to commit identity theft. These incidents have become increasingly common.

The Scope Of Cyber Crime

Cyber security is a growing concern for businesses of all sizes as cyber hackers use increasingly sophisticated tactics to disrupt organizations. The use of malware increased by 358% through 2020, and ransomware usage increased by 435% compared to the previous year. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has also had a major impact on cyber security. Since the start of the pandemic, there has been a 300% increase in reported cyber crimes in the United States. Google revealed it was blocking more than 18 million malware and phishing emails related to COVID-19 every day.

Approximately 143 million consumers were affected by an attack on Equifax in 2017, which ended up costing the business more than $4 billion. The organization was found liable for the breach and fined $425 million by the Federal Trade Commission.

The Cost Of Cyber Crime

Businesses can be held liable in the event of a cyber attack that breaches privacy or causes damage to their clients or third parties. This includes costs incurred by victims of the attack or breach, system recovery, notification expenses, fines, and lawsuits. These incidents can be costly without cyber liability insurance. The average cost of a data breach rose from an average of US$3.86 million in 2018, to US$4.24 million in 2021. It’s estimated that small businesses make up 84% of all data breaches.

Protection From Cyber Crime

A cyber incident can cause severe financial stress to a business, and expenses related to recovering data, loss of income, reputational damage, and lawsuits can be very high. Most traditional commercial insurance policies are crafted to protect physical assets, not virtual property such as data or software. Cyber liability insurance policies help to mitigate the financial loss experienced by the business that result from cyber events such as data breaches and cyber attacks. This can include:

• Financial loss
• Business interruption
• Loss or corruption of data
• Identity theft
• Cyber extortion
• Reputation recovery
• Legal expense coverage

Cyber liability insurance coverage can vary and, like technology, it is ever evolving. Our team of cyber liability insurance experts will work with you to help identify the best cyber liability insurance coverage that will best protect you if your data or network infrastructure is compromised. Current trends have moved his coverage from optional to crucial. Don’t wait!

How Having No Insurance Could Ruin Your Life

For months, nothing happens. Life behind the wheel these days is pretty boring, and a trip to run errands feels like an adventure. But today, something will derail your Indiana Jones-like quest for Doritos – a squirrel.

You see the fluffy little guy at the last second and manage to swerve around him, saving his life, but what you missed was the stop sign. You sail right through that, and into the intersection.

Your brakes squeal and you stomp on them as hard as you can, as if the extra force you apply will somehow transfer to the tires and help stop them. You know it’s too late. You already knew that before you touched the brake pedal.

The sound of an accident is unmistakable. Squeal. Crash. Luckily, nobody died but there were injuries. Not you, though. You’re fine. Shaken up, but physically unhurt. The airbag did it’s job. The passenger in the car you hit, however, has a broken leg and suffered a head injury when the side of their cranium bounced off the window during impact.

After the expletives, one of your first coherent thoughts is, 

“Oh, my God. I don’t have insurance.”

Here’s what you’re in for:

You’ll face penalties for driving while uninsured, and be financially responsible for any damage and injuries you cause. You could also be sued by the other driver, which is pretty likely, and you’d have to pay all your legal fees on your own. The cost of legal representation and damages could range from the thousands to the hundreds of thousands, or more.

”Wage garnishment is a legal procedure in which a person’s earnings are required by court order to be withheld by an employer for the payment of a debt…”

U.S. Department of Labor

If you don’t have the money to pay, the courts may force payment through wage garnishment, which means any money you owe to the other driver would come directly out of your paycheck. 

States With No Fault Insurance 

Not all states have the same insurance laws, and there are 12 no-fault states, where drivers must get compensation for damage and injuries from their own insurance company, no matter who was at fault in a car accident. These states include: including Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Hawaii, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Dakota and Utah. The US territory, Puerto Rico, also has no-fault laws. 

Under no-fault laws, motorists can still sue for injuries and for pain and suffering, but only if the case meets certain conditions, or thresholds, that relate to the severity of injury. Even if your case does not meet the threshold and you do not owe money for any damage or injuries you caused, you may still face legal consequences for driving without insurance. 

Penalties For Getting Caught Without Insurance

Accident or not, there are a wide range of consequences if you’re caught driving without insurance. For example, first-time offenders in Iowa face a fine of $250, but can do Community Service in lieu of fine. In Kansas, the fine ranges from $300-$1,000, or confinement in the county jail for a term of not more than 6 months, or both fine and jail.

While punishments for a first offence vary across the US, in most states you’ll receive a license suspension for at least 30 days. Some other penalties include:

• Community service
• Vehicle impoundment
• Imprisonment
• Probation
• SR-22 requirement
• Retaking and successful completion of driver’s exam

Repeat offenders will incur higher fines and stiffer punishments, including jail.

To avoid the hundreds of thousands in fines and penalties, all you have to do is meet your state’s minimum required level of financial responsibility, which is usually around $50,000 of liability coverage. Personal injury protection (PIP) or collision and comprehensive insurance, may not be required by your state but, if you can afford them, they can offer you some vital protection.

What happens if you don’t have car insurance

Let’s say, you want to save some cash and decide to skip the expense of car insurance. Sounds like a plan, right? With the extra money, maybe you can treat yourself to that PS5 you want. Unfortunately skipping insurance happens more often than we feel comfortable with – and not because we’re an insurance company. The costs of being uninsured, both financial and personal, are much too high to make saving a few dollars worth the risk.

12.6 percent of motorists, or about one in eight drivers, were uninsured, according to a 2021 study by the Insurance Research Council (IRC). Among uninsured adults aged 18–64, The most common reason given for being uninsured is money. 

What happens if you drive without car insurance?

While you can technically drive your car without insurance, it’s not recommended. In most states it is illegal and an active car insurance policy is required. Depending on where you get pulled over, if you’re caught driving without insurance, you could face some stiff penalties including, expensive tickets, and license suspension. Also, the costs of property damage and bodily injury (like medical bills) can become unaffordable without the backing of an insurance company. 

The average auto liability claim for property damage is almost $4,000 and the average auto liability claim for bodily injury is about $15,000. In many cases, the victim of a car accident can sue the at-fault driver for millions. 

Where can I drive without insurance?

There are two states where it’s legal to drive without insurance –  New Hampshire and Virginia. To be self-insured, you must deposit funds or post a bond, equal to the state’s individual liability limits, with the state’s treasury. This amount is typically in the tens of thousands of dollars and, as such, not a viable option for most people. However, even these states can require drivers to get car insurance if they  have caused accidents in the past, or were convicted of something serious, like a DUI or hit-and-run.

According to Va. Code § 46.2-706, if you do not purchase auto insurance, you are required to pay an uninsured motorist fee of $500.00 per year.

How much are the fines for driving without insurance?

The question everyone want’s to know the answer to. Except for New Hampshire and Virginia, every state trooper or police officer will ticket you for driving without insurance (if you get caught). The financial penalties range from $25 in Tennessee, to $5,000 in Massachusetts.

If you get caught driving without insurance, don’t worry, you won’t be going to jail. You will only have to deal with minor penalties, like fines, an impounded vehicle, or license suspension. However, if you do not have insurance and involved in an accident, things get a little more serious. 

At-fault, no-fault, whose fault?

In an at-fault accident without insurance, you will probably be sued by the other driver’s insurance company for bodily injury, property damage, or both. Depending on the severity of the incident, payouts can range from thousands of dollars, to hundreds of thousands, or more. Also, many states have increased legal penalties for drivers who cause injury to others while uninsured. 

Some states have no-fault laws, which means that it doesn’t matter who caused the accident, each driver must file insurance claims with their own insurance company. 

When you are uninsured and not-at-fault, it depends on the situation and where you are. Some states have a  “no pay, no play” law, which puts a cap on the amount of compensation you get after a not-at-fault accident – except in the Louisiana where you’ll get no compensation after an accident if you’re uninsured, at-fault or not. They do not play in Lousiana.

Fault can sometimes be  difficult to determine, so having an insurance company on your side is the best way to protect yourself. They know the ins-and-outs of the industry and will speak to the other insurance company on your behalf to work out the best outcome possible. 

Without insurance, you are on your own. 

Life Insurance – Should You Care If You’re Dead?

The thing about life insurance is, you have to die to reap its benefits.

First, before we talk about life insurance and why you should care, let’s go over some of the “inside” life insurance terms agents like to use to liven up parties:

Premiums – Those are the payments you make to the insurance company. Depending on the insurance product, the money generally covers your insurance and administrative costs. 

Beneficiaries: These are the people who receive money when the insured person dies. Beneficiaries are usually spouses, children or parents, but you can choose anyone you want… even a friend.

Death benefit: This is the total amount of money the beneficiaries will be paid when the insured person dies. 

As we mentioned in our blog Do I Really Need Insurance?, think of it this way: insurance is a way of managing risks.

Why Should I Care About Life Insurance?

Here’s the deal: You don’t have to care about life insurance. In reality, it’s just a safeguarding tool. However, if you have a spouse, a partner, children, or other people who rely on you, and you do care about them, then having life insurance is one of those things that we must accept as necessary. 

Imagine if one of the last things that flashes before your eyes, is the image of the people you love suffering even more heartbreak because they are stuck paying your debts and creditors.

That may be a little dramatic, but you get the point: life insurance is important because when you die, your income disappears. Without life insurance, your dependents are without support.

Even if nobody depends on your income, there are still costs associated with your death, like burial and other end-of-life expenses. Fortunately, there are many life insurance options that will cover those expenses, and protect your family’s home, mortgage, lifestyle, even the cost of your children’s education. There it is: the risk, managed!

Types Of Life Insurance

Term Insurance – The simplest form of life insurance.

1. Term Insurance pays out only if you die within the policy’s “term”, typically from 1 to 30 years. 
2. Level Term Life Insurance means the death benefits remain the same during the length of the policy. 
3. Decreasing Term Life Insurance means the death benefit decreases, typically in one-year increments, over the duration of the policy.

Whole Life / Permanent Insurance – The Cadillac of coverage.

This insurance pays a death benefit no matter when you die, even if you live to celebrate your eleventy-first birthday (s/o to Bilbo). Whole Life insurance policies usually have fixed death benefits and fixed premiums for the life of the policy. 

Universal Life Insurance and Variable Life Insurance -The NKOTB of policies.

Introduced in the late 1970s and early 80s, these are both types of permanent life insurance, meaning the policies last for life and contain a cash-value component. However, there are two key differences: 

1. Variable life insurance contains a cash-value component with investment options that work like a mutual fund. 
2. Universal life insurance contains a cash-value component that grows based on the current interest rate set by the insurer.

How Is Life Insurance Priced?

A person’s date of birth is the most important variable when determining life insurance premiums, but there are several factors that can affect cost:

• Age.
• Gender (women tend to live longer).
• Personal and family medical history.
• Smoking habits.
• Hobbies (skydiving vs knitting).
• Occupation.
• Driving record.

We know life insurance can seem overwhelming. It’s not an easy topic, and sometimes it’s discussed at a difficult time. That’s why we’re here: To help you make the right decision, and guide you to the life insurance product that will best support your loved ones after you’re gone. Contact us to find out what kind of policy suits your needs.

Are You Insured Against Identity Theft?

Identity theft is one of the country’s fastest growing crimes. Unfortunately, it’s also difficult to solve and possibly more damaging than typical theft and burglary.

Before you know it’s happening, criminals can attack you from another state, or from halfway across the world. Armed with just your name, Social Security Number and date of birth, a thief can get anything from a credit card to a driver’s license in your name.

The Five Most Common Types Of Identity Theft:

• Driver’s license
• Social Security
• Medical
• Character/Criminal
• Financial

Financial identity theft is by far the most common type of identity theft. According to a 2019 Identity Fraud Study from Javelin Strategy & Research, fortunately the number of consumers who were victims of identity fraud fell to 14.4 million in 2018 – down from 16.7 million in 2017. However, 3 times the amount of people were financially responsible for some of the liability of the fraud committed against them, costing the victims $1.7 billion.

How Criminals Get Information

Although an identity thief might hack into a database to obtain personal information, experts say it’s more likely the thief will obtain information by using other techniques, such as:

• Mail theft – The thief steals information (ie: credit card bills) directly from a victim’s mailbox.
• Dumpster diving – Retrieving personal paperwork and mail from trash dumpsters is an easy way for an identity thief to get information.
• Shoulder surfing – This happens when the thief literally takes note of a victims information as they add it on forms, enter a passcode, or provide a credit card number.
• Phishing – This uses email to trick people into giving up their personal information. Phishing emails could contain malware attachments, or links to fraudulent websites designed to steal personal data.

How Can You Tell If You’ve Been A Victim?

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has compiled some warning signs of being an identity theft victim, including:

• Victims notice withdrawals from their bank account that weren’t made by them.
• An impacted credit score.
• Victims don’t receive bills or mail containing sensitive information.
• False charges on their credit report.
• Medical records reflect a condition they don’t have.
• IRS notifications that another tax return was filed under their name.
• Victims are notified of a data breach at a company that stores their personal information.

On top of the immediate impact of losing money, victims of identity theft can also incur severe intangible costs, like; damage to reputation and lowered credit score. Depending on the circumstances, identity theft can take years to recover from.

How To Protect Yourself From Identity Theft

Most experts recommend that people regularly check credit reports with major credit bureaus, pay attention to billing cycles, and follow up with creditors if bills do not arrive. You can also:

• Shred discarded credit applications or financial documents.
• Keep an eye out for unauthorized transactions.
• Avoid giving out personal information to unsolicited emails.

According to a 2020 report from identity verification company GVB, the prevalence of identity theft is starting to chip away at consumers’ trust that businesses will protect their data, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 has caused a third of consumers to worry more about fraud, believing companies are buying and selling their personal information online. In addition, the report found that:

• Nearly half (47%) of consumers opened an online shopping account in 2020.
• 31% opened an online bank account.

Do You Need Identity Theft Protection? 

Identity theft insurance covers expenses related to issues arising from identity theft, such as fees for attorneys and accountants. Some identity theft insurance also covers lost time at work, child or elder care. However, it does not cover stolen funds. Even though children, students, and the elderly are the most common victims of identity theft, anyone is a potential target, especially in this digital age where we do everything online. As a result, everyone can benefit from identity theft protection.

Check your providers terms and conditions to see if Identity Theft coverage is already included in your homeowners or renters insurance policy. If not, you can likely add it as a stand-alone policy.