Life insurance is a key component in any financial plan. Its death benefit creates an immediate estate for beneficiaries that will provide them with income, cash for college or other capital needs, and funds to pay taxes, funeral expenses, or administrative costs. It can pay off a mortgage or retire other debts.

In its simplest form, it pays cash when an insured individual dies, but did you know that a life insurance policy can be set up in such a way that it is beneficial during a policyholder’s lifetime?

Two Types of Life Insurance

Term life insurance pays a predetermined amount of money when a person dies. It is in force for a specified period (term) and may be renewed if needed. It provides a death benefit only.

Permanent life insurance, as the name implies, is set up to last a lifetime. Like term insurance, it too provides a death benefit, but that is where the similarity ends. Whole life insurance (the more common designation for permanent insurance) accumulates tax-sheltered cash values that can be accessed by the insured. Although not guaranteed, there may also be dividends that are similar to those paid to stock owners. Also, unlike the premiums on term insurance, which increase at the end of each term, the premiums for whole life remain level.

How Can the Accumulated Cash From a Life Insurance Policy Be Used?

The short answer is that it can be used for anything. After cash has accrued inside a whole life policy, it is available for withdrawal as a policy loan. While it is not a requirement to pay the loan back, any amount that is not repaid will be subtracted from the death benefit. That said, here are some creative ways in which others have used the living benefits of their whole life policies:

• Help with college tuition. If the cash value is large enough, all of the hassles of applying for bank loans or filling out financial aid forms can be eliminated. Using the money in your policy is probably preferable to tapping retirement savings or home equity, but it’s best to consult your agent to be sure.
  
  
• Start your own business. Starting a business may be your dream, but your bank may see it as their nightmare. If your savings and private borrowing from friends and family aren’t enough to get your venture moving forward, using your cash value might be sufficient to fill the gap.
  
  
• Take time off to attend to family matters. An untimely accident or illness to a family member may require you to take an unpaid leave of absence from your job. Aging parents are especially vulnerable and may need help for weeks or even months during their recovery. The accumulated cash in your whole life policy can replace lost income.
  
  
• Get funds to sustain you during a chronic illness. If you are chronically ill and unable to perform all of the activities of daily living, some permanent policies will allow you early access to your death benefit. If yours doesn’t, the accumulated cash value can still be used until you recover sufficiently. Whether you access your death benefit or cash value, the money taken out will reduce the amount your beneficiaries receive.
  
  
• Use your cash value to fund the early years of retirement. Your 401(k) and IRA can continue to grow tax-deferred if you live off your cash value early in retirement. The relative safety of your insurance money allows you to take on more risk and growth potential in your other sheltered accounts for several more years.

Finding the Life Insurance Policy That's Right for You

These examples are not appropriate for everyone. A professional insurance advisor from American Insuring Group can analyze your circumstances and help you find the term or whole life insurance policy that's right for you.

Click here to contact us, or give us a call at (800) 947-1270 or (610) 775-3848.

In the early 1990’s when many states began passing workers compensation insurance acts, there was a prerequisite that any compensable injury had to have a physical impact. That has changed over the years.

Today most states accept that mental injuries can occur and, therefore, can be classified as a compensable injury. Mental injury workers comp claims can be expensive to defend, and expensive if found to be compensable.

3 Types of Mental Injury Cases Affecting Workers Compensation Insurance 

Pennsylvania workers compensation law distinguishes between three (3) types of mental injury cases:

• Mental / Physical
  A work-related mental or emotional experience causes physical consequences. Sometimes a heart attack or cardiac condition can qualify as a compensable event under this standard. In this case, most courts apply a two-part test. The first part is the need for an accumulation of workplace stress beyond the ordinary day-to-day stress employees are exposed to. The second part is the need for legal causation between the stress and the alleged work injury.
  
  
• Physical / Mental
  A physical stimulus causes a mental injury. A good example of a “physical/mental” case involves an amputation or orthopedic injury of sufficient severity to necessitate later psychological counseling or psychiatric treatment for a condition such as depression or PTSD. Although the physical injury need not be the only cause of the mental injury, the element of “contact” is required.
  
  
• Mental / Mental
  A mental or emotional stimulus causes purely emotional sequela (an aftereffect of a disease, condition, or injury).  There is no physical impact or harm. This applies to any employee that is subjected to “abnormal working conditions.” Typically a verbally abusive boss is not sufficient grounds, but a store clerk who has been robbed at gunpoint, is traumatized by the event, and can no longer function normally may be.

The categorization determines the burden of proof.  In physical/mental and mental/physical cases, the claimant needs to provide evidence that establishes that his or her injuries arose in the course and scope of employment.  Mental/mental injuries require a higher burden of proof. The Claimant needs to demonstrate the presence of “abnormal working conditions.”

Proper Handling of Workers Compensation Insurance Claims

In addition to understanding the laws in your state regarding mental injury workers’ compensation claims, you also need to learn how to work with medical experts. Here are three tips when choosing and working with medical experts.

1. Prior to the independent medical/psychological evaluation by your medical expert, provide a complete set of medical records  - including review of all pre- and post- injury medical records related to the employee’s conditions - if you want your expert’s opinions to be accepted.
   
   
2. You never know how a court may respond to a medical expert. It may accept your expert’s opinions based on a rational explanation that the employee’s condition is affecting their recovery or they may be more receptive to the medical expert’s opinion when the report is detailed and supported by deposition testimony. Therefore, provide a detailed and logical explanation for an expert’s opinions to help prove your theory or position.
   
   
3. Accurate and concise reporting is essential when it comes to the acceptance of an expert’s opinions. If your expert makes the slightest error or omission, all of his opinion could be disregarded.

Learn More About Your Workers' Compensation Insurance Options

To learn more about saving on workers’ compensation insurance costs and all your workers comp insurance options,  click here to contact American Insuring Group or call us at (800) 947-1270 or (610) 775-3848.

All businesses are at risk for some type of damage, liability or loss, and need to ensure that they have the right commercial insurance to protect themselves, their business, and their employees from those risks. 

Food service businesses – whether it’s a café, diner, or gourmet restaurant - are no different and actually present some unique risks that need to be addressed.

Often the most cost-effective way to protect a restaurant is with a Business Owners Policy (BOP) that is tailored specifically to the needs of the restaurant business. That's what we mean by  restaurant insurance.

Here are the Three Main Categories of Business Insurance for Your Restaurant

Restaurant Insurance Category #1: Property Insurance

Property insurance protects… well… property. That could include the actual building that your restaurant is located in if you own the property and all of the property within the building (whether you rent or own), such as equipment, dishes, food, and furniture. In the event of a fire, flood or other damaging event, property insurance allows you to replace those items so that you can resume business.

Many BOPs also include Business Interruption Insurance and Business Income Insurance. Interruption insurance helps you recover as quickly as possible by paying extra expenses caused by the interruption in your business —such as rent for temporary quarters.    Business Income Insurance helps pay for ongoing expenses – such as rent - incurred while your business is closed. 

As a food service business, you carry the added risk that your food could cause food poisoning or transmit a communicable disease, which makes a Food Contamination Endorsement Insurance a good idea for many restaurant owners. Typically, this endorsement helps pay for lost income if the business is shut down by a government authority, clean up expenses, food replacement, and additional advertising expenses required to restore your restaurant’s reputation.

Other property insurance coverages you may want to consider as a food service business owner include…

• Spoilage
• Mechanical Breakdown
• Outdoor Signs
• Burglary and Robbery
• Employee Dishonesty

Restaurant Insurance Category #2: Business Liability Insurance  

Commercial liability insurance helps protect your business against lawsuits – from someone breaking their leg walking up your steps to claims of libel or slander. We live in a very litigious society, and you never know what your restaurant could be liable for. Remember the woman who sued and won the lawsuit against McDonalds because she spilled hot coffee on herself? Even if you win the lawsuit, the cost of defending yourself can seriously affect your bottom line. Liability insurance helps protect you and your business.

If your restaurant has a liquor license, you should also include a Liquor Liability Endorsement to help cover the cost of your defense in the event of a lawsuit and any damages awarded if you are found liable.

Restaurant Insurance Category #3: Workers Compensation Insurance

Worker’s Compensation Insurance is a type of small business insurance that is mandatory in most states and covers employees for work-related injuries. A typical "workers comp" insurance policy pays an employee lost wages and medical expenses incurred due to a work-related accident, while also protecting the employer against accident-related lawsuits. 

Need Better Restaurant Insurance?
We Can Help! 

Whether you own a sandwich shop or an elegant restaurant, the independent insurance agents at American Insuring Group can help find the right insurance at the right price for your food service business. Because we're independent, we're free to shop around for the best deal among many competing providers of restaurant insurance based on your particular needs.

So give us a call at (800) 947-1270 or (610) 775-3848, or click here to Contact Us today.

While business insurance is your safety net for financial loss from theft, it's better to minimize the chance of your business becoming a victim of theft in the first place.

Unfortunately, most businesses become victims of theft at some point.  In fact, the most serious thefts can drive them out of existence.

Business owners and their managers need to first acknowledge that it can happen and then take the necessary steps to prevent it…or at least to minimize the loss.

Insuring Against Four Types of Theft

There are four types of theft: burglary, robbery, theft by employees, and identity theft. Each of these has its own set of challenges and preventive measures. Check with your independent insurance agent to be sure your commercial insurance coverage adequately protects you against each of these categories of business theft.

#1. Insuring Against Burglary:
Unlawful Entry with Intent to Steal

Burglars enter your business when no one is there. They mainly target your cash, merchandise and equipment, but they may also commit a host of other felonies.

Thieves like to work in the dark, so visibility is your first line of defense here. Bright interior lights deter illegal entry, especially if your building can be seen from the street. Exterior lights, protected with metal cages, may discourage them from approaching at all. This is a good start, but there are other equally important steps you can take to prevent a break-in:

• An alarm system with motion detectors
• Steel doors with dead bolt locks
• A see-through fence (i.e., chain link)
• Windows with safety glass and locks
• Padlocks on overhead doors

#2. Insuring Against Robbery:
Taking Cash or Valuables from a Person

If your business deals in cash or smaller valuables, you are susceptible to being robbed. This could happen either by force or the threat of force. To keep it from happening at all, there are things you can look for and actions you should take:

• Keep cash to a minimum
• Post signs indicating the maximum amount of cash on the premises
• Be alert – look for signs of danger
• Recognize potential hiding places near your business
• Provide bright lights and good visibility to deter robbers

Being robbed will be traumatic. Your managers and employees need to be trained to react properly if all preventive measures fail. Here are some guidelines to remember during and immediately after a robbery:

• Cooperate with the robber
• Obey orders quickly
• Don’t argue or fight
• Don’t use a weapon
• Don’t chase or follow the robber
• Call the police

#3. Insuring Against Employee Theft:
An Insidious Crime

Business owners don’t want to believe that a trusted employee is stealing from them. As a result, most of this theft goes undetected. It is estimated that businesses may be losing as much as forty billion dollars each year to this crime. It is crucial that you work with your accountants regularly to spot the following signs:

• Changes in sales and inventory without a corresponding increase in profits or cash flow
• Shipping records that are not consistent with inventory
• Unauthorized changes in paperwork or established procedures

As a business owner, you need to be aware that loyal employees may steal, as do well-paid executives and workers who have been with you for many years. Encourage all employees to report their suspicions and concerns. Tell them what to report and how to do it. Work diligently with your accounting staff to catch inconsistencies early.

#4. Insuring Against Identity Theft:
Not Just a Consumer Problem

Business identity theft is growing, and the consequences are enormous. It affects your entire business, including employees, customers, and suppliers. Identity thieves can tap into your credit lines, change your contact information, then order supplies or obtain credit cards. They can also go after your customers. Defend against them by doing the following:

• Securely lock up any paper data and shred it when it’s outdated
• Make sure networks are password protected and have a firewall
• Install security software on any mobile devices that contain confidential company data

Protect Your Business From Theft - Get the Right Commercial Insurance

If, in spite of all these measures, your business is still a victim of theft, the right business insurance can help.

Don't wait until your business takes a hit. Be proactive: Call American Insuring Group at (800) 947-1270 or (610) 775-3848, or click here to contact us.

If you own a child care business, you’re probably familiar with the specific rules you must follow and specific certifications you must obtain in order to legally operate your business. In Pennsylvania, child care and early learning providers operating a program for four or more unrelated children must be certified by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services.

There are three types of child care facilities:

Child Care Center: A child care facility in which seven or more children who are not related to the operator receive child care. A child care center must have a certificate of compliance ("license") from the Department of Human Services (DHS) in order to legally operate.
 
Group Child Care Home: A child care facility in which seven through 12 children of various ages or in which seven through 15 children from 4th grade through 15 years of age who are not related to the operator receive child care. A group child care home must have a certificate of compliance ("license") from DHS in order to legally operate.
 
Family Child Care Home: A child care facility located in a home in which four, five, or six children who are not related to the caregiver receive child care. A family child care home must have a certificate of registration from DHS in order to legally operate.

But what if your business doesn’t fall under one of these facilities, but you still work with or around children under the age of 18?

Maybe you tutor children or teach gymnastics. Maybe you sell a product or service that attracts children, such as toys, games, or even ice-cream to your place of business. Although you are not required to follow the same rules as a day care business, you are still responsible for the safety of those children when they are within your care or facility. Ensuring that safety also helps to protect your business.

Here are three ways to ensure the safety of minors:

#1) Be certain your insurance plan adequately protects your business and your customers
There are a variety of commercial liability insurance options to protect your business, including general liability insurance, product liability insurance, professional liability (professional indemnity) insurance, error and omission insurance, and more.

#3) Create a safe environment
First, ensure that your facilities meet your state and local safety regulations for zoning, fire codes, and sanitation and understand any safety requirements unique to your business. Consider drafting a liability waiver that the children’s parents or guardians can sign. Even if you aren’t required to do so, training your staff in first aid and CPR and developing a contingency plan for accidents, illnesses, and emergency procedures are always good ideas.   

Protect Your Business with Commercial Liability Insurance

To learn more about protecting your business and your customers (both big and small) with the proper commercial liability insurance, give us a call at (800) 947-1270 or (610) 775-3848 or click here to contact us. 

Bill is 50-year-old department manager for a mid-sized manufacturer. Even though he has never been seriously ill and has a clean family health history, he was recently told that he has cancer.

While the treatment will be long and difficult, Bill can take comfort in knowing that his employer-sponsored health insurance will pay most of his hospital and physician costs.

But Bill is about to be blindsided for a second time when he realizes that he will have no income to help support his family as he recovers from the difficult medical treatments.

Disability Insurance Myths - An Employee’s Perspective

During the working years, an employee is over three times more likely to be disabled than to die. At Bill’s age, the odds are still 1.8 to 1 in favor of a disability. In fact, thanks to advances in medical treatments over the last twenty years, deaths from the major illnesses (cancer, stroke, and heart disease) are down nearly one third, while disabilities from these same diseases are up by over 50%!

Yet Bill, like many workers, is only protected against the lesser risk.

Based on these statistics, you would think that every employee would ensure that he has disability insurance coverage. Unfortunately, many of today’s workers do not see the necessity for this insurance because, like Bill, they have been lulled into a false sense of security by a lifetime‘s worth of good health or the naive belief that unforeseen illnesses and accidents happen only to the unlucky few.

Disability Insurance Considerations From an Employer’s Perspective

Unlike the readily understandable benefits like paid vacation or health and dental insurance, disability income insurance can be more difficult to use as an incentive for workers to remain loyal, yet in time of need it will be the most appreciated part of the benefit package. Workers of all ages (yes, even those young employees who believe they are invincible) need protection from those surprises that can neither be predicted nor prevented. Disability Insurance is a benefit that a caring employer can provide, even if it is never needed, and it will engender a sense of loyalty when it is established with a thorough explanation.

2 Types of Disability Insurance

There are two basic types of disability insurance: short term (STD) and long term (LTD), neither of which should put an undo strain on a company’s budget. Employers have the option of adjusting the waiting period (the interval from the injury or illness to the start of payments) and the benefit period (the maximum amount of time for which the worker will receive payments).

In the case of STD the waiting period is generally up to two weeks, while the benefit period can be as little as thirteen weeks or as much as two years. With LTD the waiting period ranges from six months to two years, and the benefit period would last from a few years to a lifetime.

Employers also have the flexibility to require employees to contribute a portion of the premium, or they may choose to pay the entire amount themselves. There are a variety of paths that an employer can take to establishing a plan that fits the company’s budget and, at the same time, addresses the potential needs of the workers.

Disability Insurance - Putting it all Together

There is little doubt that disability insurance has advantages for both your employees and your company. Consider these:

• Group rates are lower than individual rates and, with the option of employee contributions, a plan can be established at a reasonable cost
• There are no medical exams, so all of your employees are automatically covered regardless of medical history
• Those valued employees who become temporarily disabled return to the company with a sense of loyalty and gratitude
• Waiting and benefit periods can be adjusted, which gives your business flexibility in designing a plan
• Hiring managers can use this benefit as a recruiting tool for inducing new talent to the company

Get the Right Disability Insurance Coverage

To learn more about your disability insurance options, give us a call at (800) 947-1270 or (610) 775-3848, or click here to contact us. We offer health and disability insurance protection from multiple competing insurance providers, so unlike single-brand companies, we're free to shop around to find the best deal on quality insurance protection. Contact us today to get started.