There are many different types of contractors out there. Whether you are a carpenter, painter, roofer, plumber, electrician; work in the oilfield, road construction or make cabinets, you will need some kind of business insurance.
Each of these contractors will have individual risks that they will need to keep their business protected from. For example: A carpenter doesn’t secure the roof trusses properly, and a wind comes along and rips the roof off of the house. He would be liable for not properly anchoring the roofing system down to the main structure. This loss could be for the trusses, the damage to the building itself and if there are people nearby, a potential injury claim could arise.
These types of simple mistakes can happen more often than not. Whether you have an apprentice who is working for you and makes a mistake or you simply had a busy day where you rushed and missed a few steps; these types of scenarios can occur that can open you up to a possible lawsuit or claim situation.
This is why you need to purchase a contractor’s insurance policy with general liability. General liability coverage for products and completed operations as well as property damage and injury are available on almost every commercial contractors policy. These coverages are what you will need to make sure you are adequately covered in the event that a mistake is made. After all, we are all human and prone to human error. This policy gives you the peace of mind that you are looked after in case a simple mistake occurs.
Another reason to purchase a contractor’s insurance policy is to protect the assets of your business. If you have a cabinet shop or similar business, you will likely have a shop or some kind of facility where you store your tools, products and inventory. To protect this investment, we should insure the building, the tools and the inventory. We can insure the building based on the construction type and we can put a blanket policy to cover all of your tools and inventory. If you have high valued tools or equipment, we will likely need to list those items individually to make sure we are properly covering that specific item. Many of the tools you carry are with you in your trucks; we can design a policy to cover those tools while on site and intransit. You will need to make sure you lock those tools up overnight as some policies do not cover theft without a sign of forced entry. So make sure you look after your tools as well.
There are many other coverages that we can discuss as this is just skimming the surface. Coverages like business interruption (If your business shuts down due to a claim, how will you continue to pay for your bills/payroll/taxes?); Boiler & Machinery coverage (A loss due to a sudden mechanical failure from the equipment fixed to your buildings); Other losses deriving from accounts receivable losses, glass breakage, data loss & recovery, etc. These items “fill in the cracks” of a commercial policy. They are very important and often forgotten, so it is important to discuss your operation thoroughly with us so we can design a policy to protect your business in every way possible.
You specialize in your trade and you want to make sure your customers are well-looked after. We want the same thing, therefore, looking after your business is our number one priority. If you haven’t already, please contact us, so we can start this process on giving you the peace of mind you need to keep your focus on what’s important, your clients!
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Back to School Shopping Advice
As the summer starts to vanish, a bright new school year appears. Children are either excited to meet up with their friends again or distraught that another school year approaches. Whatever the case, they will need some supplies to make this upcoming year, a successful one.
Here is some basic essentials, you will need when you purchase your kids supplies.
– Pencils (Remember they required that you use an HB2 pencil when we wrote those dreaded CAT tests. Are those still a thing?)
– Eraser (For all those mistakes we never make)
– Ruler (Using your thumb to pinky is not an accurate measurement)
– Scissors (Don’t Run with these suckers)
– Calculator (For when long division on a chalkboard gets too lengthy)
– Compass/Protractor Kit (I don’t know if we ever used the compass, drew a pretty circle once though!)
– Notebooks (Let the daydream doodling begin)
– Glue (Hope and pray your kid isn’t the “glue eating kid”)
Then of course there are the higher end supplies that kids need now; the stuff that we didn’t even know existed.
– Laptop (Apple, Chromebook or Microsoft) – “All the right type, here we come!”
Make sure you do your “homework” on these laptops as they each have a different system and have different apps installed on each of them.
– Backpack (When your kid thinks a grocery back isn’t “cool enough”)
– Lunch Kit (Paper bag with a smashed peanut butter and jam sandwich at the bottom sounds good to me!)
– Gym Clothes / Shoes (Used to love playing volleyball in corduroy pants; melt your legs right off!)
Some kids are very organized, which is a rare, but fantastic trait. For those needing the finer things in life, (I mean) school supplies, here are some of those items that can help keep your kids school career on track.
– Paper clips, staples, tape, rulers, rubber bands, sticky notes, highlighters, or even an assignment planner; they may not be required, but useful to keep things organized for the school year.
When registering for the upcoming year, make sure you review the textbooks and class requirements, to be sure you have all the supplies needed for your child. Each teacher will have a different curriculum and it will be important to have the right gear for your kid. After school extra curriculars are important too, as they will help get your kids out and create a social life outside the classroom. Not facebook social, the other kind of social; where you play in the park with sticks and eat dirt, kind.
Here are some links to get you started. Good luck, and all the best in the upcoming school year!
Be prepared for this years Harvest
With the warm weather comes a ripening crop. We are approaching harvest very quickly, in fact there were some combines out in the field already.
Every harvest has potential risks, and we need to make sure that those risks are either managed properly or that you have coverage in place to protect yourself in the event of a loss. First of all, with the warm weather and dry stalk, there is a potential fire trap in the combine. From the risk management side, you should have a fire extinguisher nearby at all times, and a water truck on the field, wouldn’t be a bad idea either. As for insurance, please review your equipment list with us and look over the values on that equipment, to make sure it is up to date. We would hate to have a loss and realize the equipment wasn’t listed or it was underinsured.
It is important to make sure you have loss of use coverage on your policy for your machinery. Loss of use coverage is money you can use for a rental, if your equipment has had an insurable loss. For example: You have an ingestion claim on your combine that has resulted in damages of $25,000. The ingestion damage is covered under your insurance policy on your combine, however, you need another combine to continue with harvest while this is being repaired. If you have loss of use coverage of $10,000, you can use this coverage to rent a combine during the time your combine is being repaired. There are different limits you can buy, we used $10,000 as an example. Please contact our office if you would like to add this coverage or more information on it.
If the conditions were right this year, you may have a bumper crop. Once that crop is in the bin ready to be transported; we need to make sure that your investment is covered. Insuring your threshed grain should be a priority to prevent losses due to theft, fire, windstorm, and upset and overturn during transportation. Your grain should be insured to a minimum 80% of replacement value to avoid co-insurance.
Today’s bins are getting larger and more complicated. With automatic bin sweeps, aeration fan systems and other technology; we need to properly insure these structures. For risk management, we would suggest anchoring down your hopper bins to make sure they are secure, even if there is or isn’t grain in the bins. This will also result in a rate reduction for the insurance premiums on those bins. With all of the fixed equipment in the bin, “equipment breakdown” coverage will help cover losses due to a sudden and accidental mechanical failure. And again, when insuring the bin, we should insure it for the replacement value, that way if there was damage due to fire, wind or collision from moving machinery, you are eligible for full value of the bin if replacement or repairs are needed.
The old farm saying is, the season is not over until the grains in the bin. Some might say until you have a cheque in your hand. There are a lot of variables on the way, and if we can protect your investment through that process, you will sleep better at night.
Saskatchewan Summer Storms
In the Province of Saskatchewan, wind is a part of everyday life. However, the frequency of the recent storms we’ve been having, are not. These storms have brought tornado warnings, plow winds, hailstorms and torrential downpours. With these severe risks, we need to make sure we are properly covered so that if one of these events hits us close to home or by the lake, we are properly covered.
Most basic insurance home policies include the wind and hail perils automatically, but there are some coverages that may be available to top up your policy. An insurance company is responsible to repair or replace the damage to your house. If hail and wind damage one side of your dwelling, they will fix that side. However as siding and shingles age over time, the new material may not match the remaining three sides that were left undamaged. SGI Canada has a Prestige policy which removes this “obsolescence clause” to help cover those remaining 3 sides to make sure your house goes back to the way it was designed to be. This is normally not covered under most home policies. There are some requirements to qualify for Prestige coverage, so please contact our office if this would interest you.
With these thunderstorms, there may be a lot of water that comes with it. MMFI, SGI Canada and Wawanesa have created Flood/Water Protection coverages to help protect you from a flooding situation. This never used to be covered, but now you can buy this new coverage. Insurance companies also recommend installing automatic sump pumps and backwater valves in your main sewer line to prevent water claims. These preventative measures may result in a potential discount on your policy. The rates/eligibility will vary depending on your location; but with the recent flooding in Lloydminster, Calgary, High River, it may be worth looking into. Contact us to see what’s available for you.
As for your vehicles, it is important to always carry a package policy. The main reason is to carry a higher liability limit in case there was ever an injury or serious collision. The other reason is to have a reduced deductible in the event of a loss. Some of the plow winds up north have caused a ton of damage to people’s campers, trailers, boats and their trucks and cars. If you had to pay a $700 deductible for each of those losses, it would end up being quite expensive, but if you have a package policy, your deductible can be as low as $50 for that type of situation. Please ask us about an auto pak policy to help make an auto claim a little bit easier. These extension policies will also cover the vehicle and trailers during the winter months while they are in storage. For as little as $5 a month for a cabin trailer policy; it is worth looking into. Give us a call so we can help you out.
Summer storms can be volatile and you need to be prepared in the event that a storm occurs near your house or while you’re on vacation. If you have any concerns or questions, don’t hesitate to contact our office.
Ask us about small business insurance, it’ll provide you peace of mind.
You may wonder, “Why do I need business insurance?” It comes down to more than just what you own; your inventory, vehicles, buildings, equipment, etc. Although those items are extremely important to insure and keep track of, there are many other areas that you can be exposed to; the main exposure of course, is liability.
Before we get into the liability section, let’s get into those other areas. Insurance companies design policies that will benefit each business individually. A hair salon, for example, will require insurance on their stock, inventory, building (if they own it), and equipment such as chairs, clippers, etc. However, there are endorsements that insurance companies may wish to include, or can add on, that you may not think of; such as: outdoor sign coverage, accounts receivable, business income coverage, money and securities, data or cyber compromise, equipment breakdown, and many others. These types of coverages “fill the gap” on an insurance policy to make sure you are properly covered in the event of a loss.
Not all business types have these “pre-made” insurance packages available, so it’s important for us to have detailed conversations with you on how your business operates so we can create a policy that will meet your needs. Then if you make any changes or take on other types of business we will be able to amend the policy and make sure we have your business insured accurately. For example, some framing companies, will also take on business for other trades like roofing or concrete. They begin to do these lines of work on top of their framing jobs. That change can make a difference on your insurance policy, whether it is the different equipment and vehicles that you’d be purchasing or the new liability risks that come with roofing and concrete work.
As for liability insurance, it is important for us to have a discussion with you in detail about what your business operations are. How you operate, what type of work you will be doing, how many employees, etc. This information helps us determine what type of risks you will incur and what type of liability coverage will work for you to maximize your coverage. Liability losses can amount to extremely high costs if a major claim occurs, so it is important to make sure your policy is up to date with us.
We are interested in your business and want it to succeed; therefore we need to make sure your insurance needs are well looked after. By having an accurate policy in place, it will give you the peace of mind you need so you can focus on what really matters, your clients. If you have any questions about new or existing business insurance or would like to know more about options that can be added to your existing policy, please contact one of our insurance experts. We would love to connect with you.
Join us for Ag In Motion – An Agricultural Trade Show Like None Other!
We will be attending the exciting Ag IN MOTION expo on July 18-20, 2017. Ag in motion is located 15 minutes NW of Saskatoon between our two neighbouring towns of Langham & Borden.
The agricultural trade show will have field demonstrations, crop plot demonstrations, and livestock demonstrations. This event will also be debuting some of the newest agricultural technology in our space, so this will be one for the books, folks. The whole event will be taking place outdoors, on 320 acres of their prime agricultural land, which they are quite proud of. It will be the perfect setting for us to get a hands-on look at some of the new equipment they’ll have to offer in the field, and we are excited to see what will be in store this year. This is the Ag in Motion’s third trade show, and we were impressed with what was brought to the table in the past.
We will have a booth set up for you to come visit us and learn more about our business, who we are, what we represent. Please feel free to visit us at the Block’s Agencies booth and say hello to our team!
We have partnered up with My Mutual Insurance for this trade show. They are one of our Farm Insurance experts, so if you have any questions about Agro Insurance, we are there to answer any questions or help you out with anny of your insurance needs.
Whether you are a Grain, Cattle, Mixed Farmer, or if you’re more specialized in Dairy or Poultry, stop by our booth and ask what we can do for you, as we have the expertise to design a policy to meet your needs.
The show times will be from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM on July 18-20, and admission is only $20 for adults and $10 for youth (for kids and teenagers from 13-17 years old). Registration is on site, and admission is cash only for those interested in attending. For more information on the event, you can visit the “Ag in Motion website. And for any additional updates, be sure to check out Ag in Motion on Facebook and Twitter.
We hope you can join us, and we look forward to seeing you there!
