Impact Of Changes To Work Comp Law In Michigan

As you may be aware, on Dec. 19, 2011, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation to reform Michigan’s Workers’ Disability Compensation Act. The goal of the revisions was to help clarify and modernize the act, as well as ensure stability when it comes to application.

Accident Fund Insurance Company has reviewed the legislation and has identified three areas that we believe will have the most impact moving forward:

· Employer-Directed Medical Care ― The new law allows employers to direct care for the first 28 days from the inception of care; previously, it had been 10 days.

· Disability ― This law basically codifies the decision made in the 2008 case of Stokes v. Chrysler. A disability is “total” if the employee is unable to perform any work suitable to the employee’s qualifications and training. A disability is “partial” if the employee retains the ability to earn some wages for suitable work.

· Wage-Earning Capacity ― In determining wage-earning capacity, the employer is able to look at not only work performed, but also jobs that are reasonably available that the injured worker could perform. Police and firefighters are exempt from this provision.

 

Source: Accident Fund Insurance Company

Trick-or-Treat Lawsuit

Traverse City area neighborhoods will soon have Trick-or-Treater’s knocking on their doors It’s their responsibility as the homeowner and insurance policy owner, to prevent losses. Halloween is a huge liability exposure. By decorating, turning your porch light on, and handing out treats homeowners invite some of the most common, and most expensive liability claims.

To make it simple, any injury that any person might suffer while their feet are on you property can be considered your liability. Take a few moments and consider these important issue before inviting the neighborhood to knock on your front door:

• If you trip over the garden-hose everytime you walk to the front door, than don’t assume the little monsters won’t nearly break an arm when they trip over something on the way to your door. Be sure to move any obstacles from the sidewalk, driveway, and entry of your home.
• Use only outdoor approved lighting and don’t place any lit candles outside of your home.
• Be sure the area is well lit, and keep your lights on all night. Remember no matter how great the candy was at your house, Tricksters are still interested in causing problems. The best targets are dark homes where no witnesses will see the mischief!
• Eggs are very difficult to clean off the side of your house, and even worse when they hit the hood of your car. If possible park you car in a garage Halloween night!
• Be sure your pets are safely kept inside the house on Halloween. Not only are they at great risk of being frightened or hurt, but a dog bite claim is not what most of us expect when we’re handing out candy.
• Most of all, be sure the treats you hand out are safe and individually wrapped.

Wedding Insurance?

Weddings can be large and expensive spectacles. Although the recent economy has forced brides to consider scaling back their plans, the average cost of a wedding still approaches $30,000. Appropriately, it has become quite common to arrange for special protection for this extremely important, personal event.

Wedding insurance is not standardized, so policy wording can be quite different among the specialty insurance companies that offer the protection. Wedding insurance can help protect against the huge expenses suffered if, for certain reasons, the wedding is either postponed or is cancelled. Protection can be purchased to respond to loss involving unrecoverable expenses as well as to lawsuits that result from a wedding that is held as planned.

In most instances, to qualify for coverage, the wedding’s cancellation or delay has to be caused by an eligible source of loss/disruption such as catastrophic weather, a church where the wedding is to be held suffers smoke damage and is suddenly closed, or the reception caterer closes her business the day before the wedding.

Items covered by the policy are usually expenses that can’t be recovered (non-refundable). Eligible expenses often include the following:

·         Facility Rental (church, reception halls, etc.) Costs

·         Catering Costs

·         Clothing Rental Fees

·         Photographer Fees (in some cases, videographer fees may also qualify)

·         Hotel Costs

·         Transportation Costs (limos, taxi costs for transporting wedding party or guests incurred by insured or honoree)

·         Air Transportation

·         Other miscellaneous, non-refundable costs

Eligible expenses include those related to the honeymoon as well. Examples of “Other expenses” may be the deposits for services, such as florists, entertainers, etc. Naturally, payment of these costs is subject to the policy’s limit.

Wedding Personal Liability

When this coverage applies is purchased, the insurance company will protect the insured against losses or lawsuits that allege that the insured/honoree is responsible for bodily injury, personal injury or property damage to a third party. However, any claim must be due to an incident that takes place at the wedding (including reception). The coverage obligation does not only apply to losses, but also includes a duty to legally defend an insured/honoree against claims/losses.

Example: The Brydals are sued by a best man who was seriously injured when the nervous groom turned abruptly to get the wedding ring and knocked the best man off a podium.

Additional Coverage

Many wedding policies offer additional coverages such as:

·         Photographs and Video Tape Coverage

·         Gift Coverage

·         Rented Property Coverage

·         Special Attire Coverage

·         Jewelry Coverage

When some accident comes about to turn the big day into the big cancellation or the big disaster; having wedding insurance could take the financial sting out of the situation.

Certificates of Insurance

Business transactions frequently require the valuable protection provided by insurance. A Certificate of Insurance is a document that is often requested as proof that adequate insurance exists. A certificate is not the same as a policy and certificates do not affect the coverage provided by a particular insurance policy. Therefore, requests to “endorse the certificate of insurance” are inappropriate and misleading. A certificate is a separate document that is used to comply with a common contract requirement to verify certain types and amounts of insurance.

Certificate holders, the entity or party requiring the certificate, often demand that they appear as “additional insureds.” This requires an endorsement (change) to the policy and it gives them coverage for injury or damage resulting from the contract.

Example: Tenant A leases a building from Property Owner B. Property Owner B demands that the tenant changes its insurance policy to also show the property owner as an additional insured. If a tenant’s customer is injured on the premises and sues both the property owner and the tenant, the tenant’s liability policy would provide coverage for both parties.

Construction contracts require certain forms of insurance, certain insurance limits, a hold harmless agreement and the inclusion on insurance policies as additional insureds. A “hold harmless” agreement is a contract provision that states how much responsibility each party accepts for damages arising out of the agreement.

A certificate of insurance can confirm that the appropriate policies were issued and that other requirements were also met. It is important to have a system for monitoring receipt of certificates BEFORE any sub-contractors are allowed to begin work. If certificates are not obtained or kept up-to-date, when the contractor’s Workers Compensation and General Liability policies are audited, the payroll for the sub-contractors without Certificates will be included with the contractor’s resulting in an additional premium charge.

Ask your insurance agent to help determine if you should be obtaining or providing certificates of insurance in conjunction with your business. In addition, when you’re required to provide a Certificate, send your agent a copy of the contract. The contract allows the agent to assist you in determining what liabilities you are accepting and what can be done to modify your insurance program to best protect your financial well-being.