Be Spooky, But Safe

Keep everyone safe this Halloween by following these simple tips for your family and pets.

Most kids love Halloween and the chance to dress up in their favorite costume to go trick or treating. You probably already know the basic safety rules, like only visiting the neighborhoods you know and carrying a flash light or glow stick. When shopping for your little one's costume this year, you may also have seen many costumes for your four-legged family members which are increasingly popular.

Keep everyone safe this Halloween, by following these simple tips for your family and pets.

• People (and pet) costumes should be non-flammable.
• Err on the side of caution - not fashion - when selecting costumes for your two- and four-legged family members. To be safe, masks and costumes should not interfere with either vision or movement.
• To help avoid mishaps, accompany your pet at all times while he or she is wearing a costume.
• If you are new to a neighborhood, consider attending local "Trunk-or-Treat" events hosted by community centers or local churches.
• Parents should inspect candy before it's eaten.
• Remember, pets should not eat any candy. Sugar substitutes such as xylitol are toxic to pets; eating chocolate can be deadly for both dogs and cats.

Contact us for all your Insurance needs! (321)725-1620

Bob Lancaster Insurance

Serving Florida since 1964

Ghosts, Goblins, and Scary Insurance Scenarios – Oh My!

From freaky masks, to black cats, to scary costumes, around the end of October things seem to spook us out a little more than usual. But things can happen year round that without insurance in place could be very scary.  Don’t be a Halloweenie. Make sure you have the right insurance coverage in place to protect you, your family, and your belongings from spooky life situations!

Scary Scenario #1
Your neighbors are taking a walk through your neighborhood before the trick or treaters hit the streets. Your dog, which happens to be having a ‘ruff’ day, sprints out the door and ends up biting one of them. Are you liable?
Answer:  As the insured, you would be liable for failing to secure the dog. Liability and potentially Medical Payments coverage could also be triggered. You would need to have the dog liability endorsement, and the dog would need to be other than an excluded breed.

Scary Scenario #2
All the great candy you are serving at your house makes the tick-or-treaters start pushing each other first dibs. A kid dressed like a witch falls and breaks her wrist. Are you liable?
Answer: Assuming there were no obstacles (decorations, pumpkins, altered lighting such as black lights etc.)  contributing to the fall, there would appear to be no liability on the insured.  Since Medical Payments is not conditioned on liability, Medical Payments coverage would likely apply as the injury occurred at the insured premise.

Scary Scenario #3
Some older kids from the neighborhood decide to play the role of trickster. They end up spray-painting your garage door in the shape of a giant pumpkin. Are you covered?
Answer: This is considered vandalism and could be subject to AOP deductible.
Make Halloween safer! Make sure the kids have adult supervision, only visit the lit houses, look both ways before crossing the street, use a flashlight if needed, and stay on sidewalks.

Hoping you have a Halloween filled with sugary treats and goblins of fun!

Disclaimer: Keep in mind : The above scenarios are examples; each real loss posses unique characteristics requiring a full investigation and specific application of a particular policy’s terms.

Contact us for all your Insurance needs! (321)725-1620

Bob Lancaster Insurance

Serving Florida since 1964

They covered what? You'll never believe these 11 home insurance reimbursement stories

Home insurance coverage doesn't end at the structure itself. Furniture, rugs, clothes ... everything within the home is covered as well.

And that's where things get interesting.

When it comes to homeowners insurance claims, it's rarely a straightforward case of covered or not covered. Insurers often have to make judgement calls on reimbursements when faced with wildly unique situations.

   

Insure.com recently gathered some of the more incredible homeowners insurance claims stories. Check out their top 10 below.

 

1. Eaten jewelry

 

"Although animals are typically excluded from coverage, I had a case where a dog allegedly ate a piece of jewelry and the insurance company wanted to buy the dog at an unbelievably high price. The insurance company claimed a right to salvage of the jewelry in the dog. This is typical to some property, like a car, if they pay for the value of the car," says Chip Merlin, president of Merlin Law Group in Tampa, Fla.

“After the owner refused, the insurance company continued in its claim that the dog with jewelry in it was salvage and demanded the dog be turned over. I don't know for certain what they were planning to do with the dog, but the insurer quickly backed down after a phone call from me. They paid for the lost jewelry, which may or may not have been sitting in the poor dog's stomach."

2. A relocated wedding

"Under the ‘loss of use’ coverage, an insured was supposed to have a wedding in their back yard for their daughter but because of a fire, they had to move it to a hotel. We ended up claiming the increased cost for having it at a hotel," recalls Diane M. Swerling, principal at Swerling Milton Winnick Public Insurance Adjusters Inc. in Wellesley Hills, Mass.

3. Interior designer fees

"Consumers might not know that they can ask for decorator fees, which are covered if the insured did use a decorator before,” says Dick Burr, director of claims at Young Adjustment Co. in Philadelphia. ”This can be quite a big expense that will be incurred again once repairs have been made, so we have requested reimbursement for interior design fees several times."

4. Beanie Babies

"People have asked for just about anything,” says Burr. “At one time, someone asked for $30,000 worth of Beanie Babies. We collected; however, today's new policies restrict that. We now have to deal with hoarders. That is another world when you walk in and there is nowhere to walk."

5. A dump truck

"We once got a full-size construction grade dump truck covered under personal property because it was not registered for the road and the person legitimately used it to move firewood to and from his wood-burning stove,” says Greg Raab, manager at Adjusters International in Utica, N.Y. “Per policy language, it was covered, just like ATVs or lawn mowers that are used for property maintenance would be."

6. Spoiled wine

Ron Reitz, a public insurance adjuster and president of Quality Claims Management Corp. in San Diego, recalls, "We had an interesting wine loss. The wine was heated to an approximate temperature of 85 degrees for a period of 10 days after a backup and overflow of a sewage pipe caused flooding and other damage.” The repair crew used heat to speed up the drying process.

“Of course the effect of heat on wine is not good. We had a challenging time convincing the insurer of the magnitude of the loss since we were essentially arguing the value was gone because the wine could not be sold in a secondary market and it was prematurely aged, but in the end, the client did get reimbursed."

7. Imported olive oil

"Expensive cooking ingredients such as imported olive oil are covered at full value, as long as the homeowner is not running a business out of the home (i.e. catering, etc.). So if you're shopping at Whole Foods, we recommend that you keep your receipts,” says Raab.

8. Pairs or sets


Losing one item in a pair or set doesn’t mean you have to live with a mismatched set.
"If one of a pair gets damaged, then both have to be replaced. I've seen this used to claim custom-made lanterns, antique candlesticks, etc.,” says Reitz. “I had a client who had some beautiful lighting on the walkway of their house. The lanterns were original and hard to replace, but one of them was damaged in a storm. Well, you can't just go out and buy one more, so the insurance company had to pay to replace both of them.”

9. Bug-repelling basement

"Years ago a client had a house fire at their 500-acre horse farm. He had pesticide stored in the basement before the fire. After the fire, I noticed that swarms of flies would come in to the basement and die almost immediately,” recalls Ronald Papa of National Fire Adjustment Co. in Amherst, N.Y. “We had experts from Cornell University examine the site. Although the shelf life of this chemical was only supposed to be six weeks, it turned out that when it was heated by the fire and it dissolved into the concrete, it remained potent for months. This was also toxic to humans. As a result, the house had to be demolished and rebuilt from the basement up."

10. Marijuana

"Our client thought of himself as a green thumb and took to growing marijuana plants in his attic. One day, the lamps got too hot, caught fire and took the whole home with them,” says Raizner. “The illegal plants were discovered after the blaze and the insurance company refused to pay for damages. Our client was charged in the incident but was able to plead the case down to a misdemeanor. The insurance policy [excluded] coverage for damage that resulted from the commission of a felony, so while they were a bit irked, the insurance company agreed to pay and the case was settled."

11. Security

"Security service for your damaged home is covered under building coverage,” says Burr. “These services can help keep out looters who may steal items and cause further damage to the property. The insurance company usually pays for this so it can be very beneficial to use these services."

                                        Contact us for all your Insurance needs! (321)725-1620

Bob Lancaster Insurance

Serving Florida since 1964

          

Florida Now Requires Parasailing Firms to Carry Insurance

Florida parasailing operators are now required to have up to $2 million in liability coverage under a new law tat took effect Oct. 1.

The White-Miskell Act regulates the state’s estimated 100 commercial parasailing operators that offer thrill seekers the opportunity to soar above the state’s coastline while suspended under parachutes.
The bill is named after Kathleen Miskell who died in 2012 after her parasail harness broke and she fell 200 feet into the Atlantic Ocean. It also memorializes Amber White and her sister who lost their lives died in 2007 when their parasail rope broke.

Under the new regulations, the owner and/or operator of a parasailing vessel must maintain a bodily injury liability policy of at least $1 million per occurrence for an annual aggregate amount of $2 million.

The operators are required to have proof of insurance from a state-licensed insurer or eligible surplus lines carrier available at all times. Customers who request the information must be provided with the insurer’s name, address and insurance policy number.

Owners or operators of a parasailing vessel must also maintain a valid license issued by the United States Coast Guard authorizing them to transport paying customers.

In addition to those requirements, the new law requires parasailing firms to monitor weather conditions and cease operates in certain situations.

Under the new regulations, a parasailing vessel must be equipped with a VHF marine transceiver and a separate electronic device capable of receiving National Weather Service forecasts and current weather conditions.

Parasailing is prohibited if the currently observed winds reach a sustained wind speed of more than 20 miles per hour or if wind gusts are 15 miles per hour higher than the sustained wind speed and if the wind speed during gusts exceeds more than 25 miles per hour.

Additionally, parasailing is prohibited if rain or fog results in a visibility of less than a half a mile or if lightning storms come within seven miles of the parasailing area.

Florida Senator Maria Lorts Sachs (D-Delray Beach) told reporters earlier this year that most parasailing accidents are due to fast-moving storms that catch parasailing operators and consumers unprepared.

“We all know that you can be laying on the beach and 20 minutes later a thunderstorm comes up,” said Sachs. “You don’t want to be 200 feet up when that comes up.”

Contact us for all your Insurance needs! (321)725-1620

Bob Lancaster Insurance

Serving Florida since 1964

Work Comp Wednesday - Workers' Comp Coverage Requirements for Non-Construction Sole Proprietors and Partners

Sometimes it is difficult to determine the workers' compensation coverage requirements for sole proprietors and partners who are not engaged in the construction industry. The general rule is that it is the type of work being performed by the business owned by a sole proprietor/partner as well as and the number of employees working for the sole proprietor/partner’s business that determine when workers' comp coverage is required.

Under Florida law, a sole proprietor or partner not involved construction industry who employs three or fewer full or part-time employees is NOT required to have workers' compensation coverage. And in the non-construction industry, the sole proprietor or partner is NOT counted in the employee count. (Non-construction sole proprietors and partners are automatically excluded from workers’ comp coverage; in fact, they have to file an Election of Coverage if they want to be covered under workers’ comp.)

However, if the sole proprietor or partner engages in the construction industry, they are not eligible to file for a workers’ comp exemption, and they, along with any and all of their employees, must be covered by a workers’ comp insurance policy.

>>For a list of what types of work the Florida Division of Workers’ Compensation considers to be construction, please click here.<<

To learn more about Florida's workers' compensation requirements, visit the Division of Workers' Compensation's website at www.myfloridacfo.com/division/wc.

Contact us for all your Insurance needs! (321)725-1620

Bob Lancaster Insurance

Serving Florida since 1964