The homeowner's policy usually provides a limited amount of coverage that is subject to a deductible. We recommend that our clients schedule each individual valuable item for the full amount to replace it. Scheduled valuable items are not subject to the policy deductible.

Yes, as long as you gave your permission to drive your car. Insurance always follows the vehicle. However, the policy limits protect you, the policy holder, first. Any remaining limit is then available for your friend. That is why we suggest that all drivers obtain their own insurance coverage whether they own a vehicle or not.

There are different ways of reducing your premium: For homeowners or tenants, you can increase your deductibles or receive additional credits for various types of protection devices such as burglar and fire alarms. If you are retired, you may be entitled to a mature homeowners credit, and some companies offer a non-smoking credit. For auto insurance, you can take a defensive driver course and increase your deductible as well.

Some insurance companies provide appraisal services and will guarantee the adequacy of the limit. If you are insured on a policy that does not offer this feature, we recommend that you contact an appraisal service to confirm the dwelling limit.

Replacement cost is the cost to replace damaged property with like kind and quality without taking into account depreciation. Actual cash value is calculated by deducting the amount of depreciation from the replacement cost at the time of loss.

The Each Occurrence Limit is the most an insurance company will pay for bodily injury or property damage as a result of any one occurrence. The Aggregate Limit is the policy’s maximum amount that can be paid during the policy term regardless of the number of claims during the policy period.

You should have Hired Car/Non-owned Automobile Liability to protect your interest in the event that any employee uses his or her own vehicle or a rented vehicle for any business purpose and suffers an accident for which you could be held responsible.

Most Employment Related Practices Liability insurance policies (EPLI) do not include coverage for claims made by a third party. Most insurers, for an additional premium, offer an endorsement that would enhance the protection for third party related claims.

Life Insurance is designed primarily to protect your family’s financial security after you die. But some types of life insurance can also help you build assets to meet needs during your lifetime. So it’s a smart addition to any financial plan.

TERM INSURANCE: With term life insurance you are “renting” protection for a period of time. When the “lease” – the term of the policy- is up, you can choose to renew at a higher rate, or the insurance stops without any value.

PERMANENT INSURANCE: With permanent life insurance you own the protection for life and your premium payments (like mortgage payments on a house) build value for you in the policy.

One rule of thumb is to buy life insurance equal to ten to fifteen times your annual gross income. However, there is no substitute for a careful evaluation and review of your life insurance needs with one of our financial advisors.

NO. The only “benefits” that an employer must offer are Workers Compensation Insurance, which is mandated by Federal law, and Statutory Disability Insurance which is required in only five states and Puerto Rico. Employee benefits were offered to attract workers to employers who had a hard time finding employees during wartime. Over time, medical coverage became an expected benefit, especially at larger employers. However, there is no law requiring an employer to offer any type of employee group benefits.

An HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) is a health insurance plan that allows you to receive care through a network of participating doctors and hospitals. Generally, you select a primary care physician who coordinates your care and refers you to specialists when needed. Care that is not provided by a network physician or hospital is generally not covered under an HMO plan.

An HSA is a way for an employer to reduce costs by offering employees a medical plan with a high deductible while protecting employees from the full affect of that deductible. An HSA allows individuals and families to accrue pre-tax dollars in a savings account from which they can withdraw to cover qualifying medical expenses. The employee is the owner of the HSA account and can take the account with them if he/she moves to another employer or retires.

An HRA is a high-deductible medical plan that allows the employer to fund part of the high deductible on an “as used” basis. This allows the employer to implement a health plan with a generally lower premium than a typical medical plan with in-network co-payments and low out-of-network deductibles and co-insurances.

The employer does not pre-fund the HRA expenses so there is a cash flow savings. The employee and his/her dependents are protected from the high deductible and co-insurance out-of-pocket cost by having the employer partially fund this expense.

Although this varies on a state by state basis, Community Rating generally refers to group medical plans available to smaller employers with up to 50 non-union employees who are eligible for group benefits. The rates for these medical plans are non-negotiable and are based on the location of the employer. Some states, such as Pennsylvania allow the insurance carrier to ask medical questions for groups of less than 20 enrollees. The carrier can adjust the rates within certain limits based on the answers to these questions. Other states, such as New Jersey, allow the insurance carriers to adjust the plan rates based on the gender and average age of the enrolled employees. New York does not allow any variation of the filed rates based on enrollment, age, medical history, etc.

It is a separate benefit plan that allows your employees to direct a part of their pay, tax free, into a special account that they can use throughout the year to reimburse themselves for eligible out-of-pocket expenses. The employer saves money on as a result of reduced FICA and Social Security matching payments. There are three types of FSAs and they include: Health Care FSA for uncovered out of pocket medical expenses; Dependent Care FSA for work related child and adult care; Transportation FSA for job-related parking and public transportation reimbursement.

In virtually all cases, volunteers are included as part of "Employees" under the policy definition of "Who Is an Insured?" You would have to consult your individual policy, but we would always recommend that such a policy be secured.

Yes, we can. We will work with you and your management staff to implement certain practices and protocols that will serve to improve your modification over time and convert the debit you now face to a credit that will reflect these improvements. These include the use of a "Medical-only" protocol for certain types of non-severe claims that involve no loss of time, as well as the development of a prescribed "Light-Duty/Return to Work" program to reduce the size and duration of lost time claims. Our staff of Workers Compensation Claims Specialists will visit with you, attend Staff Safety Meetings, and work in conjunction with the insurer's claim representatives and Loss Control Consultants to help you reduce both the frequency and severity of compensable employee injuries.

Yes, there are. You need to consult with your agent to review an area that is often overlooked called Increased Cost of Construction/Ordinance coverage. Certainly, Health Department and local Building Department requirements for Healthcare facilities like yours are likely to have changed significantly since 1959. You may now be required to meet building codes for such items as automatic sprinklers or to accommodate disabled people as prescribed by the Americans With Disabilities Act, none of which would be included under your current policy, even if you had Replacement Cost coverage, since they were not in place prior to any loss

Insurance policy terms vary from policy to policy. The Rampart Group advises that you contact our Claims Department as soon as you have notice of a claim or an incident occurs that you have reason to believe may result in a claim.

This frequently occurs. Just call the Rampart Claims Department and they will make certain that an adjuster is advised of the additional damages.