PREVENTING WATER DAMAGE TO YOUR BUSINESS

Friday, February 27th, 2009 | Insurance Topics | No Comments

Most people think water damage only occurs from flooding after days of heavy downpours according to State Farm Insurance. Flooding can occur even on a sunny day leaving your property soaked. Whether the flooding is a result of a broken pipe, a malfunctioning appliance or a leaking roof, the damage can be costly.

Some of the most troublesome trouble spots are appliances, pipes and drains and roofing.

Water heaters, washing machines, dishwashers, refrigerators and air conditioner units are all common sources of water damage. Check the bottom of the water heater for rust spots, check the hoses on washing machines and dishwashers.

Grease buildup in the kitchen sink, lint buildup in the washing machine and roots in the sewer lines can all contribute to pipes and drains flooding.

Check the roof for missing shingles, the ceilings in the rooms for water spots. Exposure to wind, ice, rain and snow can allow water to enter through the roof.

Routine inspection and maintenance of the roof, appliances, pipes and drains may reduce costly repairs for water damage.

Donna Robinson
Customer Service Representative
Next Generation Underwriters
615.822.5454
drobinson@nguins.com

Claims Question of the Week

Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 | Claims Questions | No Comments

When an injury is treated under workers’ comp, a health care provider by law should not bill or attempt to recover from the injured employee for all or any part of the costs of medical care services provided to the injured employee unless:

Kathy Kinard
Claims Representative
Safety Engineering Consultants
615.826.4274
kkinard@sectn.com

IBNR – What Does It Mean?

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009 | Insurance Topics | No Comments

When the public entity sector had to comply with GASB 10 and could no longer report claims liabilities on a “pay as you go” basis on their financial statement, a new world of insurance jargon was unleashed on unsuspecting financial departments. Several years later we still find folks who do not understand the terms loss development, ultimate incurred loss, and yes that most dreaded term IBNR.

To understand IBNR lets first break down the components of the claim dollar. The first piece is the one we are all familiar with, payments. Prior to GASB 10 some public entities would record the payments as they were made on the claim on their financial statement. Others would record the reported or incurred value of the claim. This is an estimate of how much the claim will cost the entity when all payments are made based on the events as they are currently known by the claims adjustor. Remember that this estimate is at one point in time and will change as more information about the claim becomes known. The difference between the payments on the claim and this incurred value is referred to as the outstanding loss and is sometimes referred to as case reserves.

So what is IBNR? It literally stands for incurred but not reported. In most instance it is a provision for the development of the known claims as the adjustor analysis the claim over time, sometimes referred to as IBNE - incurred but not enough, as well as those claims that have not been reported to you yet. An actuary can be employed to analysis your claims history to arrive at a more accurate estimate of this IBNR reserve. Software is available that can assist in this process as well.

Once this IBNR reserve is determined it combines with your case reserves and is recorded as a liability on your financial statement. If you buy insurance in the commercial market place or through an insurance pool they have to do this same process on their financial statement and file those statements with the state to ensure they have funds adequate to pay the claims for which they are liable.

So don’t be afraid of some of that weird technical insurance jargon. It really isn’t too difficult to understand. When you hear someone throwing those terms around, ask what they mean. You may be surprised that you now know more than they do.

Jeffery T. Mathis
Chief Financial Officer
Next Generation Underwriters
615.822.5454
jmathis@nguins.com

Region 11 has good turnout for program at Memphis Light, Gas and Water

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009 | Where we will be | No Comments

The meeting was held at the Joyce M. Blackmon Training Center off Raleigh LaGrange Road on February 18th. With over 35 TAUD members in attendance, programs were presented by Kirk Smith of Next Generation Underwriters and Chris Stites of Safety Engineering Consultants. Kirk spoke on the advantages and benefits of the Tennessee Risk Management Trust programs of Insurance and the importance of understanding your policy’s and coverage’s.

Chris presented a behavioral program in safety and advised the members to take advantage of helping fellow employees with maintaining a safe work environment.

Next, members heard a program from Josh Cravens of Wascon on Water Loss and how to monitor water loss within their system. Members also heard updates from Larry Lewis of the Tennessee Association on Utility Districts on the new low interest Loan Program from TAUD. Executive Director Bob Freudenthal of TAUD gave members updates from the previous weeks Legislative Conference and Rally held at the Double Tree Hotel in Nashville. Bob also address the issues that pertain to the new stimulus package and how it will affect Utility Districts. The new term of choice is ‘Shovel Ready Project’ which we will all become familiar with soon.

Members also heard reports from Rural Development and the Jackson Environmental Field Office.

After the meeting, members enjoyed good ole southern Bar-B-Que and Ribs from the Germantown Commissary, provided by Next Generation Underwriters Inc. and Wascon Corp.

We would like to thank Nick Newman of Memphis Light, Gas and Water for their hospitality in hosting this event.

Left: Kirk Smith of NGU explains the benefits of membership of the Tennessee Risk Management Trust.
Right: Chris Stites of SEC, goes over some of the behavioral safety program to the Members of TAUD.

Kirk Smith
Account Executive
Next Generation Underwriters
615.822.5454
ksmith@nguins.com

TOSHA Resources

Friday, February 6th, 2009 | Job Safety | No Comments