Gary Sorenson - Insurance Brokers of Minnesota

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that nearly 13,000 people per year (about 35 per day) are killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes.

Many of these tragic accidents happen after an inebriated person leaves a party.  Did you know that the host of the party can be held liable for injuries and deaths?  Not just a party. Any situation where you provide alcohol to another person or persons. Host liquor liability may be covered under your homeowners’ insurance policy if you, as the host, are held legally responsible for such a terrible accident.  Many homeowners’ policies have a limit of $300,000 for host liquor liability.  Are you comfortable with $300,000 – $500,000?  Here are some tips to consider if you occasionally host social events involving alcohol:

Limit the amount of alcohol at your event.

• If alcohol is served at your party, make sure there is plenty of food.  Eating slows down alcohol absorption.
• Do not “push” alcohol on your guests.
• Encourage designated drivers and provide nonalcoholic drinks for these guests.
• Look for signs of intoxication.  An intoxicated person often has trouble walking or has slurred or loud speech.  This is not, however, a foolproof method of determining whether someone is intoxicated.
• Consider hiring trained bartenders.  These individuals are trained to recognize and deal with intoxication.  Using professional bartenders can significantly reduce the risk and may help in defending a claim should there be one.
• Surveys of youth indicate that the most common source of alcohol is the young person’s home.  Thus, closely monitor any social event your child hosts to make sure there is no drinking allowed, particularly underage drinking.
• Do not allow an intoxicated guest to drive away from the event.  Offer to drive them home or provide a free cab ride.

Following these tips can greatly reduce or eliminate your host liquor liability exposure.

Please contact our agency to review your coverage before you host your next party where alcohol may be served.  Contact us at Insurance Brokers of Minnesota, Inc. for a comprehensive review of your coverages and a price comparison.

As a boomer myself, I see and realize how important it is in today’s world to plan ahead.  To provide good advice to clients in the proper approach to life insurance.  Read these interesting facts below.

Generations at Risk

Facts LIMRA International’s life insurance consumer studies.

Facts About Life 2008

Many U.S. Households Continue to be Underinsured.

• One third of adults in the United States carry no life insurance at all.
• More than 1 in 4 men have no life insurance coverage at all and almost two thirds of men age 18 to 24 have no life insurance.
• Overall, women are more likely to own life insurance today than they were in 1998 but almost 1 in 3 women have no life insurance coverage at all and about half of women age 18 to 24 have no life insurance.
• Today, insured adults are more likely to have only group life insurance obtained through the workplace. Adults with only group coverage carry the lowest amounts of life insurance.

Boomers Heading Towards Retirement.

• There are approximately 77.8 million baby boomers (1946–1964) aged 45 to 62 years old.
• On average, three-quarters of baby boomers own some sort of life insurance — half owning individual life insurance policies and the rest having group policies.
• While an average of 78.5 percent of men in this generation have life insurance, less than 70 percent of women have any life insurance.
• Baby boomers primarily rely on face-to-face interaction for their financial planning.

Generations X and Y Planning for the Future.

• Combined, Gens X (1965–1980) and Y (1981–1995) represent more than 126 million Americans.
• 41 percent of Gen Xs own individual life insurance while only 22 percent of adult Gen Ys have individual life insurance policies.
• Equal numbers of Gens X and Y men and women have some form of life insurance coverage — about 7 in 10.
• Parents are key purchasers of term life insurance, which represents 45 percent of all policies sold. The availability of low-cost level-premium term insurance appears to be attractive to single parents and young families, who typically have less discretionary income.

Marketing to Gen X and Y.

Gen Xs and Gen Ys often differ from baby boomers and from each other when it comes to online

activities and information seeking. Relationship building, personalized service 24/7, easy access to information online, convenience, and brief, targeted product information are key to reaching these consumers.

Autos that are titled in individuals’ names can create significant coverage problems and exposures on a corporate business auto policy.

The most basic principle of insurance is insurable interest. When a corporation insures a personally owned auto and pays the premium under their corporate BAP, there is no insurable interest for the insured corporation. In addition, this practice may run afoul of states’ Financial Responsibility statutes, since the owner of the vehicle must show that he or she is financially responsible for injury or damage. This obligation for the titled owner is best satisfied by coverage issued in the owner’s name, most often by a personal auto policy.  Some states have statutes that only licensed vehicle leasing companies may lease autos, so a “paper” lease between the owner and a corporation to create an insurable interest may create other legal problems. The other situation we see is autos titled in the corporation and insured under the owner’s personal name in a personal auto policy. This creates significant coverage gaps for the corporation.

Taking care to review the titled ownership of each vehicle on a corporately insured policy, especially private passenger autos and recreational vehicles, will head off potential coverage and legal problems for you and your corporation. The best way to insure one’s interest properly is an appropriate coverage form in the owner’s name.

Contact Insurance Brokers of MN, Inc. for a comprehensive review of your commercial and personal auto coverages.

Forester Research reports that businesses with more than 1,000 employees give laptop computers to approximately 30% of their staff.  Dell reports that 2007 was the first year its revenue from notebooks was greater than that from desktop computers and attributes most of this trend to the corporate PC market.

The truly mobile workstation has officially arrived—but not without warts.  According to The Wall Street Journal, millions of laptops are lost or stolen annually, with only one in 20 being found or returned.  About 80% of businesses report losing one or more laptops containing sensitive information each year.

Many commercial general liability (CGL) policies, the most common form of business liability insurance, do not cover damages incurred by a third party ensuing from the loss or theft of an insured’s laptop.  For example, the CGL doesn’t cover damages claimed by victims whose personal information is pulled from a stolen laptop and sold to identity thieves.

The good news is that you have options.  Some CGL policies can be amended to offer limited coverage for these types of liability losses.  Also available are cyber liability insurance policies, which are tailored for losses to and generated by computer use.

If you utilize laptops in your business, you may have special insurance needs.  For more information, call our service team today.