cornerstone

COVID-19 Changing the Landscape

robbie@cisoutheast.com (Robbie Willingham) — Wed, 15 Jun 2022 20:31:08 GMT

Change is hard we know!

Covid-19 has completely changed the landscape of the insurance industry within a matter of 2 years. Employee benefits, individual health insurance, Business insurance, and Home and Auto.

At the beginning of COVID everyone was trying to save business as everyone “flattened” the curve and went remote for some period of time. Insurance companies were giving back a percent of the policy premium to insureds. The government was sending out check after check to try and keep everything operating as it normally would. But Now, Now COVID is not even talked about? The aftermath of COVID is not even being talked about? The Numbers? The Deaths? The “Hot Spots”?

If you are someone that took every precaution or someone that did not even pay attention to the pandemic, it effected your pocket if you like it or not. The supply chain was completely altered and everything became a logistical nightmare. Everyone wants to put the blame on a politician or private company to validate their opinion. The fact of the matter is you and I have to continue to pay our bills and try and build a better lifestyle for ourselves and our families.

Let’s face it, the cost of everything is going up there for the cost of insuring it is going to go up with that. Your Health, Your Car, Your Home, Your Business, and Your Toys. Insurance rates are skyrocketing throughout the nation on all lines of coverage. This is a combination of loss ratios and the cost of materials increasing throughout COVID.

The only way to be prepared for the increase in pricing is to educate yourself about what options are out there. This goes for all products and services not just insurance. If you keep doing the same thing you have always done, during this time your going to over pay for nearly all products. You need to learn to shop everything and take advantage of discounts.

Maybe you have been loyal to an insurance company for years, well I am here to tell you the days of an insurance company being loyal to you are out of the window. They are more concerned with their bottom dollar than how long you have been with them. Also if you change carriers and the coverage is the same, they will pay the claim just like the company you were with for 20 years. It's a law FYI.

So instead of taking to politics and blaming Trump or Biden. Take that time and educate yourself on ways you can spend your money differently and get the same end result. It does not cost you anything to have a 10-15 minute conversation with an insurance agent that could save you a few thousand per year. It only take 15-20 minutes to see about changing CC companies to save 3-5% on interest on your charges. It only take 10-15 minutes per day to analyze each expense and make sure that money is providing the best result.

Also take a moment to be grateful for the assets that you insure, your doing well and with a few small changes you could be doing even better.

"Change brings the greatest Challenges, but only Challenges bring Rewards."

-Robbie Willingham-

It Wont Happen to me

robbie@cisoutheast.com (Robbie Willingham) — Fri, 13 May 2022 18:21:30 GMT

Where it all started......

Well I will be the first to admit I did not do policy reviews as a small business owners until after about 6 years of running my own company. I wanted to be able to provide a certificate of insurance to my clients and get to work to make money. The company grew I continued to renew. I did not realize how much of an investment my employees really were. They were more than that. They were part of my family, we celebrated birthdays and holidays together let alone 40-50 hours a week sitting side by side in a truck.

It was a cool crisp morning during the fall as I was on my way to work that morning when my phone rang from my operations guy to tell me one of our guys was involved in a motorcycle accident on the way to work. We had just finished training the gentleman who was injured for about 3 months and he was just settling in to his new role. I had all the proper coverages in place to protect my business for anything that happened on the job. Well this did not happen on the job…..

So we scrambled that morning to keep the business going and got all but one truck on the road and I went to see if there was anything I could do to help the current situation. Things were not looking good for a return to work and there was nothing I could do? Well there was one thing I could do and that was take care of the people who helped me build my business. For 6 weeks we continued to pay a decreased salary in hopes of him returning to work. Then that hope ran out. The injuries had moved him 5 hours away back to be with family to help care for him.

I then started going through and learning how to protect my employees not only on the job, but also off the job. Short and Long term disability are the most important for service workers as a small back or leg injury could leave you disabled from a job you love. I realized I did not know nearly enough about the insurance policy that I currently had. We found an agent to do a policy review and changed nearly every line of coverage we had for exceptional coverage in all aspects, on or off the job. The sickening feeling of wishing I had been better prepared took several months to get over.

As a business owner employees become part of our circle, we trust each other and depend on each other. This is “The Why” of how I became an agent. I want to work with small business owners and help them understand what their options are to protect them in any event. I want to be their risk advisor so they do not end up in a situation that I did knowing there was more I could do. I believe when we put the disability policy in place we had 10 employees and it was around $500 per month to cover everyone. Just the 6 weeks of pay was more than that. Just remember you do not always have to learn the hard way if we educate ourselves on our own liabilities.

Unfortunate Circumstances

robbie@cisoutheast.com (Robbie Willingham) — Fri, 06 May 2022 16:44:24 GMT

Just When Everything is going Good

Have you ever had that feeling of getting ahead? Only to have problems come crashing down to set you back. These experiences are going to happen in our lives from time to time. Since I have joined the insurance industry I have really opened my eyes to how much it cost to get back to where you are right now in the event of a disaster. Sometimes it can be a fire, a hurricane, or just an accident. These are set backs that we never expect and are not prepared for.

I initially met with a client in April 2020 and did a policy review for a Business Owners Policy where the client owned the building. We increased a few of the coverages and went through how it would pay in the event of a claim. In May of 2020 the building caught fire from a tenants side of the building and the place was a total loss. Those of you not familiar with fires, well that is only about 30% of the damage. The fire department created a small pond out of the property to distinguish the fire, this was the other 70% of the loss. This property was a $700,000 total loss. Also the Savannah Fire department is one of the best and tried to save all electronics with tarps prior to dumping loads of water on it.

We proceeded to file the claim and start the process of getting back to where we are today. A place to go to for our business, all of our personal items in our offices, our favorite office chair, and our home away from home. This changes abruptly when disaster strikes and you have to push on, you have clients that need servicing and new business to conduct. Loss of use is a payment for your current space since it cannot be used during renovations. This will allow you to rent an additional space for a short term until your building is completed. The key to a good policy is not hurting your cash flow while they rebuild.

The insured was then able to lease another commercial space one street over and be back operational within 20 days of the fire. Then came time to figure out what was in the building. Business Personal Property is all of your contents, desk, computers, copiers, office supplies and even personal items for the office. It is important as a business owner to take inventory of these things and make sure they are accurate on your policy. If you bought the policy when you first opened up shop this has most likely drastically changed and needs updating. Take pictures each year so that you do not miss anything. The insurance company cannot replace something they do not know about.

The building renovation was during Covid so it took nearly 13 months for completion. The insured was able to lease a space for an entire year and move into a completely renovated space that was new! I believe the business still grew during the months they were displaced and did not financially impact them in a negative way. Although the premium did increase after a substantial loss, with the newly renovated interiors the rent for his property increased to cover the cost of the additional premium.

So when you just renew your policy or say ill take whatever is the cheapest, understand that may not be the coverage you need. Business changes from year to year, we acquire new inventory, equipment, personal items, and other items. Sometime our business operations change drastically and we never think to change it. Had this Business owner not done an annual policy review he could have ended up with a much different outcome.