What's Important About Insurance?

Should you buy rental car insurance? You have been standing in line waiting to get your rental car. There are a lot of unhappy people behind you. It’s your turn. After choosing your car, the rental agent starts going over the details and asks you to read the agreement. Like you have time, right? And now he starts pressuring you about the auto insurance for your rental car. Darn it all. You wanted to ask your insurance agent about your auto insurance but you forgot and now you can’t. This rental car insurance policy is expensive! But you don’t want something to happen and then you are really in trouble. The people in line behind you are grumbling. The easiest thing to do at this point is to buy the rental car insurance…… but do you really need it?

The major difference that car insurance rental companies will tell you is that their rental car insurance policy covers just about anything that can happen to a vehicle. This includes costs such as “loss of use” charges after a major accident that leaves a rental car seriously damaged. These are charges for the money that the rental agency would have made if their vehicle wasn’t damaged. Loss of use fees can often be $40-50 or more per day.. There are also administrative fees shown in insurance rental contracts. Administrative fees can be very expensive. Repair and towing charges need to be paid right away, and while most auto insurance policies will cover at least the repair bills under comprehensive coverage, deductibles will be due immediately. Another difference between the two insurances: car rental insurance usually has no or a small deductible. This means hardly any out-of-pocket expenses. An average personal auto insurance policy has a deductible, so in a claim, the rental policy will be quite advantageous.

So if you have money to burn, buying the car rental insurance is the way to go. The loss of use fee’s are something that you won’t be able to buy under your own car insurance policy. You don’t need the liability insurance that the rental company is selling unless you don’t have adequate limits on your own policy. If you are renting overseas, then you should buy the insurance! You are taking too much of a chance to not have the car insurance coverage.

Another possibility is to pay with a credit card that provides some rental car insurance coverage. Many credit card companies automatically provide certain auto insurance coverage if you use their credit card to rent the car. Check with your credit card to find out what kind of coverage they provide, if any.

If your willing to take a chance, your auto insurance will provide you with the same coverage that you currently have on your auto. If you want comp and collision, then you need to have those coverage’s on your own insurance policy. If you do get into an accident, you may have some up front out of pocket expense like deductibles. You may also be responsible for the loss of use of the car if the vehicle can’t be driven.

The decision to buy rental car insurance is a personal one. You have to take into account your own risk characteristics, your credit card, where you are getting the rental car, and the type of auto insurance you currently have.

From the President of Penn State to its illustrious head football coach, Joe Paterno, to the administrators of Second Mile, a charitable organization for at-risk children, organizational leaders are falling from grace because of a former coworker and defensive coordinator for the Penn State football team, Jerry Sandusky. Sandusky has been arrested on 40 counts of child sexual assault.

One charge stems from an incident where Mike McQuery, then a graduate assistant coach, reported that he witnessed child sex abuse. He reported the abuse to his boss, Paterno, and later in a meeting with Penn State athletic director, Tim Curley, and senior vice president, Gary Schultz.

No one reported the incident to police, according to the Grand Jury report, although some are disputing that point claiming that McQuery did report to campus police.

McQuery was placed on administrative leave by the University’s Board of Trustees, and both Curley and Schultz have surrendered on charges and have stepped down from their posts.

The executive director of Second Mile, Jack Raykovitz, recently resigned from his position amid questions about whether he ignored sex abuse allegations against Sandusky and allowed him to continue working with young boys. According to a statement by Raykovitz, Penn State officials notified Second Mile in 2002 about the incident as reported by Coach McQueary. He also knew that Sandusky was banned from a local school.

Others who were privy to Sandusky’s misconduct included members of the campus police, the State College police, the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, and the former Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar. Many face accusations of perjury and failure to report child sex abuse. “Penn State Scandal: Timeline of Sex Abuse Scandal that Has Rocked Happy Valley,” www.nydailynews.com (Nov. 13, 2011); “Judge Who Set No Bail for Penn State Sex Abuse Suspect Volunteered for Him,” www.abcnews.go.com (Nov. 14, 2011).

Commentary and Checklist

As the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse tragedy unfolds publicly, we are reminded of the importance that ethical leadership plays in our communities…and workplaces.

According to the Penn State University Staff Employee Handbook, an ethics and compliance hotline exists for employees to report anonymously wrongdoing and acts of misconduct, and it is also accessible through the Internet. The problem in this case was not the lack of avenues for reporting wrongdoing, but what organizational leaders did with the reports once they were received.

The 23-page Grand Jury indictment outlining Sandusky’s abuse reveals failure upon failure by safe adults to report, investigate and follow-up on reports of Sandusky’s abuse which, if the charges are proven, only allowed the criminal behavior to continue. University officials, employees, campus and local police, parents and coaches all had an opportunity to report the abuse or ask why reports were not investigated and acted upon. At every turn, a safe adult failed to follow their “moral compass.”

Asking “why” or “why not” to report wrongdoing to authorities when wrongdoing occurs is a process that all leaders must learn to accept as their ethical duty. The answer to tough questions acts as a magnet in the moral compass to help leaders make ethical decisions and take the appropriate course of action.

At some point, someone or everyone in the chain of communication made a conscious decision not to protect children and to protect something or someone else instead. That choice was unethical.

Here are some other points that will lead you to a “right” decision:

• Respect of authority is a good attribute of any employee. Blindly following authority is not.
• There are moral and immoral orders. You have a moral duty not to follow an immoral order.
• Encourage your subordinates to ask “why?” The best leaders seek debate and interaction while the weakest demand blind loyalty.
• “I was following orders” is neither a legal nor moral defense.
• “If you say so” is never a proper response to an unethical order.
• Never ignore your moral compass. Take the ethical path.

This article was published in Merchants Employers Protection

There are some coverage restrictions in your house insurance policy that can have a major impact on you if a loss should occur. I am going to discuss just four of those areas today. Flood Insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program, jewelry and collections, home changes, and higher liability needs.Whether you obtain your insurance quotes online or you talk to your independent agent, you need to be aware of some information when making insurance decisions.

1. Flood is not covered by your house insurance policy. You need to get this insurance coverage through the National Flood Insurance Program. We work with the National Flood Insurance Program to get you the rates and place a policy for you with them. The National Flood Insurance Program is a special program put together by Congress to collect rates and pay for claims. The National Flood Insurance Program pays for flood claims which the standard Insurance Companies are not interested in providing coverage for. The link below will take you to Flood Expert @ The National Flood Insurance Program. Here you can find the answer to most questions that you may have.

Your Jewelry doesn't have to be extremely valuable for insurance

2. A house insurance policy also has a restriction on jewelry. Most people don’t realize this. You should schedule any jewelry on your house insurance policy in order to gain the full value of the jewelry if something happens to it. It is usually a low price in comparison to what the jewelry cost. Do you have any collections or nice artwork? These also are going to have some restrictions if a loss occurs. It is much better to schedule valuable collections of any type or valuable artwork.

3. Have you made any improvements or additions to your house or property over the past year. If you have, you need to let your agent know what has changed. Your house insurance needs to be updated. If you don’t make your agent or insurance company aware of the change, you could have a big problem collecting the proper insurance if a loss happens. Many times I find out about the improvement or addition AFTER the loss. Then it is too late to get proper coverage on your house insurance policy.

4. Do you have umbrella liability insurance? This is a special policy that increases your liability limits. Why would you want this? Even when you have 1 million dollar liability limits on your house insurance and your auto insurance, it is still advisable for you to have an umbrella liability insurance. One Million Dollars does not get you far. Umbrella Liability Insurance is a cheap way to give you higher limits for both your car insurance and your house insurance policies.

You have just read about 4 areas that you should think about when making decisions about your insurance. Our job is to help you get the best home insurance rates for what is important to you.