Orange County Great Park
Since we’re in the middle of a lazy President’s Day holiday weekend with no real plans, my wife and I decided to check out Orange County Great Park in Irvine on Sunday to visit the Sunday Farmers Market. Located pretty much in the center of Irvine, not far from the Spectrum, Orange County Great Park is a transformation of the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro into a massive metropolitan park.
The Certified Farmers Market is held from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. every Sunday. Fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables, handcrafted artisan products, and food trucks are on site to buy from. The weather was kind of crummy so the turnout was sparse but we bought some good food to take home to enjoy. We also walked a lot of the park which is dog and child friendly. It’s a great place to let them run loose and drain their energy.
Orange County Great Park has “The Great Park Balloon” which is the park’s main attraction. With the ability to hold up to 25 to 30 passengers, and soar 400 feet above the surrounding landscape, it serves as a public observation deck for the Great Park’s development and offers a 360° view that spans 40 miles on a clear day. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a clear day and the weather wasn’t ideal, so the balloon was closed . All good though.
Overall, it was a fun inexpensive way to get out to enjoy the weekend. I highly recommend it if you have kids or dogs and are looking for inexpensive family entertainment. Here are a handful of Orange County Great Park:
For more information including hours and activities, visit Orange County Great Park.
-JK
What Does Business Insurance Cover?
Business insurance coverage for a commercial operation can include the following and more:
General liability insurance: Covers third party liability claims for injuries to other people.
Professional liability and malpractice insurance: aka Errors & Omissions Insurance (E&O). E&O covers professionals against loss due to negligent professional duty, wrongful acts, and advice and services that lead to another person’s loss or injury.
Product liability insurance: Covers against faulty products and damage, illness, injury or death that may occur from using a faulty product.
Property insurance: Covers loss and damage to your commercial business property due to fires, theft, storms and other causes.
Commercial vehicle insurance: Covers commercial vehicles and drivers for collision, liability, property damage, personal injury and “comprehensive” (now known as “other than collision”).
Workers compensation: Covers your employees if they become ill or injured while working on the job.
Loss of income: Also referred to as Business Income, this covers your business expenses such as rent and employee wages if you can’t operate your business.
Key person insurance: Covers loss of income that may result from the head of the business or other key personnel becoming incapacitated or passing away (also known as key man insurance).
Cyber-crime insurance: Provides protection for risks due to Internet use and online communications.
Each and every business is unique. A food products manufacturer or distributor doesn’t have the same risk exposures as a software developer. As an everyday Joe, you’re expected to know if you need these coverage’s or not for your business. If your head is spinning or you’re feeling overwhelmed, this is why you work with an insurance agent or broker.
Let’s face it, most people really don’t like insurance, they don’t care to read their policies, and they just wish someone else would take care of it for them. I like insurance (don’t judge me), I read policy forms all day long for my clients, and people call me to handle all their business insurance needs so they don’t have to. Pick up the phone and call me today or email me if you have questions about these overage’s and whether your business needs them or not.
-JK
EEOC Launches Small Business Resource Center
One of the most challenging aspects of owning a small business (particularly in California) is knowing and following legal requirements regarding hiring, managing, and sometimes terminating employees. It seems like there are new laws drafted daily. How can one possibly stay on top of it all???
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently launched a Small Business Resource Center designed to assist small business owners in their compliance with employment laws they, the EEOC, enforce.
This new dedicated EEOC Resource Center contains a general overview of small business obligations including the posting and record-keeping requirements to assist in staying compliant with the myriad of nondiscriminatory laws.
The website also has available FAQs, tips, fact sheets and videos, as well as no-cost outreach programs. This is a good resource to keep in mind when you need to make sure how you are treating employees is legal.
I wouldn’t recommend that you try to do it all on your own though. Use a professional Human Resources consultant or attorney when necessary when dealing with sensitive matters surrounding the employment process.
Need help finding a reputable Human Resources consultant or attorney to help with your business? Contact me today. I have relationships with some great ones who can help you out.
-JK
California Commercial Auto Insurance – Losses & Costs Rising
Right now there are industry-wide challenges with increasing loss costs in commercial and personal auto insurance, particularly in California. If you have a commercial auto insurance policy for your business, you’re probably seeing your premiums increase. If not, you can expect to. I’ve been seeing it with pretty much all major insurance carriers on the market. We’ve been having to shop coverage for clients like crazy due to the steep premium increases.
California Commercial Auto – What’s Driving Losses?
More traffic: Total miles driven increased 50 percent faster in California than in the rest of the country since the start of 2015. More vehicles = higher frequency of accidents.
Distracted drivers: One-quarter of crashes involve drivers talking on phones or texting.
Escalating medical costs: Medical care costs are climbing more than 1.5 times faster than other costs.
More fatalities and other severe accidents: Accident rates per person and per mile
of driving are rising in California.
Inexperienced or undesirable drivers: A shortage of skilled commercial drivers with good driving records = greater odds for accidents.
Rising auto repair costs: Record U.S. auto sales mean garages are often servicing newer cars with more expensive parts. Even minor repairs can cost big bucks.
What you can do to help ease your commercial auto insurance loss costs?
- Implement a fleet safety program and follow proper fleet maintenance procedures.
- Enforce company policy for use of company vehicles (e.g., limitation on personal use, who can use company vehicles, hours of operation, etc.).
- Regularly check employees’ driving records and take appropriate action driving records are not acceptable.
- Use telematic devices to monitor employee driving habits and usage of company vehicles.
- Be aware of the risks involved with employees using their personal vehicles on the job.
- Provide Driver Safety Training for their employees. Important topics include, but are not limited to: Distracted Driving; Speeding; DUI; Need for Rest; What to do if your vehicle breaks down, etc.
Need help with these things? Contact me today. Buying a commercial auto policy is one thing, but implementing these risk management procedures along with the policy can help your business tremendously with costs.
-JK
Man Sues Krispy Kreme For Not Having Real Fruit In Its Doughnuts
Yes, you read that title correctly. A Los Angeles man is suing Krispy Kreme doughnuts claiming they misled the public by naming its doughnuts in a way that led people to believe they contained vitamin-rich fruits, despite them being completely fruit-free.
Read more HERE
If you’re wondering what this has to do with anything, my point is that there are nut jobs all over the world like this who are sue happy and looking for a little extra money, even through a settlement. It’s imperative as a business that you carry commercial general liability insurance with product liability included. By carrying a policy for this, you have defense coverage under the policy to protect your business from even the frivolous claims.
Even though a judge could potentially throw this case out the window, there’s going to be legal fees that need to be paid no matter what. And the headache of dealing with this. Leave it to a commercial general liability policy to handle this for you so you can focus on the important things in running a business. Don’t think that only happens to the big guys like Krispy Kreme either. This can happen to ANY business, especially in litigious Southern California.
-JK
10 EEOC Tips for Small Businesses
I will preface this by saying that I am not a Human Resources professional nor an attorney. Don’t take this as the end all/ be all when it comes to your employee relations. Although I am not and attorney or certified HR professional, I do help businesses with their risk management and insurance needs and Employment Practices Liability Insurance is one of those areas. Here in Southern California, Employment Practices Liability insurance claims happen a LOT more than general liability, professional liability (E&O) or any other areas of liability for that matter. I don’t have the statistical data, but working day-in and day-out with clients, I do see Employment Practices Liability claims a whole hell of a lot more than most other lines of insurance. And remember, Employment Practices Liability claims are NOT covered by a General Liability insurance policy or Workers’ Compensation.
With that being said, here are 10 EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) Tips for Small Businesses taken directly from the EEOC. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1964 to eradicate discrimination in employment. The Commission enforces various statutes that prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, retaliation, age, and disability or protected veteran status.
The EEOC has the authority to investigate charges of discrimination filed against employers who have a statutory minimum number of employees. HR can help avoid costly penalties by following the tips published by the EEOC.
- Look at the facts, not the faces. Race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation or gender identity), national origin, disability, age (40 or older) or genetic information (including family medical history) should not be a factor when you hire, fire, promote, pay, train, discipline or make other work-related decisions.
- Provide reasonable accommodations to applicants or employees who need them for medical or religious reasons, if required by law*.
- Develop a strong anti-discrimination policy before discrimination becomes a problem.
- Ensure that employees understand their rights and responsibilities at work.
- Be alert to potential harassment or discrimination. Stop, address and prevent harassment and discrimination.
- Ensure that employees are not punished for reporting discrimination, participating in a discrimination investigation or lawsuit, or opposing discrimination.
- Post an EEO poster at your business.
- Keep employment records as required by law.
- File an EEO-1 Report if you have 100 or more employees. Some federal contractors with at least 50 employees must also file this report.
- Contact the EEOC to request assistance, information or training.
* Federal, state and local laws may prohibit additional types of discrimination and/or require you to provide reasonable accommodations for other reasons. Federal, state and local government websites may have additional information about these laws.
-JK
Los Angeles Has Highest Workers’ Comp Claim Costs in California
File this under the No Surprise folder but a new study by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau show that Los Angeles has the highest workers’ comp claim costs in California.
Among other key findings, “The Los Angeles/Long Beach Area is the most litigious region in California. Medical legal costs are over 2.8 percent of total incurred costs on indemnity claims in the Los Angeles/Long Beach area compared with 2.0 percent statewide.”
“Indemnity claim frequencies in the Los Angeles/Long Beach area were 24.0 percent higher” than the rest of the state of California.
Read more here from the Insurance Journal:
As frustrating as this is, none of it surprises me. Not a week goes by where I don’t see a workers’ comp claim come across my desk for “cumulative trauma” or “repetitive motion” from an attorney after termination of an employee. And as I always say, nobody hurts more from this than the honest business owner trying to get by everyday running an honest business. They’re the ones paying the costs of these claims.
Here’s a map showing the regional differences of indemnity claims as a share of the total claims counts in California:
-JK
Be Careful of Those ATM Card Skimmers
Are you like me where you get paranoid using public ATM’s and paying for gas with your card at the pump? I am sketched out about ATM / credit card skimmers that scammer’s place on public machines to trace your personal information. I stumbled across this video on Facebook. This is in Europe, but it doesn’t matter, this can happen anywhere. Be vigilant my friends!
-JK
California Insurance Commissioner Awards $34.9M to Fight Workers’ Comp Fraud
Working in the Property & Casualty Insurance industry, I am happy to see the fight against Workers’ Comp Fraud. There are way too many people taking advantage of the Workers Compensation Insurance system in California, particularly Southern California. Honest business owners are stuck paying the high costs which is very much driven by those taking advantage of the system. I see it weekly with the claims coming across my desk. From the individual “claimants” to the attorneys and physicians, I hope you get caught.
-JK
October is Adopt a Dog Month
October is Adopt a Dog Month. If you’re considering a pet; please consider adoption or rescue! Each year, an estimated 3-4 million animals waiting in shelters for someone to give them a safe, loving home never find a hero to adopt them and, tragically, are euthanized.
Dogs are amazing and supportive companions who can make a huge difference in your life as a best friend, an exercise buddy, someone who can be trained to provide animal-assisted therapy and help those with challenges they may face, or simply be a face to greet you after a hard day at work.
We rescued our dog Presley almost two years ago. It was the best decision we could’ve made. We tossed the idea around for a long long time and finally pulled the trigger one random weekend. It may seem like an overwhelming responsibility, but it’s really not once it becomes your reality.
Here’s a pic of our pup:
For more on Adopt-A-Dog Month®, please visit:
-JK
About Me
I grew up in Fullerton, CA and graduated from Servite High School in Anaheim. I have my Bachelors degree from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. I currently live in Tustin, CA.
Please contact me if you need help with any of the following lines of insurance for your business:
-Cyber / Data Breach
-Commercial Property
-Commercial General Liability
-Products Liability
-Workers Compensation
-Commercial Auto
-Umbrella/Excess Liability
-Errors & Omissions/ Professional Liability
-Employment Practices Liability
-Directors & Officers
-Life & Disability Insurance
Jimmy Kinmartin, CPCU 