Contractors Save Fortunes With Insurance Bid Specifications

By: Don Bury

Most contractors don't know how powerful it is to publish their own insurance bid specifications every year. When you can do this, you can interrogate the market at will, and save a lot of money. This applies to Liability, Auto, Property, and Workers Compensation Insurance.

1. Your bid specifications should provide everything broker needs to produce a quotation.

It takes time and effort to build a full set of specs, but well worth it. They are pivotal to driving down insurance costs. Once they are developed, updating them once a year is easy.

You can hand your bid specs to any broker you please. We measure quality by an absence of questions from brokers. If you get questions, record them along with the answers into your bid specs.

Your bid specifications should describe your operations, exposures, coverage and certificate requirements thoroughly. They should updated annually.

2. Tables in bid specs

Your bid specs should contain lots of tables - vehicles, drivers, sales, payroll, subcontractor costs, equipment, job history, and of course your policy & loss history we covered in Chapter 5. You can get these tables set up in spreadsheets, and they are easy to update. We use an online database to help us keep our clients organized.

Vehicles Year, make, model, Vehicle ID Number, gross vehicle weight, garaging location, cost, any special equipment, loan number, lender name and address

Equipment Show year, make, model, item, Serial number, actual cost, current value, year purchased,

Drivers Name, license number, license state, birth date, date hired

Sales Show 5 years history of sales by type of work. Break out by Commercial vs Residential, remodeling versus new construction. Project the same variables for the coming year.

Subcontractor costs Show 5 years history of subcontractor costs by type of work they did. Project the same variables for the coming year.

Payroll Show 5 years payroll history by workers compensation class code. Show average wage for class, and number of employees. Project the same variables for the coming year.

Job History Itemize jobs you have completed. Do 5 years if you can, but at least present what you did last year. Break out by Commercial vs Residential, remodeling versus new construction. Report jobs you expect to do next year.

3. Description of Operations

Describe what you do. The job history report above really helps save words here. You can probably find a good description of your general operations already written on your web site.

3. Questionnaires -

Brokers have to fill out lots of questionnaires. Get them, and complete them. Keep them, and update them each year. Do not allow a broker to interview you, then fill out the form and not give it to you. This is a common mistake. You have every right to possess a copy of information provided to insurance companies. Don't let brokers tell you otherwise.

Questionnaires include: Contractor supplementals, Workers comp supplementals, and the standard accord applications for the various lines of coverage. Getting these in your records is a good step in the correct direction.

If your broker doesn't want to give you these, it is probably time to have a heart to heart talk with your broker, or consider getting a new one. If you start a new conversation with a new broker, you can establish an agreement you will get the applications in exchange for giving the new broker a chance to quote. This move will go far towards driving down your expenses.

4. Coverage

Brokers pride themselves on designing coverage to meet your exposures. Request a detailed listing of your current coverage, and ask for how it could be improved. Do this with each broker you deal with. This is a practical way to get a coverage spec page set up for your bid specs.

5. Locations

For each location you occupy (not your job sites) brokers need to know quite a bit of information. Ask your broker for the applications for property coverage, so you can be sure all the information is complete and accurate. Of course keep a copy of the application for your bid specifications.

6. Certificate needs

Make it clear what you need in the way of certificates, right in your bid specs. Providing examples of certificates you need, especially the difficult ones can save you a lot of headaches later.

Here's more help getting lower insurance rates and better coverage: http://www.contractorinsurancetoohigh.com

also: http://www.icrs.biz

Phone 800-760-1867 email: donbury@icrs.biz

Follow the system that has delivered $20 million in measurable savings to contractors and business insurance buyers. From the author of The Buyers Guide To Business Insurance (1993)

Article Source: http://www.ArticleBiz.com

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A glossary of financial jargon

By: Melanie C

Confused by some commonly used investment terms? Our new glossary should help you out.

The world of finance is full of jargon. Partly this is because, as with most things, there are similar concepts that keep repeating, so it's easier to have a condensed form of words rather than going into every last detail every time.

It would be hard to follow the cricket, for example, if every time someone was out leg before wicket, the commentator had to explain that, in accordance with law 36, the bowler had delivered a ball, not being a no ball, and the ball, not being intercepted full pitch ...

The trouble is that some of the less useful brokers and financial planners like to use jargon to hide their own lack of knowledge and put a veil of mystery over the financial world thereby justifying their large fees and commissions.

One of the main aims of The Intelligent Investor from its start nearly ten years ago, has been to blow away this cover. And, in line with this, we've decided it's high time we started piecing together a glossary, with the aim of helping you stay one step ahead of your advisers.

To kick things off, here are some explanations of commonly used jargon. We'll add to it over time, and if you'd like any particular stockmarket jargon explained, send in your request via our Ask the Experts facility – we'll answer your query and then add it to our glossary.

Net profit

This is a company's bottom line, known variously as net profit after tax, net profit or earnings. After all operating expenses, interest on borrowings, taxes and accounting deductions have been taken out, the net profit is what's left.

Sometimes the net profit includes one-off gains and losses which make it hard to compare with other companies and previous years. In these cases, companies (and analysts) often present other numbers called things like 'normalised net profit', which ignore the one-off items.

Continue reading investment information and other stock market advice at the Intelligent Investor.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleBiz.com

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Beware the Lure of No Credit Check Loans

An article advising you on no credit check finance

Perhaps you always thought that it could never happen to you, but before you knew it the front two tires of your car gave out and you still had five days to go until payday. You need your car to get to work and to pick up the kids from school, and since your credit card is maxed out and you have no money in savings, you need some cash fast. Sounds familiar? This scenario happens day in and day out at a myriad of households all over the United States. While many have the luxury of putting two new tires on a credit card and then repaying the card when the paycheck comes in five days later, others do not have that option and suddenly the no credit check loans advertised on daytime and late night television look attractive.

You have probably seen the ads that talk about getting money wired into your account fast, with no credit check, no hassle, and no documentation needed. Payday loans – which are another term for no credit check loans – are intended to tide over those who are a few hundred dollars short in between paydays. The advertised theory behind the practice stipulates that a consumer may have a sudden emergency for which she or he did not budget. To meet the financial demand, the consumer can borrow against her or his next paycheck simply by applying for one of the no credit check loans, and within hours the money is in the account. To repay the loan, the consumer will write a postdated check which will be kept in the office of the payday loan agent. Once the payday comes around, the agent will deposit the check, the loan is paid, and all things being equal there is no problem.

Unfortunately, the reality of the matter is somewhat different. Given the outlandish fees charged on the no credit check loans, you will have to pay about $25 for every $100 you borrow. Thus, a loan in the amount of $500 could cost you as much as $125 in fees, which means that five days later you will have to foot the bill for $625. This is a lot of money in fees and interest. Furthermore, since beggars cannot be choosers, the agencies writing up the no credit check loans will usually have many repeat customers – not because the service is so good or the rates are reasonable, but because the loans cannot be repaid when the payday rolls around and thus the consumer will have to refinance the $500 loan in addition to paying the $125 in fees. Thus, when the next payday comes due, the consumer will once again have to pay $625 – this now totals $250 in fees on a $500 loan which may have only been in existence for about three eeks.

However, there are times when these loans are the only alternative you have. They do help keep your credit in line and will help you avoid late fees as well.

About the Author

James Copper is a writer for http://www.any-loans.co.uk/no-credit-check-loans.shtmlno credit check loans. where you can find

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