Product liability insurance guards businesses against claims from people who allegedly suffer illness, injury, or loss due to the product the business supplies. In product liability insurance, a product is defined as a tangible item that is given away or sold. Under the Consumer Protection Act of 1987, the manufacturer or supplier of the product is responsible for the damages that his product may cause to the consumer.
Should a product cause damage, the supplier is liable to be hit with a claim, even if he is not the one manufacturing the product. For example, if you are running an eatery and the food you serve results in the case of food poisoning to seventy-five people, the claim will be great. Though conventional logic suggests that the liability should fall on the heads of the food manufacturers, it would be difficult to prove so.
The magnitude of the risk as well as the claim and the premium are determined by various factors, like the people who purchased the product, the way it was used and the kind of warning labels provided on the product.
Product liability insurance coverage guards you against unanticipated circumstances. If an individual is to manufacture an inferior product then insurance does not protect him. For a manufacturer, this kind of coverage is of massive importance. A tiny defect can make him a target for huge claims.
It is prudent to look for a coverage that protects you against manufacturing quality, safety claims, indemnity costs, et al. Also, you can decrease the premiums by taking measures in advance. Of course, you should let the insurer know about these measures.
By: Steve Valentino
Pollution liability insurance is known as “pollution incidents”" in the insurance world. There is a thought to suggest that this insurance policy came into picture following the great amount of asbestos litigation in the 1970s. It was around that time that insurers thought it better to do away with pollution liability insurance in general policies and instead offer it independently.
Pollution liability insurance protects you in two ways: one is when the pollution takes place on your property; the other is when you suffer losses resulting from pollution on somebody else’s property. In such cases, it is the insurer’s responsibility to recover costs from the party that caused the incident. Conversely, your policy pays for damages you may cause to other properties.
The most general use of pollution insurance is to protect lenders, buyers and sellers in property transactions. Conventionally, buyers do hire environmental consultants to assess sites. That may take a little over twenty days and cost up to $5,000. Concomitant to the delay, there is another major danger in this. Consultants opine on the current condition of the site and not what may happen in the future.
Pollution liability insurance, on the other hand, guards the insured for the entire term of the policy, including for any later discovery of damage. The policies are largely renewable and can be in place for up to ten years. Also, these policies are a lot more cost effective than a site assessment.
Pollution liability insurance is doubtless a useful and an economically viable way of managing environmental risks. It can be particularly beneficial to those companies that deal with materials that may be considered as pollutants once released into the environment.
By: Steve Valentino
The difference between firearm insurance and firearm business insurance is based on the use that the weapons receive. Therefore, a business working with firearms should not be satisfied with firearm insurance and should get firearm business insurance too.
Simple firearm insurance protects the bearer from accidents and liability by damages produced with the gun. However, if the firearms are used as part of a business like in sporting firearm commerce or collector’s exhibitions, there is another kind of policy that needs to be purchased. Moreover, there are actually two different policies that are known as firearm business insurances.
Firearm Insurance
Firearm insurance protects the owner and or bearer of the weapon from damages caused by its use or misuse (depending on the extension of the insurance contract). The average policy includes only accidents caused by the use of the gun, however, some insurance policies may include other risks like damage to properties when using the weapon reasonably, etc.
Under no circumstances an insurance policy will cover for the illegal use of a firearm that results in damages to people or possessions. However, damages caused when using a firearm to defend oneself are usually covered by firearm insurance policies as the self defense is an exception that excludes the misdemeanor from most actions that would otherwise constitute a crime.
Firearm Business Insurances
As explained above, there are two different types of firearm business insurances. Neither of them has to do with actual firearm insurance and should complement it. These insurances protect the holder, user or transporter of any damages caused to the weapon or by the weapon under its commercial use. Since firearms can be used commercially in different ways, more than one insurance policy had to be created.
Collector policies are firearm business insurance that protect the owner against damages when the weapons are not fired or used. This includes the use of weapons only for exhibits, and needs also to protect the goods while they are in route to a show or exhibition against: fire, flood, theft, damage, explosion or other accidental damages that may render the firearm useless for the commercial purpose covered.
Sporting firearm business insurance, on the other hand, protects weapons that are used for competitive shooting, target shooting, hunting or any other LEGAL use that implies firing the weapons. It obviously protects both the weapons and other possessions and people from the damages caused by the firearms.
On both cases, it is very important to obtain, prior to the insurance contract, an appraisal of the firearm value, especially when the weapon is an antique. It is advisable to get it from a third party and not to resort only to the insurance company’s appraisal specialists even if your are asked to provide a value yourself for the insurance contract as price variations can occur and you should be protected of that too.
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By: Hilary Bowman