The state of Oregon has a Department of Insurance. The Oregon Department of Insurance provides the perfect forum for information on insurance. This is one of the unique features that only a few states like Oregon provide to its residents. It is a lot different as you know when it is a particular state that takes hold of a particular service in the community. It gives the community more assurance that they are investing their money wisely on insurance companies that are under the control of the state. Also, it creates a feeling that should anything turn out behind the expectation, there is a state that they can channel their concern.
The Oregon Department of Insurance was primarily created to give the public accurate information about insurance system. This information includes the insurance company available and the coverage that they offer. This information is supposed to help them make good insurance decisions. This is to avoid much of the common insurance frauds committed by insurers to the expense of the unknowing purchaser of the insurance policy. Aside from this, if you have concerns regarding your insurance policy of the insurance company itself, then the department listens and takes appropriate action on complaints about insurance companies.
The Oregon Department of Insurance takes an active role in the insurance industry. The department creates administrative rules that are related to insurance while the state creates statutes. Another activity that the department undertakes is to inform the public about insurance companies and provide further consumer information and company information. The department receives complaints and sends out forms. It also has forms on rates, consumer complaints, insurer forms and miscellaneous forms. To keep the public updated, the department has a publication that you can view on their website or order in print form. In the department’s website is a license directory through which the public can browse through and get information about companies. To make their administrative rules more responsive to the situation, the department holds out public meetings.
The insurance industry can be confusing and very technical. A lot of people come at a great disadvantage for lack of knowledge about the matter. The public in Oregon should be glad about the care that their state has shown to them especially in the insurance industry. Take advantage of Oregon department of insurance’s work by visiting their website.
By: Anthony Thedford
No matter what kind of claim you’re making, the settlement of your insurance claim could take months, even years. Commercial claims on buildings and vehicles are often complex with reams of red tape. Domestic claims – homeowner’s, life, and vehicle insurance – are less complex, but involve the often-unprepared policy holder doing battle with an insurance company that is long skilled with denying claims.
Your first weapon understands how long your claims should take. Small cases, like vehicle damage, should be taken care of right away. More than a business week is too long. Medical cases should also be handled quickly, though they may take a bit longer, up to a month or more if the case is complicated. Life insurance should be settled, also, within a month of filing provided there is no controversy surrounding the death.
Home insurance and business insurance are a little different. First, with your business, if you have business interruption insurance with the same insurer that covers your premises, you may be able get them to move faster as every day they don’t pay you is another day they pay on the other policy. Regardless, in both home and business settlement will take a little longer than other policies, particularly if the damage was caused by a natural disaster that caused problems elsewhere as well. If you take pictures of everything yourself, you may be able to speed up this process; if it takes more than a couple of days for the claims adjuster to make it out to your site, you should take those pictures yourself anyway to document how much damage was done.
There are a few things you can do to speed up your claims. The first is to stay on top of it. You should know what stage your claim is in, what has been done and what remains to be done, and approximately how long it is until you can expect to hear a decision. This often entails keeping very good records as well as calling weekly or even daily to check on what’s happening. The person to deal directly with is your claims adjuster.
If your adjuster does not give you good results in what you consider to be a timely manner, ask to speak to his or her supervisor. A good supervisor can get your claim expedited.
If your claim is a large one and especially if you’re nervous about the possibility of the claim being denied (as in when floods cause large numbers of homes to be damaged and make it more likely for the insurers to deny claims) you might need to hire a loss assessor.
How a Loss Assessor Can Help
A loss assessor is to you the same as the claims adjuster is to the insurance company: an ally who will look at the damage done and try to come up with a fair price to cover the claim. He often has a claims adjustment background, and will be able to deal with the insurance company better than you ever could. Although a loss assessor will cost you money, the increase in your settlement he may be able to get should more than offset his cost to you, and in addition he will be able to protect your future claims with your insurance company. Whenever you have a large claim it is worth looking into a loss assessor for professional and intelligent advice.
By: Derek Rogers
Insurance is a necessity in any business. Businesses cover themselves against losses such as fire, theft and unexpected natural disasters. It is with the bookkeeping or accounting that owners get it wrong.
On successful insurance claims, a payment is normally made to the insured. My experience has led me to believe that small businesses have no clue, as to how, to account for insurance settlements. Most businesses reflect the payment as income.
Not only would this be deceptive but also violates International Accounting Standards. Since the transaction has everything to do with assets and nothing to do with income, it should be adjusted against assets. Erroneous accounting for assets might prejudice the business further in future, if similar insurance claims are made.
Insurance companies settle claims on assets, on its book value and not its costs. (And yet the asset was insured on its cost at date of purchase). Whereas this principle might vary from country to country, book value is widely accepted as the norm. Since most small businesses fail to maintain proper fixed assets registers, insurance companies perform “desk top valuations”, or make an “estimate”, on the book value, mostly much lower than its “real” book value. Without proper records, the claimant cannot debunk the assessor’s final conclusions.
Before I loose you in a sea of confusion, let me elaborate. If an asset is on your books at least, without the asset register, but you have no purchase date, and this asset is lost due to theft, no accurate wear and tear can be furnished. Furthermore, if a claim is settled, and reflects as “income”, what happens to the asset that was stolen, but still reflects on your books?
Many reading this article could not care a hoot about the number crunching involved, but please stay with me for a minute. You might not care, but an investor, a bank and yes, the insurance company might pick this up on your financial statements when they demand your reports.
The method used to account for insurance claims is the “disposal method”. Any asset subject to an insurance claim should be transferred to a “Disposal Account”. Depreciation on the asset for the relevant period is calculated, and credited to the disposal account with the insurance settlement. The cost, less depreciation equals book value. Any settlement amounts over or under book value, will result in a loss or profit on disposal.
An insurance claim, wrongly entered as “income”, can be adjusted by transferring the amount to the disposal account. After effecting these entries, the disposal account should balance to zero. Your new records would reveal, the loss or profit on claim (income statement), settlement in bank account, fixed assets less the stolen/lost asset, and a lower depreciation estimate for the year.
I acknowledge that this is your accountant’s job, you however have a duty to provide accurate records. But how many businesses continue to pay, the same insurance premiums on the assets, since purchase date, when they, entitled to a lower premium, due to a lower asset value.(prior to any asset losses).
Also, a precarious asset situation in your books, might lead to problems in your tax affairs.
No business can afford a visit from the IRS. Did you know that tax authorities always commence auditing, your assets, before they move on to your income?
By: Sean Goss