Purchasing health coverage has three components in the decision making process; price, network and benefits. Price because we don’t want to pay more than we need to. Network as you may be limited as to who you can see for a health issue. Benefits because you need to know if your financial exposure to a catastrophic medical event has changed or if you’re paying too much for the coverage you’re using.

If you are a Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield customer who’s been told that your plan will be changing in the next few months?  You might want to explore alternative options to your current health insurance coverage. Leonard Adams Insurance has launched its own “Health Exchange” to give Oregon health insurance buyers a world of options to cover themselves and their families.

The Leonard Adams Health Insurance Exchange and our staff experts can give you alternatives to your current Oregon Regence BlueCross BlueShield Health Plan. Many of the health insurance companies we represent have large provider networks that include all the major hospitals in the Portland area. Please contact our office at 503-296-0077 and request to speak with our benefits department so we can help you pick the right plan at the right cost.

As a restaurant and bar owner you should know that a standard Commercial General Liability policy does not specifically exclude coverage for assault and battery, however, coverage may depend on who commits the alleged action. The Commercial General Liability policy will pay if you (as the insured) are legally obligated to pay as a result of bodily injury or property damage to a 3rd party. If you (as the insured) are not found liable for the assault and/or battery, then your policy may not pay out on the claim. Your policy will most likely contain an “expected and intended injury exclusion.” What that means is that if you intend to cause harm to someone, then coverage may not apply.

“Assault” is defined as  not having actual body contact; it’s the threat of bodily injury by force. The threat must be intentionally directed towards someone so that the other person has a fear that injury might actually occur. The person assaulting the other party must also appear to be capable of performing the threat. Pointing a weapon at someone and saying “I’m going to hurt you” would be considered assault.

“Battery” is defined as the actual physical contact with another person against their will. The contact does not have to result in physical harm in order to be considered battery. Battery can consist of both physical touching or also the restraint of an individual. Assault and battery can be mutually exclusive from one another.

As a restaurant and bar owner you need to know if your insurance includes specific coverage for assault and battery, sometimes this coverage is often set as a sub-limit on the Commercial General Liability policy. Having assault and battery coverage included within your restaurant/bar  insurance will protect your business from the unknowns that could occur with the events that could lead to injuries of others.  Please contact our office at 503-296-0077 for more information and to talk about restaurant and bar insurance options.

When reviewing term life insurance options you want to make certain the policy you consider includes what is termed an “Accelerated Death Benefit Rider”. This benefit provides that if  the policy holder  is diagnosed as terminally ill they will be allowed to take an advanced payment of a portion of a the policy’s death benefit to pay for medical expenses or long-term care. Requirements vary from company to company. Some riders might add extra cost to your monthly life insurance premium, however, an accelerated death benefit rider is usually included on most term life insurance policies at no additional cost.

Having an accelerated death benefit rider on your term life insurance policy will make certain you have money for treatments and other costs needed to stay alive. Please contact our office at 503-296-0077 for more information and to talk to us about your life insurance needs. We look forward to hearing from you.

Most of us like to insure things like trip cancellation, lost luggage and emergency expenses but not all think to purchase extra medical insurance. Do you know for sure what your medical insurance will cover when traveling to foreign countries? Possibly not as much as you think.

In the event of an emergency, your health insurance might reimburse you for medically necessary services in the event of an emergency only. Even then, they will likely reimburse at “out of network” benefits and after your annual deductible has been met. Most foreign medical service providers won’t bill your insurance, so you must be prepared to pay for your care and seek reimbursement from your carrier. Since there is often translation of documents from a foreign language involved your carrier may take a month or more to reimburse you. Prescriptions obtained in a foreign country are usually not covered and your health insurance also will not cover transport back to the U.S. under medical circumstances.
If you are on Medicare, there is no coverage for services obtained outside of the U.S.

Without medical travel insurance, you could be stuck with thousands of dollars of expenses for urgent or emergency medical claims.

Here at Leonard Adams Insurance, we partner with IMG Global to offer travel medical insurance services to our valued clients,  here are some of the different types of travel insurance we recommend as needed:

Patriot Travel Medical Insurance®
Individual & family – Short-term coverage available from five days up to two years. Patriot Travel Medical Insurance is designed to meet the needs of international travelers looking for temporary medical insurance coverage while traveling outside of their home country. In addition to medical benefits, the plan includes coverage for emergency medical and political evacuation, repatriation, and a choice of deductibles and plan maximums up to $2,000,000.

Outreach Travel Medical Insurance SM
Individual & family – Short-term coverage available from five days up to two years. The Outreach product addresses the medical insurance needs of U.S. citizens and non-U.S. citizens who need temporary medical insurance for church or mission related travel anywhere outside of their home country. Coverages include Emergency Medical Evacuation, Repatriation, and your choice of deductible and policy limits.

Global Medical Insurance®
Individual & family – Flexible long-term annually renewable plan. Global Medical Insurance (GMI) is a flexible, long-term, annually renewable, U.S.-style major medical insurance program designed for U.S. citizens living abroad, and non-U.S. citizens throughout the world. GMI offers the flexibility to select from an assortment of four unique benefit plan options – Silver, Gold, Gold Plus, and Platinum – each with different levels of coverage. In addition, there are different areas of coverage available, optional riders, flexible underwriting methods, as well as multiple deductibles and modes of payment.

Patriot Green Travel Medical Insurance SM
Individual & family – Environmentally conscious short-term coverage available from five days up to two years. Patriot Green Travel Medical Insurance is designed for the environmentally conscious traveler and provides him up to $2,000,000 of medical coverage and services. This plan offers the same core benefits as the Patriot Travel plan, but it also offers eco-friendly benefits including an Eco Sports Rider covering such activities as jungle zip lining, wildlife safaris, and cave tubing. The plan provides for the purchase of carbon offsets, paying an additional AD&D benefit to an environmentally conscious organization, and it is paperless.

Click on here to learn more about Travel Medical Insurance and to obtain quotes Travel Insurance Quotes.

One of the most used examples of product liability insurance is a restaurant spills hot coffee on a customer, the customer brings a lawsuit against the restaurant as a result of the damages suffered. Time and time again this example is provided for its simplicity and also because it makes the news, today’s Chicago Tribune reports, McDonald’s faces hot coffee litigation again. So what is the importance of product liability insurance for your business? Product liability refers to the legal liability of manufacturers and sellers to compensate buyers, users, and bystanders for damages or injuries suffered because of defects in goods that are purchased.

The complaint filed against McDonald’s states the company violated its policy of not serving coffee to minors and that it failed to properly warn the child of the dangers of handling hot coffee. The child suffered second-degree burns and permanent scarring. Product liability insurance will come to the defense of McDonald’s which will pay the legal expenses needed to defend the company against the suit and will pay it damages are awarded to the plaintiff.  

Having product liability insurance in place will protect your business from the unknowns that could occur with the products you provide to others.  Please contact our office at 503-296-0077 for more information and to talk about your product liability insurance options.

A general liability policy most often has a professional services exclusion. Professions ranging from marketing consultants, web designers to software developers need to eliminate this coverage gap by having professional liability insurance in place. The bottom line is Professional Liability Insurance, also known as “Errors & Omissions” insurance, will protect you and your company from claims your clients may make against you due to errors your business has made, as well as failures with regards to the performance of the services you have contracted for.

The costs of defending a law suit can be significant. Professional liability insurance policies usually include coverage for defense costs, even if a suit proves to have no merit.  The cost of professional liability coverage will vary depending on many factors, some of the factors include:

• Your industry and the type of services you provide
• Your annual revenues  
• The limit of liability requested
• The deductible requested

Regardless of the costs for professional liability insurance, this is the policy you need to protect yourself from the unknowns that could occur with the clients you service.  Please contact our office at 503-296-0077 for more information to obtain an insurance review for your professional liability risks.

Did you know that flooding can occur anytime and anywhere in Oregon. Floods can arrive within minutes or over a period of time. They can roll boulders the size of cars, destroy buildings and bridges, and take human lives.

To acknowledge National Flood Safety Awareness, which runs from March 12 through the 16th, we want consumers to know that while personal and commercial insurance won’t cover them against flooding, they can protect their home and business by purchasing a flood insurance policy separately through us, your local Portland insurance broker. Per Floodsmart.gov, flooding is the United States’ #1 natural hazard.

Many people are under the misconception that they are ineligible for flood insurance because of where they live, their mortgage status, or where their business is situated. The truth is, as long as your hometown is an NFIP community, most homeowners, business owners and renters can get flood insurance. We urge consumers to remember the flood insurance basics:

• You CAN get flood insurance in Oregon.
• You CAN get flood insurance if you live in a floodplain or high-flood-risk area.
• You CAN get flood insurance if you live outside a floodplain, or a low-to-moderate flood-risk area – and at lower cost.
• You CAN get flood insurance if your property has been flooded before.
• You CAN get flood insurance even if your mortgage broker doesn’t require it.

Here are a few safety tips:

• If flooding occurs, move to higher ground immediately.
• Do not allow children to play near high water, storm drains or ditches. Hidden dangers often lie beneath the water.
• Flooded roadways can have significant damage hidden by flood waters. Never drive on a flooded road.
• Do not camp or park your vehicle along streams or washes, particularly when threatening weather conditions exist.
• Be especially cautious at night when it is harder to recognize flood dangers.

Additional information about Flood Safety Awareness Week is available at:
www.weather.gov/floodsafety

Please contact us at 503-296-0077 if you would like us to provide you with a flood insurance review.

One of the painful aftermaths of fires and tornadoes that decimate homes may be the crushing realization that the home is dramatically under-insured. According to one of the largest residential building cost data companies, Marshall & Swift/Boeckh, 64 percent of U.S. homes are undervalued by an average of 19 percent. If this figure is applied to a home with a replacement cost of $400,000, it might be insured for only $324,000, a shortfall of $76,000.

This under-insurance results in a potentially huge coverage gap, particularly if the home is not insured with a guaranteed replacement cost provision. A survey by United Policyholders, a consumer advocacy group, said 75 percent of California home owners affected by the 2007 San Diego wildfires were under-insured by an average of $240,000.

Here are some general tips to consider to reduce the likelihood of your home being under-insured:

• Make sure your home has been physically inspected. This will increase the likelihood that it is insured for its replacement cost value. Ask for periodic re-inspections of your home (particularly high-end ones) to ascertain whether the dwelling limits are adequate.
• Consider guaranteed replacement cost (or guaranteed rebuild) coverage; an alternative would be to procure coverage that offers a 30 to 50 percent cushion above the dwelling limit (extended replacement cost coverage).
• Increase the ordinance or law coverage (10 percent of dwelling limit for many homeowners policies) to a higher percentage of coverage. Note that this recommendation is particularly important if you have an older home.
• Keep the insurance company informed about any remodeling at your home, since remodeling can dramatically increase the need for higher dwelling limits. Americans spend more than $170 million annually on home improvement projects, according to the National Association of the Remodeling Industry.
• If building costs are rising rapidly, an inflation guard endorsement is worthy of consideration. This endorsement increases the dwelling limit of insurance (along with other coverages) to reflect increases in values due to inflation.

The information provided is general in nature and not intended as legal, consulting, or other professional advice. If you would like one of our agents to provide you with an insurance replacement cost of your home please contact us at 503-296-0077 or request a quote here.

Copyright 2012
International Risk Management Institute, Inc.

Come learn how to prepare for an earthquake emergency and make certain that your house is as safe as it can be for you and your family at the Architectural Heritage Center”s presentation of Shake, Rattle, & Roll.

Mark Strauss, an independent agent with Leonard Adams Insurance, will cover earthquake options for homeowners. Scott Burns, Professor of Geology at PSU, is the guy who is on every local newscast following an earthquake. Scott will explain the complex seismic fault lines that run through the Portland area and surroundings, and how buildings behave in an earthquake. Steve Gemmell, owner of Earthquake Tech, will describe the step-by-step procedure for bolting your house and other improvements that can help your house ride the big one.

The date is Saturday, March 10, 2012, the presentation begins at 10:00 am and ends at 12:00 pm. The cost is $8 for members and $15 for the general public. The address is 701 SE Grand Avenue Portland, OR 97214.

Tickets can be purchased here.

In short, yes!

How is this even a question? While reading the Oregonian paper on Friday, I noticed the headline “Tofu Explosion leaves tenant in $6,000 bind”. Ok, I was interested and read on. I had heard about the Portland woman that was cooking Tofu and it exploded!! I, just like everyone else, chuckled a bit. But now this is serious, someone is asking for money.

Due to the explosion, the sprinkler system in her rented apartment was activated. According to the Oregonian, the sprinkler system dumped an estimated 15 gallons of water a minute for 30 minutes in her apartment. Um, that’s ALOT of water.

No surprise, but due to the explosion and sprinklers, there was substantial damage to her apartment. As the story goes her Landlord is charging her $6,000 in damages. $6,000 is pretty steep for someone that appears to be a college student or just starting out in a career.

How could our Tofu girl have protected herself? For as low as $150 a year, she could have carried a renters policy with liability. Since her landlord feels that she is liable for the explosion that resulted in the damages, he is demanding that she pay up. In this situation her insurance company would have paid up. In addition, her insurance company would have given her money to rent another apartment while the water was being drained out of hers. I bet if she had a REALLY good insurance agent like Leonard Adams Insurance, she could have gotten money for the exploded Tofu and the damaged pan she was cooking it in!!!

Exploding Tofu doesn’t happen every day, but lots of other cooking and bizarre accidents happen. Call Leonard Adams Insurance at 503-296-0077 to make sure you don’t get stuck with a $6,000 Tofu bill!! Only in Portland, right?

Speaking of Tofu, does anyone have any good Tofu recipes?