Best Cheap Insurance Quotes

How ready is your organization to respond to natural disasters?

If you don’t know the answer, maybe some education is in order.

The helpful folks at the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) are ready to help. On October 8, 2010, from 1:00-2:00 p.m. ET, RIMS is hosting a one-hour webinar on natural disasters and preparedness.

“Flirting With Natural Disasters: Why Companies Risk It All” is free to RIMS members and a very reasonable $30 for non-members. The webinar is hosted by FM Globaland features speakers from the company.

Information and registration can be found on the RIMS website.

A basic tenet of our site is that business insurance is best obtained through a local insurance professional, in person, and working with that professional to establish a long-term relationship.

But, that is not always possible. Some business insurance products are specialized and difficult to find through a broker or agent in smaller markets. Sometimes the owner just wants some quotes to review, with in-person follow up later.

In my opinion, that is where online business insurance sites come in.

My company’s second largest insurance expense is professional liability insurance. It is difficult to find quotes with legitimate companies without a twenty-minute phone call from a sales agent to follow.

Zurich, one of the largest property and casualty insurers in North America, released a sobering “top ten” list today. The list compiles the top ten mega disasters of the last decade. Those are:

1. 9/11 – 2001
2. SARS – 2003
3. 2003 U.S. / Canada power outage – 2003
4. 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami – 2004
5. Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma – 2005
6. Financial crisis – 2008
7. China earthquake – 2008
8. H1N1 pandemic – 2009
9. Iceland volcano – 2010
10. Floods in Europe and Pakistan – 2010

In a post I wrote July 29th, I brought up the issue of “Alliance Accounts” and other similar accounts. These are accounts wherein amounts due as death benefits to the beneficiaries of a soldier killed in combat are deposited by insurers. The beneficiaries then receive checks to write against the account. Reports from a Bloomberg article, and from other places, noted difficulties with the process, the fact the accounts are not FDIC insured, and that insurers earn interest on the money.

Vehicle booster seats are seats designed for children ages 4 through 8 that assist in positioning a child occupant so that seat belts are properly positioned on the child. Many states require the use of booster seats for kids under 8. Standards differ from state to state. Thanks to the helpful Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) a list of state child-restraint laws is available here.

Parents, and those businesses that transport children, will want to review the Institute’s question and answer section on child passenger safety. The American Academy of Pediatrics has a comprehensive online guide as well.