The owners and staff of Purdum Gray Ingledue Beck wish you a wonderful holiday season. Please see below for our holiday hours and emergency contact information.
December 23rd – Close at 3PM
December 24th and 25th – Closed
December 31st and January 1st – Closed
Please call me at 309-333-1292 if you have an urgent matter.
Beau Ingledue
The owners and staff of Purdum Gray Ingledue Beck are grateful for you and all of our clients! We fully understand that without you placing your trust in us with your insurance there would not be PGIB. We hope that you have a wonderful and safe holiday with your family and friends.
Please note our holiday hours:
Open until 2PM on Wednesday 11/25
Closed Thursday 11/26 and Friday 11/27
Reopen with normal business hours 11/30.
In the event of an emergency, please contact me on my cell phone at 309-333-1292.
Sincerely,
Beau Ingledue
An insurance policy is a promise to protect you against certain types of loss, but it can’t follow-through unless it knows about a loss. Prompt notification is so important that it is a formal policy requirement. A policyholder that fails to meet this obligation could result in a claim being denied.
A policy typically requires you to do the following:
Contact the agent or insurer as quickly as practical – the practical requirement replaced the previous use of “possible,” since some companies unreasonably denied coverage because notification was not instantaneous. The difference between words is important. It allows some flexibility for dealing with circumstances that could affect how quickly you contact your agent or insurer about a loss.
Identify yourself – Perhaps one day your insurer will be able to recognize your voice over the phone and immediately pull up your file. Until then, be prepared to at least tell your insurer your full name (or, if different, the name the insurance policy is under) and the policy number.
Give adequate details – What, When, Where, Why and How. It is important that the insurer has enough information to take proper action. This information allows an insurer to open a claim file, assign the loss to a claims person and begin investigation of your loss.
Provide copies of loss-related materials to the insurer – You should not guess about whether a legal notice or request to be paid for damages is important, even when an actual lawsuit has yet to be filed. Send a copy of the information to your insurer and let them decide.
Prompt notification helps everyone
Complete and quick communication about losses gives you the best chance to get needed coverage and gives your insurer an opportunity to handle a possible claim efficiently. It also allows the insurer to control issues that could let lawsuits gets out of control, such as the ability to offer payment for medical expenses or to contact and question witnesses.
Don’t hesitate! Contact your agent or insurer and get your loss handled.
If all of these apply to you, you can enroll in a 2015 plan between March 15 and April 30, 2015. Contact us at 309.833.1755 or through the contact us link on our website to find out more.
Information taken from the Healthcare.gov website.
We often hear individual say they don’t need an ATV policy because their homeowners already covers it. As a blanket statement, this is a dangerous belief. This is only true when it is used for the sole purpose of maintaining the residence. This means that if you normally use the ATV to plow snow in your drive but one day pull your children around on a sled, you have unintentionally voided coverage. Along the same lines, anytime the ATV is used off the residence premises, coverage does not go with you.
Since it is rare if ever that ATV’s are used for the sole purpose of maintaining the residence, the solution is to maintain a policy specific to ATV’s. The coverage is not expensive and removes all doubt at the time of a claim.
We invite you to contact us with any questions 309.833.1755.
Most workers compensation acts set the following criteria for compensability:
If you are injured on the job and want to know more about what you can do contact the South Carolina personal injury lawyers to help you. Determining employer-employee relationship is not as straightforward as you think. The two most common misconceptions regarding independent contractor status include worker not included in employer’s payroll and the existence of a written agreement between the parties stating the worker is an independent contractor. Neither of which insulate the employer from his responsibility to provide workers compensation coverage.
Once the worker has proven that at the time of the injury the worker was providing work or services for the employer, the burden shifts to the employer to prove that the worker was an independent contractor and not an employee. Courts will generally find in favor of the worker, barring any statutory exclusion.
The primary test in most jurisdictions is whether the employer has the right to control the details of the employee’s work. Secondary criteria includes whether there is evidence that the employer exercises that right, how the compensation is paid, whether the employer furnishes equipment or tools for performance of the work, and whether the employer has the right to terminate the employment relationship.
While the following is not all inclusive, it contains the highlights from the statutory criteria for determining independent contractor status:
Illinois
No rigid rule of law exists regarding whether a worker is an employee or an
independent contractor in Illinois. Rather, courts have articulated a number of factors to consider in making this determination. The single most important factor is whether the purported employer has a right to control the actions of the employee. Also of great significance is the nature of the work performed by the alleged employee in relation to the general business of the employer. Additional factors to consider are the method of payment, the right to discharge, the skill the work requires, which party provides the needed instrumentalities, and whether income tax has been withheld. Finally, a factor of lesser weight is the label the parties place upon their relationship. The term employee should be construed broadly for purposes of the Illinois workers compensation Act.
Wisconsin
Following the amendments made to the law in 1990, all nine of the following criteria must be met for an individual to be considered an independent contractor (IC): 1) Maintains a separate business with own office, equipment, materials and other facilities. 2) Holds or has applied for a federal employer identification number with the IRS. 3) Operates under contracts to perform specific services or work for specific amounts of money and under which the IC controls the means of performing the services or work. 4) Incurs the main expenses related to the service or work performed under contract. 5) Is responsible for satisfactory completion of work or services contracted to perform and is liable for failure to complete the work or service. 6) Receives compensation for work or service performed under a contract on a commission or per job or competitive bid basis and not on any other basis. 7) May realize a profit or suffer a loss under contracts to perform work or service. 8) Has a continuing or recurring business liability or obligations. 9) The success or failure of the IC’s business depends on the relationship of business receipts to expenditures.
Iowa
In the employment relationship determination, the two most important indicators are the degree of control and the degree of independence. The evidence of the degree of control falls into three categories: 1) Behavioral control – Employer’s right to direct and control the work.2) Financial control – The extent to which the employee can realize a profit or gain, assumes responsibility for expenses. 3) Relationship of the parties regarding any benefits provided such as pension, sick pay, insurance, etc.
Indiana
The state of Indiana has always considered ten factors when determining independent contractor status: 1) the extent of control by agreement exercised over the details of the work.2) Whether or not the one employed is engaged in a distinct occupation or business.3) the occupation, the work is usually done under the direction of the employer without supervision. 4) Skill required 5) whether the employer supplied tools and the place of work for the person performing the work 6) Length of time employed 7) Method of payment by the time or by the job. 8) Is the work part of the regular business of the employer. 9) Relationship of master and servant. 10) Whether the principal is or is not in business. Indiana is now considering using the IRS regulations to determine IC status:
All evidence of the degree of control and independence in this relationship should be considered. The facts that provide this evidence fall into three categories – Behavioral Control, Financial Control, and the Relationship of the Parties, similar to Iowa above.
Minnesota
Individuals who are independent contractors are excluded from coverage under the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Act. In Minnesota, whether an individual is an employee or independent contractor is determined by applying Minn. Rules 5224.0010 through 5224.0340. Whether an individual is an employee or independent contractor primarily depends on control over the work or services to be performed. The greater the control the employer has over the worker, the more likely Minnesota courts will deem that individual an employee. This applies even if there is an agreement between the parties classifying the person of the independent contractor-the courts look at the party’s actions, not the written document, to determine independent contractor status.
Provided by: Lori Gibowski, Work Comp Claims Supervisor at West Bend Mutual Insurance
While advances in medicine have lessened the demand for blood transfusions, the need for blood donors remains great. According to the American Red Cross, someone in the United States needs blood every two seconds. That comes to a total of 41,000 blood donations needed every day. January has been named National Blood Donor Month in an effort to offset a seasonal period when blood donations drop significantly.
If you’ve never donated blood before, it is a simple, four-step process: registration, medical history and mini-physical, donation and refreshments. The actual blood donation is a safe process that typically takes 10 to 12 minutes. A sterile needle is used only once for each donor and is then discarded. The average adult has about 10 pints of blood in his or her body. Approximately 1 pint is given during a donation.
In the Macomb area, contact the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center at (309) 836-2329, or the American Red Cross at (309) 837-1594.
The owners and staff of Purdum Gray Ingledue Beck wish you the happiest of holidays. To allow our employees time with family, our hours will be as follows.
Closed December 24th, 25th and 26th reopening on Monday December 29th.
Closed at noon on December 31st, all day on January 1st and at noon on January 2nd. Regular business hours resume on Monday January 5th.
Should you have an emergency during this time, please contact Beau Ingledue at 309-333-1292.
While the amount of danger from winter weather varies across the country, nearly all Americans, regardless of where they live, are likely to face some type of severe winter weather at some point in their lives. Winter storms can range from a moderate snow over a few hours to a blizzard with blinding, wind-driven snow that lasts for several days. Many winter storms are accompanied by dangerously low temperatures and sometimes by strong winds, ice, sleet and freezing rain.
A primary concern is that winter storms can knock out heat, power and communications services to your home or office, sometimes for days at a time. Heavy snowfall and extreme cold can immobilize an entire region.
The National Weather Service refers to winter storms as “deceptive killers” because most deaths are indirectly related to the storm. People die in traffic accidents on icy roads and of hypothermia from prolonged exposure to cold. Because of this, it is important to be prepared for winter weather before it strikes.
Know the Terms
Familiarize yourself with these terms to help identify winter storm hazards:
Before Winter Storms and Extreme Cold
To prepare for a winter storm you should do the following:
Winterize Your Home
During Winter Storms and Extreme Cold
Dress for the Weather
After Winter Storms and Extreme Cold
In addition to insuring your home, Purdum Gray Ingledue Beck, Inc. is committed to helping you and your loved ones stay safe when disaster strikes. If you would like more information on developing a family emergency plan or building a disaster supply kit, please contact us at 888-833-1755 or www.macombinsurance.com today.
iOS Security Alert: iPhones/iPads at Risk
Internet security firm FireEye has reported a significant new iOS security flaw dubbed “Masque Attack”. The vulnerability allows malicious replacement apps, installed through enterprise/ad-hoc (non App Store) provisioning, to overwrite genuine apps previously installed through Apple’s official App Store. The replacement can occur as long as both malicious and genuine apps use the same bundle identifier. The vulnerability has been verified for both jailbroken and non-jailbroken devices that use iOS 7.1.1, 7.1.2, 8.0, 8.1 and 8.1.1.
All apps are susceptible for such replacement except iOS preinstalled apps, e.g. Mobile Safari. In practice an attacker could lure a victim to install a replacement app with a deceiving name such as “New Angry Bird”, which is actually a malicious replacement for an email or online banking app. Using a well-designed interface to mimic the original app, the replacement app could steal sensitive information including logon credentials.
Further, the replacement apps have been shown to be able to access the original app’s local data – for example cached emails or login-tokens – which the malware can then use to log into the user’s account directly. Such attacks could result in compromising bank, email, or other sensitive accounts and information that users access on their mobile devices, including sensitive corporate emails.
Attackers can trick a user into downloading a Masque Attack app from outside the Apple-approved App Store, usually through a prompt via text message, email, or hyperlink.
Mitigations
iOS users should protect themselves from Masque Attacks by following these steps:
This data security alert is part of the NoDataBreach risk management services provided with your Beazley Breach Response (BBR) insurance policy.
It is not too late to enroll in a health plan for 2023. Open enrollment is extended until January 15th with coverage taking effect February 1st. There have been some changes in the law, so please … Read More
Purdum Gray Ingledue Beck, Inc., as it is known today, has a long history of solid growth and stability. Founded in 1926 by the late R.B. Purdum, the agency has grown from a one-man operation to a … Read More
Could your business survive a $600,000 lawsuit? Could it make it past a 10 month period without income because of a fire? Proper insurance for your business can be vital to surviving a disaster … Read More
