There are several steps all homeowners should take to keep their homes safe and protected this winter. Use these three tips to keep your home and guests safe during the winter season.

By Mary Fontana

Temperatures have dropped and snow accumulation has risen – it’s time to winterize your home.

Living in the northeast means we are well-conditioned to the ever-changing seasons and are especially steeled to unyielding winters. As winter begins in full force, it’s important to remember a few seasonal insurance tips:

Shovel the roof. Recent storms served as reminders that Jack Frost can be unforgiving when it comes to snowfall accumulation. Shoveling your roof after a big storm can help prevent damage to your home from the weight of ice and snow.

Keep the entrance to your home accessible. Don’t we all love a home full of family during the holidays and winter months? Keeping the path to your home shoveled and sanded helps prevent injuries due to slip-and-falls.

Don’t overload your electrical outlets. When sprucing up that evergreen or adding some extra heat to certain areas of your home, try to use three or less strands of lights on any one extension cord; keep in mind extension cords and strands of lights can also be a trip hazard. We know the holidays can spark your festive spirit, but if we practice safe decorating we can minimize our risk for electrical damage!

If you want to learn more about home safety for the winter or what you need to do to protect your home, give me a call at 315-898-2204.

Mary Fontana is Personal Insurance Service Specialist at OneGroup. She can be reached at 315-898-2204 or MFontana@OneGroup.com.

This content is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing professional, financial, medical or legal advice. You should contact your licensed professional to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. Please refer to your policy contract for any specific information or questions on applicability of coverage.

Please note coverage can not be bound or a claim reported without written acknowledgment from a OneGroup Representative.

For Immediate assistance call 1-800-268-1830

The opioid epidemic is affecting more than you may realize. Here’s what employers can do to keep their employees safe.

By Bethany Bourgault

No one wants to find out that one of their employees overdosed. Certainly no one wants to find out it was on an opioid they were prescribed during a workers’ compensation claim.

Incidents like this are becoming more and more common. Nearly two million Americans are currently abusing opioids, and over 16,000 die each year from prescription overdoses.

On September 12, 2019 four experts – Eric Chase, Esq. of Wolff, Goodrich and Goldman; Kevin Tribout of OPTUM Workers’ Comp., Pharmacy Benefit Management; Devon Fik of NCAComp, Inc.; and Cindy Bush of OneGroup – met in the Education Center at OneGroup Center to address a full house about opioids in the workplace.

“People ask me all the time, ‘who do you think really was on the opioid issue first?’ And my answer always is, ‘workers’ compensation,’” said panelist Kevin Tribout. “70-75% of the medications prescribed in workers’ compensation are to treat what? Pain. And what do you use to treat pain? Opioids.”

Businesses pay double when the opioid crisis strikes one of their employees. First they pay for the claims. Opioids are expensive medications. Then they pay for the loss of a productive employee. No one wins when an employee shows spotty attendance, loss of focus, works under the influence or ceases attending at all.

“This isn’t a drug addict problem. This isn’t a street problem,” said Cindy Bush. “These people are running heavy equipment, driving powered industrial vehicles, making split-second decisions about the quality of your product.”

When it comes to risks like this, employers can take action.

Getting in touch with an insurance carrier, TPA or Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) is a good first step. Those professionals are ready to help with the rest of the process. The employer and their claims team can then work with doctors and legal professionals to conduct an Independent Medical Examination (IME) and put the employee on a weaning plan.

Weaning is a long process. Many weaning plans take six months or more. However, when conducted properly, these plans can save employers millions in claim costs, workplace risks and productivity costs.

Reasonable Suspicion

Taking action like this requires employers to first have a justified, reasonable suspicion that their employee has become addicted. Several clues, or “triggers,” may be used to justify this suspicion. These could be:

• High dose opioids (High Morphine Equivalent Dosage (MED))
• High monthly pharmacy costs
• Long term use of opioids
• Not recommended use of off-label medication
• Redundant therapies
• Dangerous drug combinations
• Medical Marijuana
• Multiple prescribers
• Narcan prescription

Source: NCAComp, Inc. Prescription Facts

Recognizing the ability to intervene sometimes involves a cultural shift in the workplace.

“You need to understand where your company stands on this issue. Do you see this as a disease, or as a moral failure?” said Cindy Bush.

Hope for the future

A new drug formulary was adopted by New York State on June 5, 2019, and is expected to bring some relief. The formulary limits the quantity of opioid medication doctors can prescribe for certain treatments and limits the types of medications they can freely prescribe in the first place. Beginning in June 2020, doctors will need prior authorization on a case by case basis to prescribe narcotics and opioids for any longer than seven days and for any case beyond 30 days post-new injury.

Even before that, however, panelists agreed that one of the best things employers could do about the issue is communicate.

“Keep raising the level of conversations,” said Bush, “Don’t hesitate to question things. Don’t hesitate to ask for reports… Bravely factor addiction and these drug issues into your return to work plan.”

As for dealing with your workforce, “stay connected to your employees,” said Bush. “Be there for them. Be the calm in the storm during their claim. Because work, believe it or not, is the solution to so many people’s problems.”

Bethany Bourgault is publications and communications coordinator at OneGroup. She can be reached at 315-413-4498 or BBourgault@OneGroup.com.

This content is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing professional, financial, medical or legal advice. You should contact your licensed professional to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. Please refer to your policy contract for any specific information or questions on applicability of coverage.

Please note coverage can not be bound or a claim reported without written acknowledgment from a OneGroup Representative.

For Immediate assistance call 1-800-268-1830

What you need to know about the new Equal Pay addendums

By Kelly Goodsell, AIC

The New York Senate passed a set of bills to ensure equal pay for women and employees in “protected classes.” The bills are intended to ensure all employees receive equal pay for equal work and prohibit salary history inquiries (thereby reducing the risk of continuing a non-equal pay cycle) during candidates’ screening.

These laws protect employees of any “protected class,” meaning employers cannot discriminate against employees because of “age, creed, race, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military status, sex, disability, predisposing genetic characteristics, familial status, marital status, or domestic violence victim status.”

Employers should note that these are not new laws – they are sets of addendums to old laws. However, since they have been updated, people are talking about them. The more people talk about them, the more employees are likely to take action under them.

If an employee feels that he or she is not being paid fairly on the basis of sex, gender, race, religion or another factor – he or she could file a claim through either the Human Rights Division of New York or through the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The best way to be prepared for a scenario like this is to make sure that your company’s Employment Practices Liability Insurance Policy will provide you with a defense for a claim being made against you for both Wage and Hour Discrimination as well as a claim made against you under the Equal Pay Act. Not all Employment Practices Insurance policies provide a defense for both actions. Taking this step ahead of time will ensure that your company will be protected should a claim be made against your company.

Kelly Goodsell is vice president of claim risk management at OneGroup. She can be reached at 315-413-4413 or KGoodsell@OneGroup.com.

This content is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing professional, financial, medical or legal advice. You should contact your licensed professional to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. Please refer to your policy contract for any specific information or questions on applicability of coverage.

Please note coverage can not be bound or a claim reported without written acknowledgment from a OneGroup Representative.

For Immediate assistance call 1-800-268-1830

What it means if your umbrella policy is limited by another policy’s sublimit

By Douglas Cook, CIC, CPA

If any of your liability policies have a sublimit on them, your umbrella may not cover as much as you thought. It is important to work with your agent to understand all limits and exclusions on the policies.

School districts generally have a lot of important policies, from general liability to school leaders’ legal liability and more. One that we’ve unfortunately heard more and more about nowadays is the abuse/molestation coverage. Sometimes all three of these types of coverage – general, legal and abuse/molestation liability- are bundled into one policy, and the abuse/molestation coverage may be provided with a sublimit.

A sublimit is a set amount of money that the policy will cover, and it’s usually lower than the amount the policy coverage limit. If the policy will cover up to a million dollars per occurrence, the abuse/molestation coverage may carry a sublimit of only $250,000. In this scenario, the district would be on the hook for any fees or payments that exceed $250,000 to lawyers, families or other involved parties.

These types of lawsuits – particularly when there are young children involved – start at seven digits.

At this point, many districts would reference their umbrella policy – assuming that it would cover the remainder of the costs. That’s not always the case if the primary policy has a sublimit. If a family sues the district for, say, $5 million, and the court rules in favor of the family, an insurance carrier is well within its rights to limit their claim payment to the amount of the sublimit and pay nothing under the umbrella policy. The district would then need to pay out of pocket for $4,750,000.

Always be mindful of what exactly your policy covers, and never hesitate to ask an expert for help!

Douglas Cook is a business risk specialist at OneGroup. He can be reached at 610-867-4169 or DCook@OneGroup.com.

This content is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing professional, financial, medical or legal advice. You should contact your licensed professional to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. Please refer to your policy contract for any specific information or questions on applicability of coverage.

Please note coverage can not be bound or a claim reported without written acknowledgment from a OneGroup Representative.

For Immediate assistance call 1-800-268-1830

Do you know how your properties will be covered?

By Douglas Cook, CIC, CPA

For the average business, property coverage can be relatively straightforward. For a school district with multiple properties, there are a few more factors and options to consider.

With standard property coverage, our clients can insure their buildings for the amount they would cost to repair or replace. Policyholders do this by having an assessor or another third party take a look and determine how much the building would cost to replace should something catastrophic happen to it. Then they insure it on a property policy for that amount.

Sometimes that estimate (and therefore, the policy limit) can be inaccurate, particularly if the assessment was done a long time ago or the economic conditions have changed. For example, economic conditions after a hurricane change rapidly in hardest hit areas. The cost of materials rises significantly there simply because of basic supply and demand. That’s not even mentioning inflation, old/new materials, and rising labor costs.

Because of this danger, school districts with lots of buildings that have such important impacts on their communities in times of tragedy may consider looking into blanket coverage. Blanket coverage involves gathering the values of each building on the policy and having an agent request that the carrier add blanket coverage with an endorsement. The endorsement is a statement that establishes and describes the blanket coverage terms and conditions. Usually that means if anything were to happen to any one of its buildings, the school district would be completely covered regardless of inflation, market conditions and other factors, up to the blanket limit.

Those considering blanket coverage should also be aware of margin clauses and how those would impact their coverage limit. Margin clauses put a limit on how much of the total value of the blanket coverage can apply to any one building, and can build in additional coverage at the same time.

Blanket coverage can also be applied to both the building and contents, either as a combined limit or separately. However, for blanket coverage to apply to a building or contents these must be list and clearly described on the statement of values before the loss – otherwise they won’t be covered by the blanket. Simply having blanket coverage does not automatically cover the building or building’s contents.

If you have any questions on blanket limits, margin clauses or your school district’s property coverage, give OneGroup a call

Douglas Cook is a business risk specialist at OneGroup. He can be reached at 610-867-4169 or DCook@OneGroup.com.

This content is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing professional, financial, medical or legal advice. You should contact your licensed professional to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. Please refer to your policy contract for any specific information or questions on applicability of coverage.

Please note coverage can not be bound or a claim reported without written acknowledgment from a OneGroup Representative.

For Immediate assistance call 1-800-268-1830

Are your volunteers covered by your workers’ compensation policy or a separate volunteer policy? The difference affects more than you might think.

By Dan Conley

Back to school time is here! Among the teachers and students busying themselves with back to school activities and planning, you’ll find armies of volunteers lending their time and talents to school year prep as well.

Those volunteers are vital to our school systems. Make sure you know what your district would do if one of them were to get hurt or injured on the job.

Are volunteers covered by worker’s compensation if they don’t receive a paycheck?

Maybe.

Most times when a school, business or organization has volunteers performing work on its behalf, those volunteers are covered under the organization’s workers’ compensation policy. In the event a volunteer should get hurt, he or she would likely get the same benefits that a full-time employee of your organization would have. As your volunteer focuses on recovering, he or she won’t have to worry about medical bills or the money lost from time away from work.

In addition to any monetary benefits that could be paid for an injury or permanency award, the injured volunteer’s medical bills may also be covered for the life of the injury. Once an incident report is filed with the district, a claim will be run through the workers’ compensation board of whichever state the claim is filed in.

Be sure you are giving your volunteers the same safety training and risk management you give your employees. Some accidents are unavoidable but many can be prevented.

Your team, your insurance company and your budget will thank you in the long run. If you are one to volunteer like me, it’s helpful to understand the conditions surrounding the job.

For more information on the subject, feel free to reach out to discuss!

Dan Conley is a business risk specialist at OneGroup. He can be reached at 315-558-6771 or DConley@OneGroup.com.

This content is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing professional, financial, medical or legal advice. You should contact your licensed professional to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. Please refer to your policy contract for any specific information or questions on applicability of coverage.

Please note coverage can not be bound or a claim reported without written acknowledgment from a OneGroup Representative.

For Immediate assistance call 1-800-268-1830

What makes schools particularly vulnerable to cyber attacks and how school officials can prepare for a breach.

By Dennis Ast, CPCU, CCIC

Last year, we saw more local school districts suffer at the hands of cyber criminals than ever before. The NYS Education Department Board of Regents even went as far as to propose and approve an addition to their cyber regulations. Part 121, as the new addendum was called, would strengthen data privacy and security in schools and other educational agencies that need to protect personal information. There are more than 20 pending cyber related bills/resolutions awaiting consideration in the New York State Assembly.

The massive files of student and employee information housed on school computers make school districts desirable targets for cyber criminals. These cyber criminals are constantly looking for vulnerabilities and the opportunity to make some quick money. Since many school districts either don’t have the resources or have not adequately protected themselves against potential cyber attacks, sensitive school records make for easy targets.

According to the K-12 Cybersecurity Resource Center, there have been over 580 publicly-disclosed cyber-related incidents in U.S. public schools since 2016. The number of incidents in 2019 has already exceeded those of 2018.

These school attacks are not small matters, either. Just this summer, Gov. John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency after cyber attacks hit three separate Louisiana school districts with ransomware. The attacks can take virtually any form, from cybercriminals infecting the district’s network with malware to a student hacking into the system and changing grades for money. (Yes, that last one is true.)

What can you do to minimize cyber risks at your school?

Practice good “Cyber Hygiene”: Update your software often. Use multi-factor authentication and strong password protocols. Install anti-malware software and establish protocols for remote access users. Always have a back-up of your data and test it. Most importantly, have a Cyber Response Plan. Cyber insurance should always be part of your Cyber Response Plan. Many cyber insurance programs can cover First & Third Party losses as well as crime-related losses. Not all cyber policies are created equally, so be sure to discuss your concerns with an expert who can assist in getting the right policy for you.

Dennis Ast is a senior account executive at OneGroup. He can be reached at 716-572-2410 or DAst@OneGroup.com.

This content is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing professional, financial, medical or legal advice. You should contact your licensed professional to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. Please refer to your policy contract for any specific information or questions on applicability of coverage.

Please note coverage can not be bound or a claim reported without written acknowledgment from a OneGroup Representative.

For Immediate assistance call 1-800-268-1830