The Insurance Family Blog

Are You Smart with Your Smartphone?

Posted by Diana Scherff on November 13, 2015 at 3:59 PM

A Dallas insurance professional was recently mugged in broad daylight at a Dallas Area Rapid Transit station. As he was checking his iPhone for messages, two teenagers ran up to him, grabbed his brand-new phone, knocked him over, and sprinted away. He had 12 stitches on his face and 7 on his arm. His knee was also severely bruised. A Dallas police officer told him that they field 2-3 incidents like this per day.

A 48-year-old Dallas woman was looking at her cell phone as she began to cross the street a couple of

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Topics: Personal Umbrella, Personal Property Insurance, Personal Liability, Identity Theft Insurance

Does Your Hobby or Home Business Require Extra Insurance? – Part Two

Posted by Susie Scherff on November 23, 2011 at 2:37 PM

(Please also see Hobby or Business – Part One.)

Most individuals use their homeowner or residential insurance policy to handle their hobby activities as a collector or enthusiast. A homeowner (HO) policy usually includes a definition of “business” and some are so broad that nearly any activity qualifies as a business. In such instances, a hobbyist or enthusiast should consider whether separate business insurance is necessary.

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Topics: Business Owners Insurance, Business Personal Property, Business Insurance, Home Insurance, Homeowners Insurance

Does Your Hobby or Home Business Require Extra Insurance?– Part One

Posted by Susie Scherff on November 7, 2011 at 10:01 AM

(Please also see our blog post Part 2 for this same topic.)

Did you know that your hobby may significantly affect your personal insurance needs? Hobbies often require a large investment in tangible property and may even create some legal responsibility to other persons or their property. 

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Topics: Insurance, Property Insurance, Personal Umbrella, Personal Property Insurance

Do You Have the Right Insurance for Your Auto Repair Business?

Posted by Susie Scherff on November 7, 2011 at 10:00 AM

Garage operations have hybrid coverage needs:  there’s a blur and overlap between the general liability for the operations and the automobile liability exposures. A general liability policy does not provide enough coverage and a commercial auto policy provides too much. Fortunately there is a way to properly handle this need.

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Topics: Business Liability Insurance, Business Owners Insurance, Business Personal Property, Building Ordinance or Law Coverage, Business Insurance, Building Insurance, Auto Insurance, auto service insurance, Auto Repair, Auto Shop

Business Insurance - Covering Your Signs

Posted by Susie Scherff on November 3, 2011 at 8:00 AM

Restaurants, auto repair shops, real estate offices and nearly all other businesses have signs that tell their customers their name, address, hours of operation and so on. Signs may be simple or complex and many businesses typically use lighted signs. The Sign policy created by Insurance Services Office is available to insure against the loss or destruction of signs, including fluorescent, neon, automatic or mechanical sign. Coverage also extends to lamps. However, fixed, non-lighted signs (such as billboards) are not eligible under a sign policy, even if they are illuminated by separate electric lights.

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Topics: Commercial Auto Insurance, Condominium Insurance, commercial insurance for restaurants

Which Homeowners Policy is Right for Me?

Posted by Susie Scherff on October 31, 2011 at 11:05 AM

If you own a home, you’ll want to think about the best way to insure it. One goal is to match your needs to the right company. Some companies like new, high-valued homes while some companies do well with older or historic preservation homes. Others are comfortable with country homes or old farm homes. It pays to shop around, both for the best coverage and for a company that likes your type of home.

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Topics: Home Insurance, Homeowners Insurance, Personal Property Insurance, Condominium Insurance, Fire Insurance, dwelling fire policy, Personal Liability, Insurance Policy Types, Homeowners Coverages

Restaurant Insurance: Food Service Delivery Risk Management

Posted by Susie Scherff on October 29, 2011 at 8:50 AM

Does your restaurant or food services business use independent contractors for delivery services to customers?  It’s a wonderful way to serve customers and grow your sales – but its also a risky operational exposure and needs to be managed properly.  At Sutherland-Scherff we specialize in restaurants and have the experience to help you build a solid risk management program for delivery services.

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Topics: Restaurant, restaurant insurance, Food Service Delivery

Employment Practices Liability Insurance

Posted by Susie Scherff on October 27, 2011 at 7:00 AM

Hiring and firing decisions are legal minefields that are best navigated by the use of Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI). It is important that your business (restaurant owners, auto services and garages, property management firms are some of the specializations at Sutherland-Scherff) have clear policies that are applied consistently to each employee.  Such policies must directly relate to the duties of their job.  Do you know what type of decisions could trigger a claim?  For example, is it legal to terminate:

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Topics: EPLI, auto service insurance, Employment practices liability insurance, California Restaurant Association, EPLI for restaurants, employment risk management, best practices for employment practices

Food Service Delivery Risk Management

Posted by Susie Scherff on October 23, 2011 at 11:24 PM

Does your restaurant or food services business use independent contractors for delivery services to customers?  It’s a wonderful way to serve customers and grow your sales – but its also a risky operational exposure and needs to be managed properly.  At Sutherland-Scherff we specialize in restaurants and have the experience to help you build a solid risk management program for delivery services.

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Topics: restaurant insurance, food delivery service, best insurance practices for restaurants, commercial auto insurance for restaurants, liability insurance for restaurants, risk management for restaurants

Protecting your restaurant from loss of utility services

Posted by Susie Scherff on October 20, 2011 at 3:46 AM

A commercial property insurance policy can usually be depended upon to handle direct loss to structures, equipment and related property that are owned by a restaurant or other food service business.  However, what happens when weather conditions take a turn for the worse and cause indirect damage by knocking out utility services to your establishment?  Examples of losses include damage by heat-induced transformer breakdowns; or broken power lines, including compressors, motors and switches, which could result in food spoilage.

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Topics: restaurant insurance, commercial insurance for restaurants, food service, utility interruption, property insurance for restaurants, off premises utility interruption, restaurants