Healthy Smiles All Year Long
Oral wellness is the foundation for overall health, so regular visits to the dentist for checkups and cleanings are fundamental to making your smile last and preventing tooth decay and gum disease. Even if you don’t have any symptoms, dental exams are important to make sure your teeth and gums stay healthy. And if problems do occur, they’ll be easier to treat.
Current or former smoker? Lost a tooth? Have diabetes?
You could be at higher risk for periodontal (gum) disease, tooth loss, or even mouth cancer. Delta Dental makes it easy to measure your risk with a quick and easy online self-assessment in the Your Oral Health section of www.deltadentalma.com.
Help Your Dentist Help You
- See a dentist regularly. Doing so can help ensure that problems are taken care of before they become more serious and expensive.
- Choose a dentist who belongs to your plan’s network. Switching from a dentist who isn’t in the plan to one who is enrolled will likely save you money.
- Take advantage of any exams, teeth cleanings or X-rays your insurance may cover. Getting regular dental checkups, such as cleanings and exams, will help prevent dental complications or worsening of dental problems such as cavities.
- Become a partner in your dental health. Tell your dentist about yourself and your concerns, and ask questions about caring for your teeth. Make sure you also understand any treatment options your dentist recommends.
Shining a Light on Moonlighting
Presented by: Christopher F. Hawthorne
Many contractor businessowners face the question of what to do about employees that moonlight at night and on weekends. Does allowing employees to moonlight put a business in harm’s way? It could.
When an employee moonlights, they are taking on the same general liability, workers compensation, and auto exposures as the employer. Even if the employee carries their own insurance, their actions may be increasing the employer’s liability and future insurance costs.
If a moonlighting employee uses the employer’s vehicle which is still dressed with the employer’s logo, and is using the employer’s tools, could the customer state that they thought they were working with the employer after a loss occurred? Since the moonlighting employee might have little or no coverage, it is conceivable that the customer might look to the employer for coverage for damage done by the moonlighting employee. If so, the employer’s general liability, commercial auto, or even workers compensation would respond to a claim filed against the employer.
When the commercial general liability policy is examined for its wording, there are several troublesome areas. The first is the definition of an insured; it includes employees acting in the scope of their employment. This is not great wording in terms of your own protection. Second, the definition of your product includes products traded or sold under “your” name. If the employee is there with the employer’s truck, logo and knowledge, could an attorney-an insurance attorney at that-make a case to pull the employer in? Is this a bet worth taking? As contractors with claims experience know, the process can be unfair, and it can cost significant future premiums while the argument is going through court. The fact that the employer allowed moonlighting to occur makes a strong argument for vicarious liability.
If the employee got hurt while moonlighting, it could potentially pull the employer’s workers compensation (wherein, the employee might rope in professional legal counsel similar to the ones dealing with workers comp attorney in Columbus OH) in. If the employee worked for a few hours the next day and claimed that the injury really happened on the employer’s job, the employer’s workers compensation would be forced to prove the employee was not working at his or her job at the time of the injury. This could prove to be quite difficult and the employer’s workers compensation may end up paying the claim.
If the employer’s vehicle is being used with the employer’s permission, the commercial auto and possibly the umbrella would definitely be involved in a claim should there be an accident.
In short, without being paid for the risk, the employer is at risk. Contractors may wish to consider making it a condition of employment that moonlighting is not allowed. Two methods for preventing moonlight, along with a written policy, are as follows:
- Equip company vehicles with GPS monitoring so the employer can see when a vehicle is in use after hours. There have been several reported cases of GPS monitoring even identifying employees that moonlight while on duty for the employer!
- Leave all company vehicles, tools, and uniforms at the employer’s business location each night. This may require the employer to provide a changing area and cleaning service.
Employees should know that their personal homeowner’s insurance provides no liability for their business pursuits. From both the employer and the employee’s point of view, moonlighting is not a good idea.
The good news for employers is there are options to help reduce moonlighting. A possible solution may be to offer employees commissions for business they bring in. They could also offer discount pricing for the employees friends and family. These two options would help satisfy the employees desire to increase their income and alleviate the pressure of helping their friends and family after work.
Commercial Auto Insurance
What is DOC?
Presented by Christopher F. Hawthorne, CPCU, CIC
Often people own a vehicle that is in the name of a business with no vehicle in their personal name to be used both personally and commercially. This ownership structure puts one in a position of not having auto insurance coverage in certain situations.
Commercial auto policies work differently than MA personal auto policies. The MA personal auto policy will cover anyone using an insured vehicle if operating with the permission of the vehicle’s owner. The coverage will also follow the insured and those listed on the policy into any other personal vehicle as long as they are operating that vehicle with permission. It is a very flexible policy.
The commercial auto policy is not so flexible. The commercial policy states that it will cover those vehicles that are specifically listed on the policy. Also, the commercial policy will defend the commercial entity named on the policy. This design could leave the driver of a commercially owned vehicle in harms way when they are operating a vehicle not listed on the commercial auto policy.
EXAMPLE: A business owner is attending a family cookout, driving a commercially-owned vehicle and due to getting there early, his/her auto has been blocked in by other guests. The host asks him/her to run to the store for more ice and to take another guest’s car which is not blocked in. During the trip, he/she hits and injures someone, who then sues him/her as well as the owner of the vehicle. If the owner of the vehicle unknowingly had coverage cancelled for non-payment due to an oversight or if the owner simply carried very low liability limits, the business owner who is used to having $1,000,000 of protection from their commercial auto policy as well as possible umbrella coverage, suddenly finds himself/herself on the other end of a lawsuit with little or no coverage.
A solution is to add Drive Other Car (DOC) coverage to the commercial auto policy. This coverage will act as a bridge for when the business owner is using a vehicle not named on the commercial auto policy. When DOC coverage is added, it is added in the name of a driver. The coverage will protect the named person and a spouse. It is important to know it will not automatically cover any other family members. Therefore, each family member other than the spouse must be named separately. The typical cost is typically $300 to $350 per named driver.
A second solution is to purchase a Named Non-Owned Personal Auto policy. This policy is the equivalent of a personal auto policy but without an auto (no comprehensive or collision coverage). These policies are more expensive ($800+) however they are more flexible and protect the commercial auto policy from claims arising out of personal auto use.