 Must haves for Oklahoma Rural Water Departments
by Jerrad Van Coots
Oklahoma's Rural Water Departments (ORWD) could incur serious expenses in the event of a not covered claim. With the complexity of RWD and the amount of people that can be effected is staggering. Oklahoma over the last couple of years has seen many of what we could call "catastrophic claim events". This would include wide spread fires, large hail storms, earthquakes, flooding and tornados. When we look at rural water districts coverage parts here are some must haves.
Equipment Breakdown
Equipment Breakdown insurance is just what the name implies; insurance that covers the financial costs that come up when equipment breaks and stops working. For many businesses, certain pieces of equipment are essential to daily operations. Whether it's a meat packing plant that needs a working refrigeration unit or a construction site that absolutely has to have its crane in working order doesn't matter, these and many other pieces of equipment can be covered by breakdown insurance. Is this part of your insurance portfolio?
Equipment breakdown insurance, generally speaking, covers almost any sort of damage that leads to the equipment which is insured not working. Whether a bulldozer throws a piston and the engine fuses, or it gets so cold that the water tank in a boiler that was turned off cracks open doesn't matter. If the equipment broke down, the insurance kicks in. These policies tend to cover mechanical damage, machine malfunction, electrical hazards, power surges and a variety of other causes that lead to equipment breakdown.
Employers' Hired and Non-Owned
Hired Auto Insurance provides liability protection when you are driving a vehicle that you, or your business, do not own or that is not registered to you. If you rent a vehicle for a less than 30 days, Hired Auto insurance will protect the rented vehicle. Employers' Non-Ownership insurance provides liability protection when an employee occasionally has to drive his or her personally owned vehicle for business purposes. This assumes that the vehicle is not owned, registered or contracted in your name or on your behalf. Is this included in your coverage?
Business Interruption Insurance
Business interruption insurance (also known as business income insurance) covers the loss of income that a business suffers after a disaster while its facility is being rebuilt. A property insurance policy only covers the physical damage to the business, while the additional coverage allotted by the business interruption policy covers the profits that would have been earned. This extra policy provision is applicable to all types of businesses, as it is designed to put a business in the same financial position it would have been in if no loss had occurred. Having coverage in place is only have the battle. Insuring the limit is just as important. In the event of a loss, $25,000 would not be enough. A limit near $250,000 is a more adequate amount. What are your limits?
The following are typically covered under a business interruption insurance policy:
- Profits- Profits that would have been earned (based on prior months' financial statements);
- Fixed Costs- Operating expenses and other costs still being incurred by the property (based on historical costs);
- Temporary Location- Some policies cover the extra expenses for moving to, and operating from, a temporary location;
- Extra Expenses- Reimbursement for reasonable expenses (beyond the fixed costs) that allow the business to continue operation while the property is being repaired.
Flood and Earthquake Insurance
Flood and earthquake insurance are often excluded perils from most commercial insurance policies. Given the nature of Oklahoma's rural water districts these seems to be a must have peril. Record flooding and earthquakes are being reported year after year. Many insurance agencies are seeing homeowners and commercial business owners adding these perils to their policies. Does your policy currently have these excluded?
If you do not have the mentioned above coverage you could be only a second from a serious and costly claim.
 The Burrows Agency Insurance is Oklahoma's expert agency for rural water districts. We insure more RWD than any agency in the state. Owner Dave Burrows has invested year after year educating Oklahoma's RWD on coverages and limitations that could currently exist in districts policies. Our agency located in Claremore, Ok would love the opportunity to meet you and let you know what we have to offer. All the coverages mentioned above are only a fraction of what we offer the competition doesn't. Not only are the coverages broader but our cost is even more competitive than what we are seeing. Call for a free no obligation risk analysis and quote!
Tags : oklahoma, rural, water, oklahoma rural water, equipment breakdown, flood, earthquake, insurance, hired, non-owned, commercial insurance, rural water, claremore, oklahoma, ok
 December 14 at 11:54pm · Share
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