This Issue sadly finds our Country and the World treading new waters.

RKM wishes all of you and your families to stay safe in these very difficult and compromising times. We want to take this opportunity to assure you that we are here to serve and assist you, please do not hesitate to call us for any questions you may have.  We will get through this together, hopefully sooner than later.

RKM remains open for business as usual; claims, renewals , late pay notices , Certificates, Etc.

We are seeing more questions now regarding coverages and how they might apply to this Pandemic. Since this is new to all of us and continues to evolve, so will the information.

1-    Liability /business policy;
•    24 hour operations that are now starting to  close at night, will need to immediately install a “Central Station Alarm” in order for coverage to apply to a “Burglary” while closed.
Note a “Local alarm” is not acceptable to the Insurance Carriers , it must be a “Central Station Monitored Alarm”
•    Riots and Looting ; For those of us that were here for the Rodney King riots, you are aware that Riots and Looting are a covered loss and do not have the same requirements as a single /individual act of a “Burglary” as mentioned above.
•    Loss of Income/business interruption; this coverage only gets triggered if you have a covered cause of loss , such as fire, theft, lightning , hail, windstorm, riot, civil commotion , vandalism, or vehicle damage .  Claims for business interruption and/or civil authority denial of access must involve (as mentioned in policy language) “a direct physical loss to covered property from a covered cause of loss”. In most situations involving COVID-19, the requirement of direct physical loss is not likely to be present, therefore coverage would not exist. And, these coverages are also subject to the virus or bacteria exclusion, on the policy.
•    Most commercial property and business owner policies contain a virus or bacteria exclusion endorsement, which would directly address and preclude any claim for coverage.

2-    Worker Compensation;
•    Each Carrier will be notifying their policyholders of how each one will be handling potential claims that may develop from the virus

Next week, we will be launching our RKM website , www.rkm-ins.com
There, we will continue to update and provide you with needed information as we receive it.

At this point, nothing is set in stone of course, but a good place to start as we move forward in the hopes that all will be over soon and we can get back to our normal lives.  In the meantime, we all realize that this situation is consistently changing, however, we at RKM will continue to do all we can to keep you , our Clients, informed and updated.

Thank you for being an important part of RKM and again we wish you and your families safety at all times!

Since we have been specializing in insuring service stations for over 35 years, many of you have become like family to us. We understand the very difficult times you are  going through during this unprecedented situation.

We want you to know that we are open for business and are here to answer any insurance question you may have.

You should be aware, that most insurance companies are working with their insured on payment flexibility. If you need assistance on payments, please contact your particular insurance company (phone number is on their invoice) to work it out.

Also, many of you will have a drastic cuts in payroll, which in turn will reduce your Workers Compensation premiums. Since the timeframe of this economic shutdown is still a big unknown, we are currently working with our Workers Compensation carriers on the best way to handle this. We will send an email to you regarding this, at a future date.

Also, although these is not an insurance related issues, we have attached for you the following, to assist you in other developments:

•    Employee rights due to Coronavirus – This explains the new “Families First Coronavirus Response Act” which went into effect on 4/1/20 thru 12/31/20. This spells out how to handle certain situations if an employee (or his family) are effected by the corona virus. If you have additional questions, please contact the phone number listed on the documentation.
•    Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act – This document gives you a better understanding this the new Relief Act passed by Congress, that may provide you with financial assistance.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you and, most importantly, lets keep our families and friends healthy.

Dear valued customer;

With the rainy season upon us, we feel it’s a good time to re-address this very important issue;  Where insurance companies exclude claims that arise from normal wear and tear and/or improper maintenance.

Sometimes we think “Well, I’ve been paying all this money every year for insurance, therefore, I should be covered on any claim” unfortunately, this is not a valid argument.   ALL insurance companies exclude these type of claims which arise out of normal wear and tear and/or improper maintenance.

Examples of excluded wear/tear claims and improper maintenance claims:

•    Monument sign blew down and fell during heavy wind storm – after the insurance company did their investigation, they determined that the reason the sign fell was due to the fact that the base of sign had severely rusted and deteriorated over the years.  And if it was maintained properly, it would not have fallen down. The insurance company declined coverage.
•    Water pipe burst underground and caused severe damage – after the insurance company investigation, it was determined that the reason the pipe burst, was due to it being old and corroded. So the insurance company declined coverage.
•    During a heavy rain storm, water ran down the inside wall of the mini mart and did damage to walls and equipment. When the insurance company completed their investigation, they found that the drains on the roof were plugged, which then allowed the water to build up and spill over the water proofing material causing the leak inside the store. It was determined that if the drains were maintained properly and kept clean, this damage would not have occurred.  The claim was declined.

So, what’s the moral of this story:  Make sure to check and clean those gutters periodically, also check all your property periodically, and repair anything showing significant wear/tear BEFORE you find out the hard way and have your claim denied to due avoidable negligence.

We hope you find this information useful.  If you would like to add any thought to this subject, or have any suggestions you would like to know about for future newsletters, we would love to hear from you.  Your input is always welcome and appreciate.

Dear valued customer.

The years just seem to fly by faster and faster, and with RKM going into our 36th year, we cannot thank you enough, our customers, for your continued support, trust and friendship. We do appreciate each and every one of you.

Even after 36 years, we are still surprised at some of the claims we get. We thought to share this unfortunate incident with you. The following claim now has a reserve of $1,000,000.

Claim Information:

A small Auto repair shop only has 1 to 2 employees. The Employee leaves home at 7am and is driving to work . While in route he swerves and avoids hitting another vehicle but unfortunately hits an 80+ man walking on the street which is severely injured. The Attorney for the injured party is suing the Auto repair shop for “ Vicarious Liability”.

The following is a definition of Vicarious Liability:

Vicarious  liability is a form of a strict, secondary  liability that arises under the common law doctrine of agency, respondent superior, the responsibility of the superior for the acts of their subordinate or, in a broader sense, the responsibility of any third party that had the "right, ability or duty to control" the activities of a violator

1.   What is vicarious liability and how does it affect your business?

To put it another way,   vicarious  liability means you and  your  business can be held  liable for something you didn’t actually do – specifically, for the actions or mistakes of your employees, contractors, or agents.

Basically the Attorney is going to try and prove that the employee does use his own vehicle for business functions during normal business operations and therefore, the Employer can be held liable.

To help prevent this type of lawsuit, if you have employees doing business errands for you, in their vehicle, during normal business hours (i.e. dropping of mail, etc..), be aware that this can potentially drag you into a Vicarious Liability law suit.

How to protect yourself from these types of lawsuits? Move to Switzerland or get out of business :). All joking aside, unfortunately at this time we don't have an answer on how to protect yourself from this type of lawsuit. However, if you have had experience with this and can shed some light on the subject, which could be helpful, please don’t hesitate to share your experience with us.

Dear valued Customers,

As many of you may already be aware, there is a new Senate Bill  - 1343 that was recently passed by the State of CA.

This bill requires an employer who employs 5 or more employees, including temporary or seasonal employees, to provide at least 2 hours of sexual harassment training to all supervisory employees and at least one hour of sexual harassment training to all nonsupervisory employees by January 1, 2020, and once every 2 years thereafter, as specified.

Some of the Workers Compensation Insurance Companies that we represent will provide this training for free.

There are several ways for you to obtain this training for your employees. If you are currently insured with one of the Insurance Companies listed below, we have included an explanation on their procedure as to how to access their training programs:

Zenith
•    Zenith is making it easy for their clients to comply with this law by offering online anti-harassment training at no cost through Zenith Solution Center® (ZSC). Within ZSC, policyholders can assign training to each of their employees through Training TrackTM . Once training is completed, a certificate of completion is available for download.

Policyholders can log in to ZSC or set up an account to access training, and also view their anti-harassment training flyer for complete details.

ICW
•    ICW Group training, including HR training such as CA sexual harassment, is provided through RMRx Safety Advisor website. To access the training, policyholders start by logging into myResource:  https://myresource.icwgroup.com/InsuredPortal/DashBoard.aspx.

The training is free and if the customer needs a myResource account, they can request it here:
https://www.icwgroup.com/pc/myresource/myresource-accounts/.  

Policyholders who have signed up for HR OnDemand can call an advisor if they have any questions about the new legislation related to training, such as who needs to be trained, when they need to be trained, or how frequently training must occur.

All other carriers
•    Since at this time they do not provide SB 1343 compliance training, if you type on Google “State Bill 1343 training”, you will find several companies that will do this training.

Remember, you only have until 01/01/21 to comply to this requirement.

Greetings to All,
 
Yes, the rains are coming!
 
Rick and I always hated this time of year, why, because we knew we had to run over to our Dad’s small commercial building in Pasadena and clean the gutters of all the berries, leaves, etc. It was dirty, messy and we never enjoyed it.
 
The reason we bring this up is because on your current Insurance Policy there is NO COVERAGE for “wear & tear”damage or claims arising out of poor maintenance.  So if you are not doing annual cleaning and inspecting your canopies, outdoor fuel signs, and outdoor light posts, you may be shooting yourself in your foot. We have had numerous claims over the years.  For example; a sign post blowing down by the wind and when the Insurance Company inspected the post they found the bracket and bolts that attached the post to the ground were rusted and corroded.   Therefore, they declined paying the loss  due to poor maintenance. So clean those gutters, scrape the rust off & repaint the bolts and brackets. Keep in mind that a lot of your signage / posts are in areas on or near plants and planters, which of course requires watering the plants, and this speeds up the damage to the brackets and bolts.
 
So keep those gutters clean and repaint
 
Thank you and please do not hesitate to call our office for any questions you may have.

Greetings to all!
 
With the recent outbreak of major fires in the Southern California area and the significant loss of property, we would like to deter from the subject of business insurance in this newsletter and focus on some of the more important items you should be aware of on your homeowners policy.
 
Many of us, myself included, tend to not review our homeowner policies in detail.  And unfortunately, many personal lines agents don’t take the time to call you or sit with you, and go over the details of your policy.
 
Here are some important items you should be looking for:

          •    Replacement cost limits – Insurance companies will determine the replacement cost value of your home by putting your information into their replacement cost calculators. Different insurance companies use different calculators and come up with different values. Sometimes these replacement costs differ from one company to another and therefore, there is a considerable difference in price and coverage.  In addition, even if the insurance company comes up with a replacement cost value, IT IS NOT NECESSARILY A GUARANTEED REPLACEMENT COST. This means that if their replacement cost calculation was incorrect, they are only obligated to pay that limit. However, most companies do provide an Extended Replacement Cost percentage on their policy. This would “extend” or increase the replacement cost value by a certain percentage ie: 125%, 150% and even 200%.  Of course the percentage is set by the insurance company, and again it can vary from one insurance company to another.

           •    Policy forms and enhancements – There are many different policy forms and enhancements that each insurance company offers on their homeowners policies. Some of these enhancements increase coverages such as; loss of use and the limits for items like jewelry, money, coins, etc.. at little additional expense. For you collectors, with items at higher values, including fine art, guns, high-end furniture and expensive jewelry, you will still need to schedule or itemized them on your policy.
         
          •    Scheduled items – As mentioned above, there are restricted limits on what an insurance company will pay for on loss of high valued items. Expensive jewelry, furs, fine art, stamp & coin collections, firearms, musical instruments and high-quality cameras are just some of the things you may need to schedule on your policy, to make sure you will be paid for the full value. Again, this will vary with each company. Example: Nationwide only requires items to be scheduled for theft claims only, in order to be fully covered. However, if your house burnt down, you are fully covered on these items even if they were not scheduled for fire. Some other companies would not cover such a claim and require those items to be scheduled separately for each type of loss.

           •      Ordinance of Law – This is always an important coverage in a total loss, especially for older homes. Most companies automatically include this in their policies, yet again, the amount of coverage may vary from one company to another and would depend on which enhancements you get.
 
          •     Liability limit – Personal Umbrella! Personal Umbrella! Personal Umbrella! We can’t state this one enough. We have all worked hard for many years and our net worth has gone up. Personal Umbrella protection is very inexpensive and jury awards are going up, up, up, especially in Southern California. It is very important to look at having personal umbrella coverage protection.

 Take the time and insist that your agent review all your policies and coverages with you in detail – that’s what we get paid to do. If you are not receiving the service you deserve and are paying for...remember, at RKM Insurance Agency we offer personal lines insurance coverage and are happy to review your current policy with you in detail.
 
Thank you again for your continued business and placing your trust in us and we wish everyone an enjoyable holiday season.

Several of our customers have now received a letter from an attorney, with an indication of a potential lawsuit regarding the sales of
Rhino 8 Platinum8000 and ExtenZone 3000 products. We have attached a copy below of one like letter for your review.
 
If you are selling these products, it's important that you read this carefully.
 
This is not yet an official lawsuit, but appears to be solicitation for money, in this case $17,600, to avoid a potential future lawsuit.
 
If you receive this letter or a lawsuit that develops from these allegations, it is not covered under any standard insurance policy.
 
Please be advised that RKM Insurance cannot legally comment on the merit of this letter or advise you in any way whether or not you should be selling these products. We are only keeping you abreast of potential exposures that are out there, so that you can look into this issue and make an informed business decision for yourself.
 
A reminder; this is a continuous email. Scroll down for other important insurance related issues, previously sent.
 
Thank you again for your continued business!

We have just received two new “handicap” lawsuits.

These lawsuits are from a “vision” impaired person suing because the station did not have “detectable warnings” . By detectable warning, they mean the yellow Truncated Dome Pads with the small (bumps) on them.  We’ve all seen these at every street corner (see attached picture). Well, apparently now the attorneys are aggressively pursuing these violations of the ADA law.

I'm sure most of you have heard of similar handicap lawsuits in the past, however it's important for you to know that these types of claims are NOT covered under a normal Liability policy.

We’ve previously recommended in these newsletters, that it would benefit your business to hire a Certified Access Specialist to inspect your premises and make sure that you are in full compliance of all the existing and new handicap ADA laws. In addition they will advise you exactly where these Pad need to be installed. Please consider getting these installed ASAP, to avoid potential law suits. We also stress the importance of getting these professionally installed,  because if not installed correctly, they could create a trip/fall hazard.

Again, we strongly recommend that you do so immediately!

We are always happy to keep you informed on the latest Insurance trends to help protect your business, and we appreciate your time.  Please feel free to contact your agent for any insurance questions you may have.

Thank you for being an important part of RKM Insurance Agency.

Greetings to all!

Another issue, one of our Customers had a large employee theft of over $100,000 in cash in a one year period, all by voiding out sales.  As an example, this employee would ring up 10cent sales on items worth $20.00 and pocket the money.  Ric and I have heard these stories thru out the years from so many of our customers. It is usually a long term well trusted employee who's been there anywhere from 5 - 10 years. It may be worth it for you to do thorough background check on any and all employees.
 
Most of you have sons and daughters learning the business, maybe they, or an employee in charge can review the end of day or end of shift reports and look for multiple voids or suspicious charges of .05, .10 or .20cents enough times to raise a red flag, take the time and review the video. This simple practice may save you more than you think.

Thank you for your continued business.

To our valued customers!

A very happy New Year 2019.  Our first News-Email subject will focus on Propane Exposure, Filling Process and Leaks.

In the last 35 years, RKM has seen many Propane claims ranging from the normal to the severe; Whether it's a propane fueled vehicle explosion, or a recently filled propane tank exploding at home. We’ve seen it all, including a total loss of a Motor Home during the filling process due to a unique stove modifications which resulted in a propane leak and explosion.

As a result of these claims, every so often insurance companies become more strict in their underwriting rules and expectations.

For your information and convenience, we have listed below, some important safety tips and what to dos’ in the filling process and/or leaks.  

Filling Process 
Only trained and qualified personnel should be allowed to fill propane containers.  Gas companies often offer initial and annual training to customers who plan to fill propane on site.  It is very important to complete the training and maintain the documentation for future reference.  In addition, make sure your employees are comfortable and confident on this job!
Safety tips on the filling process:

•    As a general rule, Propane tanks should be within 100 feet of delivery vehicle access.
•    Always wear approved gloves—gas under pressure can cause serious burns!
•    Remove all new containers and used containers that have been left open.
•    Always follow proper filling procedures as directed by a qualified trainer.
•    NEVER overfill a container. Overfilled containers may release product and are ILLEGAL!
•    Adjust the scale beam slide for proper size and weight of container.
•    Stop filling immediately when the scale beam rises and/or liquid spews from the fixed liquid level gauge.
•    Additional training is required for filling permanently mounted containers (for example, truck mounted). Be sure to shut off the engine and other potential ignition sources.
•    Always know the location of the emergency shut off valve and/or disconnect in the event of a leak or emergency.

What to do if there is a leak:

•    NO FLAMES OR SPARKS. Immediately put out all smoking materials and other open flames. Do not operate lights, appliances, telephones, or cell phones. Flames or sparks from these sources can trigger an explosion or a fire.
•    LEAVE THE AREA IMMEDIATELY. Get everyone out of the building or area where you suspect gas is leaking.
•    SHUT OFF THE GAS. Turn off the main gas supply valve on your propane tank, if it is safe to do so. To close the valve, turn it to the right (clockwise).
•    REPORT THE LEAK. From a building away from the gas leak, call your propane retailer right away. If you can’t reach your propane retailer, call 911 or your local fire department.
•    DO NOT RETURN TO THE BUILDING OR AREA until your propane retailer determines that it is safe to do so.
•    GET YOUR SYSTEM CHECKED. Before you attempt to use any of your propane appliances, your propane retailer or a qualified service technician must check your entire system to ensure that it is leak-free.

Thank you,  

To our valued customers!
 
As most of you know, RKM has been specializing in the Gas Station insurance for over 30 years. Yes that is a long time and with that, changes occur.  For example, at RKM, we have gone from an Individual / Sole Proprietor agency to now a Corporation.

It is vitally important for you to notify RKM  immediately of any change to your business operation!   We will then make sure the Insurance company is fully aware of these changes and the proper endorsements are in place.  You need to be covered correctly at all times to avoid serious consequences such as;  audits to your Workers Comp. policy, which can result in very large additional premiums and more seriously, a possible declination of coverage altogether.
If there is an exclusion to be made, this will require a waiver to be signed by all excluded parties  and must be accepted by the Insurance Company.
 
We find that many of you forget to notify us of these very important changes.  Please review below and make sure RKM  is  up-to-date on your current status.
 
Note: None of these changes will be retroactive.
 
Change of Ownership; Individual / Sole Proprietor, Partnership, Corporation, LLC, etc.
 
Change in Officers, Shareholders, and Family Members...Adding or Removing, or Excluding, etc.

Again, we urge you to contact our office immediately of any changes you have made to your Business Operation, so that we can discuss options with you.

Greetings to all,

Sign Damage
As you can see by the pictures attached this looks to be a minor loss.  However, after everything is said and done,  it is approximately north of $13,000.  NEVER underestimate the cost of repairs and/or rebuild.  As you are all aware, the technology age is well upon us and with that comes more expenses. These new Signs can range from $5,000 to $40,000.  So how well are you covered for your signs?? Typically a policy will have limited coverage for Signs, a $1,000 limit, $2500 limit, etc.,  or it may not have coverage at all.  
Therefore, it is very important for you to look at your policy closely and make sure you have enough coverage for a total Sign loss.

Yes, the Auto Insurance on the vehicle that caused the damage is at fault,  however ,  if the vehicle owner has “minimum coverage “, in the State of California, this means he only has $5,000 for Property Damage or even worse he has no coverage at all.  This is why you need to protect you Sign/s fully on YOUR policy.

One last bit of good news,  if you scroll down to “Issue V” you will see we discuss “Wear & Tear”. Keep in mind that usually your Sign is being hit by sprinklers to water the plants. Although that helps the appearance of your Facility it also causes water damage / rust.
If the Signage falls down because of a poor maintenance program there will be NO coverage.  We recommend a once a year maintenance to sand and repair these troubled areas.

Thank you for your continued business!

In the 35 years that we have been specializing in insuring service stations, every so often we run into
a period where claims activity significantly increases.

THIS IS ONE OF THOSE TIMES.

WORKERS COMPENSATION:

Within the last month, we have had two cashiers shot and killed at service stations we insure. In both of these
very unfortunate situations, they were family men with children.   Both very tragic and devastating losses.

While many of these types of claims are sadly unavoidable, it is crucial to do your part and have the proper
protection in place, such as utilizing the cash drawers for the night shift, teach your employees to always be aware of their surroundings, never confront or follow a thief,  call the police, panic button , etc

This will help provide added safety to your employees, as well as keep your Workers Compensation cost down.

In addition, when you have these serious workers compensation claims involving a death, or hospitalization,
you MUST inform OSHA within 24 hours of that incident.  If you fail to do so, you can be subject to hefty fines. We recommend for you to visit “Calosh.org “ and
get familiar with the Laws, Penalty’s and Fines . Plus they have very useful articles and examples.

LIABILITY (SLIP/FALLS):

Unfortunately we are currently seeing a rise in the slip/fall claims and of course the claim payouts have significantly increased.  
In most cases these type of claims are difficult for the insurance company to defend without adequate evidence, pictures, witnesses, video’s, etc.

Again, many of these claims are also unavoidable, so here are some important suggestions to highly consider;

•    Document regular facility inspections (through-out the day) to immediately clean up any slip/fall hazards
such as oil/gasoline spills that may have been left by a previous customer car.
•    Right away take pictures of where the customer alleges they fell
•    Keep the video of the incident. In the State of California, an individual has up to 2 years to file a law suit for bodily injury. Therefore, keep a copy of that video incident in your files for at least the 2 years.
•    Immediately patch up any pot holes and large cracks to prevent claims.

Thank you for your continuing business

For those of you that might have overlooked ”Employment Practices Liability - I“ (please use the side bar to review) concerning the growing claims between an Employer and Employee, or maybe missed hearing about a fellow Gas Station operator who is currently faced with a large multi-million dollar class action lawsuit.    RKM is here to continue to keep you well informed.
 
Even if you do not purchase an EPLI policy, which can be costly and with very high deductibles ($10,000 to $50,000), you should keep up with what’s going on in your industry and educate yourself to help reduce the possibility of having a loss.
 
California is always passing new laws that affect us business owners every day, drive us nuts and costs us money . You should be able to open the new “ Updates “ for California (see attached). We urge you to take the time and read through the links provided in the attached.  

Please contact your Agent at RKM (Randy, Rick, Brandon, Rola, Ernie or Barry) for any questions you may have, and we will be happy to assist you.

Thank you again for your continuing business