All our Customers,

The good news is that currently it looks like our normal claims , slip & falls, pump damage , etc. has slowed down during the COVID-19 virus. The bad news is along with the COVID-19 virus there will be constantly new regulations , which we all love to see.
Below is a summary of SB 1159, which was recently passed. Please read carefully. If you don’t comply with this new State bill, there could be significant financial penalties.
You can contact your Workers Comp. Carrier directly for additional advice and assistance when filing optional claims and you should have received additional information regarding SB 1159 from your Workers Compensation carrier.
We are also here to assist  so don’t hesitate to call us                                                                                                                                                                             

IMPORTANT NOTICE: New regulations regarding COVID-19 employer requirements have gone into effect for California.
At RKM Insurance, we are dedicated to keeping you up-to-date and informed when critical notifications (such as these) directly impact you, your clients, and your business.

California Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed two bills into law: SB1159 and AB685. These place immediate requirements on California employers and will remain effective from September 17, 2020 through January 1, 2023.
Please review this information carefully as these obligations carry severe administrative penalties (up to $10,000) for failure to comply.

The First Bill: SB1159 – COVID-19 Workers’ Compensation Presumption Bill
Here are the rules for this important reporting obligation:
Positive Tests on (or after) September 17, 2020 (Must be reported in 3 Business Days)
ALL OF THE FOLLOWING must be reported to Your Insurance Carrier within 3 business days of being notified that your employee tested positive for COVID-19:
1.    TEST RESULT: Report that an employee tested positive. Do not identify the employee by name unless the employee claims the infection was work-related.
2.    DATE: Report the date the employee tested positive. This is the date the test was taken.
3.    ADDRESS: Include the address of the specific place(s) of employment where the infected employee worked during the 14-day period before testing positive.
4.    EMPLOYEE TOTAL: First, please take note of the date your employee tested positive. Second, with that date in mind, please note the number of employees who came into work within 45 days before this date. Businesses must report the highest number of employees who came to work (at the same locations where the infected employee worked) in the 45-day period before the infected employee’s last day on-the-job.
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Positive Tests between July 6, 2020 and September 17, 2020 (Must be reported by Oct. 29,2020)
1.    TEST AMOUNTS: Report all known positive tests by October 29, 2020.
2.    TEST RESULT: Report that an employee tested positive. Do not identify the employee by name unless the employee claims the infection was work-related.
3.    DATE: Report the date the employee tested positive. This is the date the test was taken.
4.    ADDRESS: Include the address of the specific place(s) of employment where the infected employee worked during the 14-day period before testing positive.
5.    EMPLOYEE TOTAL: First, please take note of the date your employee tested positive. Second, with that date in mind, please note the number of employees who came into work within 45 days before this date. Businesses must report the highest number of employees who came to work (at the same locations where the infected employee worked) in the 45-day period before the infected employee’s last day on-the-job.

Please note these regulations only apply to businesses with 5 or more employees.
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The Second Bill: AB685 – Employer’s Written Notice for Exposed Employees

You also need to be aware of the second bill, Assembly Bill 685. This bill will be effective on January 1, 2021 and requires California businesses to notify their employees who may have been exposed to COVID-19 at their worksite within one business day.

We hope that you, your employees, and your families are staying safe during this time

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!