Kevin Brunson Daily Mountain Trail Runner and NV Insurance Agent.

How do I obtain workers’ compensation insurance in Nevada? Nevada law requires all business owners in the State of Nevada to obtain and maintain workers’ compensation coverage, especially those with one or more employees. There are very few exceptions to this requirement. Business owners failing to comply with this law face fines up to $10,000, may have their business ordered closed until the insurance has been obtained and be held financially responsible for all costs associated with an employee who sustains a work related injury when the employer has no workers' compensation insurance coverage. Since January 1, 2000, Nevada no longer provides workers’ compensation through a State fund. However, employers may obtain workers’ compensation insurance from a private insurance company authorized to provide workers’ compensation in Nevada by the Division of Insurance (DOI). If qualified, an employermay be self-insured through an approval process overseen by the DOI. For smaller business

What types of property insurance should I consider buying? The best thing to do is to take a complete inventory of all your business property, determine all of its value and decide if each is worth insuring. Then check to see that the items on the inventory list are included in the basic business property policy and covered for the correct amount. If not, ask your Trusted Choice® agent about the cost of purchasing additional coverage to meet your needs. You also need to consider your business situation. Are you planning a major expansion? Does your inventory have a decidedly peak season (like a toy store in December)? Or does it fluctuate throughout the year (like a clothing store)? Is your liability limit high enough in light of the new job contract you just signed? Business policies are designed to be added to or subtracted from to meet your needs. Be sure to discuss changes to your business with your Trusted Choice® agent so that he or she can help you ensure your policy still provi

FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY To ensure that innocent parties are adequately compensated for their injuries, Nevada law requires that all registered owners of a motor vehicle have security for tort liability arising from the use of their motor vehicles. For most Nevadans, security will be in the form of an insurance policy. Nevada law requires that the insurance policy must minimally provide coverage in the amount of $15,000 for bodily injury or death of one person in an accident, $30,000 for bodily injury or death of two or more persons in an accident, and $10,000 for injury or damage to the property of others. This coverage is generally described as 15/30/10. When you have liability coverage, your insurance company will pay for the victim's damages up to your policy limits. If you choose, you can increase your coverage for added protection. The penalty for not having liability auto insurance is severe. Nevada Revised Statute 482.480 states that if you are the owner of a motor

THE TORT SYSTEM Insurance provides protection to consumers by assuming certain risks and promising to pay for financial loss. The type of insurance you buy will be based on how the financial loss can occur. In Nevada , legal and financial responsibility is based upon the law of negligence. A negligent act which causes damage is legally known as a tort. If an accident is your fault, that is, you are negligent, you are responsible for bodily injury and property damages suffered by the innocent party. Source: Nevada Division of Insurance

Credit Scores – Credit scoring/insurance scoring is a mechanism by which insurance companies determine eligibility and pricing for automobile and homeowners’ insurance. The legal authority typically cited for the use of credit scores for the purpose of insurance is the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The FCRA “allows” but does not mandate the use of credit information in the acceptance and pricing of insurance. The insurance industry generally favors the use of credit scores to determine the price to charge someone for insurance. They believe credit scores are a good predictor of losses, increase the availability of insurance by providing fair rates to all and are not based on an individual’s gender, age, or national origin. The insurance industry maintains that credit scores indicate how an individual manages his assets and is an inexpensive tool that is not directly subject to manipulation by the consumer. Some of the factors that may negatively affect a person’s cred

Canceling Your Insurance or Registration If you drop the liability insurance on any vehicle for any reason, you must also cancel the registration by surrendering the license plates. If you cancel your insurance, it is extremely important for you to do the following: If you cancel your insurance because your vehicle is not in use, you must cancel your Nevada registration. If you sell your vehicle, you must remove the license plates, then cancel your Nevada registration. The license plates do not stay on the vehicle. You will receive credit toward registration of another vehicle for the unused portion of the canceled registration. You may qualify for a refund under certain limited circumstances. If you have personalized plates and wish to keep them, you may do so by bringing the rear plate to the DMV and scraping off the decal in person. Source: www.dmvnv.com

This blog was created to post insurance related information. For the most part this blog is a way for a low-tech. insurance agent (thats me) to provide insurance related information to consumers. My goal is to create a one stop (mostly Nevada specific) insurance information source. Most of the information is obtained from government and non-profit websites, so this information is directed towards educating the insurance consumer. Philosophy: As a recently converted (about 3 years ago) independent (represent multiple insurance carriers) insurance agent, I have developed more of a risk management philosophy. From this viewpoint, purchasing an insurance policy is a strategic decision aimed at an individual or business (risk sharing arrangement with an insurance carrier). Many times this concept is lost because some insurance is mandatory, however, in most cases insurance policies are packaged to include additional coverages that can be customized (inexpensively) to meet your specific ne