Full Business Insurance

Insurance Premiums may be Tax Deductible

December 16, 2009 – 5:48 am

As we get closer to the end of the year and your business is looking for tax savings, remember that certain insurance premiums are tax deductible as a business expense. I have posted an article on that issue that explains the most common premium deductions.

It is often worthwhile, especially if you are a small business on a cash accounting system, to review those liability policies that have renewal dates close to the new year. For example, a professional liability policy may have a six-month premium of $1000 due on February 1, 2010. If that premium is paid in advance (assuming the insurer allows) by year end, then the realization of that deduction comes for the 2009 tax year.

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80% use Chartis to insure exposures: Survey

December 16, 2009 – 1:02 am

Of commercial buyers that insure with Chartis, Barclays said roughly 75% of those customers plan to stay with the unit despite AIG’s troubles, up sharply from 40% of customers who said they would stay with Chartis in July.

“Risk managers appear less concerned about Chartis’ financial strength and, in some cases, Chartis was able to offer more capacity than its competitors,” analysts with New York-based Barclays Capital wrote in the report.

Barclays said it surveyed 43 risk managers. Roughly half of the respondents were from Fortune 1000 companies, with the rest from institutions or smaller companies with a full-time risk manager.

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Zurich places $225M catastrophe bond for Calif. quakes

December 13, 2009 – 9:46 pm

The bond, Lakeside Re II Ltd., offers three years of reinsurance protection to the Schaumburg, Ill.-based insurer. Other units of Zurich Financial Services Group may be added as ceding insurers from time to time, S&P said. The Class A notes cover losses in excess of $500 million on a per-occurrence basis.

The deal is expected to close Dec. 23, according to New York-based S&P, which rated the bond BB-.

Risk modeling is based on Newark, Calif.-based Risk Management Solutions Inc.’s U.S. earthquake model version 9.0.

This is the third catastrophe bond with which Zurich American has been involved. The first was Kamp Re, which defaulted because of losses related to Hurricane Katrina.

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End of the Year Insurance Planning

December 11, 2009 – 5:13 pm

As the second Friday of December passes us by and we head off for the weekend (dome of us anyways), keep in mind there are only twenty days left until the end of the year.

End of the year is the perfect time to review your company’s business insurance. It is a good time to make sure that equipment purchased during the year is insured. It is a good time to make sure that automobiles and their drivers are properly identified. Update procedure manuals, review wellness plans, meet with your insurance professional–these and other steps are perfectly suited for the end of the year because the steps coincide with tax planning.

I have a post where I suggest a ten-step annual review.

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AIG retention bonuses OK for ‘critical’ execs: Pay czar

December 10, 2009 – 12:10 pm

The awards, which AIG called “legally binding contracts,” were outlined in a broader report by Kenneth Feinberg, the Treasury Department’s special master for executive compensation.

“Due to the unique financial circumstances currently found to exist at AIG,” restructuring the 2009 contracts would not be consistent with the public interest, the report said.

The report also outlined compensation rules on the 26th to 100th highest-paid employees at AIG and three other companies that received bailout funds. Mr. Feinberg previously ruled on compensation for the 25 highest-paid employees.

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Employers shun health reform despite deal

December 9, 2009 – 9:26 pm

Business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have long opposed Democratic efforts to expand access to health insurance, including a government alternative to private coverage that they say would undermine the ability of employers to offer health benefits to their workers.

There are enough other weak spots in the bill that employers still cannot back the measure, they said.

“The bill … is full of costly new mandates on business that will only lead businesses to lower wages on employees, lower working hours on many other employees, reduce hiring and lose jobs,” the chamber’s executive vp, Bruce Josten, told reporters on Wednesday.

Senators embraced a plan late on Tuesday in which private insurers could offer nationwide insurance coverage overseen by the federal government.

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