Business & Insurance Services

Buildings & Property Insurance

Business Income Insurance

Should the unthinkable happen – a devastating fire, a major weather event – can your business survive any potential interruption in revenue? This is the kind of question that can keep business owners awake at night. Carrying sufficient business income insurance, which reimburses you for lost revenue if your business is unable to operate because of a fire or storm-related closure, can help your business endure challenging times. It may even help you sleep through the night. Allow Amplified to custom-tailor a program specifically to your business’s needs.

Cyber Liability Insurance

Cyber hacking is no longer the fictional stuff of offbeat films about awkward adolescents seeking relatively-harmless revenge for a ruined romance. It is now one of the biggest threats companies face. It happens every day in real life and the results can be devastating. Guard your company’s electronically-stored assets against hacking with cyber liability insurance. An effective cyber liability program isn’t your grandfather’s kind of insurance, and Amplified isn’t your grandfather’s insurance agency.

Commercial Auto Insurance

Not every company requires commercial auto insurance. The time to determine whether or not your company does need it – and exactly which kinds and how much – is before an accident happens. The types of companies that typically carry commercial auto insurance are those whose primary business is in the transportation industry. These can include trucking companies and van lines, fuel, petroleum, hazardous material and waste haulers, and specialty transportation companies such as ambulances, school buses and livery operators. Assuming a standard auto insurance policy covers your needs can be shortsighted. At Amplified, don’t assume. We evaluate and offer solutions.

Commercial General Liability Insurance

There are two types of commercial general liability (CGL) insurance; occurrence basis and claims made basis. Both cover the same “what” – damages your organization is obligated to pay because of an issue with your company’s premises, operations and products. It’s the “when” that varies with each type. Occurrence basis covers incidents that happen during the policy period’s coverage. Claims made basis CGL covers claims that are presented during the period of coverage.  Amplified will help you sort through the ‘what, why, and how much’ and make certain your company is fully protected.

Directors & Officers Liability Insurance

Take your business to the next level with insurance that’s designed to protect decision makers. Unlike management liability insurance, which covers the liabilities of a corporation as a whole, directors and officers (D&O) liability insurance protects a company’s individual directors and officers as well. It provides both your company, and directors and officers, with protection against legal action brought about by errors and trademark infringement, and questions of fulfilling contractual obligations. Encourage think-outside- the-box thinking by protecting your team with a D&O program from Amplified.

Employee Benefits Liability Insurance

Mistakes happen. When it comes to today’s ever-changing landscape of the laws governing employee benefits, they’re virtually unavoidable. Even when a company has done its due diligence in researching employee benefits – such as retirement and investment plans, and health insurance –an unintentional error or omission can have a negative financial impact on an employee. When this happens, employee benefits liability insurance provides your company, and your employees, with a safety net by covering monetary loss. What it doesn’t do is provide financial protection or compensation in the case of discrimination or harassment situations. That’s where employee practices liability insurance comes in.

Employment Practices Liability Insurance

What happens when your company is faced with an unforeseen discrimination or harassment lawsuit? It’s a question that concerns every employer. The first step in addressing these concerns is adopting a clear and concise employee policy. The second is in securing comprehensive employee practices liability insurance (EPL). EPL insurance works hand-in- hand with your internal employment practices to provide resources to defend your company. Securing EPL insurance coverage ensures that your company has sufficient protection against employment-related lawsuits.

Errors & Omissions Insurance

While it may be true that “to err is human,” a pithy saying won’t protect your company against lawsuits brought about by an error or omission made by a team member. What will protect your business is a wide-ranging errors and omissions insurance policy (E&O). Also known as professional liability insurance (PLI), this type of insurance protects companies, and individuals within the company who provide professional advice and services, from many of the financial ramifications incurred in defending a claim of negligence. Protect your business and your team by allowing Amplified to review your company’s needs.

Fiduciary Liability Insurance

There are set standards regarding how a company oversees employee benefits plans like financial investments and healthcare benefits. Failure to follow these standards may result in legal liability. Should that happen, fiduciary liability insurance helps cover any costs incurred by the insured. The definition of insured is broad and can include: a trust or employee benefit plan, any trustee, officer or employee of the trust or employee benefit plan, and an employer who is the sole sponsor of a plan, and any other individual or organization designated as a fiduciary.

Products Liability Insurance

It doesn’t matter whether your business manufactures, distributes or sells a product; if someone is harmed by that product, your company could be held liable. While it may seem that products liability insurance – also known as manufacturers insurance – should only be carried by a business that actually creates a product, many states adhere to a ‘stream of commerce’ model which means that wholesale and retail businesses can also be held responsible if someone gets hurt. Amplified will work with you in determining whether or not your business requires products liability insurance, and then ensure that you’re carrying a sufficient amount.

Surety/Bonds

Generally speaking, the purpose of surety bonds is to protect against the incomplete, or incorrectly completed, fulfillment of a promise. For businesses, there are two types of surety bonds; contract and non-contract. Contract bonds ensure that contractual obligations are met. Non-contract bonds cover obligations and performance standards that are not set out in a contract. With so many moving parts, figuring out exactly what your company needs can cause problems. Solve the problem with Amplify.

• Bid Bonds: A bid bond guarantees that if a bid is accepted, the work will get done. If a contractor fails to fulfill that guarantee, the bond offsets the cost of reopening the bid process.
• Contract Bonds: A contract bond’s purpose is to provide a guarantee that work will actually be completed once a contract has been signed.
• License & Permit Bonds: Municipalities and states typically require this type of bond in order to obtain the license required to do certain types of business. These can include: contractors, automobile dealers, insurance brokers, mortgage brokers, and title agencies, to name a few.

Umbrella Insurance

Umbrella insurance provides extra liability protection. A homeowner who also owns a car and a boat might purchase umbrella insurance to offer added protection above each individual policy. For businesses, an umbrella policy serves the same overall purpose, but at higher levels and for a wider range of circumstances. There is no such thing as a “standard” umbrella policy. Each is tailored to a business’s specific needs which can make purchasing umbrella insurance feel like a guessing game. Working with Amplified removes the guesswork.

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Workers Compensation Insurance

If your business employs people, you are required to carry workers compensation insurance. That is a cut-in-stone fact. Beyond that, things get a little muddy. Each state mandates that workers compensation is compulsory, but the specific requirements vary from state-to-state. The kind of business you operate also affects workers compensation requirements. There are also federal laws that focus on non-federal employees working in an area under the control of federal authorities. Clearly, there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all policy. Right-size your workers comp insurance with Amplified.

Builders Risk Insurance

Builders risk insurance is a specialized kind of property insurance that covers materials, fixtures and equipment that are damaged during construction. It’s often purchased by a general contractor, but property owners may opt to purchase it as well which, for a business owner, can be a smart move. Whether it is the contractor or the owner of business where work is occurring, whoever holds the builders risk insurance controls the flow of funds in the event of damage. Get control by working with Amplified.

Equipment Breakdown Insurance

Commercial property insurance covers damage to your business’s equipment caused by an external force such as a fire. For coverage caused to equipment by internal forces, additional equipment breakdown insurance is required. The list of “internal forces” which this kind of insurances typically covers is lengthy – power surges, mechanical breakdowns, operator error, etc. – making it a great investment for nearly every business. Not only will it help pay for the cost of repairs, it can help cover lost income and other expenses during downtime.

Pollution Liability

Spills of potentially harmful products or the long-term leaching of toxic substances do not need to reach “superfund status” to cause significant problems. Not even close. The smallest mishap, whether sudden or over time, can lead to pollution that causes harm to someone, or someone’s property. Pollution liability insurance provides coverage for property damage and bodily injury caused by work performed by your company or on behalf of your company. 

Loss Control Surveys

You know the old adage “Forewarned is forearmed”? We suspect it may have been coined by someone who handles loss control surveys. A loss control survey is conducted, typically at a business or commercial property, to identify potential hazards. The possible problems can include water leaks, fire risks, issues with an overall structure such as decay, and potential hazards to employees and visitors. Can a loss control survey be mildly disruptive? Yes. It is a critical component in ensuring safety and attaining competitive insurance rates? Absolutely.

Document Destruction

The rumor that we now live in a paperless world “has been greatly exaggerated.” Even the most tech-savvy company generates paper; lots and lots of paper, much of it in the form of important documents. Once those documents have become outdated, or scanned into a digital format, what do you do with them? You have them destroyed; safely and securely. That’s where we come in. We’ve partnered with a leading company which provides secure containers and onsite document destruction.

Underwriting Inspections

An underwriting inspection is often performed prior to – or just after – a new property insurance policy takes effect. They can also be done periodically throughout the duration of a policy’s coverage. These are a straightforward, standard way to ensure that the physical assets of your business have been properly classified and are in good condition. In addition to reviewing the exterior of all buildings, a full inspection of interior areas and mechanical systems is also done.

Data Warehousing

Cutting-edge data warehousing can take your business to the next level. By securely gathering vast amounts of information – both current and historic – from multiple sources within a business, and then analyzing it, data warehousing reviews the facts and recognizes trends, and determines outlooks, that can improve a business’s overall performance. While data warehousing may not perform to IBM’s Watson’s standards, it can far outperform even the most skilled analyst in providing salient information.

Property Replacement Costs

Things lose value as they age, or they become obsolete. The cost of things also changes over time. There can be a great disparity in the value of a particular “thing” as well. A 15-year-old bargain-basement computer is not as valuable as a top-of-the-line computing system. Insuring your business’s physical property and equipment using a property replacement cost model, rather than an actual cash value one, means that should that top-of-the-line computing system be destroyed, you will be reimbursed based on how much it will cost to replace it with a current version of a similar product.

Workers Comp Risk Management

Workers comp risk management is a multi-pronged approach for reducing employee injuries. It has a dual benefit of increased productivity and decreased workers comp insurance claims and premiums. Thorough workers comp risk management identifies and analyses risk factors and the potential of workers comp insurance claims. It then recognizes elements to manage that risk. The final prong is creating a system to minimize the potential for injury moving forward. It’s a common sense method that benefits both employees and business owners.

Tool Box Talks

In industries such as construction and manufacturing, safety is something that needs to be part of the daily conversation. Toolbox talks do just that. They are typically an informal chat at the beginning or end of employees’ workday that focus on a particular issue. As a supervisor is laying out the tasks of the day, he or she may spend a couple of minutes talking about the importance of wearing safety glasses. The next day, the topic might be hardhats or “lifting with the knees, not the back.” Regular toolbox talks keep safety on everyone’s minds.

Safety Consulting & Training Tools

For businesses with a greater potential of worker injury, such as the building industry, utility companies and manufacturers, engaging an outside agency to address safety issues and training procedures can be a smart investment. The services provided often include identifying potential risks, and then enacting systems and processes for improved safety, and ensuring OSHA compliance, in an effort to reduce injuries and workers comp insurance claims.

Business Contingency Planning

How will your company fair if the worst happens? Should an unlikely catastrophe occur, will your business be able to survive? Business contingency planning is the part of the loss control and risk management equation that addresses this. A thoughtful contingency plan, one that takes into consideration a wide range of potential problems and the resulting outcomes, can allow your company to withstand an unexpected upheaval.