Who Needs Workers’ Compensation Insurance?

If you own a business in Evergreen Park, IL and you have employees, it may be a good idea to familiarize yourself with workers’ compensation insurance options. If you’re just opening a business, you are probably aware that workers’ compensation is required by law. However, not all policies are created equal. Your agent at Martin Insurance Team can help you find a provider that best meets the needs of you and your employees.

What Is Workers’ Compensation Insurance?

Workers’ compensation insurance covers illness and injury experienced by someone who works for you during the normal course of business. There are some exemptions, so ask your agent for clarification on when workers’ compensation is mandated for your business. 

Whether or not you qualify for an exemption, you may want to consider getting coverage. Just one incident can generate medical and related expenses that may threaten your business’s financial standing. If you are legally required to have workers’ compensation and don’t get it, you could end up with a fine.

What’s Not Covered?

Injuries that occur outside of work or while commuting aren’t covered, nor is an intentional injury. If the employee comes to work under the influence of drugs or alcohol, they are not entitled to workers’ compensation.

Who Does Workers’ Comp Cover?

The answer depends on where your business is located. For example, seasonal employees may not be covered.

Should You Get Workers’ Compensation for a Sole Proprietorship?

Sole proprietors don’t typically need worker’s compensation.

When you need answers about workers’ comp in Evergreen Park, IL, contact Martin Insurance Team. You can ask any questions you have regarding insurance to protect your home or business. Make an appointment to get a quote that covers all your insurance needs. 

Benefits of Getting Transportation Insurance

The transportation industry is a very important one as it helps to ensure that a product is delivered from a manufacturer to a customer. To ensure that this is able to happen, all people and companies rely on the transportation industry. For those that are in the transportation industry, having insurance in place to protect these products is very important. For transportation companies in the Evergreen Park, IL area, there are several benefits that come with transportation insurance.

Cargo Liability

One unique benefit that comes with having transportation insurance is that you will receive liability coverage for the cargo that you are transporting. Depending on the products that you are shipping, you could be handling assets worth a lot of money. When you have transportation insurance, you will receive coverage in the event the cargo is damaged, stolen, or vandalized. Most customers of a transportation company will want to make sure that you have this coverage in place.

Auto Liability

A transportation insurance policy will also provide you wtih standard auto liability insurance. When you are driving a truck, you are going to need to have auto liability insurnace at all times in order to comply with state laws. The transportation insurance policy will include this coverage to ensure that you are in compliance with state laws and covered for auto accident liability. 

If you want to get a transportation service in the Evergreen Park, IL area, it is important to discuss your needs and options with a professional. The insurance professionals at the Martin Insurance Team could provide you with a wide variety of different services to ensure you are able to get into a great policy. The Martin Insurance Team will be able to answer all of your questions and help you build a great transportation insurance policy. 

Keep on Truckin’ With Insurance Protection

Truckers have expanded needs for insurance because they need to protect their truck, the contents being hauled, their business, and themselves. To be sure you have adequate trucking insurance, it is important to work closely with your agent at Martin Insurance Team serving Evergreen Park, IL. The agents are specialists in trucking insurance with many years of experience in supporting truckers and the trucking industry.

Trucking Insurance Needs

Here is an overview of the main components of adequate trucking insurance that include all the categories of insurance to consider.

Truck Insurance

The first part of comprehensive trucking insurance is the protection of the truck itself. Replacement cost is the best protection for commercial vehicle insurance.  Road service and towing coverage are good to have as well. 

Hauling Coverage

Insurance of the contents being hauled is based on the value of the contents. Hauling coverage insurance is based on the value of the content being transported. This may be up to a certain limit that is sufficient for the average value of each haul or adjustable coverage based on the specific value of each shipment.

Business Interruption 

This protection helps provide money to cover expenses when the truck cannot operate because of circumstances beyond the control of the truck owner. Trip cancellation may be caused by inclement weather and this may be part of the risk that is mitigated by having business interruption insurance.

Truck Drivers 

Independent operators may need other types of insurance such as health insurance and key person life insurance to have adequate coverage for all the risk to the truck drivers themselves. Make sure any valuable personal property that is taken along on road trips, such as laptops or smartphones are also covered.

Work with your agent at Martin Insurance Team in Evergreen Park, IL to get a comprehensive trucking insurance review and a quote for adequate insurance coverage that is sufficient for your needs.

How Life Insurance Can be Used to Create a Tax Free Retirement

Figuring out a financial plan for your future is very important. One part of a financial plan that always needs to be considered is your life insurance needs. While many younger individuals in the Evergreen Park, IL area will purchase life insurance when they are young, there are benefits to getting it when you are old as well. In fact, life insurance could be used to create a tax-free retirement for either yourself, your spouse, or your dependents.

1035 Exchange

One method that you can follow that could help you to turn your life insurance policy into a tax-free retirement would be to get a 1035 Exchange. With this program, you will be able to convert the cash value of your whole life policy into an annuity. Depending on the annuity that you get, you can either tax defer this capital or get a tax free annuity entirely. This could help to drastically reduce your long-term tax liability. 

Collect Benefits

Life insurance can also provide a tax-free retirement for your dependent or spouse if they collect on the policy. If you were to pass away during the time of the policy, the insurance proceeds received will be available to the beneficiary. Any funds that are received will not be taxed by any taxing authority. 

If you would like to learn more about how you could use life insurance to create a tax-free retirement strategy, speaking with the Martin Insurance team would be a great option. The Martin Insurance Team excels at helping Evergreen Park, IL area residents develop long-term financial plans and strategies by incorporating life insurance. They could then help you to create a plan and strategy that is right for your situation. 

Is It A Good Idea To Add A Teenage Driver To Your Auto Policy?

Martin Insurance Team is here to help any parents in Evergreen Park, IL who are looking to add teen drivers to their auto policy. There are certain considerations that need to be made before a motorist can make a final decision. These are the areas that are most commonly discussed when these situations arise…

1. Rates Are Going To Rise

This is a given but it should not deter parents who are looking to insure their young drivers. The accident rates for these drivers are higher but there are discounts available. An experienced insurance agent is able to point their clients in the right direction in this regard. 

2. Liability Insurance Will Increase

These drivers are more likely to be involved in accidents than any other group. As a result, parents who wish to insure their young drivers will want to make sure that they are obtaining the proper amount of liability insurance. Don’t make the mistake of relying on bare minimum coverage. 

3. State Rules

Illinois laws require teen drivers to maintain a certain level of coverage. Bodily injury and property damage are the two primary areas of insurance that have to be discussed. While every parent should certainly take the time to obtain these policies, bare-bones coverage should not be relied upon. Find out more about the other factors that have to be considered.

4. College-Aged Drivers

When children head off to college, they will usually need access to a vehicle and a reliable form of coverage to go with it. Many insurance companies actually offer a discount to students who are heading to college. If the teen lives a certain distance from home and will not be driving the car as often, they often qualify for lower rates. 

5. Continued Driver’s Education 

Driver’s ed does not conclude once the teen has their license. The longer the teen is able to drive without causing an accident or incident, the lower their rates will be. Parents can also enroll their children in various continuing education programs, so that their rates drop even further.

Be sure to meet with Martin Insurance Team as soon as possible to discuss teenage driving concerns. Any concerned parent in Evergreen Park, IL will want to take all of the necessary steps to ensure continued protection for their teenage motorists. 

Exploring All The Options For Health Insurance

Health insurance is a complex subject that can be quite intimidating for the average person to understand. Nevertheless, everybody needs adequate health insurance coverage. A helpful way to face the daunting task of choosing health insurance is to work closely with your agent at Martin Insurance Team, serving Evergreen Park, IL and the surrounding communities.

Here is some terminology to learn that will help with your understanding of health insurance options:

  • Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) — An HMO requires the insured person to visit their facilities to receive health care from the HMO providers.
  • Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) — A PPO has a database of providers that are approved in the PPO’s network A patient can access the services from any of the approved providers.
  • Out-of-Network — In an emergency, coverage may be approved on a case-by-case basis for a person who is not able to see a PPO-approved health care practitioner.
  • Personal Physician — Some people prefer to visit their personal physician. This requires special coverage.
  • Deductible — This is the amount that is the patient’s responsibility to pay on a covered insurance claim.
  • Co-pay — This is the amount a patient must pay for each visit when accessing health care services.
  • Pre-Existing Conditions — This is a medical condition that a patient had before being covered by a new health insurance policy
  • Waiting Period — This may exist in health insurance policies and requires a minimum period before a patient can access certain treatments and health care.
  • Prescription Drug Coverage — This pays some cost for medications. The patient also usually has to make a co-pay for their prescriptions.
  • Preventative Care — Some health insurance plans include preventative care such as an annual checkup and other healthy-lifestyle support programs.
  • Exclusions — These are things not covered by insurance. Ask your agent to explain this carefully.
  • Lifetime Limits — Some policies have a maximum amount that they will pay for claims over the life of a person.

Talk with your agent about all the details of health insurance to make sure you clearly understand them. Contact your agent at Martin Insurance Team in Evergreen Park, IL by calling us to get a quote for health insurance or to review existing coverage to make sure it is adequate.

What do I need to know about disability insurance?

For people in the Evergreen Park, IL area, having proper personal insurance is very important. While most people will understand their needs when it comes to health, home, and auto insurance, there other types of consumer insurance that could prove to be very valuable. One additional type of insurance that you should consider getting is disability insurance. There are several things that you need to know about disability insurance when you are shopping for a new policy. 

Extremely Valuable

Disability insurance is a very valuable part of overall personal insurance. This type of insurance is extremely important as it will help to provide you with protection during your time of need. If you are ever involved in an accident, become ill, or are otherwise not able to do your job, your disability insurance will kick in. This will help to ensure that you have access to money even if you are not able to work.

Flexible Options

Another advantage of disability insurance is that it comes with very flexible terms. When you are shopping for a disability insurance policy, you will find that you can choose a policy that is curtailed to meet your needs and replace your income. This means that anyone will get access to the coverage that they need to properly protect themselves and their families during a challenging situation. 

Choosing the right disability insurance policy is a very big decision. When you are looking to choose a disability insurance policy, you should reach out to the Martin Insurance Team. The Martin Insurance Team can answer all of your questions when it comes to picking a disability insurance policy. They can then help anyone in the Evergreen Park, IL area get into a policy that provides the right coverage. 

Transportation Insurance for a Fleet

If you own or manage a fleet of vehicles used for the transportation of goods, you are likely to have commercial vehicle insurance to cover your entire fleet in the most effective way possible. Another consideration is transportation insurance, also known as cargo transportation insurance. This insurance protects against the risk of damage or loss for goods in transit caused by accidents and natural disasters.

Business owners who frequently ship goods can benefit from transportation insurance as well. Fleet managers who manage in-house transportation of company-to-company transfers of products and parts are wise to use fleet transportation insurance to provide adequate protection for risks to the cargo.

Work with your agent at Martin Insurance Team, serving Evergreen Park, IL and the nearby area, to design a transportation insurance plan that provides adequate coverage and is an integral part of the long-term business strategy

Variable Cargo Values

With your agent discuss the variable range of cargo values to design a transportation insurance plan that provides the basic coverage needed and can add custom coverage as necessary.

Some plans do this by categorizing the cargo values per fully-loaded vehicle at various levels of coverage. The higher the level of value, the more the policy limit is increased for cargo that is more valuable.

Managing these levels of coverage in real-time may improve the process efficiency of insurance coverage by having the level needed for each shipment as appropriate.

Empty Runs

Another thing to discuss with your agent is the flexibility of transportation insurance when it comes to empty runs that carry no cargo that needs to be insured.

Summary

The goal of the fleet management of transportation insurance is to have the coverage needed, when it is needed, without over or under coverage, in order to be cost-efficient in achieving adequate protection. Call to have a commercial vehicle insurance review and get a quote for transportation insurance from your agent at Martin Insurance Team in Evergreen Park, IL.

Basic Motorcycle Maintenance

Martin Insurance Team wants you to enjoy riding your motorcycle around Evergreen Park, IL and the rest of the state, so we want your motorcycle to last. Regular maintenance reduces your need to file claims. It can also help insure that when you need to file a claim due to an accident because of wear and tear contributed to the damage, insurance will not pay.
1.    Install a rear stand if your bike did not come with one. They will help you if you need to work on the drive chain or bike tires.
2.    Like owning a car, you need to change the oil regularly to protect the engine from overheating and part wear and tear.
3.    At each oil change, check for leaks.
4.    Check the tire pressure before you ride. Fill the tires to the appropriate PSI.
5.    Change the tires when the wear indicators show it is needed. 
6.    Insect your brakes, checking the brake pads and fluid. Also, check for leaks.
7.    Check your bearings since that could be what you are hearing if you notice an extra rumble when you ride.
8.    Lubricate your drive chain and make sure it is tight. The lubrication keeps it from binding up.
9.    Check your headlights and brake lights. Make sure the bulbs burn brightly and check the housing for cracks.

Visit Martin Insurance Team of Evergreen Park, IL to learn more about motorcycle maintenance and to check your insurance policy. Riding safely on Illinois roads also requires appropriate levels of insurance. Let us help you plan a policy that protects your investment while you ride the roads. 

What to include on a home inventory

When you own a home, protecting the content is very important. Your personal items may have sentimental value but they may also have financial value. If something happens to your home, you will want to be able to replace the contents. In order to get the correct value of your contents, you have to have the right policy with the right coverage. An inventory can also be very helpful. If you live in Evergreen Park, IL the Martin Insurance Team can help you to understand the ins and outs of a home inventory. 

Begin your inventory one room at a time. Write a detailed description of every single item. Write down a serial number for all items where this is applicable. With electronics and appliances, also write down the model number. If you have a sales slip for the item, this should be placed with the inventory. If you bought the item on sale, you need to know the replacement cost just in case it doesn’t happen to be on sale at the time of your loss. If you have expensive jewelry or antiques, you should have an appraisal of the items. 

Taking pictures of some of your more valuable possession is a very good idea. Don’t forget all the smaller items, imagine having to replace all your Christmas decorations or all of your kitchen implements. Take your time and include everything and then, and this is very important, put your inventory in a safe place. 

When it comes to creating your home inventory, you want to make sure that you include all the things that are of value. If you are in the Evergreen Park, IL area, why not stop by or give the office of Martin Insurance Team a call or visit our website. Our knowledgeable agents will be delighted to give you a no-obligation home insurance quote and answer any questions you may have.