Events covered by your homeowner’s insurance plan are referred to as perils within your policy; but not every peril that causes damage to your property is covered. Those that are not covered are called excluded perils and they may include:

• Earth movement: This can include earthquakes, landslides, earth shifts, mudslides and sinkholes. Policies can, however, have special endorsements that provide limited coverage for some of these perils and special policies can be purchased for others. If you live in an area that is prone to any of these events, you may want to work with an agent to ensure that you are properly covered.
• Neglect: It’s up to every homeowner to take the necessary steps to protect their home and to maintain the property to minimize the chance of losses. If your property becomes damaged as a result of neglect, your home insurance policy likely offers no benefits.
• Acts of war: If your home is damaged during activities connected to a civil war, undeclared war, war-like act by the military or military personnel, or rebellion, your home insurance policy likely excludes coverage. It may also exclude coverage for certain nuclear events.
• Intentional loss: The purpose of a home insurance policy is to make a homeowner whole after a loss that they were not expecting and, when possible, took relative care to prevent or minimize damage from. If a homeowner should be found to cause intentional damage to his or her home, the claim would likely be denied.
• Water damage: Your home insurance policy offers no protection against flood damage. Instead, a separate flood insurance policy is required to protect against the damage imposed by rising bodies of water due to runoff, storm surge, etc. It also does not provide coverage for tidal waves, sewer and drain backup, or leaks in the foundation.
• Government action: If, by government action, your property is confiscated or seized, it isn’t likely to be covered by your policy. However, if a neighborhood fire puts your home at risk and you are ordered out as a safety measure, then fire damage may be covered.
• Ordinance or law: After a loss, if local ordinances or laws require upgrades in rebuilding, then these additional expenses may not be covered.

To discuss your home insurance policy’s exclusions or to get a free Baton Rouge home insurance quote, give us a call at 225-935-8751.
JG

Today we present the first Part of an article on Workers Compensation Fraud. Check back soon for Part Two on how to Prevent Workers Compensation Fraud.

Employers everywhere agree that a worker who is injured on the job through no fault of his or her own, has every right to be compensated for those injuries. Unfortunately, there are unscrupulous workers out there who take advantage of these very fair workers compensation laws in order to benefit. Whether they fake an injury (such as a difficult-to-diagnose back injury) or work with a crooked medical service provider to bilk the complicated workers compensation system, workers comp fraudsters are out there, and your company could be a target.

Understanding Workers Comp Fraud

Why is workers comp such a tempting target for the less than scrupulous worker or medical professional out there? Simply because most states favor workers when it comes to on-the-job injury and, as a result, have implemented strict laws to protect them. In fact, most states require that employers pay 100% of medical and rehabilitation expenses incurred form work-related injuries, and even that they also pay up to two thirds of the employee’s lost wages while he or she is unable to work. The chance to take a long, paid vacation—or even double dip and work a second job while collecting worker’s compensation—can be too much of a temptation for some people.

Medical service providers have a similar motive for committing workers compensation fraud. For them, falsifying workers comp claims can quickly become a very lucrative cash cow. How do they do it? In the simplest case scenario, they might simply inflate the nature of a real injury when submitting it to the insurance company, costing the company money while the unknowing worker receives normal treatment for his or her injury. In other cases, they might work with an injured employee to exaggerate the severity of the injury.  When this happens, workers get more time off than merited and the doctor submits inflated medical bills to workers compensation insurance providers, netting cash for work they never did. Some so-called medical service providers have taken workers compensation fraud much farther, going so far as to fabricate their credentials, their clinic and the fact that the worker in question was even injured. Some even use cash to recruit workers to fake injuries.


At Bourg Insurance, we believe growing our business is important to our company, but maintaining our strong relationships with our customers is paramount. Call us today for a Baton Rouge Workers Compensation Quote at (225) 490-5678!