Trip cancellation is one area that can leave a policyholder unsure. Standard reasons for being reimbursed for cancelling a trip include medical issues (sickness), hurricane, losing a job, and terrorist incident. Coverage is detailed in the Policy Certificate. If something is not explicitly listed, it will not be covered. If for some reason you fear having to cancel your trip due to something that is not listed in the Policy Certificate, you may opt for an additional rider that covers cancellation for any reason. This will result in a higher policy cost, but there may be circumstances where you or a traveling companion may end up backing out for no reason.
Another area that can cause problems is with pre-existing medical conditions. A company can exclude a pre-existing medical condition. This is standard practice as it avoids someone purchase holiday insurance after becoming ill. In cases where a pre-existing condition is present, the holiday insurer must grant waiver, but you must take this step immediately after booking your holiday. You must be in good health at the time of policy purchase.
Holiday insurance plans have coverage exclusions. Check the Policy Certificate to find the section titled General Policy Exclusions. This provides specific areas where the policy will not be in force. If you are taking an adventure holiday where more than average risk is involved, be sure to check this section as your activity may be specifically excluded.
Keep all documentation and receipts for claim filing. This is crucial as a claim can be delayed or rejected outright if you do not have the required paperwork. If cancelling a trip for a medical reason you must provide a written doctor’s note. A runny nose that will make the trip less enjoyable is not valid! For overseas medical expenses, get all receipts and paperwork before you leave any medical facility or hospital. With these thoughts in mind you should be able to find the right holiday insurance policy firm and feel fully secure in your trip coverage.

The suicide clause – f this event happened within the first two years of the contract, the insurance rates will be reimbursed to the beneficiaries. If the event happens at least three years after the beginning of the contract, the beneficiaries will also receive the incomes generated by the policy.

Besides the main beneficiary (the person entitled to compensations), a second beneficiary must be stated. This person will receive the compensations in case the main beneficiary is not able to claim those sums.

Contract options

The contract options can be stated in the contract, giving the possibility to the beneficiary to receive the compensations in other forms besides money. In case the owner of the contract wants to renounce it, there is the possibility for the beneficiary to become the owner of the policy in certain situations.

In a life insurance policy, besides the main clauses of the contract, several supplementary clauses might be introduced. Those clauses are called addendums to the base contract, having the purpose of offering additional benefits to the owner for some small extra sums. Those clauses are valid for any of the insurance policy, and they are added to the main contract considering the age of the insured person, but also his payment behavior during the latest period. In some cases, several other discounts might apply.

Maternity coverage if acquired can be useful in offsetting expenses that an expectant mother may incur during and after labor. Individual health cover for maternity can also go a long way into covering any medical care that the infant and mother may require though this cover only lasts a few days after the baby’s delivery. Some of the other costs that the maternity coverage will take care of include; ultrasounds complications that may occur during pregnancy and even all lab examinations that will be carried out during pregnancy.

When it comes to the time frame that maternity cover spans, you find that most organizations providing individual health maternity cover offer insurance for a waiting period of six months minimum to about two years. When going for individual health insurance with maternity cover one needs to time his cover correctly since insurance companies do not foot any bills for pregnancy that occur outside the waiting period window.

Another important point to note about women individual health insurance coverage is the cost. In most cases, you find that maternity coverage requires higher premiums and in most cases, this increases as the applicant increases the waiting period of the cover. Even though an individual may want to go for maternity cover it is important to note that application of this cover for an individual who is already pregnant has a higher chance of being turned down.

Before anything else, you should first understand what renters insurance is. Renters insurance is a type of insurance coverage that protects both the renter and their property from financial loss in certain circumstances. It is an optional policy that many renters are not even aware of. In the event of a fire, a break-in, or just a leaky pipe, renters insurance will pay you back for your financial loses and provides liability protection at the same time.

Finding renters insurance online will save you a lot of time and effort compared to doing it the old-fashion way. You can easily gather free online renters insurance quotes from many different insurance companies to do a careful comparison of what is available before making your final decision. With online comparison sites, you can easily get an estimated rate of the renters insurance you are planning to buy or a guaranteed quote if you provide a more detailed analysis of what you need. By getting free quotes, you can not only compare the different range of prices they offer, but their different coverage as well.

If you choose to get an insurance quote from only one company, you may not be aware of how much cheaper the premium being offered by other insurance companies is, and end up overpaying. Besides the price, what you want to insure with your renters insurance may not be covered if you do not compare the insurance coverage with other policies offered in the market. By collecting renters insurance quotes, you can get a clear view of the entire picture and lower risks of investing in the wrong company.

Unfortunately, death is something that occurs every single day. In America, one individual will die of an accidental death every five minutes. Because this is statistical proof, you may be considering purchasing life insurance for you and your loved ones. It is important to remember that it is better to be safe than sorry. Insurance plans are designed specifically with you and your family’s best interest at heart. If something accidental were to happen, you wouldn’t want your family to be left with sky-rocketing high bills and expenses.

The Global Life and Accident Insurance company offers high quality life insurance for Americans. If you are between the ages of 18 and 69 years old, the Global Life and Accident Insurance company will automatically accept you into their insurance plan. What exactly will this life insurance policy cover? Well, if you were to pass away of an accidental death, there would be enough life insurance money to cover several expenses. Those expenses include the cost of a funeral and other debts that may have been left behind.

With the accidental insurance, you can actually have up to $250,000 worth of coverage. One of the best things about the Global Life and Accident Insurance Company is that you do not have to have a medical exam in order to join this insurance. You also do not have to fill out long and tedious forms to be on this insurance plan. Someone from the company will even be able to work with you in order to pick the perfect affordable amount for you to pay. They will be able to work with your budget. It may seem unnecessary, but you never know what can happen. Be sure to check out your options and find the most affordable rate for you and your family.

No one likes having to consult with a Indiana personal injury lawyer after a construction accident.  All of my clients begin a conversation at their FREE INITIAL CASE CONSULTATION by explaining that they are not the kind of person who would ever sue someone, but they are not being treated fairly by either the workers compensation insurance Company or their employer, are more likely, both.  It is for this reason that injured Indiana construction workers and their families come to us, and come to trust us.  We represent injured and wrongfully killed in iron workers, electricians, masons, laborers, carpenters and painters who were injured in a construction job site from falls, trench collapses, scaffolds, ladders, electricity and cranes.

Although our Indiana construction accident law firm is located in Indianapolis, we represent skilled throughout the State, including the major metropolitan areas of Fort Wayne, Evansville, South Bend and Terre Haute.

We also realize that lawyers are expensive, so we have eliminated every upfront cost and expense.  There is no cost for the case evaluation, and there is never a fee unless there is a recovery.  We also realize that seriously injured construction workers may be unable to travel, so we are happy to come to you, again without any cost or obligation.  We do not take most cases, and if we are unable to help you, we will be certain to recommend any attorneys we feel may be able to help.  Many injured Indiana construction accident workers have left hundreds of thousands of dollars in the hands of General contractors insurance companies, rather than making a free call to your Indiana construction accident lawyer.  Please do not make that mistake.

Well, maybe this isn’t the best title for a post analyzing a construction accident case involving an injured worker. But the reason for the title is that, in recent months, there have been a spate of good decisions–really good, in fact–interpreting Labor Law 240(1), the Scaffold Law.

And this is a very good thing for construction workers, who have just about the most dangerous jobs that exist.

The most recent Labor Law decision of note that I’ve come across is Maximin v. 26-26 Jackson Ave., LLC, 2010 NY Slip Op 50330U, issued on Mar. 5, 2010 by Judge Battaglia of the Kings County Supreme Court, who seems to regularly crank out one construction accident decision after another.

The plaintiff was injured at a construction site when a concrete cinder block fell from above and struck his back. The block had previously been hoisted four stories above where it was stacked on top of other blocks.

What is significant about the decision is that it held that ”falling object” liability is not limited to objects that are in the process of being hoisted or secured.  Rather, the object simply must have required securing, which entails an examination of whether it presents a foreseeable elevation risk in light of the work being performed.

In the accident, the force of gravity was applied to the block causing it to fall and injure the plaintiff. Further, there was a foreseeable risk that it would fall, thus establishing that the block “was part of a load that required securing.” Not only that, but proximate cause was established — an important element in all Labor Law cases — because the block fell due to the absence of a safety device of the kind enumerated in the statute.

In short, “the blocks were required to be secured in a manner that would have prevented a cinder block from falling down the shaft.”

Thus, the defense’s “primary contention” that section 240(1) ”only protects workers against objects that fall while being hoisted or secured” failed.  

Of note, the decision cited the Runner v. NY Stock Exch., Inc. decision issued by the Court of Appeals in Dec. 2009 that greatly expanded section 240(1). Click here to see a discussion of that case.

The decision, Bowles v. Clean Harbors Environmental Services, Inc., while not groundbreaking, is useful because it reiterates what role contractors and agents must have at a construction site in order to be liable under the Labor Law when there is a construction accident.

To be found liable as a contractor, a defendant must have been granted the power to enforce safety standards and hire subcontractors.  Liability premised on a defendant acting as an owner’s agent requires that the defendant have authority to supervise and control the activity which brought about the injury.

All too often, plaintiff’s attorneys ignore these standards, operating under the assumption that if a contractor is involved with the work, or higher up in the chain of command than the injured worker and his company, it is liable. But, as set forth by the Court of Appeals, that isn’t so.

In the case, the defendant company was hired to clean chemical storage tanks located at a facility owned by Schenectady International, Inc. (“SI”). Before the cleaning could begin, however, an SI safety policy required that SI first inspect the air quality and issue a confined space permit. The plaintiff, an employee of SI, was using a ladder that had been propped up against a tank in order to check the air quality, when the ladder suddenly kicked out from underneath him and he fell 10 feet to the ground below.

Because the defendant was hired for the limited purpose of cleaning the tanks, and could not commence cleaning the tanks until the permit was issued, it was not liable for the reason that it did not have authority or control over how SI conducted its confined space inspection, nor could it enforce safety standards in connection therewith.

The defendant, therefore, was properly awarded summary judgment on the grounds that it was not considered to be a contractor or owner’s agent to be liable under Labor Law 240(1) or 241(6).

When is a construction site safety consultant liable under the Labor Law when there is a construction accident and a worker is injured?

The New York Supreme Court took up this issue on April 8, 2010 in Gaspar v. LC Main LLC, 113198/07. The general contractor had contracted with a company, Pro Safety, to be the project safety consultant. Among other things, it had a contractual duty to daily monitor the site to identify safety hazards.

The plaintiff was injured while using a saw that he claimed had a broken blade guard.

He testified that he did not receive direction or supervision from anyone other than his employer, a subcontractor at the site.  Pro Safety did not supervise or control the work that was performed, but it did have the authority to stop the work if it posed a threat to the safety of a worker.

The court cited Buccini v. 1568 Broadway Assoc., 250 AD2d 466 (1^st Dept. 1998) for the proposition that a construction manager, who observes the work and reports safety violations to a contractor, does not become responsible for injuries arising from a construction accident that are due to a dangerous condition arising from the contractor’s negligent methods.

The court also laid out the circumstances under which a safety consultant will be liable:  (a) if it supplied safety equipment at the site; (b) directed, supervised or controlled plaintiff and his coworkers in the performance of their duties; or (c) if there is evidence that it acted negligently as the site safety consultant.

The plaintiff was out of luck on his Labor Law 200 cause of action, but the court did allow him to proceed on his 241(6) claim.

It is a misconception among many construction accident attorneys that, in order for liability under Labor Law 200 to attach, the defendant must have given directions or instructions for the work that caused the injury.

Not so, and an example of this is the 2007 case from the First Department, Hughes v. Tishman Cosntruction Corp., 40 A.D.3d 305.

Rather, the defendant must have “the authority to control the activity bringing about the injury to enable it to avoid or correct an unsafe condition.”  It is much easier to prove that the defendant had the authority to control the activity, as opposed to having actually directed it to occur.

Yet, the defendant must possess more than just general supervisory authority. Rather, “it must be demonstrated that the contractor controlled the manner in which the plaintiff performed his or her work, i.e., how the injury-producing work was performed.”

In this case, the contractor oversaw the schedule of the work, conformance with plans, and told workers to “hurry up.” It was held not liable under Labor Law 200.

Moreover, even if the contractor had seen ”something that he didn’t think was right,” and “would tell them to change it,” it still wouldn’t rise to the level of supervision and control required under section 200. Nor would the authority to stop work for safety reasons result in liability.

It’s important for construction accident lawyers to understand these nuances in the Labor Law. I went to trial in a case where the other sections of the Labor Law (240 and 241) were dismissed and we actually won on the 200 claim, a comparative rarity.