R&R Insurance Blog

While the need for warm coats has never been greater, it has also never been easier to meet this vital need in our community. R&R Insurance invites you to join them in an effort to ensure that no child goes without a warm coat this winter.

R&R Insurance will be collecting clean, gently used warm coats at each of their office locations. With a mission to collect gently used warm coats for local children, Condella’s Coats for Kids is an easy way for individuals and families to make a difference in the lives of their neighbors by simply passing along coats and jackets that are no longer needed.

R&R Insurance invites you to bring your clean, gently used coats and jackets to any of the locations below, Monday – Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm through October 9^th. The process is simple: you drop off your extra coat and R&R takes care of the rest! All donated coats will be given to Fox 6 Condella’s Coats for Kids.

Drop Off Locations:

• Beaver Dam:130 Park Avenue
• Menomonee Falls: N80 W14824 Appleton Avenue
• Oconomowoc: 100 S. Main Street
• Waukesha: 1581 E. Racine Avenue
• West Bend: 2021 S. 18^th Street, Suite 202

For more information about Condella’s Coats for Kids, visit http://fox6now.com/2015/09/13/condellas-coats-for-kids-how-you-can-donate-get-involved-in-the-collection/. Or join our conversation on Facebook and Twitter using #CoatsForKids.

We are incredibly excited to share our new TV commercials with you! We've been busy filming and hope you recognize some of these smiling faces. Keep an eye on our social media sites for a preview of the final commercials later this fall!

The 2015 WI Cyber Security Summit will be held on October 28, 2015 at the Marquette University Alumni Memorial Union, Monaghan Ballroom, 1442 W. Wisconsin Ave, Milwaukee. The conference begins at 7:30 am. Registration will be available shortly at www.homelandsecurity.wi.gov. The conference is hosted by the State of Wisconsin and will include Cyber disruption response strategies, addressing cyber threats, recruiting & training the cyber security professional and networking with cyber security leaders.

Data Breaches and the FTC

As if businesses didn't have enough to worry about, on August 24, 2015 the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in a unanimous decision that the Federal Trade Commission has the authority to bring actions against companies for failure to adequately protect consumer information from data breaches. The decision involves the case of Federal Trade Commission v. Wyndham Worldwide Corp, et al. Wyndham suffered a data breach in 2008 and 2009 when hackers gained access to their property management systems and stole information of more than 610,000 consumers. The Court ruled that the authority of the FTC resides under a section of a 1914 federal law that prohibits "unfair trade practices." The FTC claimed that Wyndham's computers "unreasonably and unnecessarily" exposed consumer data from the risk of theft.

Tracking a Bluetooth Skimmer Gang in Mexico
This is a really interesting article that outlines how the author found at least 19 different ATMs that had been hacked from the inside and retrofitted with tiny, sophisticated devices that store and transmit stolen card data and PINs wirelessly at various resorts in Mexico.

Let me start by asking, do you know how to do a somersault?

Without seeing if you raised your hand, I am willing to bet, you confirmed that you know how to do a somersault.

Now I’ll ask you – Do you really remember how to do a somersault?

Seems pretty simple – right? But when was the last time you actually got down on all fours and attempted to muddle your body into a ball and project your feet over your head? Chances are, it’s been quite some time since you last attempted this feat. And probably with good reason – why do a somersault as an adult (unless you’re a gymnast, in the military training to dodge enemies, or a ninja)?

The other day, when I got home from work, my wife asked me if I could do a somersault. Naturally, and with my male self-assurance, I replied, “Yes, certainly.” Now, my wife wasn’t asking because she had any interest in seeing me do one, she was asking because she had resided in her own self-assurance and thought, “It’s just like riding a bike.”

See, a few hours earlier, our 5 older children (ages 10 through 13) were trying to teach oops child #6 (2 ½) how to do a somersault. Yet, as my wife looked on, she noticed that the older kids forgot how to do a somersault. She chuckled and giggled as they rolled their bodies from side to side in an attempt to relearn something that seemed so simple.

So, as expected, my children, who are motivated by the grief they can instill in their mother, threw out the challenge to my wife, “Let’s see you do it, Mom!”

I wasn’t there to see it, yet my wife’s explanation was visual enough that I laughed pretty loud at the thought of her trying to outdo the kids. She explained how she got into a jumbled ball and stayed locked there for what seemed like an eternity. She was perplexed at how to make the transition of, tuck, roll your neck, arch your back, push off with the balls of your feet, brace with your hands, and let your hands and shoulders fall through after your feet and legs project end over end.

I am not going to age my wife, yet let’s just say it’s been 20 plus years since she made the attempt. Did she do it? Yes. Was it as easy as she thought? Heck no. Does her back and neck now hurt? You bet.

So, why does a guy who’s a Healthcare Broker for a living think there is a correlation between doing a somersault and managing your healthcare benefits? Well, it’s simple. When was the last time you truly went through the process of evaluating what your Healthcare Broker is offering for you? See, in sales, we’ll do flips, cartwheels, jump through hoops, and even somersault at the chance to earn your business. Yet once you say yes, are you circling back, taking note of why you said yes, and holding your Broker accountable to the somersault they promised?

Being a Healthcare Broker is not just saying I know how to do a somersault, it’s being an expert at it and performing the aerial feats that landed us your business in the first place. A quality, high-flying Broker relationship should include a plan that illustrates how they’ll be doing airborne bouts for you on a continual basis throughout the year.

At R&R, we’re poised to exceed your expectations and deliver a 12-month, somersault of a plan to provide you with the confidence that the flips and cartwheels continue long after you award us a, “Yes.”

If you’d like to learn how we’ll transcend your expectations, please contact me.

Now, if you’re wondering if I attempted the feat of the somersault, well, the answer is yes, and the outcome was even worse than my lovely wife’s.

A different kind of Broker truly equals a different kind of result. Knowledge is in the Knowing – Come Know With Us.

Living a healthy lifestyle is a conversation we often have with our clients. Whether it’s encouraging a family to practice safe driving skills or educating an organization about the benefits of being active, R&R has a passion for wellness.

Recently, R&R employees participated in the WELCOA (Wellness Council of America) Top 100 Active Companies Challenge. To participate in the Challenge, companies needed 30% of their employees engaged throughout the 12-week program. Aimed to combat sedentary behavior, the Challenge triggered positive habit changes which made people continuously active throughout their daily life. The results from our challenge were outstanding.

Not only did R&R beat Secura Insurance in a friendly competition, but we gained great feedback from our employees about the impact the Challenge had on their everyday lives. Here are just a few of the many examples:

• “One of the great things about working at R&R is all of the programs we have in place to better our health. While these sometimes seem like a necessity to balance out our love of food days, it really does give motivation to get out and exercise when we are doing it not just for ourselves, but for the team as a whole.”

•  “Thanks to the various incentives that our employer provides, I decided to take action and get serious about my health and wellness, i.e. “walk the walk”. Now, I make it a part of my everyday life - eating right, exercising and, practicing what we preach. My test results have proven that it works. At my last exam, the doctor advised me that my lipid panels are normal, my weight is healthy, and even my bone density improved. Improved, how could that be? Why didn’t I figure this out long ago!? I sure appreciate everything R&R does to encourage wellness.”

•   “Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a wellness fanatic. I dislike exercise, having to watch what I eat and worrying about all that ‘health stuff’. When I joined the WELCOA challenge, I really did not expect much. Ten weeks into the Challenge, I found myself not only thinking about exercise more often, but actually doing something about it! I am not yet a full convert and will probably never run a marathon, but I am thinking about exercise vs. health more than before and moving a more than I was before.”

We hope some of these examples inspire you to get up and MOVE throughout your day!

With summer coming to an end and fall creeping in, most of us are planning to hunker in for the cold weather. For many, this becomes the perfect time to start a home renovation or home improvement project. According to Statistic Brain, in the next two years 26% of homeowners plan a bathroom renovation or addition and 22% plan a kitchen renovation or addition.

If you are planning to be a part of that percentage, we highly recommend keeping these tips in mind:

1. Consider how the renovation will impact the value of your home. Do you need to update your property insurance? With large increases to the value of your home, it’s important to be sure your insurance agent is aware.

2. When working with a contractor, be sure to get referrals from family and friends. Do you trust the person you’ll be inviting into your home day after day? Do they have a clean track record?

3. Check out the Better Business Bureau for additional contractor and subcontractor references. This is a great way to avoid surprises and ensure you’re happy with the quality of work at the end of the project.

4. Make sure your contractor provides proof of insurance. Ask to see their certificates and be sure that coverage will be in effect the entire time the work is being done. This will cover any damages, injuries, etc. that may occur.

5. Contact your knowledge broker at R&R prior to signing any contracts. Not keeping your insurance agent informed may leave you with claims that are not covered. At R&R, we are more than happy to walk you through contracts and answer any questions you may have before signing the dotted line.

Home improvements and renovations are an exciting time for any homeowner! Be sure to keep these tips in mind, or contact a knowledge broker for more information.

There are various reasons as to why a business may try changing their Work Comp policy effective date: matching your Work Comp policy to your fiscal year or Package policy, request by new ownership, or you’re trying to get out of the Pool. Before you start down this road, you should first be looking at the financial impact of making this change.

It’s never as easy as it seems! We worked with a client who changed their effective date in order to make issuing certificates of insurance easier. This ultimately cost them $100,000!

A regular timeline has the Wisconsin Workers Compensation Rating Bureau (WCRB) using 36 months of data to determine an experience MOD rate. However, when changing your policy effective date, the WCRB is able to use up to 45 months of data. Say you have had a year or two with costly claims, they will hang on longer due to this process. Remember: the higher the MOD, the more expensive the premium.

It must be noted: an Anniversary Rating Date (ARD) would not allow you to take advantage of a rate or rule change.
Say after looking at business analyses, claims review, and the financial impact of changing the Work Comp effective date, you determine this is the best scenario for your business. Once you begin the process of changing your Work Comp effective date, it will take five years to get back to a regular rating cycle. Not only is this a time consuming process, it could be a very costly process.

The R&R Resource Center works with businesses every day to proactively manage claims, ensure correct analyses are being performed on Work Comp insurance, and educate the pro’s and con’s of changing effective dates. The processes in place help ensure accurate data which ultimately saves you money. Contact us today for a review of your current Risk Management Program.

The Milwaukee Business Journal recently named R&R Insurance Services a winner of their Healthiest Employer Award.

"Being healthy and promoting wellness has become part of our daily activity," said Don Levings of R&R. "This is a tremendous accomplishment and we look forward to expanding our wellness program in the future."

This year there were 33 winners in small, medium and large categories based on number of employees, and R&R was a proud 1st place winner for medium sized businesses. Winners were selected through the assistance of Milwaukee Business Journal partner Healthiest Employers LLC, of Indianapolis, which required nominees to complete a 75-question survey.

The winners were honored at an awards luncheon on Oct. 23 at The Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee and featured in the Milwaukee Business Journal's October issue.

Click here to read the full article.

Traveling overseas with students can be the experience of a lifetime, however, it can also lead to headaches when unexpected events occur. Kate Goggin, author and former Community Liaison Office Coordinator, recently wrote about the most important tips to keep in mind when planning an international trip for students. To learn more about the the 10 items below, click here to read the full article.

1. Review Health Insurance Policies, and Buy Travel and Medevac Insurance

2. Visit the Doctor at Least Six Weeks Before Departure

3. Research the Destination Country

4. Keep Copies of Passport in Separate Location – Sign it and Fill in the Emergency Information

5. Register Online with the U.S. Embassy in the Country You Will Visit

6. Assemble U.S. and Overseas Phone Numbers Before Travel

7. Ensure at Least Two Alternate Forms of Communication and Financial Access

8. Learn Basic Language Phrases and Think Globally but Act Locally for Safety Contacts

9. Mental Health Matters – Know the Phases of Culture Shock

10. Sign a Student Conduct Contract and Get Oriented

For more information about how to better prepare for a school trip, or for additional considerations, contact a Knowledge Broker at R&R Insurance.

Nationally known attorney Steve Parrish, recently released an article on Forbes.com describing the dangers of selling your family business back to your family – and what it could potentially cost you. Like any sale of a business, the devil is in the details. What looks like a straightforward sale to a child can create unforeseen taxes and can spin the family into acrimony and discord.

In the article, Steve addresses the potential tax traps associated with an intra-family sale. One of the most crucial elements you, as a business owner, face is the ultimate distribution of your business. Will it be sold to a third party or family member, or will it be passed to a family member via a will or trust?

Typically, your business is the focal point or hub of the estate. You may have a somewhat distorted view of how the IRS would value it. At R&R Insurance, we offer a Business Valuation that will provide an analysis of the 5 methods most used by the IRS. This is a complimentary service provided to you.

Many businesses have not explored a Business Continuation Agreement. We also provide a complimentary service where a group of attorneys and CPAs will thoroughly review any documents you have. This same group of advisers will then put together the Business Valuation Plan.

In addition, R&R will provide you with an analysis of any insurance programs (both business and personal) that may support your continuation plan. Is the coverage set-up properly to avoid any unnecessary taxes? Is it performing up to the expectations from when it was purchased? These are all questions we can answer.

Please feel free to contact Pat or Tom Driscoll if you have any questions.