R&R Insurance Blog

You may have seen the news story on June 30, 2014 about a Stevens Point woman who lost her wedding ring five or six years ago. She searched everywhere, but could not find it.

Last week the woman’s granddaughter was eating a popsicle when the dog stole and ate it. The dog coughed up the popsicle stick shortly afterwards. Two days later the dog started coughing up again and threw up the wedding ring that had been missing for the last 6 years. The veterinarian believes that the stick dislodged the ring from the dog’s stomach.

Other than being an interesting story that captured some national headlines, the whole incident brings up some insurance issues:

• First, the woman comments that six years ago she had just upgraded the ring and had failed to insure it. This highlights the importance of obtaining a personal articles floater to cover valuable items.
• Secondly, let’s assume that she had insured the ring and the insurance company paid her for the loss six years ago. Now that the ring has been recovered, what should the woman do?

Most policies are very clear: she must report the ring’s recovery to the insurance company that paid for the loss. The insurance company owns the salvage value of the recovered ring.

Nearly every property insurance policy, whether it is Homeowners, Business Property, Inland Marine, commercial or personal automobile policy, has a Recovered Property Condition in some form.

The Recovered Property Condition states that if either you, or your insurance company, recover the property after a loss settlement, then you must promptly notify the other party.

You have the option of retaining the recovered property. However, you must return payment to your insurance carrier. The insurance company will pay for recovery expenses and the expenses to repair the property subject to the Limit of Insurance.

If you decide that you do not want the recovered property, then your insurance company will sell the property to recoup some of the loss.

Over my years of handling claims, I have seen this process play out with recovered jewelry, stolen bikes, cars, and construction equipment.

Luckily, this story had a happy ending even though the woman had an extensive cleaning job to do.

Related articles:

• 9 Steps to a Complete Home Inventory
• Jewelry, Collectible Items, and Furniture: Does Your Policy Cover Their Full Value?
• Will My Homeowner's Policy Cover My Jewelry?

One of the most stressful events you can face as a driver, a homeowner, or a business owner occurs when someone claims they were injured due to your negligent actions. This most often arises from traffic accidents, but it can also arise from slip and fall accidents, dog bites, construction accidents, or allegedly defective products.

The first question that has to be answered is whether you are legally responsible for the injury. If you rear-end someone or run a red light, then your negligence is probably fairly clear. However, in other situations, your negligence may not be clear. For purposes of this article, let’s assume you injured the person due to your negligent actions.

Question:

So what does Wisconsin Law allow an injured person to recover from you?

Answer:

An injured person may be able to recover:

1. Past Medical Bills incurred for injuries related to the accident.
2. Future Medical Bills if those injuries are permanent.
3. Past Wage Loss due to the accident.
4. Future Income Loss, if that person is unable to return to their former profession.
5. Past Pain & Suffering which resulted from their injuries.
6. Future Pain & Suffering if the injuries are expected to cause pain in the future.
7. Loss of Consortium for the spouse of an injured person resulting from their loss of services.
8. Property Damage they may have suffered in the accident.

Luckily, the majority of legally-compensable injuries are not severe or permanent. In fact, most claims are usually resolved by the insurance carrier before a lawsuit is filed, or before the case goes to trial. However, some cases go to a jury trial, and the decision about who is at fault and how much to award the injured person is left in the jury’s hands.

Sadly, fatalities can sometimes result from accidents. In those cases, Wisconsin law allows “Wrongful Death Actions” by the deceased person’s personal representative, surviving spouse, domestic partner, child, parent or guardian.

In fatality accidents, the following damages are potentially compensable:

1. Medical Bills incurred before death
2. Conscious Pain & Suffering, if any, before the person died.
3. Loss of Future Income to the person’s survivors, which can be very large if the person was young or a high wage earner.
4. Loss of Society & Companionship. These are damages that the survivors suffer from the loss of that person’s emotional support. Wisconsin has set the following caps on this element of damages: $350,000 for an adult and $500,000 for a child.
5. Pre-Death Loss of Society & Companionship. If the person survives the accident, but dies at a later date due to the accident, the survivors may be entitled to pre-death loss of society and companionship which is NOT subject to the caps listed above.

Keep in mind that you would be responsible for compensating an injured person, or their survivors, for their damages regardless of how much insurance you decided to purchase.

When our agents recommend liability limits in excess of $500,000, and offer to quote additional limits in the form of an umbrella policy, they are looking to adequately protect you in the event of an unfortunate accident for which you may be found liable.

Please talk to your Knowledge Broker about any concerns you have about liability limits. He or she will explain all options available to you and the costs involved.

This material is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. R&R Insurance Services, Inc. is not a law firm. You should contact your attorney to obtain advice with respect to any issue or problem specific to you or your business. The information contained in this document is intentionally condensed and a summary of statutes and court findings.

Recently one of our LWMMI (League of Wisconsin Municipalities) insureds asked this question, "Are municipalities (and related entities) covered by OSHA?" and an issue of The Municipality, confirmed a response we initially provided...

"Local governments are not subject to state regulations, which are at least as stringent as OSHA, does not have jurisdiction over the state or local governments because the definition of "employer" under the OSHA Act of 1970 specifically excludes states and any political subdivision of a state."

"Instead, the State of Wisconsin has jurisdiction and the Wisconsin Statutes requires that the Department of Commerce adopt, by administrative rule, standards to protect the safety and health of public employees. These standards must provide protection at least equal to that provided to private sector employees under OSHA standards." - The Municipality (a publication of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities)