Faces of Lawsuit Abuse

I think this is HOGWASH (to use language my mother would approve of). As business owners, we are targets for law suits. I’ve suffered through a frivolous lawsuit myself – and it was horrible. After two years of spending enough on defense to purchase a small house, it was finally time to

go to court. The question came from my attorney (again): “Shouldn’t we do as I suggested two years ago and just offer a fraction of what it will cost you to go to court as a settlement?” I had learned the hard way that business owners get faced with this same choice everyday here in Idaho and across our country.

Spend lots of money on defense and trial with an uncertain outcome and very little chance of being awarded defense costs if if the case is won. OR…
Settle for a fraction of the defense cost saving time, energy, and lots of money.

You see, business owners can be “shaken down” anytime, for anything, by anybody. While depressing, the painful but valuable lesson I’ve learned is that my only real choice is to decide WHO is going to pay the next time I get shaken down: me or an insurance company.

When I was shaken down, it was in regards to Employment Practices Liability and this was excluded from my General Liability Policy (which is typical). Please make sure you have an insurance advisor really making sure you are properly protected. I’d estimate that about 80% percent of the time I do a comprehensive risk/protection analysis for owners.

I understand that’s a big claim to make. Just in the last few weeks, I’ve run across the following MAJOR gaps in coverage.

E&O policy in individuals name but business entity name not listed. (CRAZY! and didn’t cost anything to correct.)
E&O policy for tax prep company but no coverage for sister payroll company owned by same person.
Total lack of D&O policy for major non-profit organization.
Total lack of Uninsured&Underinsured coverage in Umbrella policy for local Dentist.
Financial planner with multiple entities . . . only some of which had general liability policy. In this case, all entities could be listed on ONE policy – saving money and drastically improving coverage.
Only Actual Cash Value on high value cabin. Big Mistake! Should be Replacement Cost.
Very low personal auto liability limits for high incom& high networth professional. Often costs LESS to INCREASE coverage.

Please take a look at www.FacesOfLawSuitAbuse.Org and check out all the other videos (including this one). It will blow your mind to hear the outragious lawsuits that small business owners all over the U.S. have had to suffer. If you would like to run your current situation by me to see if I might have ideas on how to lower costs and increase important coverage . . . I hope you know I’m happy to help – just call or email. -Ben

P.S. Click Here for FACTS on Lawsuits!