We are American Hardware & Lumber Insurance!
Member Insurance Agency, Inc., the largest provider of insurance to co-op and independent hardware stores in the United States, is operating as American Hardware & Lumber Insurance Agency, Inc., effective February 8, 2021. This rebranding strategy reflects both the evolution of the company as well as its vision for the future. Along with this change, a newly redesigned company logo has been revealed and a new website has launched, which features the company’s heightened focus on hardware, lumber, and building material operations. The company’s ownership and staff have not changed. All office addresses remain the same.
 
“Our name and new brand change further elevate our customer-centric focus which is built on a continuing history of innovative ideas, products and services that meet the unique needs of hardware stores, lumber dealers, building material dealers, nursery and garden centers and rental centers, specializing in cooperatives and associations,” said Scott Reynolds, president and chief executive officer of American Hardware & Lumber Insurance. “The new name and branding signal our strength and commitment to independent hardware and lumber businesses throughout the United States. We have transformed American Hardware & Lumber Insurance into a marketplace leader, providing exceptional products and service together with popular annual dividends to its member/owners.”
 
The new American Hardware & Lumber Insurance logo features a red and blue bold typeface to signal clarity and strength with hardware and lumber imagery, representing American Hardware & Lumber Insurance’s connections to its key industries, customers, partners, and associations across the United States.
 
“Our brand is one of our most prized assets and the value it brings to our business is immeasurable,” added Reynolds. “Our customers, our employees and our member-owners connect the most with what the brand stands for -- quality, innovation, customer-focus and a values-rich culture. Today, we are strengthening all our attributes and giving our brand an elevated look that is more relevant for business today – financially strong and customer focused, with links to our industry and a nod to an exciting future.”
COVID-19 and Importance of
EPLI Coverage for Your Business
Member Insurance
At American Hardware & Lumber Insurance, we are closely following developments related to Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) policies and COVID-19.
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Employers are facing a multitude of issues pertaining to employee safety. Some employees are ready to work but are afraid of contracting the virus; others may refuse to follow CDC guidelines, despite these rules being in place to ensure a safe work environment. Still others might be planning to take legal action against their employer for failure to protect them from the virus.

With employee concerns and legal issues pertaining to COVID-19 on the rise, it is important that employers check the status of their employment practices liability insurance, or EPLI. A good EPLI policy will be broad in nature and cover complaints and lawsuits that result from employees filing suit against employers for doing things that they think are not right. Now more than ever, EPLI coverage is becoming more and more important as employers are being challenged with employee safety and protection concerning COVID-19. 

With this pandemic, employees may claim businesses are not providing adequate personal protective equipment or hygiene products, are failing to comply with cleaning and sanitation protocols, or are not enforcing temperature checks or mask-wearing by customers or visitors. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires employers to establish a workplace “free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm” to employees.

Despite many employers following OSHA and CDC guidelines, and taking the necessary steps to create a safe and healthy work environment, sometimes their own employees refuse to comply, making it extremely difficult to balance the guidelines and run a successful operation.

It is important for businesses to follow the safety protocols and CDC and OSHA guidelines. If you are requiring your employees to wear a mask, the rule must be enforced. While CDC guidelines say that in specific conditions employees must have full PPE protection, in some cases it is not being provided because it is not available, or the employees are not wearing it—creating ample opportunity for a lawsuit.

As more is learned about COVID-19, and how it spreads, employers must remain steadfast in their commitment to following guidelines but also communicating safety protocols to employees to ensure a comfortable and safe environment. Despite changes in requirements and safety recommendations, employers may still be held responsible if they choose to relax on restrictions or simply ignore the concerns of their employees.

Whether coverage is available under an employer's EPLI policy for COVID-19-related EPL claims depends on the policy form's specific provisions and the facts surrounding the EPL claim.

We recommend you contact your insurance agent to review your EPLI policy to evaluate coverage for COVID-19-related claims and consider whether your insurance policy language can be improved to expand the scope of coverage before each year's renewal. Further, employers should be mindful of EPL claim reporting requirements to avoid any confusion.

To learn more about EPLI coverage for your business, contact 800.323.0131 or info@americanhli.com.
 

Take the Necessary Steps to Stay Compliant and Ensure Employee Safety
According to the National Safety Council (2020), the average workers' compensation cost for a non-fatal workplace injury was $41,000, and the average cost for a fatal unintentional injury was $1,190,000 from 2011-2019.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes data on occupational workplace injuries and illnesses. In these reports, they track the number of non-fatal occupational injuries from ladders in private industry and government workplaces.

From this report, the average number of non-fatal ladder injuries per year reported from 2011 to 2019 was 22,594. The BLS also reports on fatal fall injuries. These reports show the number of fatal injuries from ladders averaged 149 incidences per year from 2011 to 2018.

In addition to these statistics collected by the BLS, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) estimates that, for general industry companies, falls from ladders — step, straight, combination, and extension — account for 20% of fatal and lost workday injuries. The majority of these incidents may have been prevented by compliance with OSHA compliance with OSHA standards. Falling from heights, one of the most common OSHA violations, includes ladder safety violations.

If your business is covered by federal (or state) OSHA, and you make ladders available for your employees to use, you’re required to commit to ladder training and safety standards.

Below are some specific requirements designed to ensure worker safety in the OSHA Standard for Ladders:

Loads
Self-supporting (foldout) and non-self-supporting (leaning) ladders must be able to support at least four times the maximum intended load. Exceptions are extra-heavy-duty metal or plastic ladders, which must be able to sustain 3.3 times the maximum intended load.

Angle
Non-self-supporting ladders, which are meant to lean against other support, are to be positioned at an angle that the horizontal distance from the top support to the foot of the ladder is about a fourth of the working length of the ladder.

Rungs
Ladder rungs, cleats, or steps must be parallel, level and uniformly spaced when the ladder is in position for use. Rungs should be spaced between 10 and 14 inches apart. Rungs must also be shared that an employee’s foot cannot slide off, and must be skid-resistant.

Slipping
Ladders are to be kept free of oil, grease, wet paint and other slipping hazards. For ladders made from wood materials, the ladder must not be coated with an opaque covering, except identification or warning labels on one face only of a side rail.

Other Relevant Requirements
  • Foldout or stepladders must have a metal spreader or locking device to hold the front and back sections in an open position when in use.
  • When two or more ladders are used to reach a work area, they must be offset with a landing or platform between the ladders.
  • The area around the top and bottom of ladder must be kept clear.
  • Ladders must not be tied or fastened together to provide longer sections, unless they are specifically designed for such use. 
  • Never use a ladder for any purpose other than the one for which it was designed.

For additional ladder safety tips, visit https://www.osha.gov/.
Protecting Your Business
After a Major Loss

Why You Need a 
Business Continuity Plan
You have done a great job in protecting your business assets by selecting appropriate insurance coverage. But what happens right after a major event (fire, flood, earthquake, windstorm)?

  • Protect people and property from further harm/damage.
  • Stabilize the situation with your employees and customers.
  • Start to rebuild, get your business back up and running.

Have you thought of what you can do before there is a disaster to minimize the impact and expedite getting your business back to normal?

  • Perform a Risk Assessment of your most valued assets.
  • All of these categories have a major impact on your business operations, they should be ranked in order of priority, you may have others to add: Material/Inventory Suppliers, Staffing, IT Resources/Accessibility/Communications, Business Reputation/Customer Retention, Business Records, Access to Financial Resources, Utilities/Transportation/Mobile & Production Equipment, Adjacent Occupancies.

Each category should be evaluated, and a plan of action developed. Some will be very simple while others more complex.

“Your” Business Continuity Plan must be tailored to your business. Yes, there are templates available to help with the process of building a plan but if it doesn’t work for your business it is worthless.

Commitment to the plan starts at the top. In order to be effective, you need to rely on your team to support and implement. Planning, testing, fine tuning, and communication of the plan are essential.

Imagine pulling up to your business and finding it totally burned down, ask yourself what do I do now (other than call your insurance agent)? The time for a Business Continuity Plan is now.
Work Comp Coverage Built for Your Business!

For a FREE quote, contact us at 800.323.0131 or info@americanhli.com.
Unemployment Fraud and Identity Theft
The rise in unemployment filings and the expansion of jobless benefits, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, has led to a large-scale increase in fraudulent unemployment claims across the country. A fraudulent claim not only negatively impacts employers but may also negatively impact employees. It could mean that your employee has been the victim of identity theft. Filing for unemployment with a stolen identity is nothing new. However, state unemployment agencies are reporting significant spikes in fraudulent claims. According to USA Today (December, 2020), “an international imposter attack has contributed to at least $36 billion being siphoned away from out-of-work Americans.”

Some of the common signs of a fraudulent claim that current employees (who never applied for unemployment) may experience include:

  • Receiving an unemployment insurance letter (UI Finding)
  • Receiving a debit card
  • Not being able to file for unemployment upon termination or reduction in hours because “a claim already exists.”
  • Receiving an IRS notice regarding unreported unemployment insurance benefits
  • Receiving a notice of a state or federal tax offset

Employers may experience receiving a notice of claim for an employee who is not separated or who has not experienced a reduction in hours. If you receive a fraudulent claim for a worker who is still actively employed with your organization, inform the affected employee(s) and encourage them to follow the steps below. These steps are for the impacted individual because only the employee will be able to provide the necessary information.

  • Report the incident to https://identitytheft.gov/ which is managed by the Federal Trade Commission. This will produce an FTC Identity Theft Report that identity theft victims can use to clear fraudulent information from their credit reports.
  • Contact his/her local police department and file a report (when possible).
  • Report the incident to the state in which the impostor claim was filed.

It is also highly recommended that the affected individual notify their bank and credit card companies, consider freezing their credit, and alert the IRS.

This type of fraud is being engineered by cybercriminals, some of them working together, who have stolen or bought other people’s identities.This is a stark reminder that sensitive, personal information, in the wrong hands, can inflict a great deal of harm to the unsuspecting employee and business. As an employer, you can protect your business against this type of cybersecurity threat. By obtaining data breach insurance you will be purchasing protection for your business for many of the incidents that can occur in today’s environment. It has never been more important than it is now to check your cyber security defenses. 

To obtain a data breach quote, contact American Hardware & Lumber Insurance at 800.323.0131 or email info@americanhli.com.