North Carolina Workers Compensation Laws can be confusing. This short video is to help clarify when a Compulsory Insurance Law applies to your business. A Compulsory Insurance Law is a law which requires a business to possess a Workers Compensation policy.

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When it comes to the application of compulsory workers compensation law in North Carolina, the two primary factors at hand are: Entity Type and Workforce Count.

If your for-profit or non-profit business is structed as a C-Corporation or S-Corporation you are required by law to have a workers compensation policy when you have a total of three persons employed. This number is including officers, even if an exclusion of coverage for officers is selected.

If your business is structured as a Sole Proprietor, LLC, or Partnership, you are not under compulsory requirements until you have three employees in addition to the owner, LLC members, or partners.  Owners, LLC members, or partners are automatically excluded from coverage, unless coverage is elected. 

It makes no difference if an employee is full time or part time when considering your workforce count.

If your business is non-compliant with this law, the North Carolina Industrial Commission can levy a fine of $25 per day upon your business.

If you do not meet the compulsory requirements for a workers’ compensation policy based on employee count, you can still be taken to Civil Court if an employee is injured on the job, and you can incur legal fees to defend a case. Therefore, it is advisable to procure a workers’ compensation policy regardless of employee count requirements.

Of course, there are other nuances and factors that you’ll want to consider when it comes to Workers Compensation, but this summarizes the broad scope of North Carolina’s Compulsory Insurance Laws when it comes to Workers Compensation.

The LN Davis Insurance Agency has been serving Western North Carolina and beyond since 1933, and we’re happy to answer any questions you may have. Give us a call today to see how we can help you.

After using essentially the same rating method to develop premiums for National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policies for the past 50 years, the NFIP is introducing a new rating method for policies with effective dates of October 1, 2021 and after. The planned release of the new rating method, which is being referred to as ‘Risk Rating 2.0’, remains subject to potential Congressional actions. If the planned release is revised by either the NFIP or Congress, we will provide appropriate updates.

The new rating method will apply to all new flood policies issued with effective dates of October 1, 2021 and after. Policies renewing on or after October 1, 2021 will have the option of being rated under either the new rating method or the current rating method depending on which option is most beneficial.  

All policies renewing on or after April 1, 2022 must be converted to the new rating method.

Efforts will be made to help you develop the information required to compare the two rating methods on current polices when insufficient information is currently available to rate the policy under the new method. We will provide further communications on this.

• NFIP premiums will no longer be based on an assigned flood zone.  Instead, premiums will be based on; 
• the geocoded location of the insured building, 
• several location specific flood risk assessment factors, 
• construction features of the building and
• how the building’s replacement cost relates to the limits of insurance purchased. 
• Elevation Certificates will no longer be required for NFIP flood policies. They may still be provided, however, in order to amend the first floor height measurement used to rate the policy. All policies currently rated using the information provided by an Elevation Certificate, will automatically be rated with it when they convert to the new rating method.
• The Preferred Risk Policy (PRP) option will cease to exist. As existing PRP policies transition to the new rating method, policyholders will be able to select the coverage limits and deductible options they desire. They will no longer be restricted to the pre-set PRP coverage limit options and deductibles.
• Pre-FIRM rating and Newly Mapped rating will no longer be alternate rating approaches. Both will become discounts to qualifying and benefitting risks.

An independent insurance agent is your advocate in times of need!  You are our customer and we want to keep it that way by offering policy guidance and expertise in times of a claim.  We also offer various insurance company options to fit your need.  Do you really want to go without an agent/advocate in times of need?  Is that voice on the phone from a direct online insurance company going to go to bat for you when they are receiving their pay check from their own company?  We earn our pay checks from our customers every day and we support our local economy directly.  We also support various non-profit causes in our community on a regular basis.  Try asking one of the direct writer companies to donate to a local cause...good luck with that!  As a small local business we value our customer relationships and will not "bite the hand that feeds us"!

So the next time you want true value vs coverage reductions in order to gain the cheapest policy possible you can only look to yourself for help and you may not deem the premium reduction worth the lack of protection and advice in the long run.  Is your financial well being worth a few saved dollars when the lawyers are coming at you with visions of dollar signs dancing in their heads?

We have been in business since 1933 and we are now a fourth generation family owned insurance agency.  We love Haywood County and the people we serve.  Please consider us for your next insurance need. To us you are not just a "transaction" to make a quick commission payment.  You represent our livelihood and our ability to help our community in the process.  Call us today and you will get a live person on the phone to identify your unique insurance needs vs the cookie cutter approach of the online insurance companies.

Dear Valued Family, Friends, and Customers,

With the recent Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, many of our local businesses are closing their doors to foot traffic. Restaurants and bars have been asked to only serve via carry-out or drive-thru windows. Downtown Waynesville is extremely quiet. Many have said it's the worst outbreak in American history. 

With social distancing playing a major role in containing and diminishing the virus, we have decided for the safety of our community, to close our doors as well. We are STILL HERE and have normal business hours 9am-5pm M-F. We are closing for lunch from 12:30-1:30 daily to maintain a level of normalcy for our office. So what does this mean for you, the consumer?

Well, we are still available by phone or email all day. If you need to make a payment, there are a number of options for you. First, if you know your carrier or have your bill in your hand, you can call the carrier direct and provide them with a Credit/Debit Card or Checking/Savings account. If you typically pay via cash or check, you can give us a call and we can help you with your payment. Check payments can also be mailed to the carrier. 

We do apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you but safety is our biggest priority for all parties at this time.

Please let us know if you need anything. We are here to help! Stay safe and well.

Sincerely,

LN Davis Insurance Agency

Auto insurance premiums are on the rise due to several factors.

1. More miles driven by the typical customer.

2. Legalized marijuana (in some States). In Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, where recreational marijuana is legal, collision claims frequency is about 6% higher, according to 2018 research from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the Highway Loss Data Institute.

3. Distracted driving.  Although eating and drinking, talking to a fellow passenger, applying makeup, programming a GPS or navigation system, or simply adjusting the radio all qualify as distracted driving, using a cellphone is undoubtedly the biggest concern: According to a study conducted by Cambridge Metrics Telematics last year, phone distraction occurred in 52% of trips that resulted in a crash.

4. Higher speeds.  Consider a highway with a speed limit of 70 mph that used to be only 55 mph. “Most people are driving about 75-80 mph, and if you do the math on that, that means you’re driving 40% faster.

5. Increasing repair costs. Safer cars themselves are responsible for the final factor. Claims that used to be $3-4,000 are now $10-12,000. Minor fender benders are causing significant damage dollar-wise to multiple vehicles.  Consider this: Whereas a Boeing 787 has 7 million lines of code and Facebook has 60 million lines of code, a 2016 Ford F150 has 150 million lines of code. Whenever you have an accident, you have to scan all the electronics before and afterwards, and all those costs keep increasing.

Increasing claims severity is a persistent auto insurance pattern that III has tracked going back 50 years. Whereas accident frequency goes down about half a percent a year on average the long-term trend for the cost of a claim is to go up considerably faster than the rate of inflation.

Better buckle up as this is probably going to be the new reality, at least until self driving cars are a reality!