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Washington Insurance
Robert S. Mori, CPA, President 7429 East Heather Way, Everett, WA 98203-5424
Tel. (425) 353-9763 Toll-free (877) 455-7591 Greater Seattle (206) 965-9609
Washington Insurance
For Washington Insurance, the idea of risk is basic in any conversation about Washington employee benefit planning. A couple of definitions of risk include "the hazard or chance of loss" or "uncertainty with respect to possible loss." In other words, one doesn't have a crystal ball to see the future and there is no human way to know what the future holds in terms of losses and how much they may be. That is why there is a need for Washington insurance.
As an example, nobody knows when they will die, when they will become struck by a disease or fall into a dreadful accident or whether or not they will reach retirement. All possible losses in life and related to Washington insurance in the form of Washington employee benefits as these benefits can offer compensation to offset these and other losses. Loss is related to experiencing a decrease in value. This value can be as great as a loss of life to as little as child needing a pair of glasses. When one suffers a loss, one loses monetary value. When a man dies his wife loses a husband and his children lose a father. In monetary terms, the family has just lost a bread winner. That is where the need for Washington insurance in the form of life insurance comes in. If that man was covered by a Washington state life insurance policy his family would be compensated for the loss based on the face value of the policy.
The idea of risk is different from the idea of of peril and hazard, but the three have an interrelationship. Peril and hazard are primarily insurance terms, used particularly in Washington property and liability insurance but also in Washington life and health insurance. They also have considerable application in Washington employee benefit planning.
A peril is defined as "exposure to injury, loss, or destruction; grave risk; jeopardy; danger." Another definition is "the cause of some occasion of personal or property loss, destruction, or damage." Ever day perils in regards to one's property include fires, floods, tornados, earthquakes, thefts, and burglaries. These same perils also can cause personal harm. Perils related to Washington life and health insurance include serious diseases, physical injuries, and premature death. A number of Washington insurance policies are identified by the perils covered. Washington Life insurance and Washington health policies, obviously are an exception. Actually they originally were called death insurance policies and accident and sickness policies, but their names were changed for euphemistic and marketing reasons.
A hazard is "an unavoidable danger or risk, even though often foreseeable" or a "condition that either increases the probability that a peril will occur or that tends to increase the loss when a peril has struck. " In Washington insurance, the three categories of hazards include physical hazards, moral hazards, and morale hazards.
Physical hazards are real world conditions that cause a hazard, a danger to self, others or to property. In the work place, there can be numerous physical hazards--for example, ice on a sidewalk and no salt or other deicers aren't made available or there are a number of burners are used to process chemicals and no fire extinguishers are made available or are not maintained in useable condition.
Dishonest people are moral hazards. Some employees who are in responsible positions are in essence, moral hazards. The category includes those who steal from the employer, purposely damage firm property, file fraudulent medical claims, abuse sick leave and personal time off, or file false overtime and expense statements.
Morale hazards exist when persons are carelessness or indifferent. This is where Washington liability insurance comes into play. Some individuals appear to be accident-or disaster-prone and, as such, are morale hazards. On the other hand, specific morale hazards include the failure to lock rooms, vaults, or areas from which valuable items are stolen. Another morale hazard is not notifying others when there is a hazard in the work place that could harm others. Workers at nuclear plants have not been notified properly in Eastern European countries when reactors are out of control and are spewing radioactive toxins in the air.