Blog
Ridgemark Insurance Services

Courts Rule COVID-19 Business Interruption Claims Invalid
As second court has ruled that an insurer does not have to pay business interruption claims by businesses that saw their revenues run dry due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which will further make it difficult for business to successfully file such claims. In the most...
More Employers Ask Workers to Sign COVID-19 Waivers, but They May Not Be Legal
As lawsuits against employers continue rising amid the coronavirus pandemic, some businesses are requiring workers to sign waivers absolving them of liability and responsibility should they contract the virus. Eight percent of executives surveyed by law firm Blank...
Insurers Don’t Have to Pay for Testing Returning Workers: HHS
New guidance from the Trump administration absolves insurers of the responsibility of paying for COVID-19 tests that are required for workers who are returning to the job. The guidance, released by the departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury,...
Raft of Bills Would Add New COVID-19 Rules for Employers
The California Legislature is working on a number of new measures to protect workers in the state during the COVID-19 pandemic. The measures take aim at “holes” in the system that may leave employees who contract the coronavirus on the job without workers’...
Commercial Property Insurance Rates Rise as Risks Grow
Commercial property insurance rates are on the rise across the country as insurers continue wrestling with the toll of increasing natural disasters, rising social unrest around the world (including the U.S.) and the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, insurance companies...
Five Steps for Protecting the Data of Your Firm, Customers and Employees
In this era of connectedness, increased telecommuting, smartphones that keep staff connected to the office and cyber criminals constantly waging attacks on businesses, you need to do all you can to protect your firm’s, employees’ and customers’ data. It’s a heavy lift...
New Emergency Workers’ Compensation Rules Take Effect
The Department of Insurance has approved emergency workers’ compensation rules dealing with COVID-19 and California employers. The rules were recommended by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau to bring fairness for employers’ experience rating during the...
New Telecommuter Class Code in the Works
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, California’s workers’ compensation rating agency plans to implement a new class code for telecommuting employees on Jan. 1, 2021. The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California started work on the new classification after...
How to Open Shop and Bring Staff Back to Work
If your business is preparing to open due to a relaxation of shelter-at-home orders, you should proceed with caution and make sure you have safeguards in place to protect your workers, as well as customers if they are entering your premises. How can you take that...
OSHA Asks Employers to Investigate Worker COVID-19 Claims
COVID-19 and workplace safety has been a moving target for OSHA and it has released a number of advisories, including one in March that said new cases were recordable events and then another one in mid-April saying employers are not required to report new cases among...