What is an X-Mod?

Name: Alta Vista Insurance Agency
Address: 2585 Pio Pico Dr Suite 100, Carlsbad, CA, 92008
Telephone: 888-724-2124

Posted on September 2, 2017January 12, 2021 by Seth Arruda

X-Mod is insurance jargon for “experience modifier” and is a multiplication factor used to adjust base rates on an employers workers compensation premium. When starting out as a new employer, your business may not be experience rated. This means the Workers Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB) has not assigned your business an experience modifier. However, the more expensive your class code (the type of work you do) and the more employees you hire, the sooner the WCIRB will come knocking to evaluate your business.

It is extremely important to manage your loss prevention

Q. What does the WCIRB use to determine the experience modifier?
A. They look at your claims and divide it against your premium, to calculate an average against the average number of workers comp.

Many insurance companies will require that your business have an experience modifier, and that it is within an acceptable range for your class code for them to offer competitive workers compensation insurance rates. Insurance companies are looking for businesses that have lower than average loss experience.

In many cases, if you are new in business, have too high of an x-mod due to losses, or are in a difficult line of work, insurance companies may be reluctant to offer coverage.

To find out how your business can lower your loss experience ratio to get access to better rates, download your free special report, “5 Things Every Business Owner Should Know About Workers Compensation Insurance.”

Links of Interest

California Wildfires and Your Insurance Policy

Posted on May 19, 2014January 12, 2021 by Seth Arruda

California Wildfires and Your Insurance Policy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYt4MkBuOWo

Keith Brentlinger

Alta Vista Insurance Agency
1020 South Santa Fe Avenue
Vista, CA 92084

Toll Free: 1-888-724-2124

With the recent wildfires on North San Diego County, it is a great idea to educate yourself about your current insurance policies to make sure you are properly covered in the event of losing your assets. Any questions, please feel free to give us a call 888-724-2124.

If you need to report a claim, please visit our claims page for additional information https://altavistainsurance.com/claims/

Keith Brentlinger from Alta Vista Insurance wants all the victims of the San Diego Wild Fires to know that you are in our thoughts and prayers. If there is anything at all that we can do to help navigate your claim at this time, don’t hesitate to contact us at our office. 1-888-724-2124

During this time we have received several calls from our policy holders that they have been contacted directly by their insurance carriers to see if they were okay and if they needed to file a claim.

Our insureds were quite impressed, and so were we that our industry is taking proactive steps in this time of need to help our community.

During our conversations with some of our clients a common question is, “What would happen if my house were to burn to the ground, and every thing is gone? How is that claim going to be settled? What will the claims adjustor need?”

A claims adjustor will need an inventory and some sort of documentation of what you had. One of the easiest ways to have a document of what that includes is to have a video tape inventory of your home.

So when video tape inventorying your home, we suggest that you capture all of your posessions so that when you go through. For example, when you go through your kitchen open up all your cabnets so you can see all your pots and pans. When you’re in your bedroom, open up your dresser drawers. Video tape your closets. If you have a storage shed, or garage, don’t forget to video tape in there. Pretty much, your whole house needs to be recorded.

Another advantage of doing this is it is going to show the materials and finishes within your home. So it is going to verify if you had granite counter tops, the type of cabinetry you had, flooring, bathroom fixtures, etc. All that is very important.

So that leads to another thing, you want to be sure your policy has enough coverage to actually rebuild your home and replace your contents if it was a total loss. What happens sometimes is that people have done major renovations to their homes, or done room additions, and they haven’t let us know, or the insurance carrier, and there is a very good chance there wouldn’t be enough coverage.

We invite you to please contact our office. We’d be glad to review your current home owners insurance, renter’s policy, condominimum policy, mobile home policy, and make sure you have proper coverages.

Or if you don’t have any of those policies, we’d be glad to give you a free no obligation quote on that.

Something else to remember is there is no end to our fire season with the current drought, so what we recommend is that you do this now than trying to do this when you get an evacuation notice from the sherrif’s office or fire department. Because then it is going to be too late.

Again, our thoughts and prayers are with the families in this current situation. And if you need more information please visit our website: AltaVistaInsurance.com/claims

Thank you,
Keith Brentlinger

7th Annual Oceanside Pacific Kiwanis Beach Fun Day 2014

Posted on May 15, 2014February 2, 2021 by George Francis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R4Q2O4MHu4

This is a video complied of great moments that took place during the 7th Annual “Beach Fun Day” at the Oceanside Harbor. The Kiwanis Club of Oceanside serves the community of Oceanside, California. We are a group of dedicated individuals who strive to improve our community and help the children of the world through fund raising events and volunteer work for various charitable organizations.

Data Breaches Mounting: Reviewing Cyber Liability Coverage

Posted on March 3, 2014January 12, 2021 by George Francis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZNMq9c6L48

California businesses and government agencies have experienced 300 separate data breaches exposing the personal information of more than 20 million customer accounts. Cyber security is a key focus on our state’s top crime-fighting. Call us today and get your business protected with Cyber Liability Insurance! 1-888-724-2124

Good Afternoon, I’m George Francis President and CEO of Alta Vista Insurance Agency. Today I was going to do an article on “Business Income.” But I changed my mind after reading many articles in the various trade magazines I get, and from looking at a news article in today’s paper from the attorney general for the state of California, Carmella Harris. She indicated in the past year they had 300 separate data breach incidents reported to her office. Which is a 30% increase over 2012. It impacted over 20,000,000 people. And this doesn’t include Target and Neiman Marcus (data breaches), which you know about.

Data Breach impacts smaller companies as well. Our agency had 2 computers impacted by malware where they locked up the computer and demanded that we pay $300 for them to unlock it, or they would destroy the data on the computer. Luckily our IT guy was able to get rid of the (bad) information.

That’s kidnapping. And that happens all the time. But in addition to that, all of the data in your system is vulnerable. So we highly recommend that you talk to your insurance professional, or give us a call because data breach liability insurance is available.

One of the questions that you may want to ask yourself is, “Can you afford $50-$150 to notify every single person in your data base that’s been breached?” It’s a significant amount of money and it’s required.

I want to thank you, and I look forward to talking to you in the future. If you have any questions, please give me a call 1-888-724-2124.

Vista Teen Outreach Needs Our Support

Posted on November 22, 2013February 2, 2021 by Seth Arruda

The mission of the Vista Teen Outreach is to reach out to Vista teens in need of nutritional assistance. If you are interested in contributing to their cause, email vistateenoutreach@gmail.com or call 442-222-9024. Find them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TeenOutreach

“We Make A Living By What We Get, But We Make A Life By What We Give” ~ Winston Churchill

Nearly 1 in 5 Children and Teens in America live in homes that struggle to put food on the table. They need our help!

Hi Amanda here from Alta Vista Insurance Agency. We wanted to find an organization this Thanksgiving Holiday that can contribute to a family in need. So we found a great program, we are supporting Vista Teen Outreach Hunger Hurts. We are here today with Debbie Medrano so we can get more information.

Amanda: “So, tell us a little bit about Vista Teen Outreach, and who it helps?”

Debbie: “Vista Teen Outreach is a non-profit organization that provides food and snacks for kids in school to take home. A lot of them are couch surfing with friends, are homeless, or their family cannot afford to put food on the table. We collect donations throughout the community and fill pantries in 11 schools in the Vista School District.”

Amanda: “So this is something that’s just for Thanksgiving Holidays, people can donate all year around too?”

Debbie: “(Yes) All year around we accept collections and we keep the pantry full during the school year.”

Amanda: “And can you tell us the locations for the drop off?”

Debbie: “The drop off locations are Rancho Buena Vista High School in the library, King’s Staionae on Melrose (Now located at 1280 E Vista Way, Vista, CA 92084) and the Vista Chamber of Commerce.”

Amanda: “Yeah! We are very excited to donate all these Thanksgiving delicious treats. And if you guys want more information, we are going to go ahead and put this on our website so that you too can contribute!”

Vista Teen Outreach
PO BOX 2761
Vista CA 92085-2761
PH: 442-222-9024
vistateenoutreach@gmail.com

Drop off locations:
- Sport About, 1310 Vista Way Vista CA 92084
- Kings Stationers, 1280 E Vista Way CA 92084
- Vista Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Vista CA 92084

The 2013 OCHSA Championship

Posted on October 15, 2013January 12, 2021 by George Francis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YadEuTZmnMQAlta Vista Insurance Agency is proud to support OCHSA. The Orange County Horse Show Association promotes quality horse shows for Orange County Riders. OCHSA offers beginner and advanced exhibitors the opportunity to learn and show at quality horse shows in and around Orange County. OCHSA is built for hunters and jumpers alike and offers equitation and medal classes for junior and adult amateur riders. By working closely with horse show managers for quality control, OCHSA works to assure exhibitors of quality facilities at all Orange County approved shows.
For more information about this excellent organization, please visit them online at: https://www.ochsa.org/

The 6th Annual Oceanside Pacific Kiwanis “Beach Fun Day”

Posted on May 14, 2013January 12, 2021 by George Francis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaTwov2dAEg”Beach Fun Day” is an annual Oceanside Pacific Kiwanis event where over 200 kids with special needs from Oceanside Unified School District Elementary schools get to spend a day at the beach. The day includes fun activities, music, great food, kite flying, and an exclusive boat tour around the harbor. Thank you to all the supporters and co-sponsors. This is a day that kids will always remember!

“Gaps” In Your Winery Insurance Policy

Posted on April 29, 2013January 12, 2021 by Seth Arruda

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZHqOH1iI-0

Hi, I’m Dianna Connelly, the winery specialist for Washington and Oregon with Alta Vista Insurance.Today I’d like to talk to you about “Gaps in Coverage.”

Have any of these changes happen at your winery in the past year? Changes:

Hire New Employee?
Purchase New Equipment?
Increase in Production leading to increase in inventory?

Simple questions I know. But I’d like to talk about a concern I find over and over again when reviewing current insurance policies of potential new clients. I call them “Gaps in Coverage”. I define a gap in coverage when they change what they are doing, selling or making, and suddenly there is not enough insurance, or in some cases, no insurance at all to protect the business if a loss occurs.

Gaps can slowly begin any number of ways. For example:

You add or remove a location.
You start selling grapes along with making your own wine.
There is a large change in your annual sales or inventory.
Or new equipment is purchased.

All of these are common changes any business can experience, and each can slowly create a gap in insurance. One common denominator in all the policies: A lack of communication between the winery owner and their insurance broker.

As a wine maker and business owner, think about where you go throughout the day:

Is your insurance coverage following you?
Are you crushing, or taking delivery of your grapes somewhere other than your winery?
Are your products and property covered at that location?
Does your liability follow you if you accidently back your fork lift into their crusher?
Are you using your personal car to deliver finished bottles of wine to customers?

As a winery owner, your focus is on Thursdays Bottling, Saturday’s Tasting Event and, “Will this year’s harvest be on time?” Is your Insurance Specialist, let me focus on other insurance questions to keep those gaps from ever becoming an issue.

Call or email me to discuss your insurance questions today.

Sincerely,

Dianna Connelly
Alta Vista Insurance Agency
(888) 724-2124

Winery Insurance “Glitches” with George and Amanda

Posted on April 18, 2013January 12, 2021 by Seth Arruda

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxfbRdkwbCs

Amanda: “Hey Everyone. I’m Amanda Foster, Social Media Specialist with Alta Vista Insurance, and I’m here with George Francis, President of Alta Vista Insurance Agency. Today we’re going to talk about “glitches” in your policy, and why they are important to look over. So George, values change all the time. Is this something that we should be looking in our policy?”

George: “Well Amanda, that’s something that needs to be looked at continuously. A good example of that is when I picked up a new client recently. I talked to him. One of the reasons I was there was specifically because of “Valuation.” I asked him, I said, “So, what do you have in stock at this time?” He took me over to the barrel room and said, “I’m really not sure. But I don’t think it is insured to value.” So we went through it, and no. He wasn’t insured to value. It is something that needs to be undated constantly. Wine comes in. Wine goes out. Values change. At least annually it should be looked at.

The other important factor to look at is your Library wine. If you haven’t taken values in 4 or 5 years, you can be pretty much sure, it is undervalued.”

Amanda: “What about locations? What if you have moved locations, or are adding another location?”

George: “Well again, another glitch that happens is, suddenly we are not crushing at the same location. So, we’ve added a new crush pad somewhere and we have not added (that new location) to the policy. If you’ve got 10,000 Gallons of wine in the vat tank, and you are unfortunate enough to have a loss, there is no coverage. So every location, every warehouse, every press facility, every shipping place needs to be on the policy. And if you’re going to change something let us know that (so we can update your policy).

Amanda: “What about new equipment?”

George: “…I can’t tell you how many wineries I’ve been to that have a new wine bladder press, a new wine grape destemmer, or new tanks. These are things, you buy them, you need them, the crush is going on, and it is something that you need right now. But they need to be added to the policy, or if you do have a loss, they won’t be covered.”

Amanda: “What are some other things people should be aware of in their policies?”

George: “I think one of the big things I look at is transportation. Because policies differ. Some policies give you transportation from the field to the crush pad, while other policies may give no coverage for that. (Example) I had one client who had two gondolas on a flatbed (truck) that decided to go onto the roadway. (Transportation) is important coverage. It’s something you need to make sure you have.

Obviously whenever you’re shipping your wine to a warehouse, or some other location, there needs to be transportation coverage.

The reason we call these “glitches” is because these are simple little things that people don’t always think about. The reason they don’t think about it is because we’ve got to get something done today, and it’s really important for production. But these “glitches” happen, and they are important. Amanda?”

Amanda: “Thank you very much George!”

George: “And thank you for watching. I hope this was helpful.”

Amanda: “Have a great day!”

Please call George at 1-888-724-2124 or visit www.altavistainsurance.com for more information.

What is Obamacare? Kirby Thomas has your answers

Posted on March 26, 2013January 12, 2021 by Morgan Hege

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51XATE5hFfM

irby Thomas heads up the Employee Benefits Division at Alta Vista Insurance Agency. This video will help you understand the highly debated healthcare plan: Obamacare. Kirby answers many common questions that you may have on Obamacare and how this healthcare plan will affect you and/or your business. Call him today 888-724-2124.