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Post date: Jul 20, 2016 7:54:43 PM
See the attachment below for a somewhat cryptic response, delivered July 11 via US mail to former Treasurer Bill Henderson, whom Liberty Mutual still has registered as our primary contact. (It's not like we haven't asked them to change that several times over the last 18 months.)
It seems to say that the performers are not independent contractors, but then goes on to suggest that if there's a claim, they'll take another look at the matter and decide if they'll cover them. So they intend to keep our money, but are not promising to provide coverage when we need it. What's up with that?
From: Lori Falco [mailto:lwfalco@optonline.net]
Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2016 12:46 PM
To: Barrett Wilson <bgwilson53@gmail.com>; Chris Riemer <chrisriemer@verizon.net>
Cc: George Otto <g_otto@comcast.net>; Elizabeth Lachowicz <e.lachowicz@verizon.net>
Subject: Re: FW: Mail from Liberty Mutual
I spent some time yesterday looking carefully at the email that Elizabeth sent to Liberty Mutual and the letter that Bill Henderson received from them. I do believe that the letter is a response to Elizabeth's email.
The letter does state that it is in response to an email we sent, so right there it looks like they are responding to Elizabeth. I don't believe there is any other email from us that they could be responding to. They chose to respond via U.S. mail rather than email but they didn't have a street address for Elizabeth, so they sent it to Bill, which is probably the last street address they have on file for us. They misinterpreted Elizabeth's email and thought that we were saying that our policy had been billed incorrectly. They contend that we are being billed correctly because our performers are *not* independent. Then they added the statement that if a claim arose it would be investigated to see if they would cover it. I believe this is standard boilerplate for insurance policies. If I call my car insurance company right now and asked, "If I ran a red light and hit someone, will my policy cover their injuries?", they can't answer that question. It would depend on the exact circumstances of the accident and if such an incident occurred they would have to investigate and determine who is to blame and what is covered by my policy.
Bottom line is, they sent us a response but they didn't answer the question that Elizabeth posed. I think the policy probably covers what we hope it covers, but we may feel less certain of that then we would like to.
We may want to pose the question again and if we do I would recommend that we call them because it will be easier to deal with misinterpretations over the phone. I personally don't recommend this because, as I stated at one of our meetings, I don't believe there is anything to be gained by asking an insurance company if we're required to carry their insurance. But if we want to pursue this, a phone call is probably the way to go.
If the board ultimately decides to retain the WC insurance, I recommend that we call Liberty Mutual and ascertain that this policy is the right coverage for us. There's no need to call them and make certain of this if we'll be dropping the coverage soon.
For what it's worth, Steve and I have used Liberty Mutual for our homeowner's and auto insurance for over twenty years. All of our dealings with the company have been pleasant and efficient and I've always felt satisfied with them. Obviously, the division handling our WC insurance may be run differently, but my experience has been very positive.
Best wishes,
Lori
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