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MetLife was founded in 1868, but the origins of the company actually go back five years earlier to 1863. It was then that a group of New York businessmen founded the National Union Life and Limb Insurance Company. This company insured Civil War veterans against disabilities due to wartime incidents. After several reorganizations, the company’s leaders decided to focus on life insurance to be sold to the middle class.

MetLife, or under its full name Metropolitan Life, was born. The name Metropolitan was used in the new title because the former business had been the most successful in New York City, the “metropolitan” area.

By 1909, MetLife became the insurance company with the largest number of life insurance agents in the United States. The company still holds this position in North America.

Today, MetLife offers a variety of financial and insurance products. In addition to annuities, the company provides mutual funds, estate planning, education planning, and portfolio management to its customers. The company has over $3 trillion in assets under its management. It provides financial services to millions of individual and institutional customers in the United States. Outside of the United States, MetLife has subsidiaries in Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Europe.

Most people would associate MetLife’s advertising with Snoopy and the Peanuts characters. MetLife has an agreement to continue using the characters through 2012. The company believes that they help illustrate the corporate vision “to build financial freedom for everyone.”

In terms of annuities, MetLife offers three fixed annuity and eight variable annuity products. The individual annuities are listed below:

Fixed Annuities:
• Preference Guaranteed Select Deferred Fixed Annuity
• Preference Flex Select Deferred Fixed Annuity
• Max Income Immediate Fixed Annuity

Variable Annuities:
• Preference Plus Select Deferred Variable Annuity
• Preference Plus Income Advantage Immediate Variable Annuity
• Enhanced Preference Plus
• Financial Freedom Account
• MetLife Financial Freedom Select
• Preference Plus Account
• Preference Premier
• VestMet

The MAX Income and Preference Plus Income Advantage are immediate annuities, while the other products are deferred. An immediate annuity has a payout structure where income payments start no later than one year after the premium is paid. In addition, the premium payment is usually in one installment. However, with deferred annuities, income payments often start many years after the premiums are made.

MetLife’s annuities are available with optional living benefit riders for an additional fee. The living benefits that are available are income and withdrawal benefits. Income benefits mean that the annuitant is guaranteed a minimum amount of future fixed lifetime income. They also have the ability to take withdrawals without affecting the future amount. Withdrawal benefits allow the customer to withdraw a portion of their investment each year for a specified period of time.

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Look into discounts. Insurance companies sometime offer discounts, find out what those are, and if you might qualify for any.

Otherwise, saving money on sports cars works in much the same way as saving money on any form of car insurance, be a good driver and keep a clean record. Insurance companies love clean records and will reward you with lower costs. Keeping the teenagers out of the driver’s seat is always a good idea, you wouldn’t want them behind the wheel of your powerful beast anyhow, and given that they are already four times more likely than adults to wrap the car around another object.

If you are buying a car for your teen as soon as, they turn 16, choose the type of car carefully. Your teen is more likely to drive safely in a sensible car fitted with safety features, rather than a fast sports car. Fast driving will be less of a temptation and the insurance premiums will be lower too. Try to avoid letting your teen drive a truck or SUV, which are more likely to be involved in rollover accidents.

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If you have membership in any school or professional organizations, let your insurance company know. Some insurance companies offer significant discounts for membership of various alumni, fraternity and student associations; for example, the Golden Key National Honor Society.

Keeping all your eggs in the same basket may help you lower your car insurance costs. Some insurers give discounts if the applicant already has one or more insurances from the same company. For instance, if you already have homeowners insurance and another auto insurance plan from the company, chances are that you may have to pay less for insuring your new car. You can even ask them to give you a quote and compare it with that of other insurance companies.

Drive responsibly. If your teenager sees you speeding, ignoring stop signs, and giving in to road rage, he or she will be most likely develop the same driving behaviors. These behaviors lead to traffic citations and traffic accidents, both of which will lead to higher insurance prices, as well as injuries and fatalities.

Get rebates. Some states that allow “rebating”. California law, for example, allows agents to rebate part of their commission to you. If you live in a non-rebating state, find a California company online!

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The hairdressing industry as various governing bodies intended to protect the client and the hair salon

NHF
National Hairdressers’ Federation (NHF) provides salon members with help and information for the hair industry currently has over 6,000 members, which includes small and medium salons that include hair and beauty salons, and Independent Chair Renters.

The NHF works on behalf of its members to raise the professionalism and commitment to the hair and beauty industry. Members have access to a range of benefits, including services, products, advice and information that help them to develop their business, including access to a free legal helpline, salon insurance, discounted rates on PPL Licences. It helps its member through representation legal and employement advice.

If a salon displays it’s a member of the NHF this does mean it better than another salon down the road. Although it should be noted that the hair salon itself takes its business and contractual arrangements seriously.

AHT
Association of Hairdressers and Therapists, founded in 1963 by a group of hairdressing teachers as a like minded national network of specialists who exchange good practice and support. This organisations members are more made up from the educational sector of hairdressing. Ranging from lecturers, teachers and assessors who hold relevent teaching qualifications or are working toward achieving those qualifications. The AHT holds National Training initatives, events and specialist demonstrations across its network.

HABIA
In 1986, the Hairdressing Training Board (HTB) was formed with the objective of working with employers, educators and government to design and implement training and education programmes for the hairdressing industry.

Habia is the government appointed standards setting body for hair, beauty, nails, spa therapy, barbering and African type hair, and creates the standards that form the basis of all qualifications including NVQs, SVQs, Apprenticeships, Diplomas and Foundation degrees, as well as industry codes of practice.

In 1997, HTB, HTB Scotland, and the Beauty Industry Authority (BIA) formed the Hairdressing and Beauty Industry Authority (HABIA) to include the beauty therapy industry within its remit. Habia was formally launched by Dr Kim Howells, then Minister for Lifelong Learning, at that year’s Salon International exhibition.

By 2001, the organisation was being referred to by its initials, HABIA, and by the end of 2004 the decision was made to officially make the company name Habia. By this time, nail services and spa therapy had been added to Habia’s remit.

Habia was officially recognised by the government as a National Training Organisation (NTO) until these were abolished in 2001. Currently, Habia is recognised by the government as the Standards Setting Body for the hair, beauty, nails and spa sectors (including barbering and African Caribbean hair). The core responsibilities for Standards Setting Bodies include sector research and information, national occupational standards, qualifications strategy and learning frameworks. A central point of contact for information, Habia provides guidance on careers, business development, legislation, salon safety and equal opportunities, and is responsible to government on industry issues such as education and skills.

Habia raises the profile of its industries through the press and media, and is the first port of call for news organisations and broadcasters on news items and background information.

Habia also delivers solutions direct to:
salons – to help them understand complex legislation such as health & safety and employment law, improve client retention and raise business performance;
employees – to gain the skills that employers need to stay up to date with client demand and the latest techniques, equipment and products, as well as where to go to access learning and suitable qualifications;
trainers – to deliver qualifications with training support manuals, and to create successful teaching programmes including induction and initial assessment;
learners – by offering books and teaching guides directly related to their studies, and by providing advice on career paths and qualifications.

Introduction.
Renting out bouncy castles and other play inflatables is a great home business to be in either full time or part time, and the profits can be high, as well as the fun element! You own the business and all the equipment, there’s no need to pay any franchising fees or licencing rights. For example, operating just three bouncy castles part-time at weekends, at £55 ($US88) per day per bouncer will bring in £330 ($528) per weekend, or over £1,300 $US2,080) per month. Assuming expenses of around £300 ($US480) per month, this leaves over £1,000 ($US1,600) profit! Not bad for just a few hours work!

Children have birthdays every single day of the year. In the summer and autumn, their parents can hire a bouncy castle for the back garden or yard. In the winter and spring, parents can hire a community hall to hold the party and accommodate the bouncer.

To run a successful bouncy castle rental business, you don’t have to give up your full time job, and also you don’t need any large capital investment. This article will show newcomers how to start and successfully run a bouncy castle/inflatable hire business from home and avoid the mistakes that others have made in the past.

1: Research.
When thinking about starting a bouncy castle hire business, the first thing to do is to look through all your local newspapers, (classified sections), Yellow Pages, and online. See if there is anyone else in your town advertising a bouncy castle hire business. If you do spot a regular advertiser, don’t be put off – there’s still room for you. In most towns the demand for bouncy castles far exceeds the supply of them especially in the summer months. You will have a very clear idea of the competition in your area. In a busy area, rival companies will very often pass over enquiries and even bookings to other companies when they are too busy to fulfill the booking themselves. If you are very fortunate, there may be no rivals operating in your area.

2: Equipment needed.
Below is a list of equipment which you will need to start a bouncy castle hire business:
a) Bouncy Castle, rain-cover, electric blower, and anchor stakes.
b) Ground sheet to protect underside of bouncer.
c) Electrical extension cable (25 – 30 meters long).
d) RCD circuit breaker. (safety cut-out device).
e) Safety mat to put at front of the castle.
f) A sat nav or local street map of your town and its surrounding area.
g) Large A4 size desk diary for taking bookings (1 Page to a day).
h) Ledger book for recording takings and expenses etc.
i) Public Liability Insurance cover. We strongly recommend one million pounds as the absolute minimum.
j) Safety instruction sheet and customer disclaimer form.
k) A sack trolley.

From experience, we highly recommend that your first bouncy castle is 12 foot by 12 foot. (3.6m x 3.6m) with a 3 or 4 foot (Approx. 1 metre) safety step at the front. This size is by far the most popular with customers and is easily handled and stored, and when inflated will fit in most back gardens and community halls.

There are many excellent companies selling bouncy castles. Most new bouncy castles come with a one year guarantee, while some manufacturers offer a two year guarantee. Make sure that a minor repair kit is included in the price of your bouncer.

If buying new, make sure that the inflatable has a certificate to say that it has been manufactured to the recognised Standard which as at January 2010 is: BS EN 14960:2006 (UK and Europe).

Be very careful when buying used play inflatables as the stitching on the seams does wear over time, and can cause bed failure. Take an experienced person with you, who will know what to look out for.

3: Where to get customers.
Fortunately, children are born every single day of the year, so there is a virtually endless supply of prospective customers. Most parents prefer to use their own back gardens, or the local community hall to hold the party.

As well as private childrens’ parties, there are several other places where you can hire out your bouncer e.g. playgroups, nurseries, pubs, hotels, after-school clubs, shopping malls, school fetes, car boot fairs, shows and galas, charity events, football clubs, barbeques, beach parties, christening parties, wedding receptions, tennis clubs, cub and scout groups, brownie and guide groups, business promotions, open days etc.

4: How to get bookings.
In order to get your first hires, I recommend that you do the following: Firstly, tell everyone that you know who have young children, that you have a bouncy castle for hire. Offer to let them rent it at a discount, if they are prepared to tell all their friends and relatives.
Secondly, you need to place an advert in your local newspaper, and in your local yellow pages directory. This advertising will attract enquiries, and providing your telephone manner is polite and helpful you will get bookings virtually automatically.

You should also consider registering for free with Google Maps, so that your potential customers can easily find you when they type out the name of your town and bouncy castle hire in the Google search engine. (It is a very good idea to have a website, but it is not essential to have one, in order to have your company listed in Google Maps for free.

Initial enquiries will take several forms, most callers want to initially know the cost of hiring a bouncy castle, what sizes are available? how many children can use it at the same time? Up to what age group can use it? When a customer calls, the first question you should always ask is what date is the party on? Secondly, ask what age the children will be? Armed with this information, you can suggest a size of bouncy castle, 90% of the time it will be a 12ft x 12ft bouncer. If the children are very young i.e. aged 1 – 4, it may be better to suggest a smaller bouncer, or even a bouncy ballpond (a small semi-enclosed bouncy castle filled with multi-coloured plastic balls).

Also, tell the customer that you can deliver the castle, set it all up, and collect it at the end of the party. Tell the customer, that you will ring them a couple of days before to confirm the delivery time etc. This approach helps to develop trust with the customer, which should bring them back next time.
Always tell the customer that there is a rain-cover included in the price.

5: Promotional Items and referrals.
It is very important to take advantage of your first bouncy castle bookings. For example – a parent has just rented your bouncy castle for their son’s birthday party. You’ve just taken fifty five pounds or so. But it doesn’t end there. At this party, there will be parents of other children, and these children will have birthday parties as well, so you need to promote your company as much as possible. The best way of doing this is to hand out A5 size leaflets. It is also a good idea to get some business cards printed, and given out.
Always remember, customer satisfaction is the number one priority. You really want their party to be a success, and their children to have a really enjoyable time. That way, the parents are more likely to recommend you to their friends, and hire from you again and again.

6: Safety
Obviously with children, safety is absolutely paramount. We strongly recommend that you give your customers a safety instruction sheet. We have produced some templates for you. You can find a copy of this on the BIHA homepage or visit: www.biha.org.uk/safecartoons1 Also, you should familiarize yourself with the legal requirements and codes of practice which apply to the operation of bouncy castles. ( See: www.biha.org.uk ).

7: Basic Book-keeping.
It is very important to keep track of all the money you receive. Also, of course, your expenses regarding advertising, printing, fuel, telephone calls, etc.

8: Expanding your business.
After you have your first few hires under your belt, you will probably start to think of other types of inflatables that you can invest in such as inflatable slides and bouncy ballponds. Don’t forget that the corporate market can be very lucrative (E.g. local councils and big companies in your town).

Good luck, and every success!

Contractor insurance is an essential element of running a contracting business and comprehensive insurance cover can mitigate the impact of events such as thefts, an investigation by HMRC or even the threat of legal action and compensation arising from client accusations of negligence.

Umbrella company contractors are normally covered by their umbrella company employer’s policy, but limited company contractors must make their own arrangements to ensure they have adequate cover in place to satisfy business and client requirements.

Insurance types to consider

There are three main categories of insurance that contractors should consider:

• Office
• Professional indemnity
• Tax investigation.

A comprehensive office policy would normally include public liability and employee liability, legal requirements for trading limited companies, plus home office contents and portable equipment cover for business equipment, such as laptops and mobile devices.

Professional indemnity insurance, also known as ‘PI’, will provide the funds to cover legal advice if a client levels accusations of negligence against a contractor, and may also cover any payouts for compensation. Most clients, particularly those in the public sector, require that a contractor limited company has at least £1m in PI cover.

Tax investigation insurance covers the cost of accountants and other expert assistance in the event of an investigation by HMRC. A routine compliance visit by an inspector may only cost a few hundreds of pounds in an accountant’s time, but if the investigation develops into a full-blown IR35 case, the cost of an expert defense can run to tens of thousands of pounds, which could financially ruin a contractor who does not have insurance.

Choosing the right policies

Not every contractor’s insurance needs will be the same. Some contractors may have requirements unique to their sector, or could have business premises, such as an office or workshop, that require specialist cover.

A specialist small business insurance broker will usually assess a contractor’s insurance requirements as part of their service and then actively seek out the most appropriate policies for the contractor’s specific needs from the market.

Alternatively, it is possible to obtain a comprehensive package of insurances directly from an insurance company, but contractors should ensure the insurer understands the contractor marketplace and has a track record in providing contractor insurance products.

Contractor insurance costs

As most policies will be individually tailored to a specific contractor’s needs, each policy is priced accordingly. Buying insurance in a bundle direct from an insurer or via a broker is usually more cost effective than buying different policies direct from different suppliers.

As a rule of thumb, a comprehensive office policy costs a few hundred pounds, PI insurance from a few hundred to several thousands, depending on the amount of cover required and the type of services the contractor provides.

The three lines of defence principle is a long and well established concept that has been deployed in a variety of industries and situations.
In the insurance industry the three lines have consisted of the following:
• The business – the day-day running of the operation and the front-office
• Risk and compliance – the continual monitoring of the business
• Audit – the periodic checking of risk and compliance.

In part this approach is the solid foundation upon which firms can protect themselves against a range of potential risks, both internal and external, and to a degree it is an approach that is forced upon them through regulators’ insistence on external audits as well as on an embedded risk management capability.

As reliable and well proven as the three lines of defence concept is throughout the insurance industry, it is in need of an update. In today’s market there is a far greater number of risks and regulations and an ever-increasing level of complexity in business. Simply being sure that every major risk is in hand is a difficult task.

It is not so much the concept of the three lines of defence that needs to be overhauled but the way that these three lines communicate with each other and the relationship between them.

The complexity of today’s market affects the risk and compliance function more than any other. In the majority of organisations management of the various different forms of risk – operational risk, compliance risk, legal risk, IT risk – are all carried out by different teams, creating a pattern of risk silos. This situation leads to a number of negative consequences. The first of these concerns efficiency.

These risk silos each gather their information by asking the business to provide various information relating to their daily tasks and any potential risks associated with them. Because of the silo structure, the business will find itself being asked for this same information on a multiple of occasions. This not only leads to inefficiency due to the duplication of effort, it can also lead to frustration from front office staff and subsequent disinclination to engage with risk management.

Such is this level of frustration that, according to one insurer which recently appointed a new chief executive, when the new head asked his staff what single change would make their life easier he was told to do something about the endless questionnaires and check sheets that they have to fill out to satisfy risk managers and compliance officers.

While frustration among staff is never a positive development, any company’s risk management programme depends on getting buy-in from the staff so anything that threatens the success of this programme has to be addressed.

Perhaps more importantly there is also an inconsistency due to the different ways this same information will be interpreted by different risk teams. This disparate relationship between risk teams can also lead to a lack of recognition over potential correlations between various risks. For example, the recent sub-prime crisis that has affected so many banks may have been avoided if there had been more co-ordination and communication between the credit department and those selling mortgages to people with bad credit.
Similarly the €6.4 billion loss at Société Générale was the result of several risk oversights, combining a lack of controls on individual traders as well as a failure to implement various checks on the trading systems themselves. There was also a negligence of market risk factors with risk management not highlighting a number of transactions having no clear purpose or economic value.

Major risk events rarely result from one risk and most commonly involve a number of potential exposures all combining. Consequently insurers need to be more joined up in their risk management and more consistent in the way that risk is reported across the organisation.

For those individuals charged with the responsibility for enterprise-wide risk management, their task is made harder by the inconsistent formats that they receive their risk information. For example, interest rate risk may be reported as a single Value at Risk number, whereas regulatory compliance or operational risk may be expressed through a traffic light format. How is a chief risk officer, or indeed a CEO, expected to rank such disparately expressed exposures?

What organisations are now looking to do is to gather all of the various risk information in a consistent format for their chief risk officers to work from. So having a common framework for this process is crucial.
There are various initiatives in the insurance industry – ICAS, Solvency II and, often, the Basel Accord – all of which have contributed to the growth of risk and compliance teams. The chief requirement for all of these regulations is capital adequacy, meaning that insurers have to set aside a calculated reserve of capital to cover a number of potential risk scenarios.

However, regulators will say that they are not simply looking for firms to fulfil their most basic regulatory requirement and to set aside a defined sum of money to cover a list of risk scenarios. Instead they are looking for firms to concentrate on the methodology used to arrive at these numbers, and on ensuring that the risk management process is thoroughly embedded throughout the organisation and scenario analyses bring together risk information from all of the various risk silos.

Scenario analysis is one approach that firms are using to meet their regulatory requirements but effective scenario analysis is very much based on the ability to collate and correlate risk information from all over the organisation.

For the internal audit teams, their primary concern is to be more effective and to ensure that they are not simply repeating the work of the risk and compliance teams and are adding value by rigorously testing this work. Such a task requires access to this information and, ideally, to be using the same common framework as the risk and compliance teams so that information can be seen in the correct context.

“We are seeing much greater independence and objectivity in the internal audit role,” says Simon Rogerson, head of internal audit at Zurich Financial. “In an increasing number of organisations the internal audit function is no longer confined to existing within a corner the finance department and has more direct communication with senior management.”

The Role of Technology:
According to Rogerson, the use of technology to facilitate the evolution of the three lines of defence is a new development in the insurance industry. “Because it has been hard to clarify the different lines of defence and their relationships, it has been difficult to build a business case for a new system and to build the necessary workflow around these different roles.”
The situation is exacerbated by the presence of separate legacy systems in the business, risk and audit departments. Everyone is aware of the weaknesses in their own systems but this knowledge does not always translate across the three lines of defence. This leaves most insurers with two choices. The first is to go back to the start and design a new all-encompassing system from scratch. The second choice is a system that supports common processes and reporting while allowing each function to continue using specialist solutions that suit their own needs.

“I think the successful firms will be those that recognise there are different functionalities in these different spaces but they are all able to communicate with each other in a common language and through common systems,” says Rogerson. “Observations can be shared and specific risk issues can then be discussed through an email exchange and summary reports can be automatically sent out to managers.”

For internal auditors a lot of their work is manually-based, says Rogerson. “But technology would enable us to do these things quicker and more accurately. The system would also enable us to make certain risk issues generic so that where a risk is identified in one office or department we can then alert all the relevant risk managers in other departments and offices to see if this risk has been recognised and if there are processes in place to manage this risk. By automating this identification of risk, it enables insurers to take a smarter, more efficient and more global approach to the internal audit function.”

For risk managers it is about simplifying the process. They have a limited set of resources and want to make as much use of them as possible. In order to achieve this, it often means involving the business in carrying out much of the risk process – controlled risk assessments through recording any losses or the breaches where these losses occur. By conscripting the services of their business colleagues, risk managers are able to concentrate on the value-added side of their work and their role.

There are also some wider benefits to the organisation from such a system and the principle behind it. The more that front-office staff is exposed to the mechanics of the risk management process, rather than being repeatedly petitioned for the same information from multiple parties, the more they are aware of its importance and their role in it.

Writing your Vehicle Duty of Care Policy can be a pain! We have written this guide to help you and highlight the important points your policy should include.

We recommend you think of your vehicles as “mobile offices” and download or print an 8 page leaflet by the HSE called “5 steps to risk assessment” from our PDF downloads it will help you to understand the basics of what your policy is all about.

MISSION STATEMENT

Your introduction or mission statement should outline your company/organisations “culture” when dealing with its vehicle fleet with regard to such things as defensive driving, risk assessment, driver’s hours and regular health checks for both driver and vehicle. You should inform people that your policy is a complimentary addition to the main company policy and should be read in conjunction with their contract of employment and a current copy of the Highway Code.

BUSINESS DRIVER

A business driver is anybody who drives any vehicle on Company Business.

In this section you should explain that any driver out on the public roads on the company or organisations business is a company driver and that includes the person that uses an “owned” vehicle on Fridays to collect the fish and chips at lunchtime for the workforce.

Your policy must explain the driver’s responsibilities to the vehicle and respect for it, the limitations and responsibility of use by the driver and others while using a vehicle on business and the management structure authorising a business driver.

Some people use this area to explain driving licences and reporting procedures for them but we prefer this to be included in the LEGAL section.

NB – Reporting structure – Approved Driver List

BUSINESS VEHICLE

The company is responsible for any vehicle, company owned, privately owned or hired with or without driver. When it is used on company business explain your procedure checks for:

Right vehicle for the job
Road worthiness.
Legality
Safe use within the law.

This must be explained clearly in terms of how the company will and will not allow a vehicle on company business to be used e.g. with (trailer) and where (abroad), as they all impinge on the above four.

NB – Reporting structure – Approved Vehicle List – Servicing List

SAFE USE OF A VEHICLE

This is one of the most important sections of any Vehicle Duty of Care policy and you understanding its full implications and how you write it.

It is also where the reporting structure is at is most important and also where it breaks down in a lot of companies.

An example to illustrate what we mean:-

A company driver driving their own car is involved in an accident killing their passenger. The police decide the driver was well above the speed limit both for the road and weather conditions. On further investigation it was found that the driver had been driving to a 4pm sales meeting on the instructions of management and was late. It was also discovered that one of the front tyres was less than 1.6mm. Further investigation by police of company records showed the driver was on a sales bonus scheme related to the number of new customer visits per week.

The Police can lay charges against the driver from driving without due care and attention to dangerous driving and even manslaughter. He will be charged for the illegal tyre, gain 3 points on his licence and receive a fine of up to £2,500.

The Police could also lay charges against the company and its officials for corporate manslaughter if they think they were negligent in their duty of care by the structure of reporting from driver to company and was not actively followed (tyre) and that the sales bonus scheme brought unreasonable pressure on the driver to perform. At the minimum the legal officer of the company, usually the company secretary, will have their licence endorsed with 3 points and a fine (tyre).

NB – No matter how good your Vehicle Duty of Care Policy is with regard to the legality, safe use and clearly stipulates NO work schedule incentives for drivers, if your support structure is not active, problems will occur. Sorry but we will say this again. No matter how eloquent your Duty of Care Policy is written, with all the “do this, don’t do that,” unless – Your Reporting Structure is Robust and Active – You will fail in your Duty of Care!

VEHICLE SECURITY

Sometimes vehicle security is mixed with Insurance or safe use of a motor vehicle. We feel that security is not only that of the vehicle itself but also where it is parked on company premises, customers’ premises and overnight and therefore needs a section of its own.

LEGAL

In this group you base everything your drivers and vehicles need to stay legal on the roads and what happens when they don’t!

You need to clearly outline your company/organizations stance on all things that will stop a person driving legally from drinking, driving offences to non payment of fines and who is responsible for payments both fines & court offences needs to be made clear.

You need to make drivers aware here that they also have a duty of care to keep you informed through the proper procedures which you write of any changes to themselves or the vehicle they drive that could result in legal action. Your main approved lists stem from this section because failure to maintain any one of them can result in Legal Action against the driver and or your company/organisation.

NB – Reporting structure – Driving Licence List – Tax & MOT List – “O” Licence List – Insurance List

INSURANCE

All vehicles used on company business need business cover and it should be made clear to the drivers the position of both the company and insurance company.

ACCIDENTS

The driver is at their most vulnerable immediately following an accident and therefore it is here that you want to be sure that you have done all that you can to support the driver while protecting the company to make sure that the correct procedures will be followed.

What if your client only owns half the house? And the other owner can’t sign – can you get them a loan?

Nancy was in just that bind. She inherited ½ of her aunt’s house – her brother inherited the other half. She needed to borrow money right away for repairs to the house-– the problem was that her brother was in the middle of a nasty divorce, and couldn’t sign anything.

This is where a partial ownership loan, a loan secured by one part owner’s interest only, comes into play. (Partial ownership loans are also referred to as partial interest loans, or “partner loans.”) With a partial ownership loan, the lender makes a loan to one of the owners, secured only by their interest in the property. The other owners don’t sign anything, and the only collateral the lender has is the signing borrower’s partial interest in the property. Nancy was able to borrow against her share of the property, without needing the brother’s signature or being impacted by his problems. (This can also be useful in cases where the other owner simply refuses to sign.)

What if the lender forecloses and acquires the partial interest in the property? Do they become partners with the other property owner? Yes. That’s why it’s an unusual program. Partial interest loans are made on any undivided interest in real property, so it could be a one fourth interest, a one fifth interest, or even a smaller percentage of ownership. (Married persons cannot use this program to borrow against community property without the spouse’s signature.)

How can a lender do this? The underwriting criteria that regulates most capital sources like mortgage bankers, insured depository institutions, and credit unions would restrict them from making partial ownership loans. On a similar note, mortgage brokers who use private investor funds are restricted from placing their investor’s funds into these loans. Privately held portfolio lenders are the source for these. These lenders have and loan their own funds and must originate, service and hold the loans until they’re repaid in full.

The other challenge in this type of lending is title insurance. It’s often difficult or impossible to obtain traditional title insurance for these loans, so lenders sometimes have to “self insure,” meaning they handle title problems on their own.

While you won’t run across the need for this program every day, when you do, it can be a real lifesaver for your client. –Partial ownership loans often lead to another loan when matters relating to the other property owner(s) are settled. Sometimes loans are made to one part owner, only to have the other part owner contact the same broker to obtain their own loan against their interest in the property.

How else can partial ownership loans be used? How about investment or business partners who may own a share of a property and need to borrow when the other partners don’t? Another situation occurs when one of several heirs lives in the property and the other non-occupying heirs don’t want to encumber their share of the property to make improvements or upgrades. With a partial ownership loan, the occupying owner can borrow against their own share to obtain funds. There are other possible uses for this program – primarily, it’s a shift in thinking. Now, anytime you have a borrower who can’t get the other owners to sign, you have a new alternative to offer.

What should you watch out for in brokering partial ownership loans? First, be careful about placing clients into a partial interest loan with a balloon payment. Be sure they understand that when the balloon payment becomes due and payable, they may not be able to get another loan to cover the payoff.

Next-use your mortgage planning skills. Help your borrowers look at the big picture. For example, what are their long term plans for the property and how does the loan they’re considering impact those plans? Sometimes, just asking the right questions can guide the borrower to the best decision

All of these programs require the IRS to perform a detailed analysis of the taxpayer’s financial situation. In order for this analysis to be completed, self-employed individuals will be required to provide the IRS with a Profit and Loss Statement. A Profit and Loss Statement is simply a document that lists all of the business income and business expenses over a specific period of time.

If the collection investigation is occurring during or shortly after April 15th, the IRS may be able to complete its analysis using the Schedule C from the taxpayer’s federal tax return. However, if the return is not available, or is outdated, the taxpayer may need to provide a separate Profit and Loss Statement. For some taxpayers, this can be a very challenging task. However, following a few simple rules can greatly assist you in this task.

Be accurate. You are required to provide complete and accurate information to the IRS. Therefore, you must take the time to make certain your Profit and Loss Statement is accurate. One way to do this is to use your monthly bank statements to create your Profit and Loss Statement. If you do not have all of the necessary statements in your records, ask your bank to provide them.

Be complete. Make sure you have accounted for all of your income and expenses on the Profit and Loss Statement. Taxpayers often make the mistake of leaving out basic business expenses. For example, a truck driver may forget to write down their fuel expense. Make certain you check your statement over twice to verify you have not forgotten any expenses.

Only list business expenses. Your Profit and Loss Statement should only list the expenses necessary to operate your business. You should not list your personal household expenses such as your home mortgage payment, personal insurance or none-business transportation expenses. The IRS will review the personal portion of your financial situation separately.

Consider getting professional help. Resolving your IRS collection matter can be extremely complicated and involved. Consider seeking assistance from a tax professional to help you prepare your financial information for submittal to the IRS and to negotiate a resolution of your IRS collection matter.