#Insurance underwriters are the ones who

[poddar123]

How to Progress ahead with Mathematics?

[sandcobangevent]

Clutch

by @sealbug and @iwantthatbelstaffanditsoccupant

“They really are beautiful. Pristine.”

“Erosion.”

“Hmm?”

“That’s what keeps them pristine. These cliffs are eroding far too rapidly for any colouration, let alone vegetation, to take hold before they crumble into the sea. This whole cliff is degrading beneath our very feet.”

“Hopefully not too fast, eh?” The words landed lightly enough, but if Sherlock had lifted the scarf John had tightly wrapped around his face to ward off the steady wind, he would have seen all levity had faded long before the sentence ended. “Look, can you… Can you just look fast so we can get out of here? I’m freezing my bollocks off.”

“Just a moment.”

“You’re sure about this?”

“I’m not at all sure about this. That’s why I want to investigate. His wife and his insurance agent, however, are a bit too sure about this.”

“It is the most common spot for suicides in England. Right up there with that spooky forest in Japan—”

“The Aokigahara Forest of Mt Fuji.”

“Yeah, the…Okahara Forest. And the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.”

“You’ve been researching on Wikipedia again, Watson.”

“So they’ve got it wrong again?”

“Not wrong exactly. Just, misleading. It’s a prime spot for jumping, certainly— 162 metre high cliff. Jumping from a height, however, is not exactly a popular method for ending one’s life. Roughly two percent choose that method, and only 23 people annually are found to have killed themselves at Beachy Head. Compare that to the close to 50 who do so in the Underground and you can see why I am not convinced. I believe he merely sought out a quiet seaside holiday. Ask any resident, and they will speak of the millions of visitors who do not have dark intentions.”

“I always thought insurance wouldn’t pay out if it was suicide.”

“They have an exclusionary period from the date the policy is signed—generally between one and two years. His underwriter was Royal London, which has a one year hold. We passed that threshold last week.”

“Maybe he waited till it passed. So his wife could get the money.”

“It is possible. But it is equally possible his wife waited the year to rid herself of him so she could get the money.”

“Yeah. Same difference, I guess. Well. Not really.” John paused and surveyed the landscape. There was no doubt the rolling hills leading to a sheer, chalk white cliff overlooking a surprisingly turquoise sea was beautiful, on the face of it. But John couldn’t help but feel a little queasy. “It’s still creepy, mate. Chilling.”

“I did warn you about dressing for the seaside climate.”

John considered clarifying that that was not what he meant by ‘chilling’, but decided against it. “You said a beach. Beaches are…warm and...lovely...and have Ferris wheels sometimes and Victorian prominades and such. This…is not a beach. This…is a cliff.”

“True. But that…” Sherlock gestured a full 162 metres downward, “…is a beach.”

“I don’t mind strolling along a beach. Bit of the ol’ sand between the toes.”

“Gravel.”

“Bit of the ol’ gravel between the toes. I wouldn’t mind being down there. But I don’t much care for being up here. And…could you not… Could you not lean over the edge like that? If you want to go examine the actual beach part of Beachy Head, I am more than happy to do so, Sherlock. Sherlock?”

“Hmmmm. There’s something down there.”

“Good, good, let’s go down there. Let’s go down there and have a closer look, shall we? I don’t— Sherlock!”

John watched as Sherlock plopped upon his belly and began moving, snake-like, toward the edge.

“Just a little hint of a hesitation…here.” He pointed to a divot in the grass. “Correct size shoe. Dragging slightly. He may not have been fully conscious. Drugging is a distinct possibility. Far too many people picnic here for us to determine if they had done so as well, though it is always possible a local shopkeeper might recall this particular couple grabbing a takeaway. And a…just a minute...”

“Sherlock! What are you doing? These cliffs are…Look you said yourself they aren’t stable, so can you please stop teetering on the edge of them?”

“Not going to teeter on the edge, Watson. Just want to get a closer look at some of the marks over here.”

John took a deep breath. Sherlock was, after all, flat on his belly, and somewhat unlikely to fall off. He’d seen him climb out of windows, onto rooftops, and up trees as confident as anyone could possibly be, but still, Sherlock and heights were simply no longer a good combination.

When he was a child, John had climbed a large oak and perched in the very top.  He had hidden there, laughing when his mum came outside,  puzzled as to why his friend was in the tree alongside the house but John was nowhere to be seen. She thought for sure she’d heard his voice moments before. ‘Where’s John?’, she’d asked, and his friend replied by pointing upward. Carol Watson’s eyes followed the path of his finger and finally spotted John in the sparse branches far above the roof. She grasped the doorframe tightly as her fear transformed into anger and told him to come right down for supper this instant. John hadn’t noticed how the branches had bent under his weight, even as an only moderately pudgy eleven-year-old. He had never been afraid of heights. What’s the danger in being high up? It’s not as if simply being high up means you’ll actually—

Fall.

John closed his eyes and breathed deeply, but all he could see behind those lids was Sherlock falling. He hadn’t seen it happen, of course, back then. He had been busy helping a young hiker hobble to their hotel on a twisted ankle. He had handed over his microphone, when Sherlock had insisted on recording “the ambience” for the podcast while John headed back, only to find it lying abandoned at the edge of the falls, red light still flashing. It had recorded only rushing water and an intermittent bit of Sherlock’s voice, indecipherable, and John was left to imagine the rest, which he did with surprising clarity. 

John saw him fall. As clearly as if it had happened before him. John saw him fall, over and over again, every night for months on end. In his dreams, sometimes he was battling a fierce monster, eyes blazing with fire, failing to vanquish the beast and save his friend. Other times, he was right behind Sherlock and stopped to tie his shoe, or to get an ice lolly from a magically-appearing truck. Always some absurd distraction, and he arrived too late to stop it but never, never too late bear witness. Not once did his mind spare him from the sight of watching Sherlock fall.   

Even now, as he closed his eyes in a futile attempt to calm himself, the image ‘greeted’ him. So much for quiet meditation. John quickly opened them in an attempt to remind himself of the here and now— a brief deescalation technique he had learned long ago. You had to look around, notice things, connect to the present using all your senses and concentrate on each one in sequence. He listened to the steady eb and flow of the tide, not the endless rushing of a waterfall. I am in Sussex. He smelled salty air, not a pine forest. I am in Sussex. He saw—

He saw Sherlock’s fingers, gripping tightly to the edge of a cliff. 

And then—almost as if he had imagined them—he didn’t see them anymore. 

John stared at the spot where chalk met grass, where Sherlock’s fingers had been gripping the edge less than a second before. He was rooted to the spot. Frozen. Unable to take a single step. To make a single sound. The scenery grew hazy and he heard a voice from far away.

“Watson? John? John?!!”

Hands reappeared on the edge of the cliff, followed by a foot, and then the rest of the strong and lithe body of Sherlock Holmes swung up over the edge and rolled onto the grass. 

John still did not move.

“John!!! I was wondering why you weren’t taking the threads I was extending to you. I… I thought perhaps someone else was up here— one of those patrolling Samaritans who try to dissuade jumpers— so I… John?”

Something finally broke the spell which had gripped him and John spoke, his voice breaking like the waves upon the rocks below. “Sherlock. It’s… It’s fine. I…I didn’t hear you. Sorry. Sorry. Was just…thinking about…something else for a bit there. What did you…What did you find?”

“Never mind that. What happened just now? What were—”

Then suddenly it all made sense. He couldn't believe it. He forgot. He forgot.

Sherlock had so many things he wanted to say. That he had peered over the edge and saw a small landing below. Not especially large, true, but one that would easily accommodate him. He needed only to swing toward it, to land neatly upon it. There was something there. Some fibres which resembled the scarf the insurance agent had been wearing. Perhaps enough to place him at the crime scene, perhaps not—but worth investigating. It was only a small jump. Not even a jump. Just. A drop. 

He forgot. He forgot.

And some of it… Some of it, he’d resigned himself to never knowing. That was fair. It had to be. John insisted Mariana not discuss any of it. She hadn’t told Sherlock about John’s request, but it had been obvious.

The message he left explaining The Plan had been sufficient. Had it? Did you explain? Or did you simply think you left that message, think you had told him, but had not. Flashes from Victor’s case invaded Sherlock’s thoughts. You believed you had told them your plan, but you had not. You cannot trust your memory. 

Memory. It was not just tricky, it was downright villainous at times. When John had failed to arrive at their rendezvous point, Sherlock had assumed he was still angry at the last-minute nature of it. One should always take advantage of such unforeseen moments, if they happen to arise naturally, to avoid a missed opportunity. One seldom gets a second chance.

It was not until Sherlock had returned to London that he had been able to reconnect with Wiggins, get back on his feet, and finally listen to the podcast. To know his message (it provided some relief that he had indeed left one) had never been truly received. Garbled, useless. How to explain what had happened without it sounding like an attempt at justification? An attempt to minimise the damage he had brought about. Impossible. 

John had broadcasted what he referred to as his Final Adventure, intending to end the podcast, but some listeners had convinced him to do otherwise. He occasionally released older cases, ones he had not yet edited. He had said they were ‘in the can’. Some were short and even lacked a complete solution, and these were difficult for Sherlock to listen to for more reasons than one. Occasionally, John would divert from the true crime format and interview vets— his original plan before Sherlock had derailed his life. Mariana was still there, though Sherlock sometimes wondered how long that could last before he cursed his stupidity for ever thinking Mariana would ever vanish once the cases were gone, or even if the entire podcast ended. Hearing both their voices was somehow equally comforting and distressing.

When he eventually decided he could no longer bear staying away, Sherlock managed to accept as an undeserved gift the genuine joy John had shown in discovering he was somehow alive. How that joy still existed, alongside the occasional, but dwindling, flashes of betrayal and anger, was something Sherlock was far too afraid to examine, lest it disappear in a puff of logic. He had clung to the hope that, in time, John might even forget. But no. It was Sherlock who had forgotten. Had forgotten what it would be like, to watch him disappear over the edge. He had ignored how John had been uncomfortable from the very first, doing his best to bury his feelings beneath a pile of babbling words and trite observations about the weather.  

But this moment, perched on a cliff in Sussex, was an opportunity also. A sort of second chance. A rewrite of the narrative, though Sherlock hadn’t considered it as such. He had only instinctively pulled his friend into his chest, feeling John grip his shirt as tightly as he himself had gripped the cliff’s edge moments before. But Sherlock was not about to let go this time, even as he felt a drop within his stomach. John burrowed into Sherlock’s shoulder, finding in his body a natural resting place, a shelter. 

So much he should say, all racing through his brain without any real form. Still, Sherlock only stood there, one arm across John’s shoulders and the other at the base of his neck, tucked beneath his scarf. John’s skin was so warm there. Warm and comforting, and he could feel John’s pulse beating against the edge of his own wrist. They stayed like this until neither of them felt the cold air surrounding them. Only the warmth in each other. 

“I’m s—”

“Love means never having to say you’re sorry, Sherlock.”

“What kind of a stupid phrase is that? Love means always having to say you’re sorry.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I guess it kinda is a rubbish film.”

“I’m sorry, John. For not thinking about how you’d be affected. And for having made an impulsive decision and assuming that decision could ever have made sense. Though I did attempt, with limited success, to—”

“I think…” John raised his head. “I think they meant love is never having to explain all about how you tried to fix things by leaving an inaudible message on a dodgy SD card and didn’t check up on it later. Clearly, that’s what Jenny meant to say.” John took a deep breath. “I’m sure you did. Try. It didn’t work and it doesn’t matter. I mean, yes, it matters. That you tried, matters. That it still hurts matters, too. What I mean to say is, I forgive you. And, what you went through, after? It must have been difficult for you, too.”

“Sneaking on the Shatabdi should have been a highlight of my life. Instead, it was absolutely miserable.”

“Good to know.” John rewrapped his scarf, placed his hand on the small of Sherlock’s back, and guided him back onto the path back to Eastbourne. “What’s a Shatabdi?”

“Train to Nepal.”

“Nepal. Sounds like quite the adventure.”

“No. It was a task. An unpleasant task. I only have Adventures when I’m with you.”

“How does ‘The Adventure of the Warm Fire and Sunday Roast’ sound? Inn’s down there somewhere.” John gestured with his head toward the path ahead rather than the cliff behind. “Onward?”

“Yes. Onward!” And Sherlock placed his hand on John’s back as well.

____________

Check it out on AO3 too!

[simply-ivanka]

Letitia James Turns the Screws on Trump

The inflated $464 million bond required to appeal effectively denies him due process.

By The Editorial Board

Wall Street Journal

March 18, 2024 

New York Attorney General Letitia James’s use of lawfare to take down Donald Trump is getting uglier by the day. She is now threatening to seize the former President’s assets after effectively denying him the ability to appeal the grossly inflated civil-fraud judgment against him.

Mr. Trump’s lawyers wrote Monday in a court filing that they’ve been unable to obtain a bond to guarantee last month’s $464 million judgment. Defendants are required to post bonds to appeal verdicts. Mr. Trump’s lawyers say securing the full bond would be “impossible” since most of his assets are illiquid.

One way to satisfy the bond would be to borrow against his real-estate holdings. But Mr. Trump’s lawyers say that only a handful of insurance companies have “both the financial capability and willingness to underwrite a bond of this magnitude,” and “the vast majority are unwilling to accept the risk associated with such a large bond.”

What’s more, his lawyers say that none of the insurers that Mr. Trump’s team approached “are willing to accept hard assets such as real estate as collateral for appeal bonds.” This isn’t surprising given the recent write-downs in commercial real estate and enormous uncertainty about their valuations, especially in places like New York. Insurers may also fear Ms. James’s legal retribution if they provide the bond to Mr. Trump.

Thus in order to appeal the judgment, Mr. Trump could have to unload property in a fire sale. If he were later to win on appeal, his lawyers rightly argue that he would have suffered an enormous, irreparable loss.

Ms. James no doubt knows she has Mr. Trump in a bind. She and courts have opposed his requests to reduce the bond even though a court-appointed independent monitor overseeing his businesses eliminates the risk he could dispose of or transfer his assets to make the judgment harder for the state to enforce.

As we wrote last month, the judgment is overkill. None of Mr. Trump’s business partners lost money lending to him or claimed to have been deceived by his erroneous financial statements. No witness during the trial said his alleged misrepresentations changed its loan terms or prices, and there was no evidence that he profited from his alleged deceptions.

Nonetheless, state trial judge Arthur Engoron ordered him to “disgorge” $355 million in “ill-gotten gains.” This sum was based on the interest-rate savings that a financial expert retained by Ms. James estimated Mr. Trump netted from his legerdemain. But this calculation seems dubious since banks said they didn’t alter their loan terms.

The judge also tacked on profits that Mr. Trump putatively made on properties for which he submitted false financial statements without demonstrating that the latter enable the former. He also added “pre-judgment interest” dating back to the day Ms. James launched her investigation in 2019. This makes Mr. Trump liable for alleged wrongdoings before he was even charged. All of this provides plausible grounds for appeal.

Whatever his transgressions, defendants are entitled to due process, which includes the right to appeal. Ms. James is trying to short-circuit the justice system to get Mr. Trump, as she promised she would during her 2018 campaign. Anyone who does business in New York ought to worry about how Ms. James could likewise twist the screws on them.

[dailyrickastley]

Rick's £8,000 bill to insure his new BMW

"RICK ASTLEY has vroomed his way £25,000 on a 150 mph BMW super-car. But the 21-year-old heart-throb got a shock when he tried to insure it... and was quoted £8,000 just to get behind the wheel. Rick, who zoomed from tea-boy to superstar in just five months, paid up without batting an eyelid. The singer bough a BMW 325 Sports after friends kept taking the mickey out of his battered Mazda. The new motor boasts a fuel-injected 2.5-litre engine, metallic black paint, black leather seats, electric sun roof, tinted glass, alloy wheels and an on board computer. Car salesman Malcolm Owen, of Hexagon, in High Gate, North London, says: "It is truly a beautiful car and one of our best sellers.

Power

"Rick is a lovely bloke - always laughing and joking - and it was a real pleasure to do business with him. "He even autographed photos of himself for the staff." A spokesman for the Association of the British Insures says: "The cost of £8,000 to insure is the underwriters" assessments of the risk, taking into account Mr. Astley's age, the profession and the power of the car." Rick could have bought himself any car in the world - and insured it - if he had agreed to sing his two British smash hits in Japanese. Profits from the sale Never Gonna Give You Up and When I Fall In Love would have netted him up to £1 million if released in the Far East in Japanese. But Rick refused to sing in Japanese and the sales of the records will net him only £150,000. ⦿ I can reveal that Rick will be touring Britain this summer - his first live dates since he shot to fame in back in August."

[starlightiing]

so what changed at your job? whats the new job? is it a lot different from what you were doing?

Hiya anon. Sorry it took me 50 years to reply to this, I have had a busy last few weeks and this required a pretty long response.

So I work for a TPA - it's insurance work, but we are not an insurance company. We are a third party administrator contracted to adjust claims on behalf of the insurance companies. Our clients are actually predominantly in London, but we are located in America and owned by a Canadian company. But anyway, based upon agreements and contracts with our London brokers, they write us into their insurance policies in the underwriting process and any agent that sells their policy is then basically made to work with us to handle claims on their behalf so they don't have to.

That said, my last job at the company was claims set up, or 'new loss' as we called it. When those claims came in, someone needed to set them up. It wasn't as simple as data entry though, because we had to link bank accounts (and if you screwed this up and put it on the wrong bank account, the Bordereau (reports and accounting) people would eat you alive, followed then by your manager). And, because of how specific our clients are (as they should be) and the fact that they keep a very close eye on our bordereau, if even one tiny thing is wrong, down to the smallest typo, it can throw off the whole fucking report and piss off the people in London.

I also dealt with the formulas and rates, and keeping track of what clients let us charge what rates, under which formulas, ect.

NOW I am in compliance. It's a bit hard to describe exactly what I do, but it's basically just making sure we are in compliance with our contract promises, laws, and other things. Which really boils down to running reports and making sure the adjusters are doing what they're supposed to be doing on their files (like making first contact within 48 hours), medicare/medicaid compliance, running dow jones searches on payees before we pay them to make sure we're not paying anyone who's done financial crimes in the past, dealing with department of insurance complaints, reviewing all the claims that are set up to make sure there are no errors, among a bunch of other things. Two very different jobs, but one is more chill, less time sensitive, ect ect.

I love my new position. I love the work so far, more will be added as I'm trained, and I love my new teammate and my new boss and the entire vibe of the compliance department. It's just two of us, we put our heads down and we work, no one bothers us, and there's no goddamn drama like there is in admin. There's no 'fight for your life' attitude like there is in admin, and because the 'fight for your life' vibes are gone, people aren't here constantly fighting you with their teeth out or throwing you under the bus to try and keep their job. The department switch has been huge for my mental health even just a week in. I'm still coming to terms with the freedoms and such that I have now. There's no competition, no volatility, none of that. It's just fucking work.

[stephensmithuk]

The Five Orange Pips

ACD likes a shipwreck, doesn't he?

I will leave discussions about the Ku Klux Klan to those with more knowledge on the subject.

A mendicant is someone who generally takes a vow of poverty and relies on charity to survive - such as a wandering preacher. In Christianity, this was often done in deliberate imitation of the Apostles, who were told to rely on others (and by extension God) for their needs. Mendicants having a luxurious club would be a tad hypocritical.

We have two barques referenced here. To repeat my comment from "The Gloria Scott": a bark - or barque - is a type of sailing ship with three or more masts - the first two masts have square sails, the one at the back had them aligned with the hull. They were fast ships that needed a relatively small crew.

The UK's position on the Gulf Stream may keep the place from getting very cold in winter, but it also leaves us open to big storms.

Pince-nez glasses were very popular in this time period.

The area around Horsham does indeed have pretty clay-ey soil that's good for growing crops.

Horsham is a market and commuter town 31 miles from London.

Cheating at cards was apparently the worst thing a gentleman could do. In Ian Fleming's novels, two of the villains are immediately clearly wrong-uns as they're rich guys who feel the need to cheat.

Being "sent to Coventry" is a British expression for being ostracised. Joseph appears to have sent himself to the West Midlands town.

Pondicherry, now called Puducherry, was in fact a French enclave on the south-eastern coast of India and was not in fact transferred to Indian control until 1954.

"London E." was one of the postal divisions of the city at the time - it remains as the E postcode area, split into 22 districts, including two specially for Natwest and News International. Yep, Murdoch has his own postcode.

PC Cook is rather off his normal beat. H Division covered Whitechapel and had, a few years prior to this story coming out, failed to catch Jack the Ripper.

The Embankment here refers to the Victoria Embankment, a road and pedestrian avenue built by the river as part of a land reclamation project earlier in the century. It had the side effect of permanently ending any hope of Frost Fairs - the river now flows too fast to freeze.

I believe this story takes place pretty much entirely in Baker Street.

Lloyd's refers to Lloyd's of London, a very long running maritime insurance marketplace, who also underwrite a bunch of other insurance policies, including film stars' legs. They keep comprehensive records of ship movements for this purposes.

Gravesend is a town in Kent near what is now the M25 and would be a good place to spot a ship before the Thames Estuary widens out - beyond that, you might easily miss a ship in poor visibility from the few communities beyond it.

The transatlantic telegraph cables were firmly in operation by this point. Their successor cables form the backbone of the modern Internet.

Mail was generally transported on the fastest ships i.e. the ocean liners; so you'd be talking around a week to cross the Atlantic at this point. A sailing ship would be looking at three times as long.

Sliced bread - i.e. bread that came pre-sliced when you bought it - was not a thing until 1928.

Please note that those who wish to post orange pips to the United States today will require a permit from the US Department of Agriculture.

[notjustanyannie]

The owner of Houston's sole lesbian bar says she was denied insurance coverage for her business because it hosts drag shows — a denial she says is in part due to Texas' proposed anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.

Julie Mabry, the owner of Pearl Bar in Houston — one of two lesbian bars in Texas — told NPR that while she has insurance through December of this year, she was in the market for a new insurance policy and decided to shop around and switch agents a few months ago.

However, it was during this process that she received an email from her current agent stating she was denied coverage.

"She emailed me back, and she forwarded this email from an underwriter. ... The first sentence in [the email] said, 'We will not write this risk due to drag,'" Mabry said.

The underwriter supposedly did not want to take on the risk of insuring a business that hosts such events. Mabry said that while insurance underwriters who are writing policies will typically flag a number of things that are risks for a business, drag shows have never been implied as a "risk" for her business.

[bluecardigan-13]

Today I was so #absent minded. Cooking for my husband’s #christmas party which now caused me to miss my virtual #therapy appointment. And I don’t miss appointments!

I have been feeling so #pathetic. Such a #loser. And that as a #mom and #wife I should be doing #more of everything.

I run my #youtube channel, #take care of my cats, #make sure that my kids get to their appointments, # do all the grocery shopping, #cook dinner, #make the grocery list and #dinner menu. I make #the appointments for my husband and the kids, and myself. And yes today - I could remember my oldest son’s appointment but couldn’t remember mine! And now it’s going to cost me $119!!!!!!! I don’t have that kind of money.

What is wrong with me?! I spent 6 hrs cooking my husband’s pot contribution. Which I don’t I don’t mind cause I love to #cook. But what is wrong with me?

I keep telling myself I need to contribute more. Since I’m fully #disabled, and can’t work. I used to be a successful insurance underwriter. I used to write about $50M in premium, but I can’t remember now my therapy appointment. Pathetic.

I can’t look at myself in the mirror. What is wrong with me? Last night I got upset cause I went grocery shopping and was so disappointed that my husband didn’t like the dang yogurt I picked for him. How sad is that?

The other night I keep waking up at 2 am screaming that my dad who died in 2021 due to a massive heart attack is still alive - who used to tell me I wasn’t good enough - and that I wasn’t sick. I wake up and I start crying. And saying I’m sick. I promise I’m sick.

Yet no one believes me. It reminds me of @taylorswift’s song #antihero and the line

“It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me

At tea time, everybody agrees

I'll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror

It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero”

The funny thing is I NEVER look at myself in the mirror. No one would ever look at me, including me.

I need to do more and better. The upside this is what distracted me from my therapy.

Pot Stickers and Filipino Lumpia. Hey @taylorswift would you like to share some with me?

#cooking #taylor swift #therapy #therapy session #self care #self hate #anti hero #lumpia #pot stickers #im tired #chronic pain #fibromyalgia

[amdtv24]

How to accelerate business growth?

There are 7 tips you can use to help  accelerate business growth.

Hire the right people 

Focus on established revenue sources 

Reduce your risks

Be adaptable 

Focus on the customer experience

Invest in  yourself 

Always think ahead 

1. Hire the right people

You need a strongest crew to justification you in achieving your objectives before you can even consider the development trajectory of your business.

In order to guarantee fast  growth, Christian Lanng, CEO and co-founder of business software supplier Tradeshift, said, "Hiring the best people you can is a surefire way to ensure rapid growth." "Having the right group is everything."

Your business will be better prepared for future growth if you have motivated personnel who are dedicated to its success. Furthermore, freeing up your time and energy to focus on critical work will enable you to perform at your best and foster a combining work environment.

2. Focus on established revenue sources

Bill Reilly, a Wisconsin-based auto repair businessman, advised focusing on the core consumers you already have rather than trying to gain new ones. According to him, you may achieve this by putting in place a referral or customer loyalty programme or by experimenting with marketing techniques based on past purchase habits to promote repeat business.

If you're looking for finance, it's crucial to focus on your existing market. In the past, Reilly added, "we would accentuate our company's desire to become a franchise, which didn't resonate with banks. "We found that it's important to underline the size of the market for what we do. A banker would be interested in this because they are more concerned with the return on investment. 

3. Reduce your risks

Risk is an inevitable part of starting and growing a business. It’s impossible to control everything, but there are many ways to limit internal and external threats to your company and its growth. One important resource to help you accomplish this is your business insurance provider.

“Small businesses need to manage their development  to avoid disruptions that can bring business to a grinding halt,” said Mike DeHetre, senior vice president of underwriting and insurance at Preferred Mutual. For example, “the theft of employee data, customer records, and product designs can destroy a small business, generating significant costs and eroding customer belief in oneself  and faithful,” he said. “Not every business owner’s policy covers data breaches or other cyber losses. Small businesses should be prepared by seeking insurance products that help them recover, including those that cover the cost of remediation and lawsuits.”

As your small business grows, you may add space or equipment, create new products or services, or increase your operating and distribution footprint. Therefore, DeHetre recommended reviewing your policy periodically to ensure you have the right coverage.

“It’s easy to forget this step amid fast expansion, but you don’t want to find out that you’ve outgrown your coverage just when you need it the most,” he said.

4. Be adaptable

One trait that a lot of successful startups have in common is the ability to switch directions fastly in response to changes in the market. Lanng said an agile approach to development, both in your product and your company, will help you grow more quickly.

“By allowing yourself to homogenise and change fastly, you’re capable of testing various viewpoints  to business and search for  what works best,” Lanng told Business News Daily. “It allows you to fail, pick yourself back up and keep going.”

Chris Cornell, founder and CEO of Manhead Merchandise, said his company has found adaptability to be key in expanding its client base beyond its initial focus on music merchandise.

“Look at current pop culture trends for a chance to become part of the movement when it makes sense,” he said. “In an era of internet fame, we looked to expand our horizons beyond the music industry. We partnered with ‘The King of Pop Culture’ and Insta-famous pup Doug the Pug to release his new gear. Recognizing the reach and popularity of Doug, we were capable of taking his merchandise to the next level, extending our business model beyond bands.”

5. Focus on the customer experience

Customers’ perceptions can make or break your business. Deliver quality experiences and products, and they’ll fastly sing your praises on social media; mess it up, and they’ll tell the world even faster. Fast growth depends on making your current and potential customers happy.

“Compared with large companies, small businesses are nimble and often better able to see, anticipate and respond to their customers’ needs,” DeHetre said. “The most successful small businesses exploit this advantage by bringing new and innovative products and services to market more quickly and developing and nurturing long-term customer relationships.”

Dennis Tanjeloff, president and CEO of Astro Gallery of Gems, agreed. He said listening to your customers and giving them what they want is of utmost importance.

“Diversify your offerings so you can best cater to the customers’ changing tastes,” Tanjeloff said. “Remember, you are here to serve the customer — it’s why you are open for business.”

6. Invest in yourself

In the early stages of your business, you’ll likely see a very lean profit margin (or no profit at all), so any money you make should go directly to helping your business grow.

In the early stages of your business, you’ll likely see a very lean profit margin (or no profit at all), so any money you make should go directly to helping your business grow.

“A startup’s capability to invest in itself [helps] accelerate growth,” Lanng said. “In those departed years, it’s critical to make sure that you’re redirecting any revenues back into the company. It’s vital to invest early and heavily in order to grow quickly.”

While it might be tempting to pocket all of your profits, it’s better to invest in your business’s growth so you can reap bigger benefits later. Determine which parts of your business need more consideration. For example, do you need to hire more workers, expand your marketing efforts, or secure additional funding? When you find an important  area that needs development, give that area your financial support.

7. Always think ahead.

While activity is a vital quality for a startup, you can’t fly by the seat of your pants when you’re running a business. Planning your next step — in expectation of all possible scenarios — is the best way to stay grounded and secure as your business develops.

Thinking ahead is broad advice, but it can be as simple as reviewing all in-process contracts, like comparing rates with the best credit card processors and seeing if you can negotiate a better deal.

[deadweight-at7am]

The fates may have smiled upon me!! So, the insurance debacle continues... I reached out to my agent who said that the insurance company was taking forever to come back with a flood zone determination (flood insurance company). They came back and showed my property is in flood zone X (aka the 500 year flood plain which is considered low risk). I said "really?" she tells me yes the underwriter took a look at my property. I was like "this letter I got from the county says otherwise". So after much back and forth, my insurance agent assured me that if the LENDER (my mortgage company) wasn't requiring flood insurance that it isn't a requirement for me to take any out. She also said that the maps she looked at show that a very small portion of my backyard is in flood zone A, but nothing else is, and the structure itself isn't. So, then I looked at it and god damnit she's right... I may not need it after all? I read the letter to her and she thought the wording was awfully odd and that she would show it to the underwriter but she thinks that because they don't know which portion of your property falls into the flood plain they make it sound urgent so people don't sit on it and get a better policy type.

I don't know yet, I'm going to let them come back to me first before I make a decision but I also found out that the entire policy, the $676 has to be paid up front and can't be spread out in monthly payments. So, one more reason I want to wait on it if possible.

[expressionbean]

updates updates! all great things. i just want to get it out buuut nobody irl is currently available to listen to theo scream time. buckle up friends

first, i'm trying to clean up all my blogs. very excited because i'm getting more time to write now than i have the past month or so.

back to school rush is over at work. that means i don't get scheduled for shifts every single day! i will get scheduled a lot during home football games because i work in a college town in the south USA. football is a big deal here. however, i have days off now, which is really nice.

as for academics: i'm talking with one of my professors later this week about possibly seeking a master's degree in actuarial science or pursuing actuarial science in general - i like the risk management side of my degree program a lot more than i thought and a job that combines risk management with statistics and data analytics... exciting. making grabby hands right now for real.

i'm doing a bunch of stuff with WSIA (wholesale & specialty insurance association) this year as usual, including traveling to conferences if all goes well. i very well may also be traveling (on a scholarship!) to london next year, so now i'm trying to go through passport obtaining hell. it's quite the process to get one these days, but it's really exciting and feels more real than it did last year.

studying for my upcoming exams is going pretty good so far. for the non-risk management/insurance/actuarial science people, i'm trying to get a lot of certificates by january 2024 and then a few more in may 2024. for anyone who does want specifics or is just curious, the next paragraphs go over what i'm actually up to with those! feel free to skip over it lol. i'll put it under a cut so it's not too long!

i have a few exams for the cpcu (chartered property/casualty underwriter designation, very very hard to obtain and holds a LOT of weight in the industry - some companies treat it like a master's degree and those who hold it do indeed sign off with it much like lawyers sign off with JD) coming up. i won't be able to get the full designation by the end of my bachelor's degree, but i will be able to get a couple!

i found out recently that i may not have to take section 520 of it at all because i attend one of a few accredited schools in the country, and my insurance ops class lets me have a waiver for it if i pass with an 80 or higher. i don't think they'll let me have a waiver for 500 since the associated class i made literally a 79, but i'll apply anyway. the ethics portion should be easy and i can schedule that for... whenever. i just have to find a block of time where i can sit and do it.

as for the exam i'm really worried about, i'm taking the alabama department of insurance's property and casualty license exam in december. and normally, i wouldn't be worried because i love p&c, but the studying materials are so awful. they're dense and have no graphs, section breaks, spacing, pictures, nothing!

it's just hundreds of pages of text in small black serif font. i'm going to break out my dinosaur sticky tabs. and my highlighters. and i will hope my ADHD brain gets excited enough about the dinosaurs to let me read the prep manual. my professor for my p&c class is letting me quiz one of the sections on thursday and i've barely opened the book. LMAO.

anyway, thanks for reading if you got this far! i hope y'all have a lovely week.

[hasanyoneseenmyspoons]

The owner of Houston's sole lesbian bar says she was denied insurance coverage for her business because it hosts drag shows — a denial she says is in part due to Texas' proposed anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.

Julie Mabry, the owner of Pearl Bar in Houston — one of two lesbian bars in Texas — told NPR that while she has insurance through December of this year, she was in the market for a new insurance policy and decided to shop around and switch agents a few months ago.

However, it was during this process that she received an email from her current agent stating she was denied coverage.

"She emailed me back, and she forwarded this email from an underwriter. ... The first sentence in [the email] said, 'We will not write this risk due to drag,'" Mabry said.

The underwriter supposedly did not want to take on the risk of insuring a business that hosts such events. Mabry said that while insurance underwriters who are writing policies will typically flag a number of things that are risks for a business, drag shows have never been implied as a "risk" for her business.

[termlifeguy]

How Life Insurance Work For A 40 Years Old Male | Chris Antrim CLTC

Sample Term Life Insurance Rates - 40 YR Old Male - Boise 

40s are the perfect time to adjust your life insurance needs before your premiums increase. As age is important to every insurance companies.

 Americans at the age of 40 are still in a excellent physical health, therefore life insurance coverage can be still affordable. As premiums depends on the overall health and age of the enrollees it is best to ask an broker or agent to help you determine the possible quotes for your age.

Life Insurance At 40

40s are the perfect time to adjust your life insurance needs before your premiums increase. As age is important to every insurance companies. Americans at the age of 40 are still in a excellent physical health, therefore life insurance coverage can be still affordable. As premiums depends on the overall health and age of the enrollees it is best to ask an broker or agent to help you determine the possible quotes for your age.

Hey Boise quick video today with sample life insurance rates for a 40 yr old male. Call the office or send us a note for any help you may need. Video above! 

Hello, Chris with Boise Health and Life Insurance Agency here in Boise, Idaho.

Hey, today we're gonna do a sample quote or a 40-year-old male here in Idaho for some term life insurance rates, and I'll show you how to do that.

You come to our site, go Idaho insurance dot com, and you can do it right from the home page.

There's a big get a quote, but in there, or you just come down here life insurance and you can send us a message.

You send us a message here.

If you don't want to do an online quote right here, get your quote online, and that will take you there.

There's a video here.

Just press the play here, walk you through how to do this.

But I'm gonna do it Here is well, and then you can get a quote right here.

Embedded in the website is our quarter.

Anyway, let's go ahead and here, and this will take you to a separate, uh, page in a link.

And we just walked through the process here.

Males, so your health is a big one here.

If your overall good health.

Just to be safe, you might want to go right in the middle.

That's a standard.

Plus, uh, this top one here.

Yeah.

Says here only about 10% of people who apply for that get that rating.

If you're an excellent help, no medications, no tobacco.

You could do that when there remember during underwriting.

Depending on the plan, these rates can change.

Nothing is final until the offer comes back from the underwriters.

 In this essence, I'm just gonna go right here.

Uh, if you use tobacco or cannabis, cannabis, and marijuana, they are to tobacco rates.

Just let that be known.

Um, you know, previously it will ask you how long, Because depending on the company, if you've been tobacco-free for up to 12 24 36 months, there are different ratings.

They're the best thing you can do is just quit.

If you're concerned about that, if you are a tobacco user right now, get the coverage when you quit.

And for the underwriting guidelines of how long you've been tobacco-free, we can apply for a rate reduction and get you taking care of their So, uh, for this purpose is I'm just going to put in there never.

I am 63 about 2 15 putting your date of birth.

So I think that should take me about 40. I am not age 40 right now, So this is where you just put it.

The basic information.

You're going to start getting some sample term life insurance rates Here. Here is our coverage.

Slider.

You just slide it This to the coverage amount that you want when you're thinking about how much coverage you need, we have a built-in life insurance calculator right here.

I'll walk you through.

But to be a good rule of thumb is 10 times your annual income.

And there are a couple of reasons for that.

One is just from a lot of underwriting standpoint.

The Underwriters will look at your annual income and 10 times is a good baseline there.

If you start moving past that with larger amounts, they're gonna ask you why.

And that could be for business reasons or some large debt or loans that you have.

Uh, but the rule is in the thought processes.

10 years will give your family or your loved ones in the business that you may own 10 years of that income to cover those bills and make sure everything's taken care of.

So and this could be changed.

So I'm just gonna put this at 500,000 for right now.

This gives a sample rate right here because he can kind of see 10-year term 15 2025 40. And right here it's clipped next, and it's going to come to when we click next, and it will come to this page here.

So you do have to put in your email and phone to move forward.

But don't worry, we do not bother you here.

We're just here to help part of what we do if you can get quotes and no one's gonna pester you, So, uh, just put that information in there and what's gonna happen is you're gonna have your quotes with the companies.

So this shows you the best at the actual rate.

Right now, this is important here.

This is a fully underwritten policy, so keep that in mind.

If you are shy of needles or not wanting to interview with the nurse when I want, there are other options for you but just to kind of show you, you can click right here on the policy details.

It will tell you a little bit about the product.

There's an actual product guy right here in a pdf that you can download and read at your leisure.

You can pay annually and save $12 a year.

Okay, And you can switch it to an annual premium there.

And it tells you, hear about what you're looking at as far as your build and your tobacco usage, so I could go up to 259 lbs at my height and get this standard plus health, uh, category assuming good.

Everything else is getting underway.

Okay, so now you come down here and you see these other companies right now there's this is what this one, this one was.

Most companies are gonna come in there.

They all compete for the same business.

So but there's a couple of companies in here principle being one of them, and Pacific life principle is there is not an exam required.

Now, what that means is you will do a phone interview based upon how you answer those.

They will be determined if you need a full exam.

Okay, So just says not required.

Does not mean it is a guaranteed non med product.

All right.

Not for these rates.

Alright.

What it means is, uh, if you come back with good answers on and it's a fairly healthy, uh, it's a fairly intense questionnaire that they ask you.

You may be possible that you do not have to go through a full exam.

Just just remember that, uh, and then Pacific life.

Okay, this one, the exam is but I like principle because if you can not have to go through that, that would be fantastic.

Uh, and principle is a good company.

I do a lot of business with them.

You say $12 tells you a little bit about the conversion, which is important because with term life that keeps your rates below at the beginning in level throughout the whole period.

So this would be a 10 years level, but you have conversion options And why would you want her?

Maybe convert with the biggest reasons why clients convert is there's a major health event and you know you can't get new insurance.

So if you've got this policy and force, you can convert it within those 10 years and walk in a permanent policy at the underwriting class that you got when you played for this term policy.

So it's a huge deal.

It is.

Every year you want to do a policy review anyway, that's that.

So we're looking at a 10 year for about 33 45 a month.

You come down here and you can switch this.

Let's say you needed it for those your 40. So let's say you want him.

You want this for 25 years to take you to age 65.  How it does change. So there's not principle. A see Your principal will have a 20 year, but they don't have a 25-year product.

So here's principal 48 again that's exams not required.

Pacific life yet so and so for me.

I probably go with the principal for that monthly premium and the option Maybe not having to go through a full-blown medical exam and then and all that means is ah, lengthy health questionnaire from the nurse on an online phone interview.

And then you would have to do blood and urine for laps for the underwriters.

Okay.

Uh, and then if this looks good, all you would do is apply right here.

You would simply fill out this information and click next, and I would walk you through filling out the whole application right online.

Very slick.

It comes to me, then an email comes to you where you can do an e signature and get the policy and the underwriting.

At any point in here, you can invite me or in contact me here so I can help you out.

We can get on the phone together and do a zoom meeting or Google meeting, and I can help walk you through completing this application.

So yeah, and then here's the link.

So you take that and you would email me that link and I get an email anyway, and then my contact information is here anyways, So that is what we're looking at for sample rates for a 40-year-old male for 10 and 20 years.

Give our office call with any questions and hope you're having a good day. Call 208-409-3382

You might to check out our next article about Boise Life Insurance Broker - Smokers Term Life Insurance Quotes - Chris Antrim - Tobacco Rates

Life Insurance At The Age Of 40 In Idaho

When it comes to life insurance, there is no one-size-fits-all policy. The amount of coverage you need and the premium you can afford will vary depending on your age, health, lifestyle, and dependents.

While term life insurance is typically more affordable than whole life insurance, your needs may change as you get older. If you have young children, for example, you may want a policy with a longer term so that your spouse can stay home to care for them if something happens to you.

Once you reach the age of 40, you may also want to consider investing in a whole life insurance policy. This type of policy not only provides death benefits but also builds cash value that can be used later in life for things like retirement income or long-term care expenses.

Factors Affecting Life Insurance Rates

The monthly cost of life insurance is an important consideration for anyone who wants to be sure their family is taken care of financially in the event of their death. Life insurance is not something that people like to think about, but it is a very important decision. There are many factors that go into determining the monthly cost of life insurance, including age, health, and lifestyle. The average monthly cost for life insurance varies depending on these factors, but it is generally between $50 and $100 per month. Life Insurance Rates

The monthly cost of life insurance is an important consideration for anyone who wants to be sure their family is taken care of financially in the event of their death. Life insurance is not something that people like to think about, but it is a very important decision. There are many factors that go into determining the monthly cost of life insurance, including age, health, and lifestyle. The average monthly cost for life insurance varies depending on these factors, but it is generally between $50 and $100 per month.

Thank You!

Originally published here: https://www.goidahoinsurance.com/how-life-insurance-work-for-40-years-old-male

[versatileitsol]

Benefits of IoT Applications In The Healthcare Industry

New technologies are quickly filling up the healthcare sector. The ability of hospitals, doctors, and service providers to provide high-quality healthcare services in order to enhance patient outcomes is constrained by escalating healthcare difficulties, such as the growth in chronic illnesses and the aging global population.

They have come to the doors of cutting-edge technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analytics as a result of these issues. IoT is the one that has the most caught the eye of healthcare service providers.

What does IoT mean for Healthcare?

IoT solutions for healthcare are being implemented or are being researched by more than 60% of healthcare companies globally. In the upcoming years, a large rise in the number of individuals and healthcare professionals adopting IoT-connected devices for health monitoring is anticipated. Some of the issues that have arisen in healthcare throughout the years may be resolved by the Internet of Things. For example, low rates of drug compliance, a lack of instruments for treatment management, poor patient monitoring, and a professional skills gap.

Benefits of IoT Applications in the Healthcare Industry

Smartens Up Hospitals

The use of IoT in healthcare allows for continuous and precise patient health tracking. In addition to this, there are a number of other ways that IoT improves the performance of the healthcare sector. Asset management represents one of the components. Wheelchairs, oxygen concentrators, defibrillators,  nebulizers, and other monitoring devices are all regularly tracked to know where they are in real time. These IoT sensors enable hospital administrators to track their real-time whereabouts in a matter of minutes.

Transparency of Insurance Claims

One of the upcoming significant things is likely to be the expanding healthcare regulations combined with IoT connection. Why? This is due to the fact that many people make up medical conditions in order to get the most out of their insurance money. It implies that the insurance company will suffer a loss. As a result, insurance firms may use the data collected through top-notch health monitoring devices for underwriting and claim procedures due to the clear validity of the IoT-driven data. Such methods would make it simple to identify fraudulent claims. The insurer will thereafter be able to locate unsuitable applicants for underwriting.

Maintains A Record Of Your Patients

These days, wearables as well as other smart sensing technology allow doctors or personal nurses to evaluate the health of their patients remotely. The IoT sensors built into this equipment let the doctors follow the patient’s medical diagnostic state efficiently. It is simple to organize the patient’s treatment program and to keep an eye out for those who need emergency medical attention. Many patients at a hospital are in need of various types of medical care.

IoT makes it easier to maintain an organized and hassle-free database of each patient’s prior medical history, present medical needs, and potential future medical support.

Supports Medical Research

Medical research takes many years to complete, and IoT may greatly speed up this process. It is as a result of the data on medical conditions that may be utilised for statistical analysis. As a result, IoT not only reduces research time but also associated costs, making it possible for larger and more effective medical research and therapies.

Wearables are now the most popular smart gadgets in use for healthcare. However, they are not the most helpful when it comes to research labs. Modern laboratories need sophisticated monitoring equipment that can keep an eye on anything from lab temperature to CO2 leakage. The appropriate authorities are informed right away if any irregularity is found.

Creating Healthier Cities

Almost over half of the world’s population lives in cities, which are remarkably diverse systems. Millions of people live happy lives, choosing modes of transportation, sitting in traffic, and bike riding through parks. The addition of weather to this already complicated mix of individual and group activity results in more intricate patterns of air quality that alter daily.

We require real-time information on all scales in order to comprehend the patterns of air quality throughout the cities and how they influence the urban population. Here, IoT systems deliver real-time data from various points around the cities, pointing towards smart city initiatives. The decision-makers for creating healthier cities will be better equipped with a higher resolution image of the air quality.

How Cost-Effectively Can IoT Healthcare Solutions Be Implemented?

IoT in healthcare ultimately aims to improve patient health, empower medical professionals, and reduce costs for everyone involved. You may create a low-cost IoT sensor network with a dependable technology partner.

Reduced expenditures, clearly defined roles and functionality for sensors, and sending and receiving data only when necessary are just a few of the foundations of cost efficiency that may be used to the creation of IoT apps for healthcare. In order to accomplish all of this, you must work with your technology partner to design an efficient IoT app development strategy and application architecture.

IoT In Your Health Sector?

In conclusion, we can say with certainty that IoT has fundamentally altered the healthcare sector. With the exception of the Internet of Things, among the most important industrial areas is healthcare. Additionally, the delivery of services and facilities in the healthcare industry has altered as a result of IoT app development.

Hire IoT developers, set up a project, and take a step towards creating the healthcare of the future if you want to take advantage of this change. There are several reputable IoT development businesses that have been offering a variety of IoT development services, but very few of them consistently meet or exceed customer expectations.

Versatile Mobitech has skilled IoT developers that are now working on several IoT-based healthcare software projects.

For a FREE consultation, Visit Versatile Mobitech

[lastoneout]

Sources, cont.

The truck does not have crumple zones.

Seems to be true, but it's hard to find good info on it. It is allegedly designed to crumple, apparently the underbody casing is designed to shatter to protect the occupants but like. That doesn't sound super great to me. But right now the main concern seems to be what happens to the pedestrians, cyclists, and other cars that get into accidents with it due it how heavy it is, the sharp angles, and how the body doesn't really have any give, so if you hit it you will hit it hard.

The Cybertruck looks so much like a dumpster that raccoons try to break into it.

Who's to say why the raccoons did this, I'm no raccoon whisperer, but yeah they did try to get in so they def think it had food in it.

Wild that this guy is calling it "raccoon proof" when they managed to fuck up the plastic that bad. Staggering level of copium at play here.

The truck is uninsurable.

Untrue, Snopes confirms this was a rumor that blew up because the internet is going to internet. Geico has confirmed they will still insure the Cybertruck, and as far as I can find no other company has banned it.

However! It's probably never going to be sold in Europe for various reasons, including the fact that it does not meet safety standards set by the EU or UK. So that's funny.

So yeah, def some stuff that was exaggerated, but overall the Cybertruck and Teslas in general really are worse than you can possibly imagine. There is no amount of money that could ever convince me to get into one of these things. And like I can't even add everything I know about that wasn't included here because it would take hours, but I invite anyone who wants to to take the reigns and add stuff! I'm only one person and the ADHD fixation on this list is sadly depleted. Godspeed, and stay the fuck away from any car or truck made by Tesla o7

I still think the single funniest thing about the cybertruck is that it has all those security cameras built in that are set to activate if anyone gets too close to the vehicle...and those cameras need electricity to run, and the cybertruck is a piece of shit that has way less battery life than you'd think, so you can legit just fuck over the owner by just standing near it and doing nothing else.

Like goddamn Elongated Muskrat found a way to let us siphon gas out of a car without even touching it. Fucking incredible.