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Defined Contribution

10/7/2019

DEFINED
CONTRIBUTION

By: Tom Newby
WinStar Insurance Group

The common denominator is presenting the benefit as a set dollar amount.

In the 1980’s, the Defined Contribution 401(k) first appeared. Since that time, we have seen it evolve to other retirement programs such as Length of Service Awards Program (LOSAP), 403(b) and 457’s. In today’s ever-changing Employee Benefits World, the Defined Contribution has become an increasingly popular way for employers to provide a range of benefits to a group of employees that are very diverse in their needs and wants.

Defined Contribution Employee Benefit Programs can take on many forms but the common denominator in all programs is that the employer chooses fixed dollar amounts that they want to contribute on behalf of the employee. In a Defined Contribution Employee Benefit Program, the employer takes themselves out of the role of deciding which single plan will have the greatest appeal to their employees. With traditional employer-

provided health care, you are building your benefit around certain plans; with a Defined Contribution approach, you’re building it around a set dollar amount.

Basically, an employer will select up to 6 medical plans, a couple dental, vision, life and additional insurance options. The employer will also choose a fixed dollar amount for each of the following election categories: Employee Only, Employee & Spouse, Employee & Child(ren) and Employee & Family. The employee will then make their selection of insurance plans from those offered. They will then subtract the premium amount the employer contributes from the total premium of the plans they have elected. The balance of premium is then deducted from their payroll on a pre or post tax basis depending on the type of insurance using a Section 125/Cafeteria Plan.

Why is the Defined Contribution Employee Benefits Program gaining in popularity? Each employer will have their own reasons for choosing this method, but the list below are the most common reasons.

1. Employers can more easily budget when they have a fixed cost versus a variable cost that is determined only after a person enrolls.

2. Employers are removed from making decisions for their employees about what plan design is best.

3. Employees become engaged in the decision-making process. They and their families are able to select plans that fit their individual needs and budgets.

WinStar Insurance Group dba VFIS of Texas Included In IIABA's Best Practices Study

9/12/2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AUSTIN, Texas

WinStar Insurance Group dba VFIS of Texas has been selected to be part of an elite group of independent insurance agencies around the United States participating in the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America Big “I” “Best Practices” Study Group.

Only 267 independent agencies throughout the U.S. qualified for inclusion in the 2019 Best Practices Study. An IIABA affiliated state association or an insurance company must first nominate the agency which then must qualify based on outstanding customer retention, growth, stability and financial management. More than 1,300 agencies were nominated this year.

The Best Practices Study was initiated by IIABA in 1993 as the foundation for efforts to improve agency performance. The annual study of leading independent insurance agencies, which is conducted for IIABA by Reagan Consulting of Atlanta, Ga., documents the business practices of these high performance agencies and urges others to adopt similar practices.

Hundreds of workshops and seminars have been conducted at various producer association functions, company sponsored agency meetings and national automation users group conventions.

The IIABA and Reagan Consulting jointly maintain the Best Practices Gateway website (http://www.reaganconsulting.com/research/best-practices) that provides executive summaries of the annual Best Practices Studies, the Best Practices Study Comparison Workbook tool and ordering information for Best Practices products. The Gateway, as well as the annual study, is made possible in part through the financial sponsorship of various insurance companies and industry organizations.

The 2019 Best Practices Study sponsors include: Agency Business Solutions and Amerisure, Applied, Beyond Insurance, Central Insurance Companies, Chubb, EMC Insurance, Encompass/Allstate, The Hanover Insurance Group, The Hartford, Imperial PFS, InsurBanc, Liberty Mutual Insurance and Safeco Insurance, MetLife, Nationwide, Travelers, Vertafore and Westfield Insurance.

WinStar Insurance Group LLC dba VFIS of Texas purchased the assets of Regnier & Associates, Inc. on October 1, 2016.

Regnier & Associates, Inc. was founded in May of 1982 providing coverage through the VFIS program for emergency service organizations in Texas. WinStar Insurance Group LLC also dedicates our time insuring niche industries including craft beverage, water districts, commercial ambulances, child care facilities and more and is dedicated to continuing the vision and commitment that Regnier & Associates, Inc. has provided for the past 34 years.

For more information on the Best Practices Study, contact Jennifer Becker at IIABA, 1-800-221-7917.

Founded in 1896, IIABA is the nation’s oldest and largest national association of independent insurance agents and brokers, representing a network of more than 300,000 agents, brokers and their employees nationally. Its members are businesses that offer customers a choice of policies from a variety of insurance companies. Independent agents and brokers offer all lines of insurance – property, casualty, life and health—as well as employee benefit plans and retirement precuts. Web address: www.independentagent.com.

8 Best Practices for Brewery Safety and Sanitation

9/24/2018

by Matt Lee of Innovative Building Materials

Breweries can be a very dangerous places if one isn’t careful. Between broken glass and all the chemicals that are part of the brewing process, one must be careful in order to promote the safety of workers and customers alike.

Here are 8 tips to keep in mind to avoid any injuries, accidents, or lawsuits.

1. Protection from Glass 
Many breweries use glass bottles to store their beer. With the presence of glass comes the possibility of broken pieces of glass. Make sure to keep your brewery floor clean and free of glass. Use a separate broom to clean up glass from the one you use for other cleanup duties around the brewery.

2. Chemicals Need to be Separated
Using chemicals to make sure your kegs, tanks, and beer are sanitary and safe is brewery 101. But the chemicals themselves need to be separated to avoid contamination. One way to approach this would be to color code chemicals.

One color for sanitizing chemicals and another for the caustic and acid chemicals you use for the kegs and tanks. Caustic is used in order to maintain the beer’s flavor. If your beer is tasting buttery then you know you haven’t done enough caustic cleaning, and probably need to up the amount you do. It is recommended you do a caustic cleaning every 2-3 weeks.

Acid cleaning you can do less of, it is recommended you do about one every 3-4 months. Using acid to clean your tanks gets rid of the beerstone. Beerstone and calcium buildups will hold on to beer from the previous brewing, and will leave your new beer tasting like the old.

Make sure you don’t mix up your chemicals in order to keep your customers safe and your beer tasting good.

3. Do Not Use Unsealed Concrete Flooring
Breweries are messy places, and with that in mind, brewery flooring has to be able to keep up with mess. Sealed concrete means there won’t be any holes in the floor. Holes in the floor can lead to beer or other liquids getting underneath, which can cause bacteria and mold to grow. If unsealed concrete is used for brewery flooring heavy loads and foot traffic could also damage it, meaning you would shortly have to buy new flooring to replace the damaged floors.

4. Keep the Dirtiest Part of Your Brewery Clean
The dirtiest place in a brewery is the brewery floor drains. Many liquids go down that drain everyday, and your employees go by it everyday. If you don’t have the proper floor drains, you could face bacteria build up, and no one wants a large amount of bacteria in their breweries. Invest in a proper drainage system that prevents build up. It needs to be long enough and big enough to keep any bacteria away. A sanitary drainage system equals a sanitary brewery!

5. Keep Your Hose Clean
Rubber hoses can be the dream home for all sorts of bacteria if they’re not cleaned properly. Make sure all fittings are securely fastened, and check for any holes or cracks that could invite moisture right in, as bacteria loves moisture. It is very important to all hoses up to par.

6. Check That All Sanitary and Cleaning Supplies Have Correct Labels
Mixing up your sanitation supplies and the supplies you use that come in contact with your product can lead to a health disaster, so make sure things are properly labeled to avoid any confusion. This is one of the easiest safety tips to abide by, don’t let this simple step cause issues for your brewery.

7. Clean Your Cooling Unit Coils
Your cooling unit coils might not be something you think about routinely, but they’re important for energy saving (aka money saving) and prevention of bacteria growth. Clean coils don’t have to work as hard to keep air moving, which means they use less energy, which saves you money. Since they move air around, any bacteria growing inside them can move into the air and contaminate your brewery’s walls, racking, and ultimately your product. Avoid contamination with the proper cleaning.

8. Reevaluate Your Cleaning Methods Every 6 Months
Not everyone’s perfect. Things can always be changed or improved, so take time to reevaluate your methods. What are customers saying? What have they said about the taste of the beer? Has it been positive or negative? If people aren’t pleased with the taste of the beer you should check and see if it is because of your cleaning methods.

Cleaning up is half the work in a brewer’s world, and there’s a lot of different things that have to be cleaned. As long as you keep a mental list of everything and keep a cleaning schedule and routine, you should be able to avoid any sort of problem. This way you can just focus on what you love: making beer and serving consumers.

Brewery Event Participant Waiver Form

8/30/2018

As the number of breweries opening continues to grow, so does the competition. Quality of beer, quality of people, and branding are all important factors in helping determine the success of a brewery, and so is creative marketing. Hosting fun events at the brewery is a great way to not only stand out, but to also highly engage with your community. However, the more creative breweries get, the more risk is associated with these events. If your insurance carrier is paying close attention, some of these events may even be specifically excluded on your Liability policy, leaving your brewery exposed if any accidents occur. Athletic or active events, such as running, games, or yoga come with an even higher risk of participant injury. It only takes one serious incident to bring about a potentially large lawsuit.

In order to lessen your risk from any potential lawsuits, we suggest having each event participant sign a participant waiver form or "Prospective Release, Indemnity, & Hold Harmless Agreement." We've drafted up a sample form you can download below, and we encourage you to use it the next time your brewery has an event featuring participants, especially events of a more athletic or physical nature.

Event Participant Waiver Form

Winery Volunteer Waiver Form

8/28/2018

During harvest, bottling and special events/festivals, many wineries utilize volunteers to help. While this can be a cost efficient form of adding extra labor, it also presents your winery with additional liability. By allowing volunteers to help with your winery operations, you become liable for any bodily injury or property damage that occurs to or in conjunction with the volunteers. In order to protect yourself, we suggest having each volunteer sign a volunteer waiver form or "Prospective Release, Indemnity, & Hold Harmless Agreement." We've drafted up a form you can download below and encourage you to use it the next time your winery utilizes volunteers.

*Please consult your attorney before utilizing this form to ensure it follows effective legal protocols and language.

Download Waiver Form

WinStar Insurance Group's 1 Year Anniversary Party

10/16/2017

It's been one whole year since we took over the reigns of Regnier & Associates and started anew as WinStar Insurance Group. What a great and successful year it has been! This past weekend, we had our 1 Year Anniversary Celebration at Cover 3 here in Austin. Many thanks to all who showed up and shared in the celebration. We look forward to continue working with all of you for many years to come.

Pet Friendly Brewery? Good for Marketing, Bad For Liability. A Few Points to Ponder.

10/13/2017

Repost via Beall Brewery Insurance

Is a Pet-Friendly Brewery Policy Right for You?
Combining man’s best friend with man’s favorite brew might seem like a natural step, but the fact is that having a pet-friendly brewery is a complex issue that requires much careful consideration, Beall Brewery Insurance reports.

Your brewery’s ability to legally admit pets on site is closely connected to your state, county, and city regulations. If you are considering making the transition to a pet-friendly brewery, check with local authorities on the regulations are in your area.

Once you have all those regulatory ducks in a row, check with your brewery insurance agent. Pet-friendly status could impact your insurance coverage.

Pet-Friendly Brewery Points to Keep in Mind
Businesses treat service animals differently than other animals. According to a Department of Justice document about the Americans with Disabilities Act, “entities that have a ‘no pets’ policy generally must modify the policy to allow service animals into their facilities.”

Other animals, however, present contamination and liability exposures. If you move forward with your pet-friendly brewery, be sure that the rules for animal guests are clear. Here are a few you might want to consider:

Dogs must be on-leash at all times, with the leash tied to the patron’s chair (not the table, since a big dog could pull a table over).
Animals cannot block aisles at any time.
If a guest’s pet becomes a nuisance, that guest will be asked to remove the pet from the brewery. Be sure brewery staff creates an incident report, even if there are no resulting injuries apparent.
Guests may only bring dogs into outdoor dining areas directly from the outdoors; the animal may not go through any other part of the facility.
The pet should stay on the ground (not in a chair, on a lap, or near the surface of the table).
If a guest’s pet makes a mess, the guest should clean up after it. Brewery employees must clean and sanitize accidents involving bodily fluids or waste, and then sanitize themselves afterwards.
Pets should not use brewery glassware or dishware. If a guest does not provide a water bowl for his pet, the brewery should provide a single-use disposable container.

Additional Pet-Friendly Brewery Points to Keep in Mind
There are other situations to consider, too. For instance, what if a guest who is allergic to dogs enters your brewery, only to find dogs on the premises? A sign posted outside the brewery, declaring its pet-friendly status, is a great way to alert customers.

Of course, it’s recommended that the brewery post signage including the rules for animal guests. If a pet is barking excessively or behaving aggressively, the brewery will be in a better position to request the removal of that pet.

It’s also a great idea to post your pet-friendly rules on your website.

Hurricane Harvey: Reporting A Claim

8/28/2017

Has your business been affected by Hurricane Harvey? To report a claim, contact our Claims Specialist, Cherry Guidry, at (512) 628-5184 or cguidry@vfistx.com. Download any Claims Forms at www.winstarins.com/claims. If after hours or if no one answers, contact your appropriate carrier - Alteris: 877-474-8808. NSM: 1-888-607-6642. Fairmont: 1-800-690-5520.

Sample Rental Agreement for Breweries, Wineries, & Distilleries

6/16/2017

Download Sample Rental Agreement for (Breweries) (Wineries) (Distilleries)

Many breweries, wineries, & distilleries have often rent their facilities for use by the public, including birthday parties, work events, reunions, etc. While these are typically good sources of revenue and are also a good public relations tool, they do present additional liability exposures to your business.

For breweries, wineries, & distilleries that lease their facilities to others, we recommend the use of a contract which details the terms and conditions of the rental and also provides that the lessee/rental party will hold the distillery harmless in the event of injury or other damages related to the use of the premises. When reviewing Rental Agreements, many contracts are not appropriately worded with needed protection or are incorrectly completed, often with provided spaces left blank. This document offers risk management guidelines to assist your organization in reducing your liability exposure. A sample rental contract is included with a hold harmless agreement that may be used in whole or as an example for your organization. Whether you use the sample agreement or develop your own, you should have it reviewed by an attorney. If you choose to create your own form, consider including the following points:

Make certain that you have all of the parties who are actually responsible for the event listed and obtain a signature.
Define exactly what is being rented including any room(s), accessories, utilities, equipment, and related structures.
Make certain you know exactly what type of event is going to take place and that it is described on the agreement in writing. For example, a party could be a children’s birthday party, an adult birthday party or it could be a bachelor party. You will want to know what kind of activity they intend to have and what activities you will or will not allow. You should specify any activities that you do not wish to take place.
Define when the event will begin and end, including set-up and clean up times.
Require a certificate of insurance or a copy of their insurance policy showing the existence of liability insurance, even from individuals. They are free and should be easy to obtain by having the individual contact their insurance agent. (You may be surprised by the number of people and organizations that don’t have liability insurance.)
If you don't have insurance to cover events, you can purchase Event Coverage at www.TheEventHelper.com.
Include any restrictions that you may have (e.g. no tape or thumb tacks on walls & ceilings; no outside alcohol, no illegal or immoral activities, etc…)
List specifically the amount of deposit(s); when they are required; how & when they will or will not be returned.
Define who will be responsible for any and all damages, and how they will be assessed.
Have a hold harmless and indemnification clause included in the contract.
List an emergency contact(s) from your organization on the contract.
Include a statement explaining that your organization has the right to terminate the event or expel any person or persons for unruly, unsafe, illegal or dangerous behavior or who is in violation of any other clause of the contract.

Any forms/contracts should be reviewed by an attorney for compliance with local laws and suitability to the particular needs of the organization involved. Once developed, the contract should be used for all rentals, even if the distillery is being used gratis or by a member. A copy of the contract should be given to the lessee and the original kept on file.

Download Sample Rental Agreement for (Breweries) (Wineries) (Distilleries)

WinStar Insurance Group is the Leading Insurer of Texas Breweries

5/17/2017

Since 2014, WinStar Insurance Group (formerly Regnier Insurance) has had the Texas exclusive to the BreweryPlus Program with A+ rated carrier Alteris. Alteris, along with our agents, are experts in the field of brewery insurance, and insure hundreds of breweries across the country. We now insure over 50 breweries in Texas alone, along with over 100 Texas wineries as well. Together, our coverages are designed exclusively to meet the unique needs of Texas craft brewery owners, including your General & Liquor Liability as well as your Property & Equipment Breakdown. We can also cover your Commercial Auto & Workers Comp. These coverages at the right price give you the confidence that you are with the most reputable, comprehensive, and affordable insurance product available to assist you in quickly resuming operations after a loss and to help you take steps in reducing your risk.

Interested in a quote? Click the Button Below or Contact us at info@winstarins.com or (800) 252-9435.

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