Insurance Audit Information

A dog might suffer a number of diseases during its lifetime. Being attentive of these illnesses and the correct method to care for them can assist you greatly in caring for your dog better. Dogs should be vaccinated and given booster at least once every 6 months to keep them safe.

Your dog can be vaccinated against hepatitis, distemper, rabies, corona, leptospirosis, kennel cough and parvo. He could suffer at some point from domestic or outdoor parasites and there are many different types of infections which a dog owner should know about.

You might consider getting Pet Insurance if you have one or more pets. A small occasional investment and decent care for your pet usually cost much less than risking an infection and having to fork out hundreds of dollars to treat them later.

The Parvo strain of virus is the most common and deadliest dog infection. Symptoms may include vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration and eventually death.

Distemper is another viral infection. Symptoms may include fever, loss of appetite, nasal and eye discharges.

Canine hepatitis also causes comparable symptoms which should be treated with IV fluid therapy, antibiotics and nutritional support(consult your vet first).

Rabies is often spread by the bite of another animal. If your dog has rabies, he will behave oddly. A dog can be vaccinated against Rabies from 4 months of age. There is no cure, vaccination is vital.

Leptospirosis is a bacterial virus infection which attacks the dog’s kidneys and liver. Consuming contaminated liquids or infected urine from another dog can cause Leptospirosis. Fever, yellow gums, depression and blood in the dog’s urine might mean leptospirosis.

Kennel cough, or Bordatella, is a respiratory tract disease. Kennel cough symptoms often include a loud and coarse cough nasal and eye discharges. The treatment is usually anti-inflammatory medication, cough suppressants and antibiotics.

The dog infection Coronavirus or Corona for short is one of the more contagious viral illness. Vomiting, diarrhea and weight loss are possible warning symptoms and should be looked into. Antibiotics and IV fluids are used in the treatment of Corona.

Another highly common dog infection is the infection to it’s ears. Symptoms include pawing at the ears and shaking of the head constantly. You should examine your dog’s ears every month and take him to your local vet for treatment if you spot any signs, as soon as possible. Even common ear infections like blood clots may cause deafness and even lead to extreme blindness if not treated properly.

A few more obvious indications of a dog infection are heat, swelling and sluggishness. Appearing to be in hurt or pain, fretfulness or listlessness are also some more obvious indications.

If the infection is intense, then the dog might have a high temperature and be swollen around the neck, armpits or groin area. If you are unable to get to a vet straight away, you should keep the dog lying down to avoid any physical exertion that might lead to the infection spreading more quickly.

Dogs with infections might reject food and water so it is important to seek your vet’s advice.

Infections can be dangerous anywhere in a dog’s body but especially if they are around the body’s ‘wet’ regions like the nose or mouth as they could spread quicker to the blood stream and eventually to the vital organs. The key thing is to get your dog immunized as soon as he is old enough. Also be sure to follow up with a yearly injected or oral course booster.

Remember, your dog is part of the family and if you find your dog acting a little unusual or a bit ill, call the vet to schedule an appointment immediately. A dog’s body doesn’t work like a human body, dog infections can become severe very quickly and it won’t be a good idea to wait and see if the infection or illness heals itself.

EMPLOYMENT LAW DISTINCTION BETWEEN ‘EMPLOYEES’ & ‘WORKERS’ AFFECT HOLIDAY & PAY RIGHTS

(Based on author’s site www.geocities.com/slfemp)

Affect who the employer is and who is responsible for one’s wage or salary, holiday pay, employer’s contribution to national insurance, pension rights, and employment protection, the legal distinction made between “employees” and “workers”, and between those and “contractors” ~one’s entitlements depend on whether in the eyes of the law one is an employee, or a worker, subcontractor, self employed contractor –or partly a freelancer.

Because of their different legal definitions an ‘employee’ or a ‘worker’ in the eyes of the law may be in fact a ‘contractor’ or a ’subcontractor’, and vice-versa -and employment through an employment agency may or may not itself fall in different category. Definitions and categories affect entitlements.

Many employees lose out on entitlements, because their legal employment category, or because who the law regards as employer, is different than they think or have been told. When one is paid to do work for another it is important to know how the employment contract is formed, and one’s employment status.

Are you liable for your income tax or must the employer deduct it and attend to it at source, what are your holiday and pension entitlements and whose responsibility are they, are you entitled to employer’s part of your national insurance contribution –who is your employer at the workplace that you work, the business you work on the premises of, or an employment agency, or is it you whose responsibility those are, in the eyes of the law?

These affect liability, vicarious liability and the statutorily implied terms of any contract -as well as various other statutory requirements ~from equal treatment to employment protection under the employment laws -many have sued and lost because the employer was not in law the sued party but another.

Often these also affect ‘pay’ (in law defined as being what is received directly or indirectly in cash or kind for work done) ~an ‘employee’ gets full holiday pay, paid leave -a ‘worker’ does not.

In employment there is sometimes a company pension scheme; as the norm the employer must pay part of one’s national insurance contributions (covering, e.g., unemployment, health-care, state-pension) if one is an ‘employee’; but the entitlement is partial if one is a ‘worker’, and nil if one is in law a ‘contractor’ -one’s employment status matters.

The following helps ascertain one’s employment status in law, and who in law is one’s employer.

Is one an ‘employee’ or ’self-employed contractor’? There are three tests that are applied to the question:-

The first is the ‘Control Test’ and is based on this that if the employer controls the job to be done but not how it is done than the person doing the job is an employee; but this test would not be satisfactory, because also to an employee with specialist knowledge, e.g. a company nurse, the employer would not tell how to do the job.

The second, ‘Organisational Integration Test’, seeks to ascertain whether the person paid is an integral part of the business: an anaesthetist was not a self-employed contractor in Cassidy -v- The Ministry of Pensions 1961 ~he was a resident of the hospital -an employee.

But this did not suffice: drivers who were paid for an agreed minimum number of jobs per year and had to wear company uniforms as well as to have the company colours on their lorries and who could not work for the competition without the employer’s permission, but who could choose to do extra work and decided their own routes and used their own lorries and could use at their pleasure substitute drivers, in Ready Mixed Concrete -v- The Ministry of Pensions 1968 were self-employed contractors, not employees.

There is a third, the ‘Multiple Test’ to be applied: ‘one is an employee if.. provides work or service for remuneration.. the business has some degree of control.. without any terms contrary to the employment relationship.’

This is the consideration in the case of those engaged or introduced by employment agencies:-

Who is the employer? Is one, as a specific individual, under the direct supervision and control of the business? If so, one is an employee of the client business -where one works…

Does the business where one works pay that agency and that agency itself pay one? If so, one is not an employee of the client business, but may be an employee or worker of that agency itself -agency staff.

Employees normally receive holiday pay, self employed contractors do not ~but what about the ‘worker’-the casual worker who is not in self employment and yet is also not a regular employee?

Is one an ‘employee’ or ‘worker’? There is a different ‘worker’ category for casual workers which was created under the Employment Rights Act 1996 s.230 (3) to deal with this question.

If a casual worker is genuinely on an ad hoc basis employed, that casual worker is, in law, an employee while he is employed, and for the period/s of such employment has employment rights -e.g., to receive wages and holiday pay.

A ’subcontractor’ normally would be in the category either of employee or of worker on the same basis, but instead of the business where the sub contractor works, of the self employed contractor who engaged the sub contractor.

If there is a dispute about whether a contractor engaged a subcontractor as a self employed person, then the same three tests above are applied to ascertain the employment status of that subcontractor in relation to that contractor.

If that subcontractor receives a wage and is not self-employed in relation to that contractor, then if the subcontractor works regularly for that contractor he is an employee of that contractor, and if he works casually for that contractor he is a worker of that contractor.

Being a ‘freelance-worker’ is, to all intends and purposes, the same as being a self-employed contractor.

One can lawfully be both: an employee or worker, as well as a freelancer -self employed.

If one who is normally an employee or worker wants also to do some freelance work, then one officially is an employee or worker and one’s entitlements in relation to ones normal status are not affected -but those entitlements do not extend to one’s freelance work and employment.

If one normally self employed wants also to do some work as an employee or worker of a business, then one’s official status as self-employed does not change -but one’s entitlements for work done as an employee or worker are not affected to the extent of one’s such work.

If one is not paid for holidays.. if a pension scheme depends on whether one is a freelancer or not.. if the employer is responsible for one’s colleagues’ taxes or pension contributions but not one’s own.. if one is working for one business but is paid by another… one might need to ascertain one’s employment status -the above are the legal tests.

(Laws change –always ascertain current law.)

The author has a website at: http://www.geocities.com/eoa_uk

Every year, tons of people loose huge amounts of money in house burglaries, house fires, floods and other unforeseen events. These loses would have easily been compensated had these people availed of insurance for their homes and properties, but the sad fact is – a lot of people don’t or if ever they did ,it is under valued.

Property insurance is pretty much easy to understand, it’s similar to life, health and accident insurances that you take out for you and your family. It shares the same principles as car insurance and even the physical and accidental insurance that you take for your gadgets and other things. Some people may neglect the necessity of having an insurance policy for their property and home, but as we all know criminal rate and costs are rising and the rising price of everything translates into probable losses.

Property insurance works by providing financial and in some instances legal protection against unforeseen events that may damage your property. Depending on your policy, the insurance provider may directly replace the item damaged or release money so that you can replace it yourself.

An insurance provider first appraises the value of your property and drafts an insurance plan or a proposal that will have the company reimburse you with the same amount that your property is valued in the event of damage to your property. The reimbursement may be lesser or greater depending on the agreed contract. Property insurance protects you against two basic things – named and open perils. Named perils insurance protects your property from events that have been clearly stated in the insurance policy. Most of the time Named Perils insurance policies include common disasters like fire, theft, explosions, etc.

Open Peril insurance policies covers all other unforeseen events except those that have been intentionally excluded in the insurance policy that both parties sign. Most insurance policies cover the Home or the dwelling itself. Any damage to the structure of the house will be appraised and reimbursed after the insurance company has done its investigation on the cause of damage – given there is no evidence of foul play.

Structures that are connected to or in close proximity to the house are also considered part of what an insurance policy covers. This could include fences, gazebos, pools, etc. Personal property is also covered in some property insurance policies. Personal property includes furniture, clothing and appliances, the appraiser will most likely take note of these items and will ask you if you want it covered as well. This will increase the premium to be paid but again, in the event of tragedy, you can expect some replacement due to its coverage. Most of the time home owners get a separate insurer for personal items rather than have them covered by same home insurance company.

Reading an insurance policy thoroughly is necessary so that you have an idea as to what is really covered in your policy so that you will not end up quarreling with your insurance provider because something you thought covered was not after all.