Emerling Floss Murphy & Associates Welcomes Amanda Voit

Emerling Floss Murphy & Associates is pleased to announce the hiring of Amanda Voit as a Group Benefits Account Manager. Amanda joined EFM in early August and is certified in Life Insurance and as a Health Insurance Broker.

Amanda enjoys being able to help clients in any way she can. Whether it be something like sending in employee enrollments and terms or speaking to an employee to explain their plan options, they are always grateful and appreciative for the help with anything she can take off their plate.

“Insurance is confusing so it’s nice to be able to relieve some of that stress for people,” says Amanda.

Amanda lives in Niagara Falls, and outside of work, she enjoys fishing and crocheting!

Emerling, Floss and Murphy Insurance Announce Merger

26 Jun 2020 Company News

Three of Western New York’s top Insurance and Financial agencies have announced a business merge, effective July 1, 2020.  Emerling Agency, LLC, Floss Agency, Inc. and M. F. Murphy Insurance, Inc. will now be known as Emerling, Floss, Murphy & Associates, LLC.

This new venture will operate out of two locations.  The Barone Building, 9092 Main Street in Clarence, where Emerling Agency, LLC has been operating from since 2016, will be the Corporate Headquarters.  This location will be welcoming the employees that formerly operated from Floss Insurance Agency on Transit Road in East Amherst.

There will be a second location at the M.F. Murphy Insurance Agency building, 111 Pine Street in Lockport, NY where Mary Murphy and her staff will continue to operate.

All three agencies have a robust history through their founding members, including Norm and Nancy Emerling from the Emerling Agency, Senator Walter Floss from the Floss Agency, and Matthew J Murphy from Murphy Insurance Agency.  All three agencies had continued success through their posterities, which included the late Paul Barone at the Emerling Agency, George Emerling, Scott Medole, and Mark Medole.  Joseph Floss took over the reins from Walter and became President of Floss Agency in 1987.  Third generation owner of Murphy Insurance, Mary Murphy, is the daughter of the late Donald Murphy.

With the merge of the companies, the next generation of success has come aboard, including Dustin Emerling, Sonny Graff, and Jayce Wallace – all of whom are taking proactive leadership roles with the new company.

“By combining our experience and expertise, this merge gives our clients expanded resources and more competitive insurance products,” says Joe Floss, President of Emerling, Floss, Murphy & Associates.  “The merge was part of our efforts to take the service to the next level.”

Mary Murphy, partner and primary operator at the Lockport Branch brings history that dates back to 1925.

“This new company brings a combined total of over 200 years of insurance experience,” says Mary Murphy, Partner at Emerling, Floss, Murphy & Associates.  “This is not only great for us, but also for the clients we serve.”

Emerling, Floss, Murphy & Associates are also proud members of the EMS Group, which is an independent insurance agency formed in 1995, expanding resources, and competitive advantages even further.  Other members of this group include Stahlka Agency, Inc., and McMahon Agency, Inc.

The merge also brings a powerful force of already very active community leaders – above and beyond the associations in the insurance world.

“Being an active and impactful member of the Western New York Community has been a philosophy for all of us since day one,” says George Emerling, who is particularly active with the Clarence Rotary Club, including Past-President, Treasurer and active member of the Clarence Rotary Foundation.  “It gives us a better understanding of the people we serve.”

With that, the partners also share similar philosophies in business – success comes from outstanding service to their clients.  EFM&A is here to help their clients see protection and prosperity through quality insurance, reasonable prices, and a partnership that will help you see success.

Does Home Insurance Cover Foundation Problems?

If you have damage to your home’s foundation, you may think that your home insurance covers it since home insurance protects your home. Like other insurance claims, it depends on what happened.

What Does Home Insurance Cover?

The best way to think about home insurance is that it covers you for disasters and sudden mishaps. Think things like a tornado or a fire. Home insurance does not cover maintenance issues. That’s things like a faulty AC or a roof developing a leak due to age.

Where Does Foundation Damage Fit Into Your Home Insurance Policy?

To figure out if you can file a claim for foundation damage, you need to figure out what happened. Cracks and other defects due to old age are generally not covered as a maintenance issue. Tree roots pressing into your foundation are also typically a maintenance issue since you can monitor your trees and proactively prevent root damage.

The following types of disasters are usually covered by your home insurance policy, so any resulting foundation damage would typically be covered.

•             Water damage from a broken pipe or water backup. You would need to carry coverage for the specific type of water damage that caused damage to your foundation.

•             Falling trees or any other objects that impact your foundation.

•             A covered structural collapse that cracks or separates your foundation.

•             Gas explosions and fires.

If you want to be covered for an earthquake or other earth movement, you probably need to add earthquake coverage to your main home insurance policy or buy a separate earthquake coverage. Most home insurance policies exclude earthquake damage.

Similarly, foundation damaged caused by floods due to storm surge, rain or overflowing rivers typically isn’t covered by a basic home insurance policy. You’d need to carry flood insurance.

What if You Need to Move Out for Repairs?

Foundation repairs often involve major structural work to your home that could cause you to temporarily have to move out. If your home insurance covers your claim for the repairs, it may also help with any additional living expenses. Some policies include additional living expenses by default, and others allow you to add it as an additional option.

COVID-19 Update from The Emerling Agency, LLC

During this unprecedented time in our history, we want to share an update on Emerling Agency’s preparedness and precautionary measures we are taking. Collectively and individually, all of us have had to make changes in our day-to-day lives. However, we have a dedicated team committed to servicing the needs of our customers. Emerling Agency has a plan in place for emergency situations such as this to ensure the safety of our employees and everyone in our community, especially the more vulnerable among us.

Our Commitment to our Customers

Keeping our promise of excellent customer service for our customers remains a top priority during the COVID-19 outbreak. Our staff is available to answer questions, process claims, assist with payments, provide information, and address any of your personal or commercial insurance and financial needs. Some of the measures we have taken to ensure your safety and deliver on our promise:

  • Closed our physical location to the public
  • Cross-trained our staff on critical functions to help minimize service interruptions or delays
  • Enabled technology to ensure our staff is able to work remotely should this become necessary
  • Enacted pandemic planning to account for different variable and scenarios, such as increase in call volume or closure of our building

Protecting our Employees

The health and safety of our employees is essential to our ability to continue to provide service to our customers. We have already put into place social distancing procedures in order to minimize COVID-19 exposure to our employees. This includes:

  • Suspending travel-related business and attendance at large events
  • Limiting in-person meetings with clients wherever possible
  • Adhering to all applicable state and federal mandates relating to the COVID-19 outbreak
  • Implementing enhanced workspace cleaning to help limit the spread of germs for those who are working in the office

Emerling Agency will continue to closely monitor the COVID-19 outbreak and we remain flexible to adapt quickly to all scenarios. We are dedicated to keeping you informed. If you have any questions, please call.

COVID-19 Guidance for Our Insureds

We remain committed to staying accessible during this crisis. While the physical office is not open to the public, our associates are working remotely to keep business operating as usual. Please know that all calls and emails will be responded to as soon as possible. 

Our Website has our agencies staff direct phone numbers, emails, as well as our carrier websites and phones numbers. We are here to help anyway we can. 

Everyone here at the Emerling Agency wanted to let you know that we share your concern over the effects COVID-19 has on your personal and professional lives. Most small businesses across the country will feel a negative impact as a result of this virus. To help, we would like to share some of the information from the insurance carriers we work with. While many have different nuances, this is a summary of some of the options that might be available to you:

Billing 

Many insurance carriers are offering deferred payment options to their insureds. Please contact us if you have any questions about your specific carrier.

General Liability and Worker’s Compensation Policies

As you know, many General Liability policies are rated based on estimated gross annual sales or gross annual payroll, while all Worker’s Compensation policies are based on gross annual payroll. If you would like to adjust your estimated exposures downward to lower your premium and/or enroll in pay-as-you-go Worker’s Compensation payment plans, please contact our office and we will assist you.

Automobile Policies

If you are looking to obtain additional cost savings, you can take a defensive driving class online. The $25 investment can provide you a 10% savings on your premiums for over 3 years. You can visit the NYS Defensive Driving site from the menu on our homepage.

HR Questions:

Below is a message we received from our HR specialists for informational purposes only. It contains important links for both employers and employees. We encourage you to reach out to your own HR professionals for further advice.

Federal Law Alert

COVID-19: April 1 Effective Date for FFCRA Leaves

On Tuesday, March 24, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced that the effective date of the leaves available through the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) will be April 1, 2020.

Based on the language in the bill, the effective date was widely believed to be April 2.

The DOL announced the effective date in a “Questions and Answers” document where it also provided answers to some common questions. Other than the April 1 effective date, the information is in line with what we have been advising. The DOL also released two Fact Sheets, both of which appear to contain the same information, but it’s possible they will each be updated in the future with information that is geared more toward employees or employers.

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