Examination of Commercial Books and Records

In your commercial property policy you will find a section titled "Policy Conditions." This section of the policy spells out requirements of the policyholder and the insurance company. It covers information about each party's right to cancel the policy, the insurer's right to inspect the property and conditions about abandonment of the property. There are many more conditions though, and it is good idea that you make yourself aware of these provisions.

One of the conditions is the insurance company's right to audit your books and records as they relate to your policy. Depending on your type of operation, you may already be experienced with the audit process. It is mostly painless and the information can usually be found in your accounting and employment records. The examination may take place during the policy period or any time within three years after the policy periods end, however, an audit usually takes place within a few months of your policy renewal.

The insurer will not just randomly go through your records. You will be given a list of requested information to facilitate the process. This process is usually pretty painless as long as you have current and accurate records.

Password Protection

Internet security firm Imperva of Redwood Shores, Calif., recently analyzed 32 million passwords that were exposed in a security breach for an online company in Dec 2009. They not only identified the most common passwords, but also suggested effective methods for creating secure ones.

The hacker in this 2009 breach only posted the member's passwords to the Internet, and was more interested in exposing the company's lax security. If complete usernames, email addresses and passwords were revealed, the ultimate damage could have been devastating. The reason: many people use the same username and password for all online dealings, including banking. Imperva reported the five most common passwords were: 1234, 12345, 123456789, password and iloveyou.

It seems that little has changed over the last 20 years. A review of the 1990 study of Unix password selections found remarkable similarities to the passwords revealed by this recent security breach. The study revealed about 50 percent of the users had the same username and passwords for access to multiple Web sites. Just 10 years ago, hacked Hotmail passwords showed the same passwords selection tendencies in their users.

The short, simple passwords make users susceptible to very basic password attacks. As hackers continue to rapidly adopt smarter password cracking software, consumers and companies will be at greater risk.

Imperva recommends passwords contain at least eight characters and a mix of four different types of characters (upper case, lower case, numbers and symbols). It should not be a name, word or contain any part of an email address.

If you have any questions about including identity theft protection in your insurance policy, feel free to get in touch with us.

Texting

Recently this article was posted as an editorial in the April 5th, 2010 Toledo Blade. We here at Fey Insurance Services thought it might be of interest as it could be something that affects all of us on the road.

Article published April 05, 2010Time to ban texting
The Michigan Senate took a fairly dramatic step a few days ago. Lawmakers had earlier voted to make the highly dangerous practice of text messaging while driving illegal - but only as a secondary offense, meaning police could only cite you for it if they first pulled you over for something else.

Since anybody who sees flashing red lights is apt to stop texting immediately, this meant the law would be little more than eyewash. But the GOP-controlled Senate reversed itself, voted to make texting a primary offense carrying an immediate fine, and sent the bill back to the House.

Why the change of heart? Senators were shaken by a teenager in Ottawa County who was killed when he took his eyes off the road to text-message his girlfriend. The boy was far from the first victim; three years ago, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock was sending a text message when he crashed into a flatbed truck and was instantly killed.

The danger of this phenomenon may not be sufficiently understood by lawmakers in their 40s and 50s, who usually aren't part of the text-message generation. But it is increasingly how young people communicate, and being on the road with drivers looking down to punch a tiny keyboard on their cell phones ought to scare anyone who isn't in a Sherman tank.

The text-messaging bill's main sponsor, state Rep. Lee Gonzales (D., Flint), knows what that means. He introduced the legislation after his pregnant daughter-in-law was rear-ended by a woman punching away on her cell phone. Fortunately, she and the baby both survived.

The day before the Michigan vote, the Ohio House passed a similar bill that would make texting a primary offense, though it would not allow police to issue fines for six months. The Ohio Senate and the Michigan House should speedily ratify the work of their respective other chambers, and join 20 other states that have banned the practice.

Thanks to seat belts and safer cars, highway deaths in the nation last year were lower than in any year since 1954. It would be tragic if we allowed modern communications technology to send the death toll spiraling skyward once again.

Federal Flood Program Expires

On March 26th the Senate closed for a two week recess with out approving an extension for the Federal Flood insurance program that would have carried the program through until April 30th. Because the extension was not put through the current program has expired. Any flood insurance customers that are either renewing their policy between now and April 12 (when the Senate meets again) or that need to purchase flood coverage to close on a house will not be able to. This will cause a few home closings to be pushed back until the situation is resolved.

For those that already have flood insurance in place and are not renewing anytime soon the program will still function as normal if claims arise. There are currently 5.6 million policies in force with this program.

General Liability vs Errors and Omissions

General Liability
What it protects against: Accident and injuries that occur on company property or the property of a customer. It also protects against product liabilities.

How it works: Commercial General Liability (CGL) includes payments to an injured person or to an owner of property that is damaged. These can cover medical expenses and the cost of defending lawsuits, including legal settlements or investigations. Insurance may also provide the means to post bonds during a legal proceeding, or pay judgments. A CGL policy also covers libel, slander, copyright infringement and other personal and advertising injuries.

Who needs it: Most, if not all, companies

Errors & Omissions
What it protects against: Claims by customers that a company made mistakes or failed to perform contractual work. It should include coverage of the cost of legal defense. It is also know as professional liability insurance.

How it works: It insures mistakes made by a company’s owners, employees and contractors. It is similar to a doctor’s medical malpractice insurance.

Who needs it: Anyone who advises, recommends, consults or designs solutions should consider this coverage.

Information provided by: Bests Review The Guide to Understanding Business Insurance Products (2007-2008)

So What is the Difference?:
The key difference between the above two mentioned business insurance coverages is that General Liability only pays claims that have resulted in bodily injury or property damage (meaning damage to property not owned or leased by the business). It will not cover a financial loss that is a result of errors or alleged errors done by the business or the omission of work that the business was contractual obligated to do. That is where Errors & Omissions Insurance steps in and pays for the cost to defend the business as well as any settlements that a court requires them to pay for their error or omission of work.

Travelers Launches Mobile Applications

On March 8th Travelers annouced that they have a new application for smart phones.

The new mobile tools provide auto accident assistance for iPhone and
BlackBerry1 smartphone users. Additionally, Travelers’ customers will have the added advantage of starting the auto claim process directly through the iPhone application and the mobile Web site.

Integrating Travelers’ online claim reporting into the new mobile applications is part of the company’s ongoing mobile strategy that first began with the launch of the mobile Web site in late November 2009. The number of people accessing news and information daily on the mobile Web more than doubled in 2009 when compared to 2008, according to comScore2.

See full article at:
http://www.comscore.com/index.php/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2009/3/Daily_Mobile_Internet_Usage_Grows

Here is a vidoe about the importance of taking care of small windshield cracks early.