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Tag: Cyber Liability Insurance

What Do Charities and Nonprofits Need to Know About Their Insurance?

Posted on by Ownby Insurance Service

We are lucky to have many charities and nonprofit organizations that serve a vital role in our communities. The services and resources they provide can be a lifeline of support for thousands of people. But even organizations with the best intentions, missions, and goals have risks to consider.

As you’d imagine, liability, workers’ comp, property, and commercial auto policies are often needed for most of these organizations. But what about other risks? Here are a few that nonprofits and charities should take into consideration:

Directors & Officers

Your organization likely has a group of volunteer leaders that help support the decisions and guide you in fulfilling your mission. However, they may be held responsible for some of those decisions if they have negative results. Directors & Officers (D&O) coverage may help with defense costs, settlements and judgments associated with claims against nonprofit organizations. It may also help protect their personal assets should legal matters implicate them.

Cyber Liability

Many organizations maintain sensitive data about those they serve. This may include medical information, personal details, addresses, and more. Having cybersecurity measures in place to protect this data is critical. But just as critical is having the right cyber liability policy in place. A data breach can cost thousands of dollars, even for a small organization. To help you respond and recover, consider a standalone cyber policy that provides the right coverage for your specific risks.

Vulnerable Groups Served

If your nonprofit or charity assists with support for children, the elderly, or mentally challenged individuals, it is an unfortunate reality that there is some risk for abuse. There are professional liability coverages that may help protect your organization if allegations of abuse occur.

Some may be specific to the type of charity work you perform, and it is best to consult with your agent on what is best suited for your risks. This may assist employees in the case of false allegations as well, even potentially providing defense funds and lost wages.

Additional Coverage Considerations

In some cases, insurers may offer specific coverages or umbrella policies that are more custom to the risks a charity or nonprofit is facing. Such coverages may help better protect your organization, your leadership, and the communities you serve.

Having an insurance agent who understands the risks of your charity or nonprofit is extremely important. The services you provide are often critical for the people who receive them. Not having the right insurance may leave the work you with vulnerabilities you never considered.

Brandon Patterson from our team would be more than happy to discuss these items with your organization and help you identify risks and coverages. Please contact him for more info at brandon@ownbyinsurance.com.

How Much Insurance Does Your Business Need?

Posted on by Ownby Insurance Service

Owning a business is a lot of work. It often involves managing people, making decisions, keeping track of many things at once, marketing, selling, and a slew of other tasks. When it comes to insurance, most business owners don’t have the time or resources to seek out what they need on their own. They rely on an agent to help them assess their risks and review their policy options. But even with an agent involved, it is best to understand your coverages and what insurance you may not have as well. So, how “much” do you need? Let’s review a few of the ways to find out.

Do You Sell Product(s) or Services?

Whether you offer products or services significantly affects your insurance needs. If you sell products, you may need product liability insurance to protect against claims related to product defects or injuries caused by your products. On the other hand, if you provide services, professional liability insurance (also known as errors and omissions insurance) can cover claims related to professional mistakes or negligence.

Do You Own or Lease Property for Business?

If you own or lease property for your business, you need to consider commercial property insurance. This type of insurance covers damages to your building, equipment, inventory, and other physical assets due to incidents like fire, theft, or vandalism. For those leasing property, make sure to check the terms of your lease to understand your insurance responsibilities.

Do You Have Employees?

Having employees introduces additional risks and responsibilities. You’ll need workers’ compensation insurance to cover medical expenses and lost wages for employees who get injured on the job. Additionally, employment practices liability insurance can protect against claims related to employee rights violations, such as wrongful termination or discrimination.

Do You Have Vehicles You Use for Business?

If your business uses vehicles for operations, commercial auto insurance is essential. This insurance covers damages and liability in case of accidents involving your business vehicles. Make sure to include coverage for all vehicles used for business purposes, whether they are owned, leased, or rented.

Do You Store Client/Customer Data?

In today’s digital age, data breaches and cyberattacks are significant threats to businesses. If you store client or customer data, consider investing in cyber liability insurance. This insurance helps cover costs associated with data breaches, including legal fees, notification expenses, and credit monitoring for affected individuals.

Additional Coverages

Apart from the key considerations mentioned above, there are other types of insurance you may need based on your specific business needs:

  • General Liability Insurance: Covers a wide range of risks, including bodily injury, property damage, and advertising injury. This coverage is often included in the base policy for your business, such as in a Business Owners’s Policy (BOP).
  • Business Interruption Insurance: Compensates for lost income if your business operations are halted due to a covered event, such as a natural disaster.
  • Directors and Officers (D&O) Insurance: Protects your company’s leadership against personal losses resulting from legal actions taken against them due to their corporate decisions.

What About the Dollar Amount?

Are recent Blog on Total Insurable/Insured Value (TIV) may be able to help you calculate the amount you should have for the total insured limits on your policy. There are many factors involved here, and we’d encourage you to read more about it!

Even with all the above in mind, there may be risks that are very specific to the work you do. It is best to discuss your business with a licensed agent to really determine what you may need. Contact Brandon Patterson on our team if you’d like to discuss your business’s insurance!

What is Business Income Coverage and When Do You Need It?

Posted on by Ownby Insurance Service

If you own, operate, or manage a business, you know how important it is to track revenue and financials. But what if that revenue stopped coming in due to a fire? What if a major theft prevented you from being able to pay your bills and payroll? Having business income (also known as business interruption) coverage in place may help lift the financial burden. But it’s very important to understand when and how it can be used.

Business Income Coverage Examples

Let’s take for example, Christina owns an independent bookstore and also owns the building where the store is located. A fire damages part of the store, and in the process of putting out the fire, her inventory is destroyed by smoke and water damage. It’s going to be several months before the property can be cleaned and repaired for patrons to safely enter, and new inventory must also be ordered and stocked.

The property policy on the business covers much of the physical damage, and there is also some coverage for inventory. However, Christina knows she’ll have trouble paying her employees and her bills without any revenue being generated. So, what does she need to know if she has business income coverage in place?

  1. What is the actual loss sustained? Christina will need to know the total of her covered losses and how much was covered by other insurance policies.
  2. What is the amount of income lost? Christina will need to be able to provide information on the amount of revenue she would have generated had the store been open as normal.
  3. What is the “waiting period” of the policy? Most business income coverage will have an amount of time that must pass before the coverage can take effect.
  4. What is the “period of restoration”? How much time will the policy cover while the business is closed?

These crucial factors will help determine when, how much, and for how long Christina can expect the policy will pay.

Named Perils

These policies typically have named perils as well. So, while a fire, theft, wind, etc. may be covered, you’d have to check your policy to see if a service line being damaged would be covered. In addition, civil authority may be covered as an interruption after a natural disaster. As an example, if a sinkhole damaged the only road leading to your business and the government ordered closure as a result, you might be covered for business income.

Understand Your Business Income Coverage

However, and as with any policies, it is extremely important to understand your coverage and limits. Don’t assume you’d be covered for certain situations, talk with your agent and get an understanding of what would trigger this coverage, for how much, and for how long.

To learn more about it, contact Brandon from our team at brandon@ownbyinsurance.com or 865-453-1414 today.

Claims for Theft and Burglary: What’s Covered and When?

Posted on by Ownby Insurance Service

If you own a business, having something stolen from your company may be an unfortunate reality someday. But is there a difference in how it is covered based on how it is stolen? There may indeed be differences depending on your policy. Let’s review what you may find as you understand these coverages.

Insurance for theft typically covers any stolen property, regardless of where it was stolen. Insurance for a burglary may only cover property that was stolen when a forced entry into a building or structure was involved. If you have commercial property insurance, you may think theft is covered. But that isn’t always the case, especially for crime-related losses.

However, if you have a commercial crime policy, there is a good chance you are protected from losses occurring from business-related crimes, including:

Employee Theft Insurance

Protects you against dishonest acts committed by your employees, including theft of money or property.

Robbery and Premises Theft Insurance

Protects your property inside your premises while you’re open for business. You’re even covered if you or your employees are ever robbed while doing business offsite.

Computer Fraud Insurance

May help cover losses when employees or hackers commit fraud or theft via computers. As an important note, crime insurance will typically not cover losses as a result of data breaches. This type of loss would need to be covered by cyber liability coverage.

Forgery Insurance

Helps protect you if documents are forged or altered in schemes that typically involve the false acquisition of your funds.

Theft of Money or Securities

Protection for physical theft of money or securities and may help protect you even if this theft occurs off premises of your business.

As you can see, there is more than one may realize when it comes to protecting your business from theft, burglary, or crime. Contact Brandon Patterson on our team at brandon@ownbyinsurance.com or call 865.453.1414 and he’ll help you understand these risks and your options.

Risk Management and Your Team’s Role in Lowering Risk

Posted on by Ownby Insurance Service

Risk Management and Your Team’s Role in Lowering Risk

Workers’ compensation rates have been steadily dropping for the last decade in Tennessee and other states. And while factors like market competition and legal system improvements are factors, one of the biggest impacts has come from a reduction in claims frequency and claims severity. How has this been achieved? Safety and risk management programs. When better procedures are in place to protect employees, fewer accidents – or less damaging accidents – occur. So, could this be applied elsewhere to lower your businesses risks?

Preparing Your Team for Success

Onboarding, training, screening, and testing of employees and potential hires can help you lower risk. And this isn’t just for jobs with physical risks. Training your employees on cyber risks, onboarding them for customer interaction, screening them for past loss history, and intermittently testing them on what they’ve learned can all help with your risk management. Let’s review some examples of how this approach can be impactful.

Cyber Liability Prevention

Most businesses store customer data or personal info in some fashion. Whether it be loyalty info like names and birthdays or financial info like credit cards stored for recurring payments, this data is sensitive and must be protected. If you train and test your employees on avoiding cyber risks like phishing, hacking, and human error, you’ll be helping lower your cyber risk.

Third Party Liability Prevention

How does your team interact with customers? If there is a physical location that customers visit for goods, services, or transactions, is it well-maintained? Does your team know to clean up spills, report malfunctioning equipment, or notify management of unsafe conditions? Quickly acting on these concerns not only makes for a better customer experience, it may also reduce your risk.

Property Damage Prevention

If you work on or interact with customer property, having your employees properly trained is critical. Whether it be a $20,000 car or a $1,000,000 piece of equipment, the work your employees do shouldn’t put position you for a claim. And while accidents happen, the better the training, the less likely they are to occur.

Good risk management leads to better options for your insurance, especially as your business’s loss history continues to be good or improves from prior claims. Contact Brandon Patterson at 865.453.1414 or email brandon@ownbyinsurance.com to discuss how it could help your business.