Archives for February 2020

by Paula Rhoderick, Personal Lines Department Manager

Few things score as many points with your loved one as a gift of jewelry on Valentine’s Day.  Classic gifts such as hearts, rubies and diamonds are gifts that can be cherished throughout the year.  But did you know your Homeowners, Condo or Renters Insurance may not completely cover your gift?  Ask yourself, if your favorite piece of jewelry was lost, stolen or damaged, how would you feel?

• Devastated because of the sentimental value?
• Frustrated that you could not afford to repair or replace it?
• Hesitant to buy jewelry in the future?

If any of the above describe you, jewelry insurance can help bring you piece of mind and may be a smart decision.

Jewelry losses are one of the most common personal property insurance claims reported each year.  If the right policy is not in place, there may not be coverage.  Standard policies have limitations for items such as jewelry, specifically for theft.  In addition, standard policies only cover jewelry for losses specifically stated in your policy such as fire, lightning and windstorm.  What happens if the item is lost or damaged?  What happens if you lose a stone out of your setting, or your toddler flushes your piece down the toilet?  It is important to safeguard and insure your valuables.

Here are a few simple steps you can take to ensure you have the proper jewelry coverage:

• Contact your agent to determine what your current policy covers and doesn’t cover. Ask for coverage options that include replacing your item(s) if it is lost or stolen. Here are five important questions to ask:
  1. What kind of loss is covered?
  2. Do my jewelry items need to be listed individually?
  3. How will I be compensated if my jewelry is lost?
  4. Does the policy cover repair or partial loss?
  5. What documentation is needed to make a claim?
• Keep the receipt or appraisal from the jewelry purchase and provide a copy to your insurance agent to be kept as part of your insurance file. This helps speed up the claims process if you have a loss.  In addition, it is a good idea to have your item(s) reappraised every three to five years to ensure you have adequate coverage.
• Take photos of your jewelry. Keep a copy for yourself and send a copy to your insurance agent with the receipt or appraisal.

Your agent will likely recommend adding additional jewelry coverage to your current Homeowners, Condo or Renters Policy.  In some cases, a separate policy may be required. Either way, the additional jewelry coverage or policy will provide broadened, world-wide coverage for your jewelry.  In addition, the typical jewelry coverage does not require a deductible to be paid in the event of a loss.  This jewelry coverage protects against scenarios like mysterious disappearance or unexplained loss, theft, and in some cases damage, which are likely not covered by your Homeowners, Condo or Renters Policy or by warranties.  Normal wear and tear is not covered.

How much will it cost to insure my jewelry?  Rates vary depending on where you live.  However, for most people, jewelry coverage costs 1-2% of the value of the item.  For example, a ring valued at $2,500, would typically cost $25.00 per year to insure.

Your decision to insure your jewelry ultimately comes down to your specific needs and how valuable the jewelry is to you. Protecting both the financial and emotional value of your jewelry can provide peace of mind in case of loss or damage. Don’t let your cherished jewelry go unprotected.  Contact your agent today.

by Rebecca Wilson, Employee Benefits Department Manager

The Problem

The cold and flu season impacts employers big and small and this year has been no exception. Noroviruses, such as the one that closed an entire school district in Grand Junction, Colorado late last year, and other contagious diseases, such the current coronavirus outbreak, can be especially impactful to families and businesses.  What are the costs to you and your organization and how can you help mitigate that risk?

A recent Statistica survey found that 58% of working adults ages 18-30 and 49-52% of adults ages 31-60 take to up to five sick 5 days a year with 40% of adults stating they attended work while sick. In 2015, Harvard Medical School found the following:

• 121 Minutes – The Average Time away from work for a Doctor Appointment
• $43 – The Average dollar amount lost by Employees for time away from work before health care costs are factored in
• 1 BILLION HOURS – The National Average of time away from work annually for routine sick visits

 

A Solution – Telemedicine

Telemedicine is a technology that allows Employees and Dependents to seek urgent (non-Emergency) care when unable to see their Primary Care Provider Telemedicine provides employees with a secure way to quickly see a Provider during the workday. While telemedicine is conducted in several ways, the  most common is through a simple video call. The average appointment lasts 15 Minutes and can be done from smart phones, tablets or computers, which drastically reduces the amount of time needed for doctors appointments and non-urgent care.

Telemedicine is intended for the treatment of uncomplicated healthcare including the following:

• Allergies
• Bronchitis
• Cold and Flu
• Cough/sore throat
• Diarrhea
• Fever
• Insect bites
• Pinkeye
• Rashes
• Sinus infection

 

Board certified doctors provide a video consultation, diagnosis, and can even write prescriptions when appropriate. The cost to the patient can be significantly lower than other health care options. These visits can also be used when:

• You are traveling
• Your primary doctor’s office is closed
• You have dependents at home and are unable to visit the doctor’s office
• You are too sick to leave home.

Most health insurance carriers have a telemedicine program built into their plans, with lower copays or deductible caps for care via their platforms.  Mental health, lactation coaching and nutritional services are also available with most insurance carrier telemedicine platforms.  Outside vendor Telemedicine programs are also available for purchase. Your Keller Stonebraker Proactive Risk Executive can help you learn more about this option and the potential benefits for you and your business.

 

Business Is Changing

The blend between a technology company, and just a plain old company is getting grayer and grayer.

Almost every business relies on some sort of technology. Whether it’s an insurance agency with an enterprise wide agency management, a doctor’s office with a patient management system, or a distributor with an order tracking system, they all “log in” every day to perform basic business activities.

What If?

What happens when this “business as usual activity” is interrupted by a hacker, “bad actor”, or “cyber” criminal? We’ve all seen the headlines.  Equifax, the city of Baltimore, Target, Under Armor, the list goes on.

We think, “data breaches are only for huge, publicly traded companies”, or “I don’t take credit cards” or “my business isn’t in healthcare or finance, so no one wants so steal my data” … “so I’m not worried about a data breach.”

Baloney.

IT service companies, provide great advice, technology, and services to put in place strong passwords, multi-factor authentication logins, employee cyber security training, and backup plans. However, even with the best data security tools and protocol, an employee may click on a phishing e-mail opening up your system to hackers. Worse yet, a new financial controller could wire funds to a vendor requesting payment, but really the funds aren’t going to the vendor, they’re going to a bank account overseas.

Unfortunately, the more successful your company, the more it attracts the attention of dishonest people whether employees, vendors, or outsiders. There are two main problems with responding to a data breach if and when one happens: 1) Who do you call?, and 2) How do you pay for it?

Where Do You Turn?

Say your house floods, you know you need to call a restoration company to remove the water, throw out damaged property, dry out the space, perform mold removal work, and replace drywall. Most of us are familiar with how to find the right contractors.

But what happens if your company has a data breach, no one can send invoices, check e-mail, or “log in”.  You’re dead in the water. Who do you call?

First you need to figure out what happened with an EXPENSIVE data forensics specialist. They tell you how the system was hacked, and what was taken. Think about your lawyer’s hourly rate, now double it.

You also need to notify those impacted such as patients, customers, and vendors likely through a notification service provider. In addition to notifying them, you also have to offer credit monitoring to those affected. Additionally, data breach legal services are needed to mitigate any lawsuits from regulators or customers.

At the same time, if the local news channel catches wind of your breach, you may need a Public Relations firm to smooth things over with the public, protect your reputation, and avoid losing your customers.

So What Can You Do?

If you could push the bill for all of these data breach service providers onto someone else’s lap, why wouldn’t you? That’s exactly what cyber insurance is. When you purchase cyber insurance you are pre purchasing two items:

1. Pre-Breach Services
2. Post-Breach Services

Pre-Breach Services

Many insurance companies offer pre-breach cyber security portals that have loads of useful resources and tools for insureds.

Some common items may be:

• a way to gauge the likelihood and severity of a breach similar to companies that are your size and industry.
• Phishing training to enhance employee’s cyber security awareness and prevent them from clicking on harmful links
• Data Breach Response planning tools, so your prepared in the event of a breach
• and a few hours of pre-breach consulting from an expert data breach coach to wrap it all together

Post-Breach Services

Insurance companies also respond when a breach happens.  You submit a claim just like when you have a car accident.  A data breach coach is assigned to your claim, and they coordinate all the post-breach service providers like PR firms, legal firms, forensics specialists, credit monitoring companies, and notification service providers.  All of this work is to get your business back up and running ASAP.

 

If you would like to learn more about Cyber Insurance, why you need it, what is covers, what is costs, and the data behind it, listen to Keller Stonebraker’s Senior Proactive Risk Executive Brian Mahon as he hosts a free one hour webinar March 11^th here:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cyber-insurance-101-webinar-registration-87456285103

or contact Brian by phone at 301-302-8247 or by email at Brian@ksiinc.com.

Practically every business relies on equipment. Regardless of how simple or complex, your equipment is critical to your business’ successful operation. For example, while an electrical panel is a very basic piece of equipment, imagine trying to operate your business without electricity.

Machinery and equipment insurance gives you financial resources to help you restore your business to full operation after an unforeseen equipment failure.

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