We recently hosted an online workshop regarding the 2010 Health Care Reform Act.
Terry Seefeldt RHU from Rogers Benefits Group Orlando shared her expertise on the act and how every employee and employer in America will be forever affected.
I think you’ll agree Terry is passionate about this subject and does a fantastic job presenting the facts!
This video was shared by Travelers as part of their Texting While Driving Safety program.
Research on distracted driving reveals some surprising facts:
* 20 percent of injury crashes in 2009 involved reports of distracted driving. (NHTSA).
* Of those killed in distracted-driving-related crashed, 995 involved reports of a cell phone as a distraction (18% of fatalities in distraction-related crashes). (NHTSA)
* In 2009, 5,474 people were killed in U.S. roadways and an estimated additional 448,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes that were reported to have involved distracted driving. (FARS and GES)
* The age group with the greatest proportion of distracted drivers was the under-20 age group – 16 percent of all drivers younger than 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported to have been distracted while driving. (NHTSA)
* Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. (Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)
* Using a cell phone use while driving, whether it’s hand-held or hands-free, delays a driver’s reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent. (Source: University of Utah)
Spread the message: Texting and Driving is Fatal
** Statistics taken from “Distraction.Gov”**
U.S. Employers who are paying their employees as Independent Contractors rather than Employees are facing charges according to a report by the U.S. Department of Labor.
In 2009 the Labor Department, on behalf of 2,190 workers, ordered employers to pay $2.6 billion in back wages due to the employees being mislabled as independent contractors. That amount increased to $6.5 billion paid to 5,261 employees in 2010.
The Labor Department said the federal government lost out on $3.4 billion in tax revenue due to the practice of mislabeling employees.
The tactic is not surprising considering that Independent Contractors can be alot cheaper than than full time employees. With IC’s, who receive a 1099 instead of a W-2, employers don’t have to pay unemployment insurance, workers compensation, health insurance or social security taxes. In addition, companies are not required to withhold income taxes for contractors. They are estimated to save as much as 30% in their payroll costs by going this route.
The IRS plans to look at the issue in audits of 6,000 randomly chosen companies between 2010 and 2013. In general the IRS believes the issue comes down to how much power a company exerts over a worker. If companies are controlling what a workers does and when it is to be done they are most likely an employee….
The Question is which is worse, paying the worker as an employee or paying the fine?
My guess is the fine….
One of the greatest fears I had of owning an insurance agency was the possibility of customer data being compromised. As an agency we collect data on customers and aggregate that data for use in providing and renewing insurance policies. We also have clients who for convenience like to pay by phone with bank or credit card information.
It is imperative that the agency takes the highest level of precaution in order to protect the privacy of that client’s data. Not only is the client at risk but the agency reputation is at risk as well should a breach occur.
A great place to start is “Agency Policy”. What does the agency policy regarding Cyber Liability look like?
• What is thrown away and what is shredded? (Lack of common sense is not a good defense:)
• What method of shredding? Secure Shred bins? Micro Shredder? (Conventional shredders leave documents in a condition where crooks can paste together).
• Who has access to client’s data? All employees have or only licensed employees?
• When computers are replaced what is done with the hard drive? Do you have a certificate of destruction from a licensed data destruction company?
The list is far from complete but the point is without the policy/procedures you have no defense and the attorney’s will prevail.
As an Insurance Agency I would want to protect myself with the following coverage’s:
• Electronic Data Liability – this exposure involves the inability to access or use electronically stored data because of a loss.
• E-Business Loss Event Liability – provides coverage for financial claims, and the associated defense expenses made against you as a result of a covered e-business loss.
• Public Relations Expenses – provides broad coverage for public relations expenses including consultants, complete PR campaigns and media expenses.
As an Agent/Agency: Do you have policies in place? When was the last time they were reviewed?
As a Consumer: Have you ever thought to ask your agent about their privacy policy? Are they insured?
Disclaimer: This article is written from an insurance perspective and is meant to be used for informational purposes only. It is not the intent of this article to provide legal advice, or advice for any specific fact, situation or circumstance. Contact legal counsel for specific advice.
In a recent article published by Rodd Zolkos the average cost of a data breach was $2.4 million in a recent survey of approximately 80 breach claims.
The survey done by Mark Greisiger, President of NetDeligence, showed that personally identifiable information is the data most frequently at risk in data breaches, exposed in 37% of the claims surveyed. Personal health information was next most at risk, exposed in 21% of cases.
Hackers are the most frequent cause of data breach losses, responsible in 32% of the claims studied, Mr. Greisiger said, followed by rogue employees or contractors in 19% of the claims.
Health care was the sector most often at risk for data breach in the survey, responsible for 24% of the claims, followed by financial services with 22%.
The average cost of legal defense associated with data breaches was $500,000, according to Mr. Greisiger’s survey, with the average cost of settlement at $1 million. The cost of various crisis-related services associated with addressing a data breach was $800,000 per event, Mr. Greisiger said.
Does your company address Cyber Risk in it’s Employee Handbook?
Do you have Cyber Liability Coverage in your Business Insurance Policy?
If not here is another statistic of interest: More than 500 dry cleaners and laundrettes took part in the survey and, apparently, some 17,000 USB sticks were left in 2010, that’s four times the number found in 2009. Is your data secure??
I am constantly amazed at the millions of websites, TV advertisements, emails, tweets etc… all competing for the dollars being spent on insurance. The majority of the ads (mainly auto insurance) are focused on price being the motivation of the buying decision. This is the way we have been trained to behave in the selling process. Give me your best price and I’ll compare it to the twelve others I got online.
Recently I have been reading the book “Blue Ocean Strategy” by W. Chan Kim & Renee Mauborgne.
In the book they define the strategy as: “Blue Ocean Strategy challenges companies to break out of the red ocean of bloody competition by creating uncontested market space that makes competition irrelevant.”
For the most part, isn’t the world of insurance operating in the “Red Ocean” of bloody competition (price focused) for business?
What would it look like to operate an Insurance or Financial Service business from a “Blue Ocean” perspective? The book says that: “Creators of Blue Oceans don’t use competition as their benchmark. Instead they use strategic logic called “Value Innovation”. Instead of focusing on beating the competition you focus on making the competition irrelevant by creating a leap of value for the consumers.”
“Value Innovation”
A great example of Value Innovation cited in the book is Cirque de Soleil. The criteria (or rules) for the circus industry that were “taken for granted” for decades included: animal shows, performers, multiple shows at the same time (circus rings), and pushing concession sales. Rather than keeping a high emphasis on all the existing rules and then creating new ones, they either eliminated or reduced many of those rules and created a bunch of new ones. In the process, they increased value for their target market while lowering their own costs.
A key thing they did at Cirque de Soleil was that they looked across market boundaries to alternatives to the circus. It ended up being part circus and part theater. They did not focus on the existing target market – Children. Instead they focused on adults that were looking for sophisticated entertainment. Blue ocean strategy is all about creating and capturing net new demand by ignoring boundaries defined by traditional competitors.
In order to create the Value Innovation the book states we must follow the
“Four Actions Framework”:
There has never been a better time to evaluate the current business model and ask ourselves these fundamental questions: What can we Reduce, Raise, Eliminate & Create to make a differentiating experience for our clients?
Question: As an agent: What would you Reduce, Raise, Eliminate and Create to operate in your own Blue Ocean? As a Consumer: What would you want to see Reduced, Raised, Eliminated and Created for a great experience instead of the traditional selling/buying process?
Usually I like to start the day with a run while listening to some select Podcast’s on various topics of business and news. Last week I was listening to a particular podcast whose topic specialty is entrepreneurial. The host was advising how as a “consultant” he felt there wasn’t a need to have insurance. He went on to say that since his clients are served by phone & email and his business model consisted of podcasting and blogging he really didn’t see a need to pay for insurance. Now it’s unclear whether he came up with that conclusion on his own or on the advice of his insurance agent. Either way I believe he’s wrong.
The internet has become a necessary tool in the way we do business and it has provided endless platforms of opportunity from which we can market and sell business but with that comes new liabilities to guard against. Media Liability Insurance (also known as Communications Liability Insurance) protects you against claims arising out of the gathering and communication of information. Media Liability Insurance provides very valuable coverage against defamation and invasion of privacy claims as well as copyright and/or Trademark infringement.
Who needs Media Liability Insurance? Any company that distributes information to the public through a web site, blog, podcast, or other means of communication. Many of these companies or individuals don’t know they need the coverage or they believe that their General Liability coverage offers them protection through the Personal & Advertising injury coverage. Worse yet they usually find out about coverage exclusion only after a claim has been filed.
You don’t need to do anything wrong to be sued. It’s important to remember whether or not you did anything wrong is irrelevant. Regardless of the merit of the suit you will at a minimum pay for your legal defense costs and it is not uncommon for defense costs in media liability cases to top $100,000.
When you consider the potential impact of a media liability lawsuit – including out-of-pocket dollars, time and how the incidents affects a company’s reputation – the importance of managing this risk becomes very apparent.
“The Best Defense is a Good Offence” – Know your policy before the claim.
Is Free Speech - Free?
The internet and endless social media sites has provided tens of millions Americans to have their thoughts published either for profit or for entertainment. It has also led to a surge in lawsuits from those who say they were defamed or hurt by what was posted.
Case in point – I had a client who posted a review about a vendor who provided a service for his home. My client was not happy with the service or quality of the service provided by the vendor and thought he was doing a favor for others by posting his experience. The vendor apparently had heard of the posting and had a lawsuit filed against my client for damages due to defamation.
This particular client was covered by his Homeowners Insurance policy because we had a “Personal Injury Endorsement” on the policy. Personal Injury coverage includes slander, defamation, false arrest, and wrongful eviction – basically the liability that arises from a personal injury. This coverage is not standard on most homeowner’s insurance policies, it has to be added (endorsed) on to the policy. This coverage can also be added by purchasing a Personal Liability Umbrella policy. The cost to have personal injury coverage endorsed to your policy is minimal compared to the amount of money it cost to defend yourself in the event of a lawsuit.
The thing we have to remember about the internet and social media is that it’s permanent.
According to a recent white paper from Chubb Insurance titled “Managing the Emerging Property and Liability Risks of the Affluent” – http://www.chubb.com/journalists/chubb12602.pdf
The following was reported:
Written observations on social networking sites and blogs are growing, according to a survey of 1,000 Americans conducted by Opinion Research Corporation in February 2010. The Chubb-sponsored survey indicates that more than one in four respondents (27 percent) had posted a comment on a social media site or blog, while 37 percent of respondents earning $100,000 or more annually had made such posts. Yet, only 2 percent said their lawyers had reviewed their comments before posting them.
Another survey sponsored by Chubb and conducted by Opinion Research in April 2010 indicates that 20 percent of 1,040 respondents had shared a negative product or service experience with others on a social networking site.
“A foolish post or a tweet could cost a person his or her job or trigger a libel lawsuit,” warns Christie Alderman, new product and services manager at Chubb Personal Insurance.
So my question is does your family have a social media protocol and have you assessed your personal insurance policies for personal liability coverage?
Next post we will discuss the liability from social media when it’s for profit….
Now that the Super Bowl is over setting a record for the largest American Television viewing at an estimated 111 million viewers. Fox set a new record for the cost of a 30 second commercial at $3 million and Chrysler set a new record for the longest car ad in Super Bowl history at a cost of $9 million. It’s amazing to me the commentary that has gone on for two days about the commercials. Everyone has an opinion on whether they were good this year and which they liked the best. At $100,000 per second I hope the hype and commentary goes on for awhile! The question I have is whether the humorous commercials help viewers make a buying decision. For example does the following commercial from Great Bridge Insurance make you want to buy from them?
I got to admit it’s funny and apparently a lot of people agree at 618,000 views on YouTube.
Did it make you want to buy insurance from them?
