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Best In-Class Business Insurance for Technology Firms & IT Consultants
Hackers and computer viruses are everywhere. Even the best, most skilled, and most conscientious organizations in the world occasionally experience data breaches. Even the federal government’s Office of Personnel Management has experienced problems. In 2015, hackers broke into this well-secured agency’s databases to steal confidential information about federal employees.
The legal costs of a data breach can be exorbitant. In 2014, hackers used a vendor’s credentials to breach Home Depot’s network. The hackers used this access to steal credit card and payment information for 50 million shoppers. As a result, Home Depot has agreed to spend nearly $20 million to reimburse affected customers and provide identity protection services for consumers.
In addition to direct costs, the data breach has caused harm to Home Depot’s image among customers and required the company to pay its employees to manage breach-related problems. In November of 2015, Home Depot announced that its total cost for breach-related expenses would exceed $150 million.
As mentioned before, the breach took place when hackers got access to a vendor’s authentication credentials. In a case like this, the vendor may have some financial liability, and might be forced to pay some or all of the home improvement retailer’s expenses.
Data breach victims have sued IT vendors over issues related to data breaches. Bloomberg Law reports that, in 2014, HarborOne Bank sued both Target and Trustwave, Target’s IT security vendor, over losses related to Target’s data breach. HarborOne claimed that Trustwave was liable because it had certified Target as being compliant with retail industry data security standards prior to the breach.
While good security practices can reduce the risk of a data breach, they cannot eliminate the risk. Because of this, even the best IT professionals need appropriate insurance.
Cyber liability insurance, also known as cyber theft or data breach insurance, helps to address the liability that companies like IT contractors and staffing agencies generate through their use of other companies’ login credentials. Cyber liability insurance typically covers at least three main areas of liability: data breach management, network security, and media liability.
Data breach management coverage protects you from the cost of dealing with a data breach emergency. This coverage may pay for costs such as investigation, network remediation, legal fees, and credit checks for those whose data has been illegally accessed.
Network security coverage protects you from third-party damages related to unauthorized access to your network. Media liability coverage protects you if you are accused of infringing intellectual property rights (except patent rights).
Recently, IT vendors have been hit by lawsuits related to breaches of their customers’ networks. In 2013, a Nevada-based casino operator started receiving notification that customers’ credit card information had been misused. The casino operator, Affinity Gaming, was a victim of a data breach.
Affinity Gaming hired Trustwave, a data security firm from Chicago, to remove the offending malware from its systems. Trustwave investigated Affinity’s network, removed malware and declared the job to be as close to complete as possible.
A second data breach occurred within three months. Affinity Gaming believes that Trustwave failed to fully investigate the first breach. In particular, Affinity claims that Trustwave failed to investigate anomalous communications involving a piece of malware that it did not identify. Affinity is suing Trustwave for fraud, gross negligence, and a variety of other claims.
Traditionally, engineers and architects have carried errors and omissions insurance. Today, the obligation to maintain insurance extends to IT vendors, IT staffing agencies, and other organizations who work with networks that belong to third parties. This insurance protects professionals from liability when a client believes that their work contributed to a harmful event. Errors and Omissions insurance can be coupled with cyber liability insurance or can have a cyber liability component included in it.
If your business provides IT services, errors and omissions or cyber liability insurance can protect you if your or your customers’ network is hacked. This type of insurance can provide legal counsel and help to pay for damages if you are found to be liable for harm.
Data breaches can be expensive. Although good IT security practices can reduce the risk of a breach, they cannot eliminate it. If you or your company might be at risk of liability for data or login credentials belonging to others, please contact us.
Imagine you spill a coffee on a client’s laptop. Suppose you tweet something, and the client takes it the wrong way and decides to sue you for slander. Could you afford the legal damages if you caused a fire? These are only some of the many risks IT consultants face every day.
Do you know how liability insurance can help in such cases?
If you have been a business owner for a while, you know that unpredictable things can be devastating to the bottom line of your business. If someone is hurt unexpectedly and claims the accident is your fault, your expenses could mount quickly.
If you are a computer programmer or another kind of IT professional, you should know you face potential legal risks that those working in other fields don’t. Before buying liability insurance, you need to evaluate what risks your business faces, and how much money they might cost you.
For example, how much money could a client claim he has lost as a direct result of your advice or services? Suppose you drive from one job site to another—will your personal car insurance cover you, or should you get commercial vehicle coverage? Ifyou or your employees transport computer equipment from one place to another, how great is the risk to property? Is there a risk of personal injury?
This might be your most important coverage. If a client doesn’t like the service you have given and files a claim against you, your coverage will pay for your legal defense and some or all of the judgment or settlement amount.
Cybercrime is one of the most serious issues any IT professional faces. Suppose someone claims you are responsible for a data breach or malware attack, or you are hacked, the coverage can protect you from any repercussions you face. This can also protect you against lawsuits alleging that your firm is responsible for denial of service attacks or a client’s inability to access a system or website.
In addition, it may cover you for malicious or accidental loss of assets or data, disclosure of confidential information, cyber terrorism, unauthorized access to or use of data, data tampering, introduction of malicious codes or viruses, cyber extortion, terrorism threats, and other cyber liability situations.
Your homeowner’s policy may protect you from damages at a home office, but might or might not cover equipment. Property insurance will protect any professional equipment you are you using, as well as the structure of your home office. You will be able to recover damages faster after a fire other disaster.
This combines property coverage and commercial liability and property coverage into one policy. This is especially beneficial for smaller businesses that meet certain requirements.
This will provide money for lost wages and medical expenses and lost wages for workers who suffer a work-related illness or are hurt while at work.
This is to protect you when your employer’s liability, general liability, and commercial auto coverage do not provide enough insurance. When the limits have these policies have been reached, it will provide additional money. It will not provide additional coverage for professional liability claims made against your business.
If you have questions about liability insurance, feel free to contact us or request a free quote.
You can completely change the culture of your work environment and how your employees feel and perform by both offering group health insurance and implementing healthy employee incentives.
Now, before you start calculating how much each is going to cost you, hear us out.
Healthy employee incentives reward employees for making positive steps towards a healthier lifestyle, and group health insurance can save employees and employers money by buying health coverage in bulk. Providing these two things makes your company a more attractive place to work, and can increase the happiness of your employees.
Some companies offer employees incentives for different, positive steps to a healthier lifestyle. For instance, companies might reward an employee who quits smoking by offering to pay for their Nicorette gum or nicotine patches that help them stay away from cigarettes. It can even be things as small as offering tickets to local events for employees who quit smoking.
Another incentive might be a company that rewards weight loss. They may help pay for a portion of a person’s diet plan or gym membership, as long as it helps them lose weight or keep weight down that they have already lose.
You may be wondering, why incentives? Incentives for healthy progress from employees often requires the employer to pay out to the employee—in the form of whatever the decided incentive is—thus resulting in less money for the company.
The reality, though, can be the opposite. Rewarding healthier employees can make money for companies in a few ways.
The first way is through healthier lifestyles in general. When employees are living as healthy as possible, they are at less of a risk for hospital visits that may keep them out of work. This results to less missed time, and more money for the company because of that.
Additionally, if you are required to help pay for any of the medical bills, you will lose money there. With fewer hospital visits, there will be less missed time from employees and less money spent to help employees cover medical bills.
Group health care is just like individual health care, except it’s purchased as a lump for several people. You can speak to employees and figure out what coverage they need, for how many people in their family, and then find a plan that fits the vast majority of people.
While some believe that group health insurance is not good because there’s always going to be someone who is unhappy with the plan, that is often not the case because of the huge amount of plans that are currently available in the health care industry.
The concept of group-purchased health care saving you money is just like a store buying product to put on the shelves. If you go to the grocery store to buy just a single box of cereal, you may have to pay $3. The grocery store, on the other hand, can purchase the box of cereal for $1 because they buy so many boxes of cereal at the same time. The law of wholesale works in the health care industry as well. If you’re buying health care for a lot of employees, it can be cheaper than if they had to purchase it themselves.
There are other benefits to offering group health insurance. It requires less understanding of several different plans, so when your employees come to you with questions on their health care, you don’t have to dig around finding out which plan they have in order to help them solve their issue.
Again, the happier employee comes into play as well. Offering group insurance instead of making your employees go out and get their own insurance makes them happier, and makes it easier on them to get health care. Group insurance is often split between the company and the employee, and the employee often has to pitch in a minimum percentage for them and their family to be covered.
If you need help starting a health incentive program for your employees, or finding a group health insurance plan, contact us today! It could save you money, and make your employees much happier to work for you in the long run.
As a business owner, it’s important for you to implement various safety procedures that relate to your industry. If you’re wondering whether your business can benefit from workplace safety procedures or not, there are a few different factors you should consider.
Once you see how much your business can benefit from making these changes, you’re sure to want to look for ways to make safety in the workplace a number one priority.
First of all, as you probably already know, complying with OSHA’s many safety rules and regulations is important. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has very strict rules in regards to workplace safety. Failing to abide by these rules can result in very expensive fines for your business or could even be the cause of your company going out of business completely.
By implementing workplace safety procedures that are specific to your industry, you can help ensure that you are fully compliant. Reading the OSHA guidebook or looking on their website can help give you an idea of the regulations that you are expected to follow, and you can always contact the Occupational Health and Safety Administration if you have any questions in regards to your business.
Insurance companies base their rates off of a lot of factors. One factor that is definitely taken into consideration is how dangerous your industry and specific business are.
Businesses that employ individuals with dangerous occupations can be at a much higher risk of workers’ compensation claims, lawsuits, and more than other businesses. Insurance companies know this and often charge accordingly.
However, if you are able to show your insurance company that you have taken steps toward making your workplace a safer environment for your employees, you may qualify for lower rates. This can help you save a significant amount of money on your business expenses and can allow you to afford more expensive and better coverage.
Accidents aren’t just dangerous for the people involved—they are also often quite expensive. Insurance deductibles, lawsuits, and more can cost your company a lot of money. Plus, you have to think about things like property damage that can occur. Some accidents can come with crippling costs of various types.
Taking proper steps toward workplace safety can help you prevent expensive accidents. Naturally, this can help save your company money.
Keeping employees safe should be your number one priority. The last thing that you probably want to hear about is an employee who has been injured while on the job, and you might feel somewhat personally responsible for the people who work for you.
Even though personal responsibility is important when it comes to accident prevention, putting the right safety procedures in place is a great start. Ensuring that your employees have ample training, reminding them of the safety requirements regularly, and putting certain safety procedures into action can make a big difference in the dangers that your employees face throughout the course of a regular workday.
If you want to ensure that those who work for you are as safe as possible when they’re on the job, making changes on the business end of things can be an excellent way to do it.
If you have been busy with other aspects of your business and have not yet thought about the benefits of implementing various workplace safety procedures, now is the time to do so. Then you, your business, and your employees can enjoy these benefits and more.
Also, as you are making these changes, consider looking at your insurance policy to ensure that you are adequately covered. If you would like to find out more about insuring your business, contact us or schedule a free assessment from our team.
The Garden State is now among the top three repetitive-loss states in the nation when it comes to flood insurance claims. This means that insurance companies, faced with paying out claims for flood damage on the same properties more than once, must make the unpopular decision to increase premium rates on flood insurance for New Jersey businesses.
While business owners may balk at hikes that can reach a 25% increase per incident, repetitive-loss properties are a proven risk and failing to maintain coverage in an attempt to cut costs is misguided at best and can prove to be catastrophic financially in the event of repeat flooding during a period without coverage. Storms such as Hurricane Irene in 2011 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012 totaled well over $1 billion in damages alone.
While federal aid helped cover some costs for New Jersey residents in both cases, more than three years after Hurricane Sandy there are still an untold number of FEMA claims that have not been paid. With that in mind, New Jersey businesses hoping to remain secure in one of the most notorious states in the country when it comes to flood damage must spare no expense when it comes to ensuring adequate private flood insurance coverage.
So how can businesses weathering precarious financial times stretch funds to cover flood insurance premium hikes in instances of repetitive-loss? Below are 8 expenses to consider cutting instead.
One of the few regular expenses that a business has the potential to decrease is the cost of energy. Switch to compact fluorescent lighting and invest in better insulation and energy-efficient windows to save on energy in the office or retail location. To keep the savings coming, even on the road, reduce speed and always consult a GPS to ensure the route with the least mileage to save money on gas and keep vehicle maintenance costs when making deliveries, traveling to meetings or using a company vehicle for any other purpose.
Allowing as many employees as possible to work from home as often as possible will not only save on overhead costs like office space and electricity but can also often be used as trade-off for a lower salary when negotiating salaries and benefits with potential new hires. In fact, there may be some current employees willing to take a pay cut in order to enjoy the additional time with family, reduced cost of childcare and savings on commuting, a work wardrobe and other expenses that a remote position can eradicate.
Many suppliers are happy to negotiate a discount for invoices that are paid in full early. Discuss this possibility with all current suppliers and consider a switch to new suppliers if necessary.
Some business trips are necessary, but those that are not, such as conferences that do not generate income, can be eliminated. For business travel that can not be nixed, choose the least expensive flights, accommodations and meals possible and send only as many employees as absolutely necessary. Closely monitor expense accounts for these trips and be clear ahead of time what only necessities will be reimbursed or covered by the company.
In some cases, reducing rent payments will mean moving to a new location. Many times, however, especially in a market where an abundance of nearby storefronts or offices are vacant, a landlord will be willing to negotiate the terms of a lease to include a lower rent payment or even several months free in exchange for signing a longer lease than the current one. When negotiating for a reduction in rent in New Jersey do mention that an increase in flood insurance premiums has necessitated a reduction in other business expenses. A landlord who understands the situation may be more likely to make a deal, especially for a good tenant who pays the rent on time.
While many business owners believe that they already purchase only what is absolutely necessary to keep operations running smoothly, the truth is that there are often still savings to be found. By purchasing as much equipment and office furniture as possible secondhand, even frugal business owners can often enjoy additional savings.
The barter economy is here to stay, with businesses ranging from preschools to law firms engaging in the barter of goods or services at cost with other businesses and even clients to save on expenses. Make a list of every supplier and offer to barter the business’s product for theirs. Also, keep in mind clients who have skill sets or businesses that may provide services that can be bartered with for any owed invoices or future accounts.
Having shelves or stock rooms filled with product that is not moving quickly amounts to cash that is tied up which could otherwise be earning interest or paying down debt. Keep only the supplies and goods on hand that are actually necessary to enjoy savings and improved cash flow year round.
Business owners are far more insurance savvy than the typical policyholder. Still, unless they’ve spent a lot of time reading commercial insurance contracts, they might never have thought about claims-made vs. occurrence insurance policies. While these terms might come across like typical insurance jargon, they are important options for purchasers of commercial liability insurance policies. To explain it simply:
Commercials about mesothelioma lawyers and asbestos settlement trusts are the remnants of a decades-old body of cases that may never fade away. These cases are also a perfect illustration of the differences between occurrence vs claims-made policies. When doctors across the country began diagnosing asbestos-related illnesses in the 1970s, diseases were showing up in workers exposed to asbestos fibers as early as the 1940s. Due to the delayed manifestation of asbestos-related diseases, medical confirmation often came decades after exposure.
When asbestos manufacturers began shipping lawsuits to multiple insurance companies, it became an “occurrence” nightmare. Insurers accepted the suits but reserved their rights to decline coverage. At that time, many liability policies were “occurrence” based. Insurance companies had to decide if they owed their policyholders coverage or a defense.
Some insurance companies believed that when a worker was first exposed to asbestos it was potentially covered as an “occurrence.” Under this theory, the insurers providing coverage in previous decades would owe defense and indemnity. Other insurance companies decided that the disease’s manifestation date was the “occurrence.” Based on this theory, the insurer that provided coverage when the worker first became ill had a duty to defend and pay damages. The manifestation/exposure/occurrence battle went on for years.
Insurance companies and their policyholders spent a lot of time and legal expenses battling asbestos exposure vs manifestation issues and which insurance companies were responsible for paying claims. If claims-made coverage had been available to all of the asbestos defendants, the coverage issues would have been far less complicated. Barring other coverage obstacles, the insurance company with a claims-made policy in force when a plaintiff first makes a claim would defend the suit and pay damages for which an insured was found liable.
Of course, insurance coverage isn’t quite that simple. Whether a liability policy is occurrence or claims-made, insurance companies require “…notice as soon as practicable…” Asbestos manufacturers were allegedly on notice of problems long before sick plaintiffs began filing suits. This delayed notice added another layer of coverage issues that would have been a problem no matter which type of policy was in force.
Timely notice is crucial for both types of policies. It allows an insurance company to investigate a claim or get involved in the litigation process early on. Whether a company has a claims-made or occurrence policy when an insured reports a claim, the claims representative will want to know:
The answers can help the insurance company determine if notice was timely. Failure to notify the insurance company in a timely manner can jeopardize the insurance company’s ability to resolve a claim before it spins out of control.
Liability coverage is very personal to each business. While an occurrence-based liability policy might be a good fit for one company, another company might need claims-made coverage.
Suppose, working as an independent IT contractor, you design a customer database for a client. Imagine that an unexpected glitch keeps anyone in your client’s company from using the database for two weeks. Do you think you could afford the damages you could have to pay if the client sues you, claiming to have lost $500,000 in sales because your system didn’t work?
That is just one reason why you need general liability insurance.
You may believe it could never happen to you. You might believe your software could never completely fail. You may think your solution could never introduce a virus into a client’s system or allow a hacker to access the system or that you would never miss a deadline on a crucial assignment.
The problem is, whether or not you would lose a lawsuit, your legal expenses could be enormous–even if you win. You might go bankrupt defending a baseless claim.
Liability insurance could cover your legal expenses, whether or not you would win a suit. It could pay the $500,000, if a judge would agree with the client suing you.
There are a variety of reasons an independent contractor working in the tech/IT industry needs general liability insurance:
While general liability insurance covers the majority of your potential risks, it’s important to make sure that you have coverage for everything it doesn’t cover. Here are some of the kinds of insurance you may need as an independent contractor working in the tech/it industry:
Even though you may have not considered it before, not having adequate insurance while working as an independent contractor can cost you a lot of money, if someone ever decides to take legal action against you.
Every business, no matter how attentive to quality and consumer experience, finds itself faced with an unhappy customer sooner or later. While in days gone by, this might have resulted in a strongly worded letter or email to the company and negative word-of-mouth from the customer to his or her social circle, today’s customer with a gripe can kill two birds with one potentially viral stone via social media.
Sharing complaints about a company via social media, whether on the company’s social media fan page or by naming the company on one’s own social media accounts, is the method of choice for customers who have a bone to pick with a business in the twenty-first century. Forward-thinking companies such as Apple know this all to well, as evidenced by the company’s newly launched Twitter account devoted solely to customer service.
Unfortunately, this means that while businesses use to be able to handle concerns, disputes, and outright rants privately, directly, and candidly with the individual consumer, today the entire interaction may take place in front of a virtual audience of hundreds, thousands, or even millions of potential customers.
As a result, the response that a business delivers has the potential to turn every member of that audience into a lifelong customer—or set off a boycott or media firestorm.
With that in mind, how should these very public complaints be addressed?
With great care.
Avoid the temptation to regard monitoring social media or other online avenues as less important than other aspects of the business. Having an effective social media strategy is imperative to success for any business today, in an age when the internet is the first place many consumers turn to with questions and comments.
If social media accounts are not checked at least once every day, customers may feel ignored. Just as important is creating alerts to notify the person in charge of social media if the business is mentioned on another website, such as Yelp. This will ensure that no complaint or negative review goes unanswered to for more than one day, minimizing the number of other consumers who may see it.
Monitoring the company’s online presence and reputation daily will enable your social media manager to respond to any complaints or criticisms quickly, before too much damage to the business’s reputation has been done. This will show the person making the complaint as well as anyone else viewing the exchange that you care enough about your business and customers to make addressing concerns a priority.
The first, and sometimes only, goal of a person making a complaint online is to have his or her voice heard. By immediately acknowledging that the complaint has been heard and that the company is working to do all that it can to find a solution the unhappy customer will be less likely to escalate the situation.
In one’s personal life, it may be acceptable to respond to negativity to negativity, however unhelpful that may be. When engaging with an angry customer it is imperative to remain calm, even in the face of rude aggressive language. If necessary, take a few minutes away from the exchange in order to cool off before returning to the conversation.
When a complaint is noticed ask the person making it to send a direct message to the appropriate person in the company. This will help avoid the company’s dirty laundry from being aired in front of an audience.
If a customer complains about a legitimate problem with a service or product that you offer, thank him or her for sharing the concern and let him or her know how the problem will be corrected or made amends for. This may include processing a refund, comping a future service, or coming to some other agreement.
While criticism is never pleasant taking the time to thoughtfully consider the cause of the problem and how it could have been avoided provides an opportunity to make improvements in the business. Make the changes necessary as soon as possible in order to avoid hearing a similar complain from another customer in the future.
A common feature in complaints made via social media is customers noting that they have been unable to reach anyone in the company via a tradition method of communication or that they are unhappy with how the complaint was handled. Many complaints, then, are avoidable simply by providing reliable avenues by which customers can communicate questions or concerns.
Make sure that an email address, telephone number, and mailing address are easily accessible on the front page of your business’s website, as well as prominently displayed on any email or mail correspondence and print advertisements. Then check and respond to all communications received through these avenues to deter unhappy customers from resorting to voicing complaints via social media in the first place.
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If you are in the IT industry InsureYourCompany.com is the insurance agent you want to work with, we are technology insurance experts and have changed the way you do business. See below a list of professionals who we help today.
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