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How safe are your company’s drivers behind the wheel – and what can you do to help them make safer decisions on the road?

More and more auto fleet managers are using wireless telematic devices mounted inside company vehicles to answer to monitor the speed, location, and braking information of their employees.

Businesses that have installed these systems have reduced their accident rate 15% to 20% by educating drivers, according to industry experts.

“We’ve always tried to individualize training, but in-vehicle information was hard to capture,” says Beth Lowrey of Mercury Associates, Inc. a fleet management consulting firm based in Fort Smith, AR. “Now, if we see somebody who has had a hard braking event or irregular shifting patterns, we can monitor this behavior in real time through technology and train accordingly.”

To help the cause, more sophisticated telematics systems are using in-vehicle cameras and active alarms that alert drivers immediately when they violate road safety standards “When a driver sees a light flashing, they will know that they have to take action,” explains Nancy Bendickson, senior consultant with Aon Global Risk Consulting (Minneapolis, MN).

Domique Bonte, Vice President and Director of Telematics of London-based ABI Research, believes this instant feedback empowers drivers by removing the sense that the telematics system is only there to monitor them. As Bonte sees it, “This way, a driver can improve himself without his boss or fleet manager having to do so. It’s important to reward drivers for good behavior. It can’t all be about punishing the bad ones.”

To learn how telematics can help keep your drivers safe behind the wheel – and reduce your Commercial Auto premiums – feel free to get in touch with us.

A disgruntled employee can sue your business at any time – and, even if you win, you’ll be out time, money, and energy defending yourself.

The first step in reducing this risk is to ensure that every hire is “clean:” made purely on the basis of job requirements. To help the cause, industrial relationship experts recommend these guidelines:

• Avoid discriminatory language when advertising job opportunities. For instance, an advertisement stating “young” or “recent grad” might discriminate against older job applicants, while “’salesman” implies discrimination based on gender.
• Have a specific job description that gives the essential functions and abilities of the job.
• Use a standardized interview form that asks all applicants the same questions – which must be related to the job.
• Don’t ask applicants questions that might identify their membership in a protected class such as age, religion, or national origin, unless it’s essential to the job (For example, a parochial school can ask about the religion of a potential teacher, but not a maintenance worker).
• Never ask whether an applicant is married, pregnant, has children, or is planning to do so.
• Ask only questions related to the applicant’s ability to perform specific job functions, not such past history as such as drug addiction.
• If an applicant is otherwise fit for s position, don’t refuse to hire him or her based on presumed susceptibility to injury However, you can set bona fide physical criteria required by a job, such as the ability to lift a certain weight.

Although these “ounce of prevention” policies can help curb hiring-related discrimination claims, your business also need a comprehensive Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) policy.

For more information, just give us a call.

In today’s high-tech world, every business depends on increasingly complex electronic and electric equipment to stay in business. But what happens when these systems break down?

Consider this nightmare scenario: You’re facing a deadline under a major contract when a voltage spike surges through your electrical lines, burning out its computers and telephone networks, and shutting down your operations. In addition to lost productivity, you’ll need to spend time and money repairing or replacing the damaged systems – not to mention the revenue you’ll lose until you can get back up to speed. The total cost could easily run into six figures.

Equipment Breakdown insurance to the rescue! “Think of this policy as Accident, Health, and Disability insurance for your equipment,” says Mark MacGougan, Assistant Vice President of The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company. The coverage, also known as Boiler & Equipment Insurance, can pick up the tab for: 1) repairs and replacement of equipment damaged due (some policies will cover green construction and disposal and recycling expenses); 2) expenses of limiting the loss or expediting the restoration process; and 3) income lost when a covered breakdown causes a partial or total business interruption.

Many businesses carry Equipment Breakdown coverage under their Commercial Property insurance. More sophisticated operations might prefer a stand-alone policy. Some insurance companies offer such preventive services as infrared scanning technology or onsite inspections to identify maintenance needs.

The coverage you need depends on the nature and size of your operation, the exposures you face, and the type of equipment you use. As insurance professionals, we’d be happy to tailor an Equipment Breakdown policy to fit your needs, at a price you can afford.

The security breach of customer data at Target Corp. during the recent holiday season underscores the growing threat of cyber theft to retail businesses.

Between last November 27 and December 15, hackers stole data on up to 110 million debit and credit cards from customers of Target, the nation’s second largest discount store. The breach occurred when a virus infected the company’s point-of-sale terminals throughout the chain, compromising debit and credit cards account numbers, expiration dates, cardholder names, e=mail addresses, home addresses, phone numbers, and credit verification value – information that bad guys have used to make counterfeit credit cards.

Immediately after a third party discovered the breach, the retail giant: 1) alerted the relevant authorities and banks; 2) partnered with a forensics firm to investigate the crime; and 3) warned recent customers to monitor suspicious bank account activity, and contact the Federal Trade Commission and credit card monitoring systems portals. Said Chief Executive Officer Gregg Steinhafel, “Target’s first priority is preserving the trust of our guests, and we have moved swiftly to address this issue, so guests can shop with confidence.”

The company fended off thousands of complaints from customers about fraudulent charges on their credit cards and bank accounts, as well as dealing with a significant number of class action lawsuits alleging invasion of privacy.

Although it’s too early to put a price tag on the breach, in 2009 retailer T.J. Maxx paid $9.7 million in a settlement with 41 U.S. states over the loss of customer data after hackers stole information on 45.7 million credit and debit cards two years earlier.

The Target data breach offers a stark reminder of why your business needs to protect confidential customer information – and to carry Cyber Liability insurance.

We’d be happy to help the cause. Just give us a call.

You’re at the airport car rental counter to find a convertible for the weekend — for business, of course. “No problem,” says the sales rep. But before handing you the keys, she asks if you’d like additional Physical Damage coverage. This leaves you with a problem: Should you pay the extra money or trust your own insurance?

Your Business Auto insurance will probably pay for your liability on the business rental, but coverage for damage to the rental vehicle can be more complicated. You might be covered under your Business Auto or Personal Auto policy, or even the credit card that you used to pay for the rental, Depending on the situation, it’s also possible that none of them will pay very much.

To make things even more confusing, laws in a number of states limit your responsibility for damage to the rental – if coverage applies under any of the above, there might still be exclusions and limitations.

To help cut through this confusion, here are a few tips:

1. Rent from a reputable company. The national car rental firms tend to have standardized contracts with tested language. Local or smaller businesses often develop their own contracts, and without legal assistance it might be nearly impossible to determine exactly what you’ve agreed to.
2. When in doubt, ask. The person at the rental counter might not be sure about what coverage she’s selling, so be sure to ask to speak to someone who can clearly explain what you are and are not responsible for. If you’re unsure, walk away.
3. Talk with us before your trip. We’d be happy to explain your options.

It’s a tough marketplace and a rough economy. Corporations that everyone assumed were rock solid have suddenly been shown to be paper tigers. Could it happen to your insurance company?

A proven way to checking out the financial health of your current or prospective insurance company is to ask for its Best’s Rating. A.M. Best Co. has been rating insurance carriers since 1899. Although there other organizations offer such ratings, Best’s is still the most widely cited.

After evaluating a company’s balance sheet strength, operating performance, and business profile, Best measures it against a series of quantitative and qualitative standards. This results in the assignment of one of two types of rating opinions: a Best’s Rating (A++ to F) or a Financial Performance Rating (9 to 1).

These ratings tell whether the carrier with which you’re dealing has the size and assets to insure your business comfortably. They also allow you to see how a particular company fits with the remainder of your protection program. For example, many Business Umbrella insurers have set a minimum Best rating requirement that must apply to any other company that provides your basic coverages.

Although a strong Best rating doesn’t guarantee an insurer’s future financial performance, it provides a benchmark that policyholders can use to determine whether they’re dealing with a carrier who’s likely to be there at the time of a claim. For more information about Best’s rating system, go to www.ambest.com.

To learn how A.M. Best and other rating organizations rank the companies that insure you, and the implications of these ratings for your insurance program, feel free to get in touch with us.