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Although you’re aware of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), you might not understand how to implement it in your small business. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) can help. The Americans with Disabilities Act: A Primer for Small Business outlines the provisions of the ADA and provides valuable examples, tips, and caveats:

This EEOC publication covers:

• Who’s protected by Title I of the ADA.
• How to make ADA services accessible.
• The use of tax credits and deductions to offset specific costs.
• How to avoid mistakes when interviewing applicants with disabilities.
• What questions you’re permitted to ask employees about a medical condition.
• What to do if safety issues arise.
• Various aspects of reasonable accommodations requirements.
• Tax incentives for businesses that hire and retain people with disabilities.

If you provide goods and services to the public, check out the ADA Guide for Small Businesses, a 15-page illustrated guide that presents an overview of some basic requirements for small businesses. It provides guidance on how to make these services accessible and use tax credits and deductions to offset specific costs. You can access the guide at ADA Guide for Small Businesses (HTML) or ADA Guide for Small Businesses (PDF). Spanish, Cambodian, Chinese, Hmong, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Tagalog and Vietnamese editions are available from the ADA Information Line: (800) 514 -0301 (voice) or (800) 514-0383 (TTY).

Reading up on the ADA can help you avoid costly lawsuits. Get smart on the law — and call us to make sure you have the coverage you need to protect your business against this risk.

In today’s high-tech world, individuals can carry thousands of client files on flash drives in their pockets or purses. People are conducting business on the go and sensitive information is accessible at the click of a button. Managers are using their laptops or tablets through “hot spots” at local coffee shops to access customer databases. Healthcare professionals shopping at supermarkets can get patient files on their smartphones.

If you think of information security breaches primarily in terms of malicious hackers cracking the networks of big corporations from thousands of miles away, think again.

The hacking of such corporate giants as Global Payments, Epsilon, and Sony prove that size and sophistication can’t stop data thieves. However any company that stores customer information in electronic format is vulnerable to cyber privacy liability exposures than can cost megabucks – or even put a firm out of business – which means they need insurance against these risks.

Cyber Liability coverage can protect your business against breaches of privacy from unauthorized access, physical taking, or the mysterious disappearance of confidential information that leads to third-party losses resulting from identity theft. Depending on your needs, the policy can also provide a variety of coverages, such as Business Interruption, Cyber Extortion, and Systems and Data Recovery. Other options can cover the cost of contacting those affected by the data breach, computer forensics to analyze the breach, fines and penalties, potential HIPAA (client medical records) exposures, and online activities on your company site.

The development and expansion of Cyber Liability coverage during the past two decades has paralleled the explosive growth of computer technology: Today’s policies are increasingly comprehensive – and inexpensive.

CYBER LIABILITY: SEVEN KEY ISSUES

Before writing Cyber Liability coverage on your company, insurance underwriters will need to know:

1. Your type of business.
2. Your annual revenues.
3. The number of payment card transactions you process each year.
4. The number of records with sensitive client information stored on your database(s).
5. Your compliance with payment card industry (PCI) standards.
6. Whether, and to what extent, you have encrypted your company’s mobile devices.
7. Whether you have suffered losses from cyber data violations during the past five years.

Contact us for a complimentary review of the cyber liability risks your business faces — and a coverage program tailored to deal with these exposures.

If your business property is lost, damaged or destroyed, insurance will pay the fair value of the item. Usually, this is relatively straightforward: You determine the replacement cost or current actual cash value, and the adjuster approves a settlement.

However, for certain types of property, the valuation process gets a bit murkier, especially for computers and other electronic devices (such as smartphones). These sophisticated high-tech items are portable and at high risk for loss or damage. For years, the cliche about buying a new car was that it lost a fourth of its value as soon as you drove it off the lot. High-tech devices can make new cars seem like wise investments. When you replace a laptop, tablet, or smartphone, it’s hard to calculate the value of a similar device bought two years ago because a more powerful, less expensive version has probably replaced it.

To value such items accurately for insurance purposes if they’re lost, severely damaged or destroyed, you have three main choices: In the unlikely event that you want to replace the insured property with exactly the same equipment, the cost would be far less than you paid originally. The cost to replace the devices with new equipment of equal capacity, speed, etc. would be higher, but still far less than the original cost of the old devices, due to advances in technology. You might decide you want the best equipment you can buy for the same price you paid originally. Although the “replacement” values remain the same, the new devices would be far more powerful and advanced.

Depending on your decision, the amount of coverage you need will vary and your policy(ies) might require modification.

Our business property specialists offer a valuable resource. They can help you value your current stock of high-tech devices, plan for replacing lost, damaged, or destroyed devices, and guide you in choosing the right policy and coverages – to make sure that your insurance doesn’t become obsolete as fast as your computers.