What’s your company’s “brand?” Whether you’ve had one developed professionally or simply let it happen, experts all agree that you definitely have a brand.
Call it “image” or “reputation,” but it’s there — and it goes far beyond advertising and marketing. At its core lies the emotional connection your products or services make in the minds of your customers or prospects: Either terrific or toxic. The question is whether your brand is enhancing or detracting from your success.
A crucial attribute for any business is trust, based on an ethical approach to every relationship and transaction. Is your brand trusted? Ask your customers and prospects what your brand says to them.
We’d also like to ask what our brand means to you. We want nothing less than to be your trusted advisor. Let our professionals take your concerns about protection and insurance issues off your plate, so that you can focus on building your brand into a valued enhancement to the future of your business.
Read more
Can you believe that winter is here already? Time flies. Always has, always will. However, as risk managers, we think that you should slow down for a moment and ask yourself if your risk-protection program has kept pace with the changing times.
Just as your business needs might have changed significantly since your last review, so have the methods of protecting you from risk of loss. New policies have been created, new techniques in risk management developed, and new exposures arisen.
Consider these questions:
- Is your current risk protection program as up-to-date as it needs to be to meet your business needs today?
- What if your business were unable to operate due to extensive damage?
- How much income would you lose during the time it takes to open the doors again?
- Or would your choice be to reopen as quickly as possible at another location? Bear in mind that the “hurry up” expense of making the move, installing the necessary equipment, and notifying your clients would prove a painful unplanned burden.
Let’s schedule a time for a review. Our professional staff stands ready to work with you. Regardless of your firm’s situation, it’s important to get a comprehensive risk review of your business as it is today, not as it was years ago.
Call us. We’re here to help.
Read more
The growth rate of the rental equipment industry in the U.S. is skyrocketing by 24% a year, as more and more companies use the tax and other financial advantages of renting over purchasing. Renting also allows businesses to get the exact machine they need when they need it at a low cost, rather than spending a lot more to buy a device that would spend most of the time gathering dust.
On the downside, if using a piece of equipment that you have rented causes damage or results in legal liability, you could be out thousands of dollars – unless you carry Rental Equipment insurance.
This policy often costs less than similar coverage offered under your Business Owners Policy or standard Commercial Property insurance. Rental Equipment insurance gives you what you need, when you need it: you can match the length of coverage to the term of the rental, rather than that of your Property policy, allowing you to save money. In most cases, it also offers lower (or zero deductibles) than standard policies.
The policy includes both Property coverage that protects the equipment from damage and Liability insurance to protect the renter from legal claims based on the use of the equipment. It also streamlines the process of providing the Certificate of Insurance that rental companies usually require before releasing their machines.
To learn more about how Rental Equipment coverage can help you protect your business – and save money – just get in touch with the insurance professionals at our agency.
Read more
The widespread use of smartphones and tablets in the workplace is exposing more and more businesses to liability for sensitive data being compromised if these devices are lost, stolen, or hacked. How can your company protect itself against this threat – and how much authority do you have over an employee’s personal device if it’s also used for work-related activities?
What’s more, because these gizmos are small and portable, it’s easy to misplace them. (The federal Transportation Safety Administration recently leased a warehouse just to store those misplaced or left behind at airports.)
Another emerging risk linked to these devices is a “bring your own” policy that many companies have adopted as a way to save costs by having employees spend their own money on smartphones and tablets that are constantly evolving and updated. This approach raises questions about separating company data from personal information on the device. For example, when an employee leaves, does a business have the authority to wipe the information from his or her smartphone? According to some authorities, if an employee connects a personal device to a company network, the company has inherited responsibility for the data stored on it.
To deal with this risk, you need to provide every employee who uses these devices with training, updated annually, on how to respond in case of loss or theft. To minimize potential liability for lawsuits by customers and clients, make sure that the individual responsible for the mishap informs management immediately. The compromised information might include everything from sensitive data (financial or medical) contacts, photos, call history, personal notes – you name it.
You can also use insurance to protect yourself against losses from data breaches. A policy will provide Liability coverage that deals with legal costs and third-party expertise (such as forensics firms to analyze a breach and call centers to provide information and public relations. Coverage might also include services such as access to tools to estimate costs, a checklist for your planned response to a data breach, and access to experts who can answer questions and review your company’s policies and procedures.
For more information, feel free to give us a call.
Read more
A pipe bursts and water ruins a corner of your Brazilian cherry wood floor. A windstorm tears off half of the vinyl shingles on one side of the house. A fire burns a couple of kitchen cupboards. Although your Homeowners policy will cover such partial losses, the extent to which the insurance company must go to make everything look just the way you’d like can be tricky.
Let’s say that the new siding contrasts with the older, weathered shingles or that you can’t find replacement kitchen cupboards that precisely match the originally.
Your claim should put you back to pre-loss condition so the new part shouldn’t stick out like a sore thumb. For example, this might mean replacing the entire floor of a room even if only a portion needs repair, or repainting all four walls after damage to only one.
In some states, if replaced items don’t match in quality, color or size, the insurance company must make “reasonable repairs or replacement of items in adjoining areas.” Although other states don’t have laws on matching, some Homeowners insurers have added similar “non-matching language” to their policies.
Besides varying by state, insurer, and policy, the issue of patching versus full replacement can depends on insurance company adjusters.
If you can’t get make any headway with the adjuster on the repairs you want, consider going over his or her head to a supervisor, or file a complaint with the state insurance department. Another option is to hire a public insurance adjuster to work on your behalf through the claims process. These professionals usually charge about 10% of the final settlement.
Read more
Following these principles of leadership will help you and your employees focus on job safety:
- Don’t walk by. It is everyone’s responsibility to prevent any potentially unsafe acts and conditions they witness from turning into accidents.
- STOP! Encourage employees to stop working whenever they feel unsafe, no matter what reason they give.
- Focus on a safe working environment. If you expect your workers to work safely, make their workplace as safe as possible.
- Don’t blame the worker first. Unsafe ways of working, accidents, incidents, and ill health aren’t necessarily the worker’s fault. The problem often comes from less obvious causes, such as decisions by management.
- Use your workforce for ideas. Employees often have a more accurate idea than you or your managers about which safety and health practices will work, because they deal with these issues every day.
- Be patient. Don’t expect quick wins. Improvements will emerge over time, but only if you stick with them.
- Explain your decisions. Just telling workers that something is wrong or a safety risk isn’t enough. If they’re to act on the information you provide, they need to know why and how to avoid harm.
- Lead by example. Your behavior sends powerful signals. If you carry out your job in a safe way, your workers are more likely to do the same. If you don’t, they won’t imitate you.
- Focus on co-operation. Treat your subcontractors in the same way as employees by encouraging them to communicate with each other.
- Don’t neglect occupational health. If you look after the health, as well as the safety, of your workers today, you’re less likely to create problems for them or your business tomorrow.
Sound advice!
Read more
