The stories of breached data security have become almost too familiar: An employee takes home a laptop against regulations. A hard drive is sent out for repair, but disappears. A disc with sensitive data is stolen from an office. For business owners and managers, the threat is real, and there is a need to protect against such violations of data security.
Big businesses are not the only targets of data theft. Doctor’s offices, retail shops, contractors, salespeople, and most other professions store personal information electronically. Sometimes, businesses that lose personal information are victims of sophisticated hacking schemes concocted by the most crafty computer cons. More often, data theft comes from the inside—a dishonest employee seeking wealth or a disgruntled employee seeking revenge. Regardless of culprit, victims, including employees, customers and others shoulder the risk of someone else’s access to their information.
Information stolen from your business can result in significant costs, including the following:
Expenses you incur to inform those who may be victims of the theft.
Expenses you incur to replace the data and income lost during the recovery process.
Victims will incur expenses to recover lost information and expect you to pay for it.
Victims will likely no longer do business with you, resulting in lost income.
Victims who suffer financial losses resulting from identity theft may sue you for their damages.
Personnel may lose confidence in you and seek employment elsewhere.
Traditional insurance products—such as general liability, property, business income and crime insurance—are designed to cover losses to tangible property. Since information is intangible, the insurance your business currently buys will not go far in covering this exposure.
Some insurance companies have created products to address data theft that occurs electronically, such as when someone uses a computer to steal electronic data. These policies may cover costs you incur to restore the data, including lost income. Others may cover liability, helping you cover costs incurred by others who are victimized by the theft of your data. Such policies are often called “Cyber Risk” or “Cyber Insurance” policies.
Data theft and the unpredictable methods by which it can happen are why there is no substitute for an effective data security plan. Contact Scirocco Group for information on how a cyber insurance policy could fit your business.
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Summer is truly party time in America. But homeowners should be aware of the risks associated with these get-togethers. Before reviewing safety tips, let’s look at three common risks for which a homeowner might need insurance coverage:
Liquor liability: Summer parties can be a breeding ground for drinking-and-driving accidents. Most homeowners know that they bear some responsibility if a guest becomes impaired after consumer alcoholic drinks at the homeowner’s house, and then causes a car accident. If the party-giver is sued, however, his/her homeowners and automobile insurance policies may not provide liability coverage. (Keep in mind that the legal defense against a claim is another significant expense for anyone who is sued in such a circumstance.)
Changes to homeowners insurance standard contracts in 2000 may limit the coverage available under a homeowners policy. Homeowners might be well served to check their homeowners and auto insurance policies (contacting their agent, if necessary) to determine what protection they may have.
Personal accidents on the homeowner’s property: A homeowners policy and an excess liability policy (dubbed an “umbrella” policy) provide broad protection for accidents on the party host’s property. For instance, if a guest tumbles down the steps of an outdoor deck or a child is burned by the outdoor grill, the homeowners policy would pay medical costs for the guest (and, should a lawsuit follow, likely would pay the costs of defending against the lawsuit and damages awarded in the case).
No one, of course, wants to see such events occur, but accidents do happen. Homeowners coverage is designed to “make whole” a homeowner who is facing a liability claim due to an accident on his or her property.
Property damage liability: When guests drive to your party and park their cars at your home, the homeowner assumes risk. The possibilities of property damage range from a simple dent from a stray baseball, to a young driver releasing the parking brake and rolling the car into a tree, to an impaired driver going for a joy ride and damaging the car. A different example of property damage is the theft of a guest’s purse/wallet or valuable articles from the party-giver’s property.
Homeowners coverage pays for damage to another person’s property, if the homeowner is held liable. A homeowner’s negligence and omissions (i.e., failing to take steps that might have prevented an incident) are reasons that he or she can be found liable for damage to another person’s property.
To prevent accidents, consider some sensible safety precautions:
Grilling
Some 5,000 people are injured by charcoal, wood-burning and propane grill fires each year, according to the U.S. Fire Administration of the Federal Emergency Management Administration. Good safety practices include:
Before using a propane gas grill, check the connection between the tank and the fuel line. Make sure the Venturi tubes (where the air and gas mix) are not blocked, and check hoses for cracks or damage.
Never use a propane barbecue grill on a balcony, terrace or roof. And never grill/barbecue in enclosed areas, as deadly carbon monoxide can be produced.
Keep a fire extinguisher or a source of water (a garden hose or four-gallon pail of water) near an outdoor grill or barbecue.
While barbecuing, don’t wear loose clothing. Use long-handled barbecue tools and/or mitts that are flame resistant.
Don’t squirt flammable liquids onto an open flame.
Don't leave a grill unattended.
Keep matches and lighters away from children. Supervise children around outdoor grills, which are objects of curiosity.
If using a charcoal or wood fire, dispose of hot coals properly by soaking them with water, then stirring to ensure that fire is extinguished. Never place them in plastic, paper or wooden containers.
Keep alcoholic beverages away from the grill since they are flammable.
Drinking
Liquids containing alcohol cause the human body to lose more fluid, say health educators. So summertime drinking in the sun or heat can present hazards to health, including impaired judgment, balance and coordination. Consider these safety tips if serving:
Use designated drivers.
Make non-alcoholic beverages as available as alcoholic drinks.
Stop serving alcohol before the party ends.
If children are attending the event, remember that alcohol may seem more available to them at a party.
Dining outdoors
Food-borne illnesses favor the hot conditions found at outdoor events where food is not refrigerated or may be undercooked. The U.S. Department of Agriculture offers food safety tips:
Cook foods thoroughly to safe minimum internal temperatures.
Keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold. Hot foods should be heated and maintained at 140 °F or warmer with chafing dishes, slow cookers, and warming trays. Cold foods should be held at 40 °F or colder. Maintain cold by placing food dishes in bowls of ice or in a cooler.
Live by the “two-hour rule”: Foods should not sit at room temperature for more than two hours.
For more information about homeowners and umbrella coverage for the home where you host your parties, contact Scirocco Group today at (201) 727-0070.
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Did You Have Substantial Property Damage in 2009?
You May Be Able to Deduct Unreimbursed Losses at Tax Time...
With tax day rapidly approaching, taxpayers are sifting through their files to assess last year's gains and losses. If you suffered a loss of personal property not entirely covered by insurance, a portion of the unreimbursed loss may be an allowable deduction on your federal income tax return, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.).
“If your home, car or boat was damaged or destroyed by a windstorm, fire, flood, vandalism or other sudden and unexpected disaster, you may be able to deduct a portion of the loss from your taxes,” said Jeanne M. Salvatore, senior vice president and consumer spokesperson for the I.I.I.
To qualify for the deduction, these losses usually need to be substantial. If you were significantly underinsured or had a large catastrophe deductible, you may have a sizable unreimbursed casualty loss.
“Generally, you can deduct the loss to the extent it exceeds 10 percent of your adjusted gross income, less five hundred dollars,” said Anthony Orlando, of the New York based accounting firm Feuer and Orlando, LLP.
“If the property is used in a trade or business, slightly different rules apply, so it is important to ask your tax preparer for assistance,” Orlando noted.
If you were the victim of a federally declared disaster you may also qualify for a broad package of tax benefits under the National Disaster Relief Act of 2008. The federally declared disaster must have occurred after December 31, 2007, but before January 2010. “To determine whether you qualify, you will first need to substantiate your property loss. Be sure to collect all receipts, insurance statements, police reports (where appropriate) along with any other documentation and present it to your tax preparer to see if you qualify,” said Salvatore.
According to Orlando, medical expenses exceeding 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income may also qualify for a deduction.
If you prepare your own tax returns, review the Internal Revenue Service Web site. You can also contact your state income tax bureau to learn more about both the federal and state guidelines for these deductions.
The I.I.I. has free, Web-based software for creating a home inventory, available at KnowYourStuff.org, which can help you to keep track of the value of your personal possessions when filing claims or applying for disaster aid, and to substantiate losses if you have suffered an unreimbursed insurance loss.
The I.I.I. is a nonprofit, communications organization supported by the insurance industry. |
The Northeastern United States, along the rest of the world, has focused on the devastation caused by the recent earthquake in Haiti and the tsunamis – caused by underwater quakes – that have hit Southeast Asia. While the area has sent emergency workers and aid to the small country relatively far away, most Northeast residents rarely, if ever, consider the fact that they themselves are living in an active seismologic zone. With news of earthquakes more prevalent west of the Rockies, it may seem silly to consider the notion of purchasing Earthquake Insurance to protect a home or business in the Tri-State Area. Not necessarily. According to the United States Geological Survey which predicts and records quakes and resulting damage. Area quakes have been recorded as far back as 1737, when an earthquake centered near New York City was felt throughout New Jersey. (Map of earthquakes affecting the Tri-State area )
Two earthquakes rattled the Morris County area in July of 2009 and just this week, two small quakes measuring 2.6 and 2.3 (the second most likely an aftershock) hit Gladstone, NJ, in Somerset County which sits on the Ramapo Fault. These tremors were felt some 30 miles away. While New Jersey often shakes with minor tremors, the largest quake of the last decade centered in Phillipsburg, NJ, registering 3.8 on the Richter scale.
According to the Insurance Information Institute, “About 5,000 quakes strike the U.S. each year. Since 1900, earthquakes have occurred in 39 states and caused damage in all 50. One of the worst catastrophes in U.S. history, the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, caused direct quake losses of about $24 million and fire losses of about $500 million, according to the National Geophysical Data Center. That would be about $11.4 billion in 2008 dollars, a small portion of the potential cost of damage from a similar earthquake today. The quake caused $235 million in insured losses, which would be about $5.4 billion in 2008 dollars.
In the U.S., earthquakes are not covered under standard homeowners or business insurance policies. Coverage for earthquake damage is usually available in the form of an endorsement to a home or business policy. However, even insurers choosing not to offer earthquake coverage could be impacted by these catastrophes due to losses resulting from fires occurring after a quake. Losses could involve claims for business interruption and additional living expenses. Cars and other vehicles are covered for earthquake damage under the comprehensive portion of an auto policy."
The USGS is a great source for information pertaining to seismologic activity in the Northeast. For additional information and real time seismologic activity for New York/New Jersey area, visit the USGS website.
For more information concerning earthquake insurance, contact our office at 201- 727-0070.
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