Risk & Business

At first glance, you may think "what is the difference, an adjuster is an adjuster". For insurance claims, they're different in two major ways. Lets start with the in-house adjusters. An in-house adjuster works exclusively for the insurance company. While claims may be settled relatively quickly, you may find the monetary amount from the claim tends to favor the insurance company. Simply because the in-house adjuster is employed directly by the insurance company. As for the independent adjuster, they represent the policy holder. They tend to help cut through the red tape and negotiate claims on behalf of the insured. While both parties tend to represent a side or interest, what usually occurs is a reasonable, negotiated settlement. For small claims under $10,000 an independent adjuster may not be required at all. If you have questions concerning adjusters, contact an insurance professional today. Until next time, be careful out there an know your risks. G. Kevin Nemtih

I guess when it comes to claims reserves and their fairness, it depends on your prospective? If your the insurance company, setting a higher reserve may be indeed justified if a business's claims history indicates higher risk. On the other hand, should the business have to pay higher rates if the insurance company sets a high reserve? This back and forth goes on every day in the commercial insurance world. In theory, the reserve amount should be enough to cover claims. The insurance company gets the benefit of setting aside earnings and investing them, as claims are rarely paid immediately. In actuality my experience is that most reserves are over exaggerated. Insurance companies every year continue to release reserves back into earnings to bump up their income statements. From the business owners perspective, this just does not make sense. They are charged higher rates on the anticipation of the reserves being paid out, and the insurance companies drop the reserves and put them

Let's face it, most employees don't want to spend the energy to learn safety procedures. It could be for a number of reasons, all of which may be very valid. Still, what are some things that businesses can do to change that reasoning. In one example, a well known distribution warehouse has implemented rewards programs for meeting or exceeding goals pertaining to safety. Rewards such as paid lunches/dinners or even coupons have been presented for safety milestones that are meet. Also, for some businesses, rewards such as extended holidays, cash bonuses or even gifts are used as well. Positive motivation and recognition can go a very long way, not only for employee safety procedures but employee production as well. Hopefully this information will help you as you move forward with your employee safety program? Well, until next time, be careful out there and know your risks. G. Kevin Nemith Proudly serving Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. www.cncinsura

Supply chain disruptions are one of the leading causes of lost revenue for businesses. For some businesses, that lost revenue may take months or even years to fully recover. How can businesses reduce their risk when it comes to supply chain? To start with, risks have to be identified. It may be a suppliers geographical location, or a severe weather event, or even a shortage of raw material. No matter what the issue, once the risks are identified, a business can manage it's risk more efficiently. Planning for these events and having an alternative when they occur, will only benefit your business in the long run. Well, until next time, be careful out there and know your risks. G. Kevin Nemith President, CNC Insurance Proudly serving Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. www.cncinsurance.com www.bizinsurancetv.org

If your business maintains a fleet insurance policy, there are many steps you can take to minimize your risk. Management/CEO positions are ultimately responsible for overseeing fleet safety risk, so lets start there. A starting point would be to record and update vehicle accidents. Analyse and review those accidents to reduce the risk of similar accidents reoccurring. Create a "driving for work" policy that states the responsibilities and expectations of fleet operation. Have regular inspections of your fleet by a certified technician. Also, create an operator log for each vehicle to insure pre-trip inspections. Consolidate trips if at all possible. By consolidating your fleet operation, you minimize risk by reducing the opportunities for accidents. Please keep in mind, these are just a few ways to manage, maintain and reduce risk involving fleet management. If you don't have a fleet management policy in place, speak with a risk management professional today to get one st

There are many businesses out there that use social media outlets to network and advertise. Many of which may be at risk and are not even aware of it. A bar owner may post a photo advertising a special event for a football game. In the photo, the group is wearing the jerseys of the teams that will be playing. Sounds harmless right? Here is the problem, without written permission from each teams franchise, you may be at risk of copyright infringement. The same applies to audio and video recordings where permission was not obtained. If copyright infringement has actually occurred and your business is found liable, damages could be a few hundred dollars to many thousands of dollars. The first step in minimizing your risk is understanding exactly what copyright infringement is. If you don't completely understand what constitutes copyright infringement, speak with a professional today. Well, until next time, be careful out there and know your risks. G. Kevin Nemith, Small Business Ins

What does Employment Practices Liability Insurance provide? EPLI provides protection against lawsuits filed by employees. It covers employers for wrongful termination, sexual harassment, and discrimination lawsuits by employees. As an employer, why do you need EPLI? If  you are served with an insurance claim or lawsuit, EPLI will provide you with legal defense costs. An EPLI policy also provides coverage in the event of a settlement entered against the company. Keep in mind, some businesses may not qualify for EPLI coverage. Factors such as the number of employees, previous suits, and even the business type can effect eligibility. If your considering EPLI, speak with an insurance professional today. Well, until next time, be careful out there and know your risks G. Kevin Nemith Specialist in Business Insurance and Risk Management Serving DE, PA, NJ, MD & VA www.cncinsurance.com www.bizinsurancetv.org

What is a "captive"? A "captive" is a "in-house" insurance company. That's right, businesses now can write their own coverage. What companies are finding is that by creating a "captive", it allows for quicker claims response, less red tape, and in many cases, increased profits when claims are low. Of course there's more than just waving a magic wand to create a "captive". As is in most things, there is some cash needed up front. Well to be honest, a lot of cash . Therefore making it unobtainable for some smaller business. However, given the opportunity and financial means, companies can have much more freedom when it comes to financing their risk. Well, one thing is for certain, we'll be hearing much more about "captives"in the very near future. We will surely keep you posted. Until next time, be careful out there and know your risks. G. Kevin Nemith President, CNC Insurance Proudly serving Delaware, Maryland

If there wasn't enough to consider when starting your business, signing a commercial lease will make for added consideration. We've all heard the phrase, read the fine print. Well, we've heard it for a reason. Sometimes it's nothing more than language in a lease that needs to be added, edited or deleted. However, your lease and your liability coverage may have gaps that only a true professional may recognize. Keep in mind, lease and tenant obligations differ from state to state. So, depending on your location(s) separate policies may have to be considered. Understanding all of the moving parts of starting a business can be difficult to say the least. Allowing trained professionals to help you along the way is always your best bet. Well, until next time be safe out there and know your risks. G. Kevin Nemith President, CNC Insurance Proudly serving Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. www.cncinsurance.com www.bizinsurancetv.com

Cyber liability coverage is normally addressed to cover risks from computer systems or computer networks . This coverage will also apply when outsourcing to a cloud server, which assumes practically no liability when you use the service. Today, 99.9% of data or information is stored digitally. While it does save tremendously on strorage space, it poses a high risk. This risk is cyber attack. Such an attack occured to the website Godaddy.com in 2012, and to Sony in 2011. As cases such as these become more frequent, modifications to cyber libility policies will most likely take place. It's a wait and see senario but one we should all be aware of. Well, until next time, be careful out there and know your risks. G. Kevin Nemith President, CNC Insurance Proudly, serving Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. www.cncinsurance.com www.bizinsurancetv.com

ERM is enterprise of risk management. Very simply, ERM assesses risk in business by focusing on the business itself. This includes long term financial goals, investment strategies, marketing, and human resources, just to name a few. For many of us ERM may be a relatively new term. However, ideas such as sound investing and market strategies are standard concepts. What ERM allows business to do is create and track a path forward. Giving stakeholders more confidence and a greater understanding of the internal functionality of that business. While the fundamental practice of ERM seems to be sound, the long term benefit will need to be tracked an analysed. Luckily, with ERM, you can do just that. Well, until next time, know your risks and be careful out there. G. Kevin Nemith President, CNC Insurance Proudly serving Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey www.cncinsurance.com www.bizinsurancetv.com

Unfortunately, your business may fall into this category. Due to new requirements and changes in underwriting, businesses are having a tough time finding some coverages they may need. It could be as simple as a contractor performing site work at night or a store selling children's toy's. Very simply, some aspects of your business or services may not qualify for coverage. If you have an existing policy, a risk review may be in order to discover potential problems. Until next time, be careful out there and know your risks G. Kevin Nemith, President, CNC Insurance CNC Insurance proudly serving Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, & Pennsylvania www.cncinsurance.com www.bizinsurancetv.com

It's a good question, and one that we'll have the answer to very soon. Hurricane Sandy was a history making event and one that will have insurance companies evaluating how to insure coastal properties. Claims are in the billions of dollars leaving only speculation as to how insurance companies will recoup those loses. Possible price changes, increased deductibles and for some companies, emergency federal funding. Also, the possibility of new requirements and regulations will have to be evaluated. We may never see another storm like Sandy in our life times but the financial effects will be felt for many years to come. Until Next time, be careful out there and know your risks. G. Kevin Nemith President, CNC Insurance Associates Proudly serving Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania Business Insurance, Small Business Insurance, Enterprise Risk Management www.cncinsurance.com www.bizinsurancetv.org

The decision has been made.....the workers compensation rate will see an increase of 14.6%. Action was taken by Commissioner Stewart addressing an amended filing by the Delaware Compensation Rating Bureau, Inc. What does that mean for businesses in a struggling economy? It will definitely be a tougher road to profit with the cost of work comp going this much. Insurance premiums to cover injured workers is usually one of the biggest expenses business owners face. However looking at the big picture, the increase should help stabilize the work comp insurance market. Insurance companies claim they have been losing money in Delaware and the increase will help motivate them to continue to write insurance in our small State. Lets hope the pain of increased costs have a long term benefit for the State's economic future. Until next time be careful out there and know your risks. G. Kevin Nemith, Business Insurance, Small Business Insurance, Enterprise Risk Specialists, serving DE, PA, NJ