Risk & Business

Social media is having a big impact on the prevention of insurance fraud. Here is one example. A worker at a large lumber company claimed he hurt his back while loading lumber on a flat bed truck. The insurance company accepted his work comp claim and began paying for his time away from work and his medical bills. However the claim adjuster was looking at the social media posts of the injured worker and saw that he was participating in weekend martial arts tournaments. The insurance company immediately denied further coverage and opened up an insurance fraud investigation. This is just one story of how social media is playing a role in insurance claims. As people post the story of their lives online, insurance company adjusters can use this information when adjusting claims.  However this opens up a lot of questions regarding privacy. Some states are looking into possible laws to prevent insurance companies from using social media for claim adjustments but until then it is fair game.

The state of Delaware passed a new cyber security law that will impact all business owners in the state. This new law will be go into affect this August, 2018. Businesses that house “personal” data       ( basically every business) are required to encrypt, protect and notify if there is a breach. Also the law requires the business provide credit monitoring and breach mitigation services for up to a year. If a breach occurs and more than 500 people are impacted , then the state attorney general needs to be notified. So what is a business to do?  Buy a cyber security insurance policy. These policies will pay for the breach notifications and mitigation services. They will also pay for the credit monitoring services that are required by the law. This is here to stay.  Yes it means more costs upon a business, but buying an insurance policy is a small price to pay. Call you insurance professional today to learn how your business can purchase a cyber liability policy. Until next time be ca