Specialty Insurance Blog

Cyber Risk Insurance – Why?

We have been asked by our clients to explain Cyber Risk Insurance in simple terms, and in a way that they can explain the coverage to their customers. Our clients have found this useful: What is it? Cyber Risk insurance provides protection from loss or inadvertent disclosure of confidential information such as clients’ or employees’ social security numbers, bank account numbers or credit card numbers, and from damage to or destruction of computer systems from computer viruses or hacking. Additional protection may be provided for electronic theft of money and liability from electronic media. What does it cover? The obvious exposure is a data breach, an unintended loss or release of confidential data. Breaches can occur because of hacking, but... Read more →

Insurance Coverage for Hiring Illegal Aliens

We were recently asked if we had ever come across coverage for unintentionally hiring illegal aliens. Our client had been approached by a customer that hires employees in different locations on short notice, and typically has high turnover. The employment procedures are designed to prevent this, but errors in the employment process were possible. We have a number of markets that will provide coverage for immigration claims on a limited basis via endorsement on Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPL). The idea is to provide limited coverage for unintentional employment errors, such as incomplete verification that may result in violations of the Immigration Reform Act. While your customer may never have a need for coverage from unintentionally hiring illegal aliens, you... Read more →

Escrow Exposure & Cyber Risk Insurance

 Title & escrow companies face Cyber exposures and should be buying Cyber Risk Insurance for protection. While the cost of Cyber Risk insurance is not high, the consequences of being without can be. Most Cyber Risk commentary focuses on the risk of data breach, which is a real exposure for many organizations including real estate companies. However, a data breach is not the only risk. Two recent lawsuits involving the theft of money from escrow companies using online banking systems demonstrate the threat and need for coverage: Choice Escrow recently fell victim to the Zeus virus, and lost a significant sum of money from one of its escrow accounts. According to reports and the lawsuit, hackers used the Zeus... Read more →