Orlando, FL   4/26/2017— Yes a target, but not necessarily of your most appreciated customers you’ve worked hard to attract and retain. 

As shown in the chart above, provided by the Florida Statistical Analysis Center, commercial robbery offenses— not related to banks, gas stations and convenience stores —reflect the highest incidence as a combined business category. It does reflect a slight decrease throughout the past three years, but while authorities are making their best effort to prevent it, your business could be affected by this type illegal activity.

Despite the nature, size and location of your commercial operation, crime risk exists and your business may be vulnerable to potential losses as a result of criminal activity. Burglary and theft are crimes against property, but robbery involves the use of force or threat to a person. It is in your business’ best interest to train your employees to deal with these undeveloped situations, protect themselves, customers, and minimize losses.

Other actions you might want to consider to prevent these unwanted situations are installing:

• Strong Locks and Doors—External and security doors should have deadbolts and steel frames.

• Suitable Lighting—Bright internal and external lights can deter would-be burglars. It’s especially important to provide strong lighting near doors and windows.

• An Alarm System—This might include sensors at doors, windows and other places of entry, as well as motion detectors. If allowed, a system tied to a monitoring service could be a good idea.

Whether as an endorsement or as a policy package, your commercial property insurance can provide some coverage against robbery and burglary.

Other types of illegal activity that could adversely affect your business could be employee theft, fraud and cyber attacks.

According to the American Management Association around 20 percent of business failures are attributed to employee dishonesty, including theft. Sounds unacceptable, right? The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) also estimates that businesses lose on average 6 percent of their annual revenues due to the same cause.

The downside is that a standard commercial property insurance won’t cover a range of business crimes, such as fraud or embezzlement. You might want to consider purchasing crime insurance to protect your business against “white collar” crimes.

 This specialized insurance includes coverage for losses resulting from:

• Employee theft

• Forgery and counterfeiting

• Embezzlement

• Computer fraud

• Wire transfer fraud

• Safe burglary

An important protection to consider is a cyber liability coverage.

It’s a jungle out there when it comes to technology! Insurance experts now consider the risk of cyber liability losses to exceed the risk of fraud or theft.

As technology advances, the risks of cyber liability evolve very quickly. So quickly, it is hard to keep up with the constant new risks emerging and the new regulations that are put in place. 

To give you a slight idea of how your business can be affected by hackers if your customers, employees or partner’s data is lost, stolen or compromised — the costs of response and remediation can be significant. 

Your business may be exposed to the following costs:

• Liability—You may be liable for costs incurred by customers and other third parties as a result of a cyber attack or other IT-related incident.

• System Recovery—Repairing or replacing computer systems or lost data can result in significant costs. In addition, your company may not be able to remain operational while your system is down, resulting in further losses.

• Notification Expenses—In several states, if your business stores customer data, you’re required to notify customers if a data breach has occurred or is even just suspected. This can be quite costly, especially if you have a large number of customers.

• Regulatory Fines—Several federal and state regulations require businesses and organizations to protect consumer data. If a data breach results from your business’s failure to meet compliance requirements, you may incur substantial fines.

• Class Action Lawsuits—Large-scale data breaches have led to class action lawsuits filed on behalf of customers whose data and privacy were compromised.

Some standard business insurance policies, such as a Business Owners Policy (BOP), may provide coverage for certain types of cyber incidents. As an example, if you lose electronic data due to a computer virus or hardware failure, your insurance could pay recovery or replacement costs. 

To protect your business against a larger range of cyber liability risks, you have to purchase a stand-alone cyber liability policy, customized for your business. 

This type of policy can cover several types of risk, including:

• Loss or corruption of data.

• Business interruption.

• Multiple types of liability.

• Identity theft.

• Cyber extortion.

• Reputation recovery.

We know it’s a lot to take in, especially if you are just starting your new business. The good news is that one of our insurance experts at Garzor is ready to discuss the necessary steps to help you preserve your peace of mind and give you the time to stay focussed on performance and growing your revenues.