Insurance Insights: The Cleary Insurance Blog
The Cleary Insurance blog covers insurance, risk management, and financial planning for New England businesses and individuals. Our team of licensed advisors and specialists publishes regular articles on commercial and personal coverage, employee benefits, life and financial planning, and insurance compliance. Browse recent articles below, or use the category filters to find topics relevant to your business or personal situation.
Cleary Insurance Featured Speaker at The Boston Arts and Business Council’s Seminar
Pictured (L-R): BOSTON A&BC Operations Director Alexa Dearborn, President Jim Grace, Cleary’s Chris Hawthorne, Volunteer Lawyers Association Exec. Director Luke Blackadar.
Cleary Insurance was a featured speaker at the Boston Arts and Business Council’s Seminar for the National Arts Strategies Program. The NAS gathered in Boston to learn about business related topics for artists and art non-profits. Cleary’s Chris Hawthorne led a session on structuring insurance programs for Public Artists and non-profits.
Information Management Liability aka Cyber!
Presented by: Christopher F. Hawthorne, CPCU, CIC
Technology has delivered an exposure for those who hold, use or depend on information be it paper or electronic. Just as inventory once was the life line for a business, data and information now takes their place alongside the tangible assets of a business. This can be data in the form of client records, billing operations, employee files, websites and inventory management. When data or information is shutdown or stolen, it can represent a large loss. The loss can be both a first party loss (out of pocket) and a third-party loss (demanded by another) as well as trigger government action and penalties against the business.
First party losses are out of pocket expenses for a business such as rebuilding lost data, cost of forensic studies to determine what was lost, cost to restore systems and loss of income from business interruption.
In between first- and third-party losses are losses from extortion or ransom. A criminal may demand money to allow a computer system to released from any hold the criminal has on it or to stop a website from being overrun by an attack. While the cost is out of pocket it is caused by a third-party demand.
Third party losses arise when there is damage or loss of another’s data or private information, damage to their hardware or to their website. The cost associated with third party losses are notifying parties of their lost or released information, credit monitoring, defending from law suits, and paying settlements.
In addition, governmental actions (fines and penalties) may arise on both state and Federal levels. It is worth noting, that Massachusetts has the toughest data privacy laws in the nation.
Neither Property nor General Liability insurance pays for these types of losses.
There are several carriers now offering coverage for this exposure and many provide hotlines and proactive risk management assistance. In addition to obtaining this coverage, it is worth reviewing your technical / system support vendor to make sure the job description includes “security and compliance” as opposed to simply having the technology function.
In summary, the Information Management Liability (Cyber) exposure requires the attention of every business from perspective of insurance protection and risk management mitigation. To fail to do so is to put the survival of the business at stake.
Photo by Pixabay
PCORI Filing Deadline Looming
- Policy Or Plan Ending Date in the months of: Jan. 2018 – Sept. 2018
File return no later than: 7/31/2019
Applicable rate: $2.39 - Policy Or Plan Ending Date in the months of: Oct. 2018 – Dec. 2018
File return no later than: 7/31/2019
Applicable rate: $2.45 - Policy Or Plan Ending Date in the months of: Jan. 2019 – Sept. 2019
File return no later than: 7/31/2020
Applicable rate: $2.45
The types of plans that must pay the PCORI Fees by July 31, 2019 include the following
- Health/accident plans
- HRAs with a plan year that began 1/1/2013 that are not an excepted benefit (Employer contribution is greater than $500)
- Health FSAs with a plan year that began 1/1/2013 that are not an IRS excepted benefit (Plan has employer contributions with the maximum reimbursement greater than two times an employee’s salary reduction election or employer contribution is greater than $500)
- Retiree plans
Please Note that the PCORI fee is nearing the end:
The PCORI fee will not be assessed for plan years ending after September 30, 2019. This means that for calendar year plans, the last year for assessment is the 2018 calendar year. For non-calendar year plans that end between January 1, 2019 and September 30, 2019, there were be one last PCORI payment due by July 31, 2020. There will not be any PCORI fee for plan years that end on October 1, 2019 or after.