Crime Insurance
Crime against a business is the key cause of losses for a business than any other type of property loss. Employee theft alone is estimated to be as high as $50 million in the United States.
Other common claims include:
- Safe Burglary
- Forgery
- Robbery
- Embezzlement
- Computer Fraud
- Wire Transfer Fraud
- Counterfeiting
- Credit Card Fraud
According to a study by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, the average business is losing close to 6% of its total annual revenue due to losses that involve employee theft. For a company with only 40 employees, with 260 workdays, this amounts to almost $94,000 per year. For any small company, this is a staggering loss. In addition, smaller companies sometimes tend to be victims of other crimes like robbery and burglary. Sadly, there is such a strain from small companies who get robbed and burglarized that many times they suffer financially. The American Management Association has estimated that employee dishonesty causes as many as 20% of the nation’s businesses to collapse and ultimately, close their close their doors as a result.
There are basically two types of coverage for commercial crime:
- Discovery Form – Under the discovery form, coverage applies to all losses first discovered during the policy period.
- Loss Sustained Form – Under the loss sustained form, the policy that provides coverage is the one in force at the time the loss occurred, unless the time limit to report claims under that policy has expired. If so, a claim can be made under the current policy.
The scope of the insurance policy will vary based on the type of coverage a company requires – some businesses will have more furnishings and computer equipment to consider when assessing their needs, however, a smaller company may not feel compelled to cover anything more than equipment. It would be wise as a smaller entity to consider the intellectual property – much damage can occur from a client list being stolen or proprietary software being compromised. Any information dealing with a business’s internal functions needs to be protected.
Copeland Insurance Group is fully aware that crime is on the rise and that employee theft and other mischievous activity can occur at any time. We want to help you and your business take control of what rightfully belongs to you and put measures in place to keep it safe. We are prepared to help armor your business with a crime insurance policy that will effectively cover crime against your business.
Copeland Insurance Group invites you to call today to start a discussion about how to cover your business effectively with the right policy.