Category Archives: Insurance / Employee Benefits

By Melissa Davidson

Cyber insurance, which not too long ago was thought of as a want and not a need, is now considered a primary component in many business insurance policies. Cyberattacks are on the rise with breaches becoming more frequent and losses becoming more severe. 

According to AM Best, “The loss ratio for cyber insurance rose dramatically in 2020, [up] to 67.8 percent from 44.8 percent in 2019. However, the increase was not limited to just a few insurers—the loss ratio rose for 15 of the 20 largest cyber insurers.”

Cyber liability insurance generally covers a business’s liability for a data breach involving sensitive customer information: such as Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, account numbers, driver’s license numbers and health records. 

Those costs can include lost income due to a cyber event, costs associated with notifying customers affected by a breach, costs for recovering compromised data, costs for repairing damaged computer systems and more. Moreover, cyber coverage is not automatically included in general liability coverage and is generally excluded. This coverage needs to be purchased separately.

Stewart’s Shops has partnered with CDTA to offer the Universal Access program to its employees. 

The partnership provides Stewart’s Shops employees in the Capital Region with unlimited access to the CDTA route network. The pilot program, which began in August, allows them  to ride CDTA buses free of charge with just a swipe of their CDTA Navigator card.

The program already has 150 people using the  benefit. The company anticipates that number to climb to nearly 1,000 in the coming months.

“We are proud to welcome Stewart’s Shops to our growing CDTA family,” said CDTA CEO Carm Basile. “Universal Access lets tens of thousands of Capital Region employees, students, faculty and staff navigate to and from their designated destinations using everything that CDTA has to offer. 

By Dan Wade, Esq.
We’re all familiar with auto insurance, health insurance and homeowner’s insurance, but what do you know about title insurance? Do you know if you’re covered?
Owning a home is likely the biggest investment you’re ever going to make. And like most homeowners, the “American Dream” comes with a mortgage attached. It’s safe to bet that as the mountainous stacks of papers were being shuffled around during your real estate closing, you may not even remember that you purchased title insurance for the lender.
Lenders require this to protect their security. It’s important to note that the title insurance you purchased for the lender, sometimes called a loan policy or mortgage policy, only covers losses incurred by the lender. It does not cover you. At the closing table, you would also have been offered an owner’s title policy.

By Melissa Davidson
2020 has been unlike any year before it. Did you ever think that your four-legged friend would be your new co-worker? Or you’d become a full-time teacher while your children learned from home?
For many people, COVID-19 required you to work from home instead of the office. Maybe it has been more cost effective to be able to work from home, but are you sure your type of business is covered by insurance while doing so?
Setting up headquarters at your home does not necessarily mean homeowners insurance will adequately protect your operations. Actually, home-based business activities may void your home insurance.
So now, what questions do you need to ask yourself?
The answer may depend on what kind of home-based business you are operating. Do customers or clients come to your home? What is the value of your business property? Do you hire employees? Do you use your car or other vehicles during your business operations? Do you have clients or employee records on your computer? If you had a loss that damaged your home, would you lose income if you had to close your business?

By Rachel Phillips

The nature of business often requires some level of risk taking, but not all risks a business owner faces are under their control.

For example, an employee may be injured in an accident, or a security breach could result in data loss or theft. While no one can completely avoid all potential risks, partnering with a qualified insurance or risk management provider can identify where they might be vulnerable and create a plan to manage and mitigate damages.

Thomas Flynn, co-founder, president and CEO of Jaeger & Flynn, with offices in Saratoga Springs, Clifton Park and Glens Falls, said all risk management processes follow five basic steps: Identify the risk, analyze the risk, evaluate or “rank” the risk, treatment, and monitoring the risks regularly to assess whether they’ve changed.