Welcome to our September newsletter! In this edition; A guide to insurance for business owners, how cybercrime is set to cost the global economy trillions each year, why public liability insurance is so important for your business and finally why you shouldn't tell Facebook you're going away on holiday.  

Until next time,

West Craven Insurance

Being a business owner means that you have a lot to consider and ensuring you’re covered against all of the potential risks is vital. All businesses require different types of cover dependant on the size and type of business you’re actually running. If you’re struggling to decide exactly what your business may need, we cover some of the basics to get you started.

Property Insurance
Arguably the most important type of cover and one of the first considerations for any business is protecting the building itself and the assets inside.

While it may be obvious to cover your business’ building against disasters such as fire or flooding, it’s important not to forget just how valuable your tools or equipment are to your business. Most businesses would struggle to replace all of their assets if they were stolen or destroyed, so when it comes to insuring the contents of your building, ensure you’ve taken your time to determine the full value of all your assets to prevent being caught out if you need to make a claim.

Employer Liability Insurance
Unless you are running your business solo, employer liability is essential regardless of whether your employees are full-time, part-time or temporary.

If your employees are not covered against injury or illness because of their work, not only is your business breaking the law but if your employee were to seek compensation, you’d be left with a hefty bill. Employer liability insurance is designed to cover compensation and legal fees defending any claims against your business.

Public Liability Insurance
Public liability insurance is especially important if your businesses that have customers visiting a store or clients visiting the office on a daily basis.

If a customer or client were to slip or trip on your premises and suffer an injury, without public liability cover, you may be left in a vulnerable position once again in regards to compensation and legal fees. Public liability is also worth considering if you come into contact with the public outside of your premises e.g. construction. If the work carried out by your business injured a member of the public, you would be vulnerable to claims for compensation.

What do you need?
As mentioned earlier, every business has different needs when it comes to insurance depending on how they operate and the scale they operate on. While some types of cover such as employer liability are required by law if your business has employees, determining exactly what cover and how much cover you need can be difficult.

The best place to start is to consider your business regular activities, think about what could go wrong and what your plan of action after an incident. Can you afford to pay the legal fees or for replacement of equipment if the worst were to happen? What are the risks to your staff or the public? How much are all of your assets really worth? These are the sort of questions you need to ask yourself.

If you’re looking for further help - contact us today! 

 In a recent report compiled by a security firm, it was found that based on current cybercrime numbers and the cost of combatting attacks, the cost to the global economy will be $6 Trillion (&4.5 Trillion annually!)

The report conducted by the security firm Herjavec Group, found that the cumulative costs of data damage and destruction, stolen finances and intellectual property, deletion and restoration of hacked data and system and personal or financial data theft.

The report also revealed that the most attacked industries include manufacturing, healthcare, transportation and financial services and government agencies.

"Due to the anonymous and impersonal nature of the attack surface, cybercriminals test your assets from outside and in, looking for the most profitable ways to exploit the holes in corporate cyber defences," Robert Steadman, vice president, Security and Compliance Consulting for Herjavec Group, said in a statement.

"The lack of user awareness when combined with a significant uptick in criminal activity (and improved tactics) has given rise to a number of large scale private and public sector breaches that have resulted in a global epidemic of issues surrounding confidentiality, integrity and availability of data and services," he added.

When looking at the rise in attacks, the report found that the number of ransomware attacks, a type of malware that installs itself on a computer, locks the computer down and then demands a ransom to release it, have exploded by a massive 300%. The report goes on to offer further proof that business is booming for cyber criminals, by revealing that new malware is being produced at the alarming rate of 23,000 a day! That’s 960 new pieces of malware every hour!

The key to reducing the cost of cybercrime is preparation. The report found that most companies didn’t upgrade their cyber security often enough making it easy for cybercriminals to hack into their systems. The report also found that management didn’t know how to read a cyber breach report, meaning they don’t understand the extent of the damage or what steps they can take to combat further attacks.

Considering how much damage cybercrime can have on a small business, both in terms of finances and public image, it’s shocking that more businesses don’t take every measure possible to protect themselves and their customers.

The aim of the report was to engage the various governments and agencies of the world in an open and public conversation on how best to combat cybercrime. Hopefully some of the shocking numbers we’ve seen come from the report will trigger a greater response to the threat.

 Public Liability is an essential cover for most types of business. So, what is it? Why might you need it? If you’re not sure what Public Liability insurance is, it’s essentially the cover for a business if a customer or member of the public was to suffer a loss or injury as a result of its business activities and if that person made a claim for compensation. This could be a simple accident such as someone falling over your computer cable through to more serious issues that could leave people scarred or disabled for life.

Unless you’re a horse rising business, public liability insurance is not compulsory. However, public liability should be considered essential if you have a business that involves interacting with members of the public.

Even when a business does everything right, there is always the chance of an accident happening. There was a case in the UK whereby a photographer was working for a Local Authority – who luckily had &5 million public liability cover. As he was taking pictures of the mayor shaking hands at a ceremony, he stepped back and knocked an elderly lady who was behind him. She wobbled and fell, hitting her head on the corner of a paving stone. The accident left her severely brain damaged and she required constant care 24 hours a day. The Local Authority were taken to court and the family won &3.1 million in damages to ensure her care for the remainder of her life.

Whether you run a business with a large volume of people visiting your premises (such as a hotel, shopping centre), or if you work on a smaller scale visiting your customers (such as tradesmen, builders etc), public liability insurance is well worth considering.

It’s not just injury to the public you are covered for; public liability also covers for property damage. So if you damaged someone’s property while conducting some work, you would be covered.

Okay, so what do I do next?
Speak to us of course! We have many years’ experience in arranging commercial insurance for all types of businesses, from self-employed tradesmen to multi-million-pound turnover organisations. Get a quote today! 

 We’ve all seen it – that classic Facebook status, checking in to the airport captioned ‘See you in 2 weeks – Tenerife here we come!’

Well, how would you feel if you found out that very status was the reason for a break-in at your home? Showing off your latest holiday on social media is tempting in today’s day and age, but is it worth putting your home’s security at risk?

As more and more of us run our lives through social media, it can be easy to forget the real-life risks that sharing too much can create. Most social media apps allow you to share your location at any time, automatically telling everyone that you’re not at home – not the type of information you want falling into the wrong hands. You might think sharing your holiday status’, tweets and pictures is a great way to let your friends and family know you’re going on holiday. In reality though, you’re also letting people know that your home is empty and therefore, an easy target.

And don’t forget about posting about your expensive purchases! You’re also letting your followers know about all the nice kit that’s just sitting in your house while you’re out of the country.

Could you invalidate your insurance policy?

Unfortunately, you are at risk from having your insurance claims rejected if you have announced your plans on Facebook. The Financial Obudsman is concerned that many policyholders do not realise that insurers might check their social media accounts. It warns that anyone who does not keep their details private is particularly at risk of having their claims denied.

The reason for this is an insurer might consider they have no done enough to protect themselves against theft by making such information public.

What can you do to stop it?
The first likely answer to that is to simply stop doing it! With social media now being a part of most of our lives though, this is easier said than done. So, if you do insist on posting these updates – here’s our advice:
1. Do not automatically share location information on social media platforms
2. Never share your address
3. Consider changing your privacy settings to share information ‘with friends’ (and not friends of friends).
4. Share holiday photos after the holiday.

And to secure your home?
1. Lights on timers – lights that turn on and off automatically at certain times to give the illusion that there is someone present in the house.
2. Have a neighbour collect your mail and draw your curtains as nothing gives up the game that nobody is home like a huge pile of unread mail.
3. Don’t leave notes for delivery men etc informing them you are away.
4. Improve the security of doors by including deadbolt locks.
5. Invest in a visible security system as this is one of the biggest deterrents.