Commercial Crime Insurance
Protect your business with the right commercial crime insurance
Your business needs commercial crime insurance. Criminal employees cost U.S. organizations more than $400 billion each year. The average business looses over $9 a day per employee and 6% of its yearly revenue to fraud committed by employees. Out of every ten crimes made against businesses, nine are committed by employees. Frequently, it's long-standing, trusted employees who commit such crimes.Although most large businesses and corporations automatically buy a global crime insurance policy, many small and medium-sized businesses neglect it--which puts them at higher risk of loss. With employee crime on the rise, now is not the time to cut corners by eliminating your commercial crime liability insurance. Still, as you check out commercial crime insurance rates, you may ask what insurance is best for you. Consider these types of commercial crime insurance:
1. Business Owner's Policies with crime insurance coverage
2. Commercial crime liability insurance for smaller businesses
3. Crime insurance coverage for larger businesses
Buy BOP insurance with crime insurance coverage
Just as you carry a homeowner's policy on your house, you should also carry general insurance on your small or medium-sized business. Although your Business Owner's Policy (also called a BOP) won't protect every area of your business, it will cover the basics at a reasonable cost. At the very least, your BOP should cover property insurance, business interruption, casualties, liability--and crime protection.
Try: Wells Fargo offers business owner's policies covering property and liability. MAG Mutual provides BOP insurance to protect property premises, with specialized coverage for those in the medical field. Vern Fonk Insurance offers BOP policies for large and small businesses.
Select a comprehensive commercial crime insurance policy for smaller businesses
Even if your small to medium-sized business has a BOP, its crime coverage is probably insufficient. Limits are generally lower with BOPs, which is a problem primarily because employees tend to steal a little at a time; you may not notice discrepancies until the theft has cost your business a great deal. Therefore, speaking to commercial crime insurance providers is an excellent idea.
Try: AIG offers crime insurance just for small businesses, as does Daniels-Head Insurance. McGhee Insurance Agency provides crime insurance covering robbery, theft and "mysterious disappearance."
Find crime insurance coverage for larger businesses
Large businesses and corporations absolutely must have comprehensive crime coverage. Remembering that theft usually occurs over time and involves great sums of money, seek out commercial crime insurance brokers offering policies that are realistic in their coverage and allow for thefts to be discovered a year--or more--after the actual crime.
Try: Zurich offers up to $25 million in crime insurance for virtually any company--large or small; coverage includes computer fraud and theft, employee dishonesty, theft and forgery. Nationwide provides crime insurance for many businesses, including those requiring heavy coverage. Chubb is a leader in providing crime insurance for large companies.
- Only some commercial crime insurance policies cover cybercrime, so read your policy carefully. Some business crime insurance providers consider cybercrime like any other theft, while others do not.
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