1. DIRECTORS’ AND OFFICERS’ LIABILITY
2. EXCESS OF LOSS INSURANCE
3. LOSS RECOVERY INSURANCE
4. CYBER ATTACK INSURANCE
5. CYBER CRIME INSURANCE
6. TERRORISM INSURANCE

Are you covered?

Let’s start with an important question: are you covered?

You might have Buildings and Contents Insurance to protect against fire, flood, theft and other material damage. Public Liability is also a ‘must have’ on the insurance shopping list, protecting your business against claims made against it by members of the public for accidents or injuries.

Any business that employs staff members must legally have Employers’ Liability in place too, to protect staff if they are injured or become ill as a result of employer negligence. Then there are more standard additional covers such as Business Interruption, that most businesses would be wise to include in their insurance policy.

But what happens if your business suffers a cyber attack, or one of your Directors is personally sued?

Your answer may reveal that your business isn’t as protected as you first thought.

Purchasing “standard” policies is often considered best practice, but other covers are deemed a “nice to have” option and even potentially a gamble that’s unlikely to pay off. However, you never know what is just around the corner.

It’s unlikely that you’ll know every additional insurance product to look for. You’ve got a business to run. This is where we come to the rescue – providing advice and expertise on the additional covers you need to protect your business.

As one of the UK’s leading insurance brokers, we’re well-versed in assessing a business’s insurance needs and advising on the additional covers you should consider. We hope this document provides a great starting point to showcasing just some of the ways we can enhance your policy.

It’s more relevant now than ever to start thinking about additional cover. It might seem like an expensive risk but, if the unexpected does happen (like we’ve seen, it can on an enormous scale), then the return on investment can be the difference between make or break.

I’ll now pass you over to our expert team, who’ll share their thoughts with you.

Yours sincerely,

Simon Mabb, Managing Director, Romero Insurance Brokers

DIRECTORS’ AND OFFICERS’ LIABILITY

Directors’ and Officers’ Liability, sometimes known as Management Liability, protects the personal assets of a business’s Director, Partner or Officer should they be personally sued for any wrongful acts while managing the company.

Key individuals within a business should be protected against legal and defence costs, fines or compensation costs due to claims made against them personally.

So, for example, health and safety issues, breach of duty of trust, defamation, negligence and more could be grounds for an employee, contractor, customer or other individuals to sue.

Different Directors and Officers will need varying levels of cover dependent on their job role and potential risks. Insurance experts will be able to advise on the level of cover you need.

CASE STUDY EXAMPLE

A director of a small manufacturing business sends a tweet from their personal account making a false statement about a competitor. The individual is then sued for defamation. Luckily they had Directors’ and Officers’ Liability cover, so all legal and compensation costs were covered.

Victoria Romero-Trigo, Financial Director, says:

 

“Being a Senior Leader comes with an extra level of responsibility… and the additional risk something could go wrong. Individuals must protect their own personal assets as their business insurance simply won’t cover them for claims made against Directors and Officers personally.”

 

 

EXCESS OF LOSS INSURANCE

View this as a top-up cover. Your insurer may not always be able to fully insure the whole of your risk, perhaps due to lack of capacity or other market considerations. Excess of Loss Insurance provides the limit of indemnity required, ensuring you get the full protection you need. 

It increases “standard” policies such as Employers’ Liability and Public Liability insurance limits. The Excess of Loss Insurance is issued as a standalone policy, but can mirror the terms of your existing policy to ensure the two are aligned.

CASE STUDY EXAMPLE

A large construction firm wins a contract with a property developer to get started on a new build development. A condition of the contract is the firm must have Public Liability cover of up to £50m, which the construction firm has struggled to find. They turn to Excess of Loss Insurance to ensure they have the right level of protection in place.

Stuart Stead, Technical Broking Director, says:

“Finding the right level of cover can be particularly difficult for some sectors in the hard market. Insurers simply aren’t prepared to take risks, meaning capacity and appetite for some cover isn’t there. Excess of Loss Insurance gives businesses the chance to protect their business without the stress of trying to find just one insurer to cover the risk.”

 

LOSS RECOVERY INSURANCE

Loss Recovery Insurance provides access to a chartered Loss Adjuster if you need to make a claim. Having independent expert advice on-hand is invaluable, as a Loss Adjuster can help you to negotiate the best possible settlement for your claim.

The Loss Adjuster will visit your site as soon as possible to professionally value your claim (essentially deciding what you will be insured for). They will deal with insurers on your behalf to negotiate a fair payout. This service gives you a hassle-free claims process, so you don’t have to worry about preparing a claim. Your Loss Adjuster will also help you to recover as quickly as possible from your loss, such as organising quotes to begin emergency repair work.

CASE STUDY EXAMPLE

An office is flooded late on Friday evening. Thanks to the Loss Recovery Insurance in place, a qualified Loss Adjuster visits the site within 24 hours and values the loss. The Loss Adjuster presents this to the insurer and negotiates a fair settlement for the damage, allowing the business to get back up and running as soon as possible.

Joanne Land, Associate Director of Claims, says:

“A dedicated claims team is a fantastic resource and can certainly help to make the claims process smoother and less stressful. One thing a claims team can’t do is value the loss and present this to an insurer. That’s where Loss Adjusters come in. While most insurers will provide their own Loss Adjuster, it’s much better for businesses to appoint their own Adjuster who will act independently and negotiate the best settlement on the policyholder’s behalf.”

 

CYBER ATTACK INSURANCE

A cyber threat or attack causes economic damage for a business. This could happen due to a failure of network security, or privacy breach. For example, a business could lose sensitive data due to an employee unwittingly losing a USB stick, or if the system is hacked.

Cyber Insurance will protect you for losses related to business disruption caused by network failures, ransom negotiation and payment, privacy breach costs and more.

CASE STUDY EXAMPLE

A disgruntled employee steals important customer records. Cyber Insurance covers the business for costs associated with dealing with this privacy and security breach. This includes notifying customers of the breach, the costs of IT forensics, legal fees and more.

Mark Noble, IT Director, says:

 

“You never know what could go wrong to compromise your business and its security. Most cyber breaches arise from human error, negligence or wilful acts by employees. Whilst businesses can do all they can to put enhanced security measures in place and train employees adequately, you simply can’t predict the future. Cyber Insurance is there to provide peace of mind that, whatever happens, your business is financially protected.”

 

CYBER CRIME INSURANCE

Cyber crime is different to a cyber threat or attack. It equates to a direct loss of funds for a business. This could be due to malicious action from a hacker, or social engineering (where an employee is tricked into providing passwords or data that results in a monetary loss for the business).

Cyber crime normally relates to monetary loss, such as a criminal tricking an employee into making a payment to a fraudulent account.

Further reading

Download our Cyber & Crime Insurance Whitepaper for more information: https://romeroinsurance.co.uk/download-our-cyber-crime-whitepaper/

CASE STUDY EXAMPLE

An employee receives email instructions from the CEO asking them to make an urgent payment to a bank account. The employee believes this to be a genuine email and does not think to follow this up with a phone call to double check. Unfortunately, a cyber criminal is the real email sender and the money is transferred to a fraudulent account. This loses the business thousands of pounds. However, with Cyber Crime Insurance, the business is able to recoup these losses.

Sue Barson Associate Director of Accounts, says:

 

“Employees dealing with business payments should be trained to look out for phishing, smishing and vishing scams. However, fraudsters are becoming increasingly adept at creating believable emails and phone call scams to trick employees. Cyber crime insurance protects a business if the worst does happen, so criminals can’t get away with financially destroying your organisation.”

 

TERRORISM INSURANCE

Did you know that if a terror attack impacts your business, chances are you’re unlikely to have insurance cover? If your building or site is damaged due to terrorism, you’ll need additional Terror Insurance in order to protect you financially.

You might think terrorism insurance only applies if your business has been physically damaged, but this isn’t the case. If your business has been impacted by a nearby terror attack which means you can’t access your site, or the incident results in loss of revenue, Terror Insurance will provide the protection you need.

Further reading

Download our Terrorism Whitepaper for further information: https://romeroinsurance.co.uk/news/terrorism-whitepaper/

CASE STUDY EXAMPLE

A local restaurant situated just off a busy high street is forced to close when a knife-wielding terrorist threatens people in a nearby shopping centre. Luckily nobody is harmed, but businesses are advised to close while police investigate. The incident leaves people shaken, and the restaurant experienced a decline in bookings over the next few weeks. The restaurant’s Terror Insurance protects them from both the loss in revenue and Business Interruption, meaning they are financially covered for the ramifications of the attack.

Stuart Dobbins, Technical Claims Manager, says:

 

“Everyone likes to think terrorism will never happen to them, but that’s simply not always the case. We know attacks do happen. And we know they can’t be predicted. Terrorism occurs in both cities and rural areas, and impacts huge corporations as well as SMEs. This is why Terror Insurance is there to protect businesses if they suffer both physical or non-physical damage as a result of an attack.”

Let’s talk

We hope you found our whistle-stop tour of additional covers interesting. If you find yourself wondering if your policy really covers you against some of the risks discussed, you can always trust us to top up your cover with everything you need. 

Together we’ll find out what extra cover you could benefit from, and how we can remedy this to ensure there are no chinks in your armour. 

Next time, when someone asks: Are you covered? You’ll be confident in your answer.

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