Commercial trucking serves as a barometer for the economy. It represented nearly 71% of the tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation in 2017, including manufactured and retail goods. With more trucks on the road, there were also more accidents, including a rise in fatalities. Trucks were involved in 59% more accidents per mile than in 2010, despite the new technologies and the best efforts of regulators, according to the American Trucking Association (ATA). Further, the number of people who died in large truck crashes was also 30% higher than in 2009, when it was the lowest it has been since the collection of fatal crash data began in 1975.

There is no one perfect insurance policy for all clients, but retail agents can help their insureds find appropriate coverage forms by focusing on the exposure. This is especially true of cyber liability insurance.

Foodborne illnesses such as E. coli and salmonella sicken about one in six Americans, or about 48 million, and kill about 3,000 every year, the CDC estimates.

In an increasingly connected world, many cyber insurers are reporting a significant increase in social engineering claims — particularly at organizations involved in real estate and other financial services. That means retail agents and their insureds can expect to see some changes in the marketplace. As social engineering scams increase, some insurers are reducing cybercrime limits, raising premiums for cybercrime coverage, requiring policyholders to take risk mitigation steps or withdrawing from covering cybercrime altogether.

Parametric insurance has made its biggest impact so far with catastrophe bonds covering large-scale risks, such as hurricanes and earthquakes, but the concept is becoming more common in commercial and residential insurance. It’s called parametric because rather than responding to a specific loss, the coverage pays out when an agreed “metric” such as wind speed or ground shaking reaches or exceeds certain intensity. Insurers are offering such coverage based on a wide variety of other metrics, including barometric pressure, rainfall, average snowfall, river water levels, storm surge as measured by tide gauges and even hotel occupancy rates.

Businesses in many industries are becoming targets in a wave of liability litigation. Since 2017, courts have considered more than 3,000 lawsuits around the country alleging that defendants’ websites violate the accessibility requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act and other civil rights laws. Many businesses facing such suits have been unaware that their websites prevent individuals with disabilities from accessing all of their sites’ features, such as job applications or lists of physical locations, as in the case of retail stores or restaurants.

Do-overs can be good after making a mistake, but for construction contractors, there are a lot of downsides to redoing work. “Ripping and tearing out” construction materials after identifying an error can be costly, delay the completion of a project and damage the contractor’s business relationships. Even worse is the unpleasant discovery that such rework may not be covered by the contractor’s professional liability policy.

From the Empire State Building to the Freedom Tower and the Hudson Yards project, New York’s construction industry has earned a global reputation for innovation. That vibrant spirit, however, has been dampened by a unique labor law dating back to the 1880s governing falls at construction sites. Commonly referred to as the New York’s Scaffold Law, this section of the Labor Law has driven overall construction costs higher, sent insurance premiums soaring above levels for other states, and led some major carriers to leave the market altogether. Those challenges make it imperative to work with brokers specializing in this complex and constantly changing market.

Week after week, hackers and cybercriminals crank out new phishing campaigns, launch creative digital extortion threats and continue expanding payment card scams. Cyberattacks remain the top concern of businesses, yet, only about 55% of Fortune 500 companies and 35% of small to midsized companies (SMEs) buy cybersecurity insurance, according to PC World. And, recovery from such an attack is costly according to Cisco’s 2018 Security Capabilities Benchmark Study: 54% of all cyberattacks result in financial damages of more than US$500,000, including, but not limited to, lost revenue, customers and opportunities, as well as out-of- pocket expenses.

Much like energy resources themselves, the insurance marketplace for energy-sector businesses has abundant capacity. There is, however, upward pressure generally on rates in 2019, and some tightening in excess liability coverages specifically. To obtain the broadest coverage at optimal pricing, retail agents and their insureds should approach the marketplace in a strategic way and explore options for structuring their energy insurance programs.

Insurisk is CRC Group’s exclusive products facility has recently launched CAT+, an A rated property capacity for middle market business that is primarily CAT-exposed. CAT+ can accommodate costal exposure risks from Texas all the way to the Carolinas.

It’s a frightening scenario for any organization—an employee is kidnapped while traveling or working abroad and held for ransom. Faced with a potentially life-and-death situation, family members and corporate managers have little time to decide how best to respond to the kidnappers’ demands and maximize the chances of a safe return. In such situations, kidnap and ransom insurance proves its worth. Kidnap and Ransom policies provide timely access to crisis and security experts to quickly deploy the most appropriate strategies for these dangerous situations. While the policies indemnify insureds for ransom and other expenses associated with a kidnapping, the accompanying crisis management services are among the strongest reasons for purchasing the coverage.

Earthquakes get the headlines, but the ground moves for many reasons. Whether a property loss is covered when the ground shakes, shifts or sinks depends on what the policy says. Earthquake coverage is a very well known, but relatively narrow coverage limited to damage caused by naturally occurring seismic activity. Few buyers are aware of earth movement coverage, which offers broader protection for a wider scope of perils. While most clients choose earthquake coverage, they may want to consider whether earth movement policies make sense, given their specific risks and how it fits into their overall property program.

Increasing frequency and severity in commercial auto claims are causing the marketplace for excess trucking liability to become even more turbulent. Trucking insurers have faced several years of challenging business conditions, and many are now forced to reduce the limits they offer and increase rates significantly for trucking risks.

The health care sector is caught in the crosscurrents of the opioid crisis. Easing pain is an integral goal of medical treatment, and when it comes to severe pain, prescription opioids have proven very effective. Opioid pain relievers, however, can be highly addictive and are often abused.