In insurance, hard markets present hard choices. Policyholders often face sharply higher rates and tighter terms and conditions at renewal, along with exclusions their expiring liability coverage did not impose. In these situations, incumbent carriers may offer an extended reporting period (ERP), which lets insureds file claims after the original policy’s expiration date. Buying an ERP, however, has significant risks that insureds and their agents should consider.

The scope of a common exclusion in Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) policies relating to “wage-and- hour and overtime law(s)” is narrower than a trial court found and therefore EPLI coverage can apply to a wider set of employment claims, according to the California Court of Appeal in the 4th Appellate District.

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.

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.

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.