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.

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.

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.