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.