How to Avoid Spooky Insurance Claims this Halloween?

Park your car in the garage: Pranksters tend to come out on Halloween night, so parking your car in the garage can help to avoid damage being done by eggs or paint balls. However, in the case that your automobile does get damaged, vandalism to your car is covered by automobile insurance, but only if you have comprehensive coverage. If you’re out and about on Halloween make sure to park your car in well-lit populated areas!

Light walking paths for little monsters: It is a fun tradition to have the dark and gloomy theme playing throughout your property, but this can also be done while providing enough light so little ones can navigate to your door. Glowing pumpkins or dimmed solar lights are always good to light the way, leaving less chance of unnecessary trips and falls.

Put furry friends away: All of the noise and activity of Halloween can get dogs riled up. The people dressed in crazy costumes on the other side of the door do not aid in calming them down either. The best place for the dog is in a back room away from the door since many dogs consider themselves to be the protectors of their owners. Even if your dog is friendly to strangers, the last thing you want is the dog jumping up on a trick or treater, knocking them to the ground, or even worse… biting them!

Beware of the act of surprising guests: The Halloween spirit invokes thoughts of horror, shock, and terrors. However, in an attempt to reduce the possibility of a law suit, it is recommended to refrain from tactics such as suddenly jumping out from darkened bushes or similar scare tactics. These heart rate soaring tactics may be fun at an amusement park, but it greatly increases your exposure to a homeowner’s insurance claim.

Keep your eyes on the flames: Whether it’s candles in your freshly carved pumpkin, roasting s’mores over the bonfire in your backyard, or the fall scented candle in your bedroom; fire hazards are common during the fall season. Make sure to keep candles where children or pets cannot knock them over and never leave a fire, whether indoors in your fireplace or outside in a fire pit, unattended!

Purchase additional coverage: If seeing how some of your favorite Halloween traditions can leave you open to liability has spooked you then don’t fear! Purchasing additional coverage can help to keep you and your family safe from liability. With Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas quickly approaching (all with increased risk of a liability claim) perhaps it may be a good time to consider purchasing additional coverage so that you can rest easy knowing that you and your family are protected!

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Commercial P&C Insurance

Commercial Office Space Set for a Strong Comeback

The sustained increase in demand for office space across the nation since late 2022 suggests that the market has moved past its lowest point, according to insights from the real estate technology platform, VTS. Demand for office space began to rise in late 2022 and continued into early 2023. Since then, the office market has experienced a period of stability and growth, supported by favorable economic factors, indicating a market rebound. This conclusion is drawn from the VTS Office Demand Index (VODI), which tracks unique new tenant tour requests for office properties in key U.S. markets. The VODI serves as an early indicator of future office leasing activity. According to the index, demand for office space has grown consistently over the past 12 months, closing the second quarter with a 17% year-over-year increase and a 34% rise from the VODI’s lowest point in December 2022. A significant shift in office-based employment patterns further supports the belief that demand for office space has stabilized. After reaching its peak in August 2022, office-based employment declined by 3.9% in early 2024. However, this trend has since stabilized, and employment growth has remained steady. Additionally, a recent decrease in work-from-home rates has fueled the renewed demand for office space. “They say you can only recognize a market bottom after it has passed, and the office space market is no exception. Following what we now see as the bottom, the national demand has gradually increased, though it remains susceptible to economic challenges,” said Nick Romito, CEO of VTS. “However, the growth observed in VODI over the past 18 months, coupled with positive trends in the office-using workforce, suggests that the market has reset, and the worst is behind us.” It’s important to note that this national trend does not impact all local markets equally. Cities like Los Angeles and New York City have seen healthy growth in office space demand, while markets such as San Francisco and Washington, D.C., have experienced prolonged stagnation. In Los Angeles, office space demand surged in the second quarter, briefly surpassing pre-COVID levels, driven by an increase in the average size of office spaces sought by tenants. New York City followed a similar overall pattern, though with some softness in the second quarter. Conversely, San Francisco’s demand for office space remains unpredictable, largely due to its tech-focused workforce, which continues to favor remote work more than other industries. “Markets heavily dependent on the tech sector, like San Francisco and Seattle, are on a markedly different post-COVID recovery path compared to more diversified markets like Los Angeles and New York City. It may take some time before we see office demand in San Francisco and Seattle return to pre-COVID levels,” added Ryan Masiello, Chief Strategy Officer at VTS.

Cyber Liability

Global IT Outage Puts Business Interruption Insurance in the Spotlight

In July, a global IT outage had a significant impact on business interruption insurance policies, overshadowing the effects on cyber insurance coverages. “This incident wasn’t a result of a malicious attack, which is why typical cyber insurance policies may not have been activated,” explained Peter McMurtrie, a partner in West Monroe’s insurance sector, in an interview with PropertyCasualty360.com. “Where coverage was applicable, factors like deductible amounts, waiting periods, and coverage limits played a critical role in determining the extent of exposure,” McMurtrie noted. “Standard policies for small businesses were less likely to offer coverage, while more complex policies for mid-sized companies and Fortune 500 corporations may have included broader triggers for non-malicious outages caused by third-party software issues.” The outage was triggered by a software update on July 19, 2024, by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which affected organizations worldwide using Microsoft Windows. This interruption had far-reaching consequences, including disrupting hospital systems, media outlets, financial institutions, delaying thousands of flights, and halting daily business operations. McMurtrie emphasized that while the initial impact of the outage was similar for both large and small businesses, the ability to recover operations and whether insurance covered the loss of business income varied. “Larger companies are more likely to have advanced disaster recovery plans that ensure service redundancy following unexpected outages,” he added. “Their insurance programs also tend to cover a wider range of incidents.” According to Microsoft, the CrowdStrike update error affected over 8.5 million Windows devices globally. The incident highlighted the interconnected nature of our global ecosystem, including cloud providers, software platforms, security services, and their clients. “It’s a stark reminder of the importance of prioritizing safe deployment and disaster recovery across the tech industry,” the company said in a blog post. McMurtrie pointed out that the outage’s widespread impact was largely due to its effect on organizations that are critical to societal infrastructure—sectors like agriculture, airlines, banking, energy, government, healthcare, manufacturing, and retail. “Insurance companies base their risk appetite on their ability to understand and price risks appropriately. This becomes increasingly challenging with emerging threats,” he said. “However, I anticipate that insurers will respond by clarifying policy language, refining risk selection criteria, and possibly developing new products specifically designed for this evolving exposure.”

How to Avoid Spooky Insurance Claims this Halloween?