With technological developments in business operations growing at a rapid pace, small business owners are becoming more and more prone to fraud involving computers. Moreover, as businesses adjust to an economic downturn, businesses are downsizing and being involved in takeovers, which increases the probability of employee dishonesty, theft and third party fraud. Although many small business owners have solid internal controls, there’s always a possibility that these controls can be breached by third parties or even employees. Fortunately,crime insurance can be the fail-safe that many small businesses need.
Crime is a serious business threat. Whether you are victimized by internal or external acts of crime, the business owner or manager has to assume the responsibility for money, data, or properties that were stolen.
Let us introduce you to Crime Insurance. The insurance that protects you from losses due to internal and external acts such as petty theft, forgery, burglary, extortion, computer fraud, and robbery.
It is not possible to monitor your business 100% of the time. Crime Liability Insurance enables you to recover from losses caused by criminal acts which are not covered by other insurance plans.
Read on to understand if this insurance type is right for your business.
What Is Crime Insurance?
Crime is one of the top causes of loss for modern businesses. Crime Insurance can protect your business from both first party risks and third party accusations of crime arising from your business. First party coverage is insurance for direct losses to the business from a covered criminal act. Third party coverage is for accusations from others that a criminal act related to your business caused a loss. A common circumstance is an accusation of theft by your employee of another’s property.
Crime Insurance is necessary for all business sizes and types. In fact, crime inside the office is almost never a one-time incident. Once an employee develops the habit of stealing, it is very hard to stop it. In addition, an employee committing criminal acts can influence other employees to do the same.
Do I Need Crime Insurance?
It will come in handy if your business:
- Is a small to medium-sized business with limited resources to spend on security
- Engages in cash, credit card, or check transactions
- Hires part-time employees or volunteers
- Has inventory, stocks, and products that can easily be used and carried out by employees
- Allows employees to handle financial records and customer data
- Does not have a good security system
Trusted employees, internal and external oversight, risk management controls …you may believe that your company has everything in place to prevent fraud. But when it comes to occupational fraud and abuse, no business is safe. Fraud can happen in any organization, large or small, at any time, so it is important to have the right coverage.