Peak seasons bring increased sales, higher transaction volumes, temporary staff, and extended hours. While these periods are critical for revenue, they also create prime conditions for theft and employee dishonesty. Both internal and external theft tend to rise during busy seasons, when controls are stretched and oversight becomes more challenging.
Crime and employee dishonesty insurance is designed to protect businesses from financial losses that often go unnoticed until the damage is already done.
Understanding the Difference Between Theft and Employee Dishonesty
External theft typically involves burglary, robbery, shoplifting, or third-party fraud. Employee dishonesty, on the other hand, includes theft of money, inventory, or property by employees, whether acting alone or in collusion with others.
Many businesses focus heavily on external theft while underestimating internal risk. In reality, employee dishonesty claims often result in higher losses because they can occur repeatedly over time before detection.
Why the Holiday Season Is High Risk
During peak seasons, businesses often hire temporary staff, process more cash and digital payments, and move inventory quickly. These conditions reduce the effectiveness of standard controls and increase opportunity for theft.
Fatigue, rushed processes, and reduced supervision can lead to breakdowns in segregation of duties. Even trusted employees may be placed in positions where temptation and opportunity intersect.
Common Employee Dishonesty Scenarios
Employee dishonesty claims take many forms. These include skimming cash, manipulating refunds, falsifying expense reports, diverting inventory, forging checks, or abusing access to financial systems. In office environments, payroll fraud and accounting manipulation are common risks. In retail and hospitality, inventory shrinkage and cash theft are frequent exposures.
Without proper controls and coverage, these losses can accumulate quietly and significantly impact profitability.
External Theft and Fraud Risks
External threats increase during peak seasons as criminals target busy operations. Break-ins, organized retail theft, cyber-enabled financial fraud, and social engineering schemes often spike when businesses are focused on customer demand rather than security.
Crime policies can address losses caused by burglary, robbery, forgery, computer fraud, funds transfer fraud, and other financial crimes that standard property or liability policies may exclude.
Why General Liability and Property Insurance Are Not Enough
Many business owners assume theft is covered under property insurance. While property policies may cover physical theft of certain assets, they often exclude employee dishonesty, financial fraud, and many types of monetary loss.
Crime insurance fills these gaps by providing coverage specifically designed for financial losses caused by dishonest acts, both internal and external.
The Role of Internal Controls and Oversight
Insurance is most effective when paired with strong internal controls. Segregation of duties, approval processes, inventory tracking, access controls, and regular audits all help reduce risk. Training staff on ethical standards and reporting procedures also plays a critical role in prevention.
Carriers often view strong controls favorably, which can support better underwriting terms and pricing.
How Crime Insurance Responds to Losses
Crime insurance can cover direct financial losses, investigative costs, and in some cases, legal expenses related to theft or dishonesty. Coverage can be structured to include employee theft, forgery, funds transfer fraud, computer fraud, and social engineering exposures.
Policy limits and definitions matter. Coverage must be aligned with how money moves through your business, not just how it is stored.
Identifying Coverage Gaps Before a Loss
Many businesses carry crime insurance with limits that have not been reviewed in years. Growth in revenue, payroll, or transaction volume can quickly outpace existing limits, leaving significant exposure during peak seasons.
A proactive review helps ensure coverage reflects current operations, staffing levels, and financial activity.
How Skyscraper Insurance Helps Prevent and Protect
Skyscraper Insurance works with businesses to identify theft and dishonesty exposures before losses occur. We review internal controls, financial workflows, and existing policies to uncover gaps and recommend appropriate crime coverage.
Our approach balances prevention with protection, helping businesses reduce risk while maintaining strong financial safeguards.
Protect Your Business During Your Busiest Season
Peak seasons should be focused on growth, service, and success—not unexpected financial losses. Theft and employee dishonesty are real risks that increase when businesses are under pressure.
Now is the time to review your crime insurance and ensure your coverage is ready to protect your business when activity is at its highest.
