BIN Digest

In today’s market, both small and large companies, as well as independent contractors are practically required to carry some kind of liability insurance.  If you are a systems integrator or custom programmer, it is also very important for you to have the proper liability coverage.  Obtaining coverage that is tailored to your individual service offerings is more efficient and cost effective than paying for coverage that doesn’t apply or isn’t necessary in your specific industry. 

Most of your clients will require that you carry insurance for a variety of reasons:

• General Liability Insurance covers any client’s property that is lost or damaged while in your possession.
• Clearly defines liability for any alleged shortcomings in the project
• Some clients will require workers compensation insurance to remove their liability in case you are injured on the job
• Almost all clients will require independent contractors to carry fidelity bond insurance, especially if you are in proximity to valuable financial information or similar data

Properly insuring yourself before applying for contracting work will give you a leg up on the competition, instill confidence in your skills as a professional, and in the long run, land you more jobs.  For more information on systems integrator insurance coverage, visit the TechInsurance Resource Center.  The center is a great source for IT knowledge, quick insurance quotes and much more!

As an IT Staffing agency, it is important that you carry the correct insurance coverage, not just for you, but for your employees as well.  As a company that provides part time and full time employees to other companies, it is important that you are properly insured. 

Companies will not use your staffing services if you are unable to provide proper documentation of your insurance coverage.  Basic coverage that potential clients will be looking for include:

• Professional Liability Insurance – This will protect both companies in the event that your employee’s work is not deemed professional enough, or up to expected standards
• Fidelity Bond Coverage – This is often referred to as Employee Dishonesty Insurance, a necessity for temp or IT staffing agencies that deal with a large amount of employees not under their direct supervision. 
• Workers Comp Insurance – Having this coverage for your employees will make it easier on your potential clients since they will not incur the costs of insuring your temp employees from personal injury while on the job

More information on insurance coverage specific to IT Staffing Agencies can be found by visiting the TechInsurance Resource Center.  The resources center is a wealth of knowledge containing articles and information related to the IT industry.

Nowadays, many employers require consultants and contractors to carry liability insurance. This specifically applies to marketing consultants. Marketing consultants, whether a small firm with a few employees or an independent contractor, are liable for any losses directly related to the work they do for a client. In order to ensure that they are compensated for any losses, employers protect themselves by requiring that the contractor be insured. The types of insurance required usually included are:

• General Liability Insurance
• Professional Liability Insurance
• Worker’s Compensation Insurance

Having a comprehensive liability insurance package is also wise for the consultant. Legal defense fees are often so exorbitant that they can easily sink a small business. Having the proper insurance protects your business from going under in the event of a lawsuit.

To learn more about marketing consultants insurance, visit the TechInsurance resource center. There you can find valuable business and insurance advice from seasoned experts. The resource center provides detailed, in-depth information on all types of consulting insurance.

More and more clients today are requiring that management consultants carry liability insurance coverage, whether it’s a small consulting firm or an independent freelancer. This may seem like an unnecessary pain, but liability insurance often ends up saving you and your business, a lot of money in law suits and legal fees.

Most management consultants are either freelance, or part of a small company. Uninsured small businesses, often times, do not have enough resources to handle a large scale lawsuit and, as a result, the business often goes under. Liability insurance protects you from having to pay all of those expenses out of pocket.

Management consultant insurance is typically comprised of general liability insurance, professional liability insurance and worker’s compensation insurance. This combination effectively covers any injuries that befall you or your employees while on the job, any damage to property and any loss of money to the client as a result of your mistake.

Management consultant insurance coverage packages cover a number of situations. Learn more about what types of insurance are available and what they cover at the TechInsurance Resource Center. There you can find a number of in-depth articles explaining the different types of insurance. You can also request a free quote to get started!

Business Insurance Now, an online provider of small business insurance, recently conducted a survey to determine what exactly business insurance buyers were looking for and what kind of service they required. In the interest of providing the best services possible to clients (services they actually want as opposed to settle for), Business Insurance Now was able to construct two distinct buyer personas from the data. Most of their clients fell into one of these two categories. The information was distilled into two sample buyer personas, “David” and “Kathy”. Both are high level executives and business owners, yet they have two different approaches to business insurance and their needs. David requires business insurance in order to be in contractual compliance with clients and would like coverage that is tailored specifically to him and his business needs, without many extra additions. Kathy, however, isn’t completely sure what type of business insurance business insurance she needs and wants to know that she has full coverage in the interest of peace of mind. She doesn’t want to be taken advantage of and has yet to find a policy that works for her because she can’t get clear, well-articulated answers from insurance representatives. Business Insurance Now is excited about the results of their survey and is looking forward to implementing the knowledge gained by creating new services and providing the type of information clients are looking for in a format they will be most comfortable with.

Hired and non-owned auto coverage is often added as an endorsement on a general liability insurance policy.   This is typically inexpensive coverage and should always be purchased when available.

A supplemental coverage option, Hired Auto coverage provides liability coverage for the company of an employee driving a vehicle rented in the company name while on company business. It does not cover physical damage to the vehicle, nor does it cover any injury to the employee. Unless your company rents vehicles with a credit card that includes vehicle physical damage coverage, you should always purchase that coverage when offered by the rental company. 

Non-owned Auto liability coverage protects the company should it be sued if an employee gets in an accident while driving their personal vehicle on company business. This type of insurance only responds when the employee’s personal insurance is inadequate to pay the claim and the company is sued.  The employee still has primary liability responsibility and this coverage will not directly protect the employee at all. 

Companies that have employees who rent vehicles on company business should establish clear procedures regarding which rental companies are used and which coverages and amounts of coverage employees should purchase from the rental company.  When company employees drive their personal vehicles on company business, the company should require that they carry at least $100,000 in personal auto liability coverage.    It is also important that companies obtain annual driving record reports from the state for all employees who drive on company business and restrict drivers with poor driving records.

To learn more about hired and non-owned auto coverage legalities and general liability insurance, please visit TechInsurance.com.

If you own a consulting or services company that has access to client accounts or infrastructure, your business will require a special type of insurance; Fidelity Bond Insurance Fidelity Bond Insurance. This will cover your business in the event that one of your employees illegally accesses your clients’ accounts. Fidelity Bond Insurance is actually an extension of property insurance that covers claims of your employee’s “theft” of their company property. When a client initially decides to do business with your company, many times they will want to ensure that you have this policy in place to mitigate any losses they might incur as a result of dishonesty on the part of your employees. Having this policy in place will not only protect your company from any dishonesty by your employees, but will also instill client confidence in your company and allow them to comfortably conduct business with you. So while not only protecting you as a business owner, Fidelity Bond Insurance can be an integral part of your negotiations with new clients. Performing background checks on potential new hires will help reduce the possibility of employee dishonesty claims as will consistent business process checks and balances to ensure that access to client accounts is properly monitored.

• General liability coverage,
• errors and omissions insurance,
• Worker’s compensation insurance,
• Employment practices liability insurance,
• Umbrella liability insurance.

Coverage plans that include these types of insurance will more than likely provide full coverage to the employment agency, putting their mind at ease in the event of lawsuits.

These are only some of the big reasons. Businesses should typically have an attorney familiar with their field readily available anyway. This is because the laws are ever-changing and an attorney will be able to provide you with sound legal advice.