Everyone Needs Flood Insurance Coverage Are you uncertain whether you should purchase flood insurance? Consider that the Federal Emergency Management Agency estimates that 25% of all flood insurance claims are the result of events that occur in areas with little or no risk for flooding. In addition, consider our agency's experience and expertise, which leads us to strongly recommend that your home or business is covered under a flood insurance policy. Flood insurance covers damage to dwellings and possessions as well as the cost of prevention measures and cleanup expenses. Besides rising rivers and other bodies of water, hurricanes, storms, and rain can cause flooding. Remember that standard homeowners or business policies do not cover losses caused by flooding, and you should have flood coverage even if you are a renter and your property is in a low to moderate risk flood zone On a flood policy, replacement cost coverage is available for structures, however, only actual cash value is available for possessions. Actual cash value is replacement cost coverage minus depreciation, which means that the older your possessions the less you receive if they are damaged. There are limits on coverage for items stored in basements.      Don't hesitate to purchase a policy: You never know when it will be too late.

Make Sure The Insurance Force Is With You The tough economy has increased cyber-related crimes, causing millions of dollars in losses to businesses. Internet attacks can devastate a business and its computer programs and network, which makes cyber insurance a must for companies. To safeguard you and your company from computer and Internet issues, there are many coverage options available under a cyber insurance policy. Loss or corruption of data: Insures damage to valuable information.   Business interruption: Insures loss of income that occurs after a business' network is hacked. The policy can include coverage for extra expenses, forensic costs and dependent business interruption. Liability: Provides coverage for defense costs, settlements, judgments and, sometimes, punitive damages suffered by a business because of a host of Internet related occurrences. Crisis management: Pays for the cost for public relations or advertising to rebuild a company's reputation after an incident. Additional coverage can be purchased to alert customers of the breach of private information and the cost of providing credit-monitoring or other remediation measures.

Sorry To Bother You, But You Need Business Interruption Insurance Business interruption insurance is critical to a company's survival and should be added to its property insurance policy or a package policy. Such insurance compensates a business for income lost because it has to shut down after a covered loss. Compensation is based on financial records, and policies cover operating expenses that continue to accrue even though business activities have stopped.    When purchasing business interruption insurance, make sure the policy limits are high enough to cover your company for more than a few days after a significant loss because the recovery period can be lengthy. Usually, there is a 48-hour waiting period for a policy to start. Prices of policies are related to risk. For example, the cost could be more for a sports bar and restaurant than a real estate agency because of the greater risk of fire. In addition, should a fire occur, an agency could operate out of another location almost immediately. Extra expense insurance compensates a business for a reasonable amount of money that it spends over and above usual expenses to avoid shutting down during the restoration period. Frequently, expenses will be covered if they help decrease interruption costs.