The Practical Risk Manager

7 Steps to Preventing Payroll Fraud | NFIB

cbaumli — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 14:59:37 +0000

Over 8 percent of occupational fraud is caused by payroll fraud check this out 7 Steps to Preventing Payroll Fraud | NFIB. #aen #smallbiz

Facebook puts Social Security numbers at risk – DailyPress.net | News, Sports, Jobs, Escanaba Information | The Daily Press

cbaumli — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 14:05:04 +0000

Check this article out…

Facebook puts Social Security numbers at risk – DailyPress.net | News, Sports, Jobs, Escanaba Information | The Daily Press.

Pasta, Meatballs and Credit Card Theft – ABC News

cbaumli — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 19:35:37 +0000

Restaurants are the most likely place for credit card theft! Check this out: Pasta, Meatballs and Credit Card Theft – ABC News. #smallbiz #austin

New TD Ameritrade data theft settlement offers people $50-$2,500 for ID theft in 2007 breach | Markets | Market News | Canadian Business Online

cbaumli — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 23:33:40 +0000

Do you know your Liabilities associated with a potential data breach>

New TD Ameritrade data theft settlement offers people $50-$2,500 for ID theft in 2007 breach | Markets | Market News | Canadian Business Online.

Free Home Inventory Software Service

cbaumli — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:50:16 +0000

the Insurance Information Institute has a free home inventory software service that you can use to document the contents of your home. (This is very important to do as you will have typically have to document what you’ve lost to be made whole at claim time…).

You can upload videos, photos, etc. The software isn’t the cleanest or prettiest, but hey… it’s a resource that doesn’t cost you anything. You can find it at Austin Insurance Resources (Towards the bottom of the page under software resources you will see the link). There’s also one for businesses you can access on this page as well as other useful insurance resources.

Data Breaches from Surprising Places…

cbaumli — Tue, 25 May 2010 15:48:43 +0000

Safeguarding your data is not as always as straightforward as you might think. Even if you have exercised your due diligence on the front end, there are still potential liabilities that need to be accounted for. Each of the entities whose data was breached in this video are going to be subject to expensive notification requirements as well as potential lawsuits.

http://www.wimp.com/copymachines/

If you are interested in discussing things these companies could have done to reduce these risks get in touch with us at Austin Insurance or Austin Business Insurance .

How Your Home Insurance Can Vanish Overnight

cbaumli — Mon, 03 May 2010 13:31:24 +0000

Make sure you communicate with your agent for extended absences from you home. See the article below.

How Your Home Insurance Can Vanish Overnight.

State Farm Sues TDI in Effort to Hide 13% Rate Hike

cbaumli — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 16:57:37 +0000

According to Insurance Journal, State Farm filed a lawsuit against the Texas Department of Insurance after TDI publicized recent rate hike proposals on their website.

Looks like the "good neighbor" doesn't want to share with the whole class

Shhh… Let’s not tell anyone about the rate increase…

The suit seeks to protect certain information relating to rate proposals from being disclosed. These rate hike proposals filed over the past eight months will increase homeowner premiums an average of 13%. (I guess it’s more profitable to spend millions on legal fees than to pass these dollars on to their policyholders… ha).

And we certainly don’t want anyone to know we overcharged by $310,000,000!

Additionally, in November of 2009, TDI ordered State Farm Lloyds to refund a total of $310,000,000 to policyholders after finding that the insurer had overcharged customers beginning in 2003. That’s a lot of zeros on the end of that number!

So much for transparency in pricing!

Perhaps a healthy bit of skepticism is in order?

Hey the reality is that all insurance companies are there to make a profit for their shareholders which is fine as long as you go into this with your eyes open. Take a proactive approach and evaluate your options for home and auto insurance. Carriers typically cycle in rates for a variety of reasons. If you’ve been with the same carrier for more than 3 years, chances are you are leaving money on the table.

The payday for evaluating options…

Case in point: Phil, a good friend of mine who I’ve known for 32 years. (OK, there will be a small break in the penning of this article as I try to figure out the exact point at which I became my father…) was with State Farm for 10 years. Never had a claim, just kept sending them money every year. He decided to have Inspire Insurance Solutions take a look and was able to get more coverage and get this… save $857 a year! Pretty good return on the 20 minutes it took him from start to finish.

Maybe it’s time to have Inspire take a look at your home and auto policies. Call us at 512-257-3773 or you can go to Austin insurance to fill out the online quote form. (We can write homes anywhere in Texas). Also, remember to share this with the whole class and pass it on to two friends.

62% of Statistics Are Made Up On The Spot… But Here’s One You Need to See!

cbaumli — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 16:30:27 +0000

A statistic you need to pay attention to!

Our newest Producer, Matt, has been busy evangelizing the need for business owners to get a second opinion on their insurance programs. We’ve spent numerous hours going over the statistics and the approach: 43% of businesses that suffer a major loss (be it a fire or lawsuit or insert your favorite calamity here…) go out of business. And most of these had business insurance! Scary.

Think about it: Almost half of the businesses who had to actually rely on their business insurance went out of business because it didn’t do what they intended it to. Business failure. Dreams down the drain. Assets? poof! (Hopefully, most of these had some corporate veil to protect their personal assets, but experience tells me that many do not).

So is the 43% statistic valid? The short answer is yes. (This was put out by the Insurance Information Institute and generally accepted to be accurate in insurance circles).

But what about anecdotally? Matt is also getting some pretty vivid validation…

Out of the first five reviews we did of businesses he brought in, four had major gaps in coverage. Gaps that could result in unmitigated disaster. The interesting thing is that in some instances it would not have cost them any more to have the proper coverage in place! Needless to say they are happy they had us take a look.

Pay attention to the risks your business faces. Make sure your agent handles primarily business insurance and has advanced certifications. You typically only get one chance to get this right.

Feel free to get touch with us at Austin Insurance or (512)-257-3773 if you have questions or would like for us to take a look at your program.

Connecticut Fines GEICO $178K

cbaumli — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 16:45:21 +0000

I’ve always wondered how the consumer might benefit if just a little of the hundreds of millions in advertising budgets were redirected into the “servicing” areas of the insurance industry…

Connecticut Fines GEICO $178K.

Chris J. Baumli, CIC
Inspire Insurance Solutions, Inc.
Cedar Park Insurance