Business
March 24, 2021
Work-From-Home Shift to Stretch Firms’ Cyber Cover
Roughly a year after the COVID-19 pandemic spread rapidly around the world, many employees in various industries are working from home to avoid contracting or spreading the virus in the office or on their daily commute. This has made it harder for organizations to secure their networks, and cyber insurance policies that used to be...
March 22, 2021
2021 General Liability Insurance Market Outlook
In recent years, the general liability market has consistently underperformed, resulting in heightened underwriting losses and subsequent rate increases. As worsening social inflation concerns, surging medical expenses and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continue to contribute to a rise in liability claim frequency and severity, the market has preceded to harden. Due to these market conditions,...
March 18, 2021
2021 Commercial Property Insurance Market Outlook
The commercial property market has steadily hardened in recent years, resulting in rate increases every quarter since Q3 2017. Unfortunately, these rate increases—as well as additional policy restrictions—are expected to continue in 2021. We predict that many insureds will experience double-digit rate increases, lowered available capacity and various policy restrictions or exclusions—especially regarding losses tied...
March 15, 2021
Perspectives: Companies Increasingly Turn to Captives as Employee Benefits Evolve Due to COVID-19
COVID-19 has been the biggest disruptor in the health care sector in years, catapulting change in the delivery of care and putting greater focus on the emotional and financial well-being of employees as part of a broader business resiliency effort. To manage this more expansive set of benefits, companies are increasingly turning to captives for...
February 18, 2021
Maintaining Effective Sprinkler Heads
Sprinkler heads are largely responsible for detecting the presence of a fire at your commercial property and activating the sprinkler system’s water dispersal capabilities—thus suppressing the flames and mitigating damage. Data from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) suggests that effective sprinkler systems can reduce total deaths and property loss from fire incidents by over...
January 26, 2021
CDC Provides Guidance on Ventilation in Buildings
Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched a webpage providing guidance on ventilation in buildings to reduce COVID-19 exposure indoors. The CDC provides recommendations on what heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) strategies employers should use to lower the risk of exposure to COVID-19 throughout the workplace. One of the recommendations is...
January 18, 2021
5 Mental Health Employee Benefits Trends for 2021
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans have reported increases in anxiety, depression and thoughts of suicide. The toll that the pandemic takes on mental health increases daily. Before the pandemic, 5% of employed workers reported poor or very poor mental health. Now, 18% of employed workers struggle with mental health issues. The COVID-19...
January 7, 2021
Embracing the Changes in Captive Insurance
As the world heads into another uncertain few months, risk managers are expecting a challenging time at their upcoming insurance and reinsurance renewals. Many are considering expanding the use of existing captives or setting up new ones to mitigate the effects of a changing insurance market, as well as their own shifting risk profiles. Even before the...
December 9, 2020
The Pandemic Has Demanded More Of Property Managers Than Ever Before
The economic distress caused by the coronavirus pandemic has largely spared the property management industry, but the safety issues the disease presents have placed a heavy burden on its workers. Property management companies haven’t experienced any major layoffs, but the average workload for employees in every part of the business has risen significantly, multiple sources told Bisnow. From...
December 8, 2020
The Continued Impact of COVID-19 on Workers’ Comp
The COVID-19 pandemic has been with us for over nine months now, with no end in sight. During this time, we conducted several Out Front Ideas COVID-19 Briefing webinars and The Path Forward virtual conference. These educational events were designed to provide risk managers and others in the industry with a better understanding of how COVID-19 was...