Not having coastal flood insurance in Florida is silly; not having coastal flood insurance in Miami is crazy. Miami's antiquated flood-control system was designed more than 60 years ago, before the area exploded with development and became one of America's largest cities. All it will take is one major storm surge from a hurricane to [...]
College students may not have a ton of valuables to insure, but expensive textbooks, laptops and other prize possessions can cost a lot to replace if something should happen to them. Fires, floods, and theft are all potential risks to property. In fact, the U.S. Department of Education estimates there were 31,851 campus burglaries in [...]
Beginning January 1, 2015, establishments located within Federal OSHA jurisdiction must comply with new, expanded recordkeeping requirements. Establishments located in states operating their own safety and health programs should contact the appropriate state authority to determine the start date for the new requirements. Under the new reporting requirements, employers must report the following to OSHA: [...]
Last Friday, Supervalu confirmed it's investigating a data breach affecting about 200 of its grocery and liquor stores. The breach also extends to store brands sold in 2013 to AB Acquisition LLC. In all, roughly 1,000 U.S. grocery stores are affected, with thieves potentially getting away with account numbers, expiration dates and cardholder names from [...]
There has been a lot of talk about how the minimum wage increase in states throughout the country will affect the restaurant business. Most recently, Seattle raised its minimum wage to the highest in the country, from $9.50 to $15 per hour. This has caused a great deal of concern specifically for franchised restaurants and [...]
Cyber security was once the sole responsibility of IT and not a business risk discussed in boardrooms across the country. But the landscape has significantly changed and cyber security is now a front-and-center issue for directors and officers across all industries, including the hospitality segment (hotels, resorts, restaurants) and real estate industry, among others. High-profile [...]
An insurance industry survey on hotel security by Advisen, a firm providing insight into underwriting, marketing and purchasing commercial insurance, highlights several important findings. The survey respondents included Chief Risk Managers/Head of Risk Management Departments (63%), the head of Hotel Security/Loss Prevention (25%), member of Risk Management Department (6%) and Environmental Health and Safety staff [...]
Cyber threats is on everyone’s mind – the government, large corporations, and mid- to small-sized businesses across many industries – and rightly so. Last year was the worst year for cyber threats so far, with 740 million data files potentially viewed or stolen worldwide, according to a report, “Records Exposed Hit New High in 2013, [...]
The third U.S. National Climate Assessment report was recently released along with an announcement by the Obama Administration of a series of executive actions to take place “to reduce carbon pollution, prepare the country for the impacts of climate change, and lead international efforts to address global climate change.” Regardless of one’s view in the [...]
The Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (TRIPRA) is set to expire on December 31, 2014 and Congress has yet to extend it, with on-going debates taking place in the Senate on how to proceed. The insurance industry and businesses, including those in the real estate and hotel industries, have been calling on Congress to [...]
