A recent Portland Business Journal article reported that the slowing economy might bring a rise in commercial insurance rates. In truth I think it's too early to tell if insurance rates are going to increase in response to the current market conditions.  Just today the Oregonian reported that Oregon faces the bleakest job outlook since the 1980s recession, currently the unemployment rate is at 8.1 percent and economists say it will go higher. With all the negative news of low sales growth & employees being layed off one cost area of your Oregon business that you cannot risk more than you can afford to lose is with your business insurance.

In this uncertain time your business needs to be pro-active to not just consider what insurance broker will be the lowest bidder with your insurance program, but what broker and agent will understand your business and help you navigate the risks that your business might face. Achieving a lower insurance premium is a short sighted goal because sacrificing coverage for cost could end up costing your business more money in the long run. Don't risk more than your Oregon business can afford to lose.

The most effective way for your Oregon business to manage its insurance program is to receive an insurance review and get competitive bids from multiple insurance companies.  You can do this through an independent insurance broker and agent such as myself or you can contact direct writing insurance companies such as State Farm, Farmers, Allstate or others.

As I stated above the goal for your business insurance review should not just be who can provide my business with the lowest bid. Even at this moment in time as businesses are having a tough time with the effects of the current economic landscape price does play a role but it should not be the deciding factor with your insurance. When it comes to managing the risk of your Oregon business you need to make certain not just if you have enough coverage but do you have the right coverage in place.

To protect yourself and your business monitor these insurance coverage areas of your Oregon business:

• Property: When it comes to property insurance do you have the correct values in place to replace your commercial building or the contents owned by the business?
• General Liability: Proper maintenance of your business is a primary means of controlling a general liability loss.  Do you have the proper risk control measures in place?
• Product Liability: If your company makes its own products do you have an organized and documented product loss prevention program to limit your liability?
• Computers & Ecommerce: Determine what is your e-commerce risk? Outside of a direct ecommerce exposure some of the things you need to be concerned with is fraud, viruses, secuirty breaches, and other electronic hazards. Also do you have a plan in place to protect your business data and records? Of course your commercial insurance policy will provide coverage to help recoup the cost of recovering lost data but you will want to save yourself the pain in having computer data backed-up and stored if not off site virtually through the web.
• Business Interruption: Does your current business interuption coverage provide you enough normal operating expenses to keep your business going after a covered loss?
• Workers Compensation: Are you aware of the workplace hazards that exist to your employees? Are you improving the ergonomics of your business to reduce the possibility of injury and increase your businesses effifiency?
• Motor Vehicles: Do your employees drive their cars for company business? If this is the case your business needs to have coverage in place for accidents involving "non owned" autos. To reduce risks are you verifying driving records of potential employees?

Another area of insurance that you need to be aware of is that each year insurance companies go out of business, look at what is happening with AIG, one of the world's largest insurance companies that is having some very tough financial times. As a business owner the lesson you need to learn with the news surrounding AIG is that you don't want your insurance company to go out of business. If they go out of business your claim goes unpaid.

Take the time before your commercial insurance renewal and see if the credit rating of your insurance provider has been downgraded or is on any type of watchlist. Several organizations exist that monitor the financial condition of each insurance company. Some of these companies include AM Best Company, Standard & Poor's and Weiss Ratings.

When you decide to make a final decion on the insurance program for your Oregon business I recommend that you make your decision based on the following factors:

• Will the service level of your agent fit the needs of your business?
• Is the insurance coverage going to provide the protection your business needs?
• Are you paying a fair price for your insurance coverage?

If you have questions about your Oregon business insurance please contact me so I can provide you with a comprehensive review of your insurance program.

When I discuss with my clients the topic of earthquakes and earthquake insurance I always say it's not if it's when. Oregon has many fault zones but what will trigger the 'big one' will be when the Juan De Fuca Techtonic Plate collides with the North American Techtonic Plate causing what is called a subduction zone earthquake. If you want to get a better grasp on geology and understand the science around earthquakes click here.

The 1964 Alaska earthquake was a subduction zone earthquake. The estimated duration of that rupture was 4 minutes and aftershocks were recorded for up to a year! Do you think that your downtown office building or even your home would be able to survive 4 minutes of this intense energy? If you want to see some photos the damage and destruction of that earthquake click here.

After reading about California's The Great ShakeOut, the biggest public emergency drill in U.S. history, I wondered if Portland and other Oregon towns are ready to survive a catastrophic earthquake. Portland's take on The GreatShakeOut the drill would be the Neighborhood Emergency Team.

In the event of a major catastrophic event you can expect that our public safety services will be overwhelmed. The free classes that are offered through the Neighborhood Emergency Team are set up to help Portlanders prepare for natural disasters and give them a higher lvel of basic emergency response skills such as team organization, fire suppression & utility control, disaster medical operations, and urban search and rescue.

Damage to your home & commercial property caused by an earthquake is not covered by a standard homeowners or commercial insurance policy. A separate endorsement is needed to cover damage that is caused due to an earthquake. If you have questions about earthquake insurance or would like a earthquake insurance quote for your home or commercial property please give me a call for a review.

Today's Oregonian reported a woman embezzeling $10,000 from a deli where she worked. As a business owner you want to trust that your employees are honest, although as in this case there are employees who will steal. The first question that business owner will as is "does my business insurance cover this?"

Most business insurance policies will include Crime Insurance, which is also known as Fidelity Insurance. This type of business insurance coverage will provide you protection against a dishonest act by an employee in which your business might suffer a loss of money, securities, or property other than money and securities resulting from a crime.

Typical Crime insurance claims allege employee dishonesty, embezzlement, forgery or alteration, robbery, safe burglary, counterfeiting and other criminal acts. Claims usually fall into two types of categories:

1. Theft (Inside/Outside) this pays for money and securities taken by burglary, robbery, theft, disappearance and destruction. The crime can take place on your premises (inside) or away from your property (outside) at a bank or at a fundraiser, for example.
2. Employee dishonesty coverage pays for losses caused by dishonest acts of your employees or volunteers, such as embezzlement, forgery or theft.

What you should take with you from the business that suffered the loss in the Oregonian article that it is necessary to have controls in place to try and eliminate theft that might occur against your business. Here are a few suggestions:

• Do you have someone other than the person responsible for reconciling bank accounts either make deposits, make withdrawals, or sign checks? If not, your should.
• Is a countersignature of checks required? If so, what is the dual signing limit?
• Are all incoming checks stamped "for deposit only" immediately upon receipt?
• Is a physical count of inventory conducted at least annually?
• Are inventory records computerized?
• Do you perform any of the following on candidates for new employment:
  • Verification of prior employment
  • Drug testing
  • Education verification
  • Credit history
  • Criminal history

If you are uncertain if your policy has Crime Insurance coverage in place contact me for an insurance review of your business so we can help you eliminate from a loss due to employee dishonesty.

The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services announced that employers in Oregon will pay nearly 6 percent less on average workers compensation coverage in 2009 through SAIF Corporation.

The press release stated the following, "On average, Oregon employers can expect a 5.9 percent decrease in pure premium in 2009, but some employers will see rates go up and others may see no change. Specific cost changes vary from business to business, depending on the employer's industry, claims experience, workforce, and other factors." The pure premium rate is the base rate employers pay the insurance company for workers' compensation
coverage.

Click here to read the press release.

Click here to review questions about the workers compensation pure premium rate.

Click here to view Oregon Workers Compensation Facts.

The portion of your commercial insurance policy that provides coverage in a suit that might be brought against you due to your infringing upon another's copyright, trade dress or slogan in your "advertisement" would be the Personal & Advertising Injury limit on your commercial liability policy.

Be aware that this coverage has many exclusions one of which is if you have knowledge that that your act would violate the rights of another and inflict "personal & advertising injury" the company may deny providing you coverage.

Today's Oregonian features a story in which this coverage could possibly be used. Click here to read the story "Restaurant name sparks Portland suit".

A Commercial General Liability policy is going to have an exclusion for Pollution. For any business that has a pollution exposure with your operation you would want to have a specliaized coverage for pollution.

Today's Oregonian highlights such a situation where "milky wastewater" had reached a creek flowing next to his eastern Oregon plant. If this "milky wastewater" has caused any bodily injury or property damage you would want to make certain that you have a pollution policy in place to cover the loss for any bodily injury or property damage that was a result of the loss. Click here to read up on The Oregonian article about Smith Frozen Foods. Let's hope they have pollution coverage in place.

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