Thursday, March 22, 2012

Insurance Journal Article on Cyber Liability

On March 5th, 2012 the Insurance Journal published an article called "What Insured's Should Know About Avoiding Cyber Liability Exposures".  It was written by Christopher Bomar of  Boomarang Data Backup.  In the article he brings up scenarios of possible insurance claims, where the gaps might be in covering such claims and how to avoid such gaps.  It is a well written article and even has a quote from one of Fey Insurance's very own, Brian Fey. 

Please take a look at the article as it does a great job of showing the current status of Cyber Liability needs, gaps and exposures.

Article: What Insured's Should Know about Avoiding Cyber Liability Exposures

Friday, March 16, 2012

Water Damage Claims

Water damage is one of the most common reasons people make claims on their home insurance. Ruptured pipes, faulty appliances and backed-up drains often lead policyholders to inspect their homeowner policy wording carefully.

Water damage coverage in the homeowner insurance policy is a confusing subject. Usually, the damage caused by water will be covered, but the item causing the loss, such as a leaky pipe or broken appliance hose, will not be covered. While your insurance company will pay for the damaged flooring from a ruptured appliance hose, it will be the policyholder’s responsibility to replace the bad hose. Parts and appliances wear out and it is not the intent of an insurance policy to cover wear and tear.
Flood, which occurs when a nearby tributary or body of water breaches its banks and flows into your home, is not covered under homeowner insurance. You must purchase flood insurance for that. You can purchase flood insurance as long as your community participates in the National Flood Insurance Program.

Friday, March 2, 2012

Radio Frequency Indetification Thefts

Credit cards are gradually moving away from the swipe and process cards to the wireless transfer of financial data. This make shopping lines move quicker but it does create a new kind of theft. The technology is called Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). All you do is hold a card near a RFID scanner and the data is transferred. The problem with this is that computer savvy criminals can create scanners that steal your financial data right off your credit card, even if it is still in your wallet. Credit card companies are becoming aware of this issue and have worked to solve the problem with on off switches on the card that are triggered when a finger presses the chip that is imbedded in the card. One other way to prevent scanning theft is to purchase a RFID protected wallet. For example the HuMn Wallet has material that doesn’t allow RFID scanners to scan cards in the wallet.
So be sure to take precaution if your new credit card has the RFID chip imbedded inside. Ask if you can have a card that has the on/off switch and if not look into purchasing a RFID protected wallet.