As the saying goes, the only constant is change. While businesses may have been able to get away with only needing regular liability insurance a few decades ago, the internet has brought new problems business owners must be prepared to deal with. Here are two types of business insurance you should consider getting to help protect your company from modern-day threats.
Cyber Liability Insurance
If your company conducts any type of business online or has a system that uses a network of any kind that could be accessed by people outside the company, then you need cyber liability insurance. Data breaches is one of the biggest threats companies face in today's interconnected world. There were 454 data breaches in 2016 alone that resulted in the exposure of 12.7 million records. Not only can valuable information be stolen from your systems by hackers, a breach puts your company at risk of being sued by any users whose information was stolen.
Basic liability insurance may cover some of the financial damage caused by the breach, such as the actual lawsuits from affected users. However, cyber liability insurance goes a step further and also typically covers property losses, the costs associated with defending legal claims from state regulators, penalties and fines that may be assessed, cyber extortion, computer fraud, data loss, and business interruption among other things. Since the average loss lands between $52,000 and $87,000 per 1,000 records, the more customers you have, the bigger your need for this type of insurance.
Media Liability Insurance
Another type of policy that may be appropriate for your business is media liability insurance. This is a type of errors and omissions insurance that covers dangers you may face when using or producing images, articles, videos, reports, and other types of media. The perils covered by media liability insurance include accusations of copyright infringement, plagiarism, defamation, and invasion of privacy.
While this type of insurance is most appropriate for media-related firms such as publishers and news organizations, any business can benefit from adding this rider to their existing errors and omissions policy because any company can face these types of lawsuits. The policy typically also covers both online and offline content, so it's a good investment even if you do very little work online.
For more information about these policies or assistance putting together an insurance package for your company's specific needs, contact a business insurance company like Knepper Insurance Group or broker in your area.
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