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GEICO & Allstate Raising Insurance Premiums

Insurance industry giants GEICO & Allstate are raising their premiums in 2015. GEICO will boost auto premiums due to underwriting results a decline in the 1st quarter of this year. A GEICO representative stated that the company experienced increases in the frequency & severity of claims. In it’s most recent SEC filing the company said, “As a result, we are implementing premium rate increases as needed”. Another one of the largest home/auto insurance carriers Allstate are also raising their premiums despite first quarter profits grew 13%, auto coverage plunged 48%. Chief Executive Officer Tom Wilson was quoted saying, “There are more accidents now over the last couple of years than there have been because economic activity has gone up and more people are driving. We and other people have been raising our rates to account for that.” For more detailed information & statistics about the premium increases please read article from insurancejournal.com
Please contact a Fidens Insurance Brokerage specialist today to discuss your home and auto insurance needs.
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Steps to Protect Your Company from Cyber-Breaches

Spear phishing, targeted attacks, zero-day exploits. No matter what you call them, these are the worst, most harmful cyber attacks out there, causing bankruptcy, loss of credibility, and other serious damage. While you might have state‑of‑the‑art protection, there are still some steps that you can take to ensure that you are as safe as can be.
  1. Train your employees. At the end of the day, you and your team are the last line of defense. No matter how good your security is, one employee can unintentionally bring down your entire network. It can be a simple phishing email or, more worrying, a targeted attack. Train your employees on cybersecurity, and give them the tools to protect themselves and your company. Online seminars, team activities, cyber-safety questionnaires, and many other tools are available to help you train your staff.
  2. Stay well informed. New attacks are discovered every day, but even worse, hackers keep developing new evasion techniques to bypass your security. While you might have a team of experts dedicated to security, or just one employee, make sure that you are up to date on industry news. There are many forums, blogs, websites, and newsletters that will keep you on your toes when it comes to cybersecurity innovations.
  3. Watch what you post on social media. Months before a targeted attack is deployed, a team of highly trained hackers plans and designs the attack. For an attack to be successful, it must cause a specific user to open the infected email message and click the attachment. You probably wouldn’t open an attachment if the email message said, “Dear friend, please look at these files.” Attackers understand this degree of caution and therefore meticulously gather information on their target to make sure that the person will open the attachment. Most of the information that attackers gather is from social media, such as Facebook and Twitter. Go over your friends list, and see how many of them are actually friends…
  4. Get those updates! A zero-day exploit focuses on a vulnerability in an application that allows an attacker to infiltrate your system and deploy malware. When a vendor realizes that the application has a vulnerability, the vendor will work on a patch to fix it. Then it’s your turn to update your software to the latest version so that the patch will be installed in your system and will neutralize the effects of the vulnerability. Updates increase your network’s protection.
  5. Choose the right tool for the job. You’ve spent so much money on your business, not counting the hours and hours that you put in to make it a success. Of course, when it came to protecting your network, you installed a state‑of‑the‑art firewall and numerous countermeasures. But did you put in the type of protection that is suitable for combating each kind of threat? Most companies know that they cannot rely on just a single or even dual security platform. Several tools must be combined to ensure complete protection. There are many threats out there, and you need to know which tool can keep you safe from which threat. A platform that specializes in antivirus protection most likely will not safeguard your company from targeted attacks and zero‑day exploits.
For more information on how to internally protect your organization, go to Votiro.com
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Fidens High-Value Home Insurance Services Expands Client-Base

Fidens newly appointed Director of Personal Lines, John Addonizio, successfully rolled out the brokerages high-end insurance services several months ago. This was a core aspect of Fidens strategic launch of its individual home & auto division two years ago with the goal of obtaining tailored, cost-effective coverages for every client.
The program has experienced great success and continues to expand its client-base. Most recently, Director John Addonizio was noted in properly insuring one of the most expensive condos ever sold in New Jersey for a markedly great price. To this end, Addonizio’s mantra resonates deeply within the principals of Fidens: “Whether it is for a renter’s policy, a starter home, a business/corporation, or multi-million dollar property you deserve representation that is looking out for your interest and not the insurance company that the agent may work for.”
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Chubb Launches Healthcare Industry Practice

Chubb has launched a new industry practice providing insurance coverage and risk management options to the healthcare marketplace. Chubb’s Healthcare Industry Practice will offer a range of insurance products and services for healthcare customers, including hospitals, physicians, long-term care facilities, managed care providers and other miscellaneous medical facilities and operations.
According to Caroline Clouser, executive vice president, Chubb Healthcare, “the integration of physicians, shifts in payment models, new medical treatments and technologies, changing regulations, and merger and acquisition (M&A) activity are driving healthcare transformation and are challenging the industry to find new and creative risk management strategies and coverage options to help protect itself against significant liability exposures.”
The Healthcare Industry Practice will be distributed through Chubb’s eight North American regions and will have a presence in 48 branch offices. Its suite of coverage options include:
  • Medical Professional Liability
  • Property, Builders’ Risk and Boiler & Machinery
  • Management Liability
  • Privacy & Network Security
  • Environmental
  • Surety
  • Alternative Risk Financing, such as Loss Portfolio Transfers
  • Heliport & Non-owned Aircraft
  • Accident & Health
  • ESIS- Risk Management Services and Third-Party Administrator
More information can be found here.