Seven Key Trends Affecting 2021’s Hard Insurance Market

Denise GillinInsurance, News

By James C. Drinkwater for PropertyCasualty360.com Around the one-year mark since the start of the pandemic, markets began to experience the lasting effects of the challenges presented to them in 2020. While I’m hopeful that there is light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel, we’ll likely see hardening market conditions persist throughout 2021. Some of the key trends and factors that marked the insurance industry over the past year or so include: Unpredictable natural disasters lead to a choppy property market in 2021 Lifestyle changes and emerging threats lead to dramatic shifts in cyber The ever-evolving cannabis / CBD industry means growing risks Excessive fee litigation is changing the fiduciary insurance market Opportunity in offshore wind infrastructure spurs a …

Trucking Companies: Insurance Renewal Questions

Denise GillinBusiness Insurance, Risk Management

By Tyson Keith for AssuredPartners.com The year of 2021 has already proven to be a record-breaking year for the trucking industry, as there are more active trucking companies now than ever before. According to the Trucking Register’s May 2021 report, there are 13,200 more active authorities than there were in April, which is nearly ten times the average monthly growth of the industry! This creates an issue for truck insurance carriers, as the industry is not equipped to handle the rapid growth. Underwriting companies rely heavily on retail agencies to vet each trucking company and give them the insight they need to properly underwrite each risk. With over 431,000 active trucking companies all renewing their insurance on an annual basis, …

Agribusiness: Reducing Incidents With a Safety Committee

Denise GillinAgribusiness, Risk Management

By Gina Ekstam for AssuredPartners.com A recent review of auto, liability, property, and workers’ compensation claims reported between April and June revealed a sharp rise in liability claims, costing agribusinesses millions. Property claims were the costliest, while workers’ compensation claims were the most frequent. It is no secret that safety is everyone’s responsibility. One way to instill a safety-first culture is with the creation of a safety committee. Click here to learn the four things most successful committees have in common>>>

Senior Living: Cyber Liability Insurance & Why You Need It

Denise GillinNews, Risk Management

By Ashley Wilson for AssuredPartners.com Technology has become an essential element to our everyday life. While the benefits are endless, it comes with a significant risk for many employers. Cyber-attacks are becoming increasingly popular as we become more dependent on technology. Unfortunately, the long-term care industry is not immune to these attacks. Like the rest of the world, the long-term care industry relies on technology for day-to-day operations such as data management systems, electronic health records, billing, and storing personally identifiable information, also referred to as PII. The availability of this information provides cybercriminals with a desirable target that is unknowingly putting long-term care providers at risk of a cyber-attack. Click for five ways to thwart cyber criminals from impeding …

Weekend Inspections Signal Tougher OSHA Approach

Denise GillinConstruction, News, Risk Management

By Angela Childers for BusinessInsurance.com After spending the past few months developing a COVID-19 emergency temporary standard, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has turned its attention to safety issues in the construction industry. In early June, OSHA announced that it would begin a “Weekend Work” enforcement program targeting construction sites on Saturdays and Sundays in a “proactive effort to identify hazardous worksites and to ensure workers end their shifts safely.” This effort specifically seeks to address potential fall protection violations — the most-cited OSHA violation for a decade — and trenching violations, which have also consistently been named by the agency as among the top construction violations. Read more here>>>

A group of people putting a jigsaw puzzle together.

Employee Benefits Strategic Partnership

Denise GillinHealth Benefits, News

Providing and managing a comprehensive employee benefits program is more complex – and more important – than ever before. Murray’s Benefits Team has always been focused on providing innovative technology, human resources support, and a commitment to service to help clients of all sizes maximize the value of their employee benefits investment. On July 1 we are taking our client commitment to the next level! Two premier Employee Benefit Teams are coming together under the AssuredPartners umbrella: Murray’s Employee Benefits Team and the former StoudtAdvisor’s Team, who has been part of AssuredPartners for nearly six years. Through this strategic partnership, we will work together at AP Lititz to form one of the largest and most experienced Employee Benefits Teams in …

Latest Trends in the Industrial Real Estate Sector Here to Stay

Denise GillinInsurance, Manufacturing, News

By John Dettleff, Senior Managing Director, Brokerage, JLL for AreaDevelopment.com The United States will need one billion square feet of industrial space over the next five years to keep up with e-commerce demand — one billion! Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, much attention has been paid to the future of office, but the industrial market is experiencing a similar tectonic shift. Prior to the onset of the coronavirus, the increase in online sales was driving growth in the industrial real estate sector. JLL found that nearly 35 percent of all industrial leasing was attributed to e-commerce pre-pandemic. After March 2020, as online sales experienced an explosion in growth, demand for distribution space skyrocketed, accounting for the majority of all industrial leasing …

Portrait of smiling healthcare workers in ward. Female doctor is showing paper while standing by coworkers in protective workwear. They are at hospital during COVID-19. (Portrait of smiling healthcare workers in ward. Female doctor is showing paper wh

OSHA’s Long-awaited ETS Only Applies to Health Care Workers

Denise GillinNews, Risk Management

By Louise Esola for BusinessInsurance.com The Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Thursday released the details of its long-awaited Emergency Temporary Standard, which it says will only apply to health care workers. The agency said it will follow up with separate guidance for workers in such sectors as manufacturing, meat and seafood processing, grocery and retail. The ETS, which has been submitted to the Office of the Federal Register, includes such requirements as sanitation, time off for illness or vaccinations, anti-retaliation measures, and personal protective equipment while working with COVID-19 patients. The guidance closely resembles rules issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Get more details>>>

Non-Profits and the Government Contracting Industry

Denise GillinInsurance

By Jeff Ramsey for AssuredPartners.com The federal government has determined that non-profits that hire people with disabilities take priority when it comes to products and services that are purchased for, or in service of, the federal government. We will focus on those contracts that fall under the jurisdiction of the Service Contract Act. Non-profit agencies or contractors must adhere to the requirements of the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act (SCA), where there is a fringe allocation for health and welfare benefits. SCA contracts pertain to contracts that perform jobs that fall into the service category. Examples of services that fall under the SCA include, but are not limited to: Custodial work Facilities maintenance Commissary shelf stocking Call centers Administrative service Document …

Major Meat Producer JBS USA Hit by Cyberattack

Denise GillinAgribusiness, News

By Rob McLean, Alexis Benveniste and Allie Malloy for CNN.com Major meat producer JBS USA suffered a cyberattack on Sunday. The attack affected servers supporting its IT systems in North America and Australia, the company said in a news release. “The company is not aware of any evidence at this time that any customer, supplier or employee data has been compromised or misused as a result of the situation,” JBS said. “Resolution of the incident will take time, which may delay certain transactions with customers and suppliers.” JBS USA is part of JBS Foods, which it says is one of the world’s largest food companies. It has operations in 15 countries and has customers in about 100 countries, according to …