NVCA Blogging About TechAssure
Check out this blog post from Janice Mawson, VP of Membership & Member Firm Liaison of the NVCA!
As a TechAssure member we are here to serve the Technology and VC community for all your insurance and risk management needs. Contact us for more information.
Should you add Additional Insureds?
The entry below is featured in this month’s TechAssure Newsletter.
Contributed by Noel Bertman
Chubb Group of Insurance Companies
Risk managers, CFOs and CEOs are routinely asked by their clients to obtain additional insured status under their liability policies. Too often, this request is agreed to and passed through to the insurance company without thought of the consequences to your company.
Some points to consider before you act on the next request:
- Limits of Insurance
Have all considerations been undertaken to ensure that you are not giving away the coverage you’ve purchased for your own defense? Many insurance policies will defend and indemnify your client if you agreed to do so in a written contract. The money spent on defending your client could potentially be reducing your liability limits (in policies where defense expenses reduce the limits). By accepting only the liability for exposure within your control, you can retain the most value from the coverage for yourself. An example might be limiting status to financial interest only. - Reporting
Some policies have provisions that all insureds (includes additional insureds) have the duty to report claims in a timely manner to the insurance carrier. For example, can the additional insured prejudice my coverage by untimely reporting? - Separation of Insured Provision
If your policy contains this coverage, you may be allowing the additional insured (your client) to use your own policy to bring suit against you. - Blanket Additional Insured Wording
Most contracts require you to indemnify and hold your client harmless. Many blanket additional insured provisions are very generic, and can apply to many different situations.
Therefore, you need to make sure that the additional insured provision is tailored to comply with your contract. It is always best to review the additional insured provision and ask yourself, “Are there limitations in the policy regarding retention of defense counsel and control of a suit that require certain pre-loss agreement that is not in the contract?”
Earthquake Preparedness
It seems of late that places all over the world are moving and shaking and yesterday’s 7.2 earthquake in Mexico was a little too close to our own backyards for comfort. Being in one of the most active areas of the country for earthquakes, we wanted to take a moment to address this important subject.
While homeowners insurers are required to offer earthquake insurance every couple years, commercial insurers have no such duty. Commercial earthquake insurance is costly in California and the Pacific Northwest and, for many of our clients, the deductible you would have on a policy would be as high if not higher than the value of your property.
While we are happy to provide quotes for earthquake insurance if you should wish to analyze the coverage in relation to the costs, you should look first and foremost toward risk mitigation to avoid the potential for serious losses following an earthquake.
There are companies in California that sell EQ safety products, such as fasteners for securing large pieces of furniture and equipment. One such company is Q-Safety products in Southern California. The vast array of products for office and home are intended to protect your property from damage, as well as your staff from injury due to falling objects .
We encourage all our clients and blog readers to embrace a pro-active, risk mitigation plan and do whatever is possible to prevent loss that at this point is not insured. For most companies, the costs involved to secure your property via products available are most certainly going to be less than purchasing an insurance policy.
The protection of your assets and safety of your employees is important to us. If you have any questions or wish to discuss earthquake disaster planning in greater detail, please contact us. We are here to serve you.
CSI January Retreat
CSI just finished another successful January retreat last Friday. It was held at the Lodge at Tiburon in Marin County. Our fabulous team gathered for a day of programming that included presentations from different deparments in the company, coupled with discussions about The No Complaining Rule by Jon Gordon. Here are a few pictures from our day:
What is TechAssure?
CSI became a member of TechAssure in early 2008. TechAssure Association, Inc., is a non-profit organization founded in 2001 for insurance and risk management professionals dedicated to serving clients in the Technology, Life Sciences, Digital Media, and Venture Capital industries. TechAssure is also endorsed as the recommended insurance broker for the National Venture Capital Association.
Check out this video featuring John Love, the President of TechAssure
Welcome to the CSI Venture Capital Blog
At CSI we are very excited to begin blogging on insurance and risk management topics that will provide our clients and visitors useful information. Our company values revolve around character, because the definition of character is who you are when no one is looking. Thanks to technology and our desire to be a contributing member to the social networking world, we look forward to being a consistently informative resource that is able to reach you via the convienence of the Internet. As our clients and blog readers we hope you’ll find our entries relevant and valuable. We look forward to your comments and interaction. Our goal is to be leaders that serve.