The Coyle Group

When is a good time to have a review of my insurance performed?

Insurance reviews are NOT a quoting exercise, but instead are a thorough analysis of the coverage terms and conditions you have compared to the risks you face. A review should provide you with insight into how well your insurance policies are structured and coordinated. A good time to have a review performed is just about any time during the policy term. The best time is going to be about 3 or 4 months before your expiration/renewal so you can evaluate making the changes needed and price them into your renewal program.

How can The Coyle Group help my business manage its risks?

For us, the process of managing risk starts with risk identification, and this is done through the evaluation of your loss history, a physical inspection of your premises or job sites, OSHA reports and conversations with leaders within your firm. Once we have identified the risks your business faces and the priority of those risks we can design a plan tailored to your specific needs. This can include safety documentation and communications, training, safety-culture awareness, fleet management, OSHA compliance, and more.

What are loss runs?

Loss runs are reports generated by your insurance companies that provide details as to the claims your company has incurred over a specific time frame; typically 3 to 5 years. Loss runs are needed in most cases for an insurance broker to quote your account because insurance-company underwriters will price your account based on your specific loss history. Have fewer claims than your peers and you’ll likely pay less for insurance. Have a greater number of claims or payouts and you’ll pay more than your peers for insurance.

What’s a BOP policy?

BOP stands for Business Owners Policy and it was created in the mid-1980s to help simplify business insurance for small businesses. A BOP often will include at least two coverage parts: property coverage and liability coverage. In addition to those core coverage parts a BOP policy will automatically include dozens of “fringe” coverages needed by most businesses and the ability to add other coverage parts like umbrella to one policy, and billed on one bill.

How do I prevent a data breach in my business?

Think of breach-prevention as a layered defense: keep every system patched and behind next-gen firewalls, enforce strong passwords with multi-factor authentication, encrypt sensitive data in transit and at rest, limit users to only the access they need, run continuous phishing awareness training, maintain offline or immutable backups you’ve actually tested, and document an incident-response plan so everyone knows what to do if alarms ever ring. Together, those steps slash both the odds and the impact of an attack, while signaling to cyber insurers that you take security (and premium savings) s

Is it difficult to switch insurance agents or companies?

No, for the most part if you decide to switch agents and/or insurance companies the process is pretty simple. It is advisable in most cases to make a change on the renewal date to avoid what is known as a “short-rate cancellation” penalty. Also, switching on a renewal date is cleaner and easier for everyone involved.

If I buy direct from an insurer and cut out the agent, do I save money?

When it comes to commercial insurance there are “direct insurers” where you can buy insurance and they claim that going direct will save you money. But the simple fact is that someone has to service your account, answer questions, issue certificates of insurance, handle changes, and give you advice. Whether that’s an agent or an employee there’s a cost to it, so it’s hard to say which is less expensive. But what we believe is that business insurance is not a “do it yourself” type experience and having an expert guide you on the right types of insurance and limits to purchase is valuable. Also,

Why do insurance agents need so much info to quote my policy?

This is a great question, because when you’re buying insurance, it may seem like there are endless questions and applications; especially if you’re looking for forms of insurance like D&O, Cyber, Employment Practice Liability Insurance and others. The basic reason we need to collect so much info is because underwriters need much of that info to make decisions on whether to issue a quote to you, and for determining the price of that quote. For most small-business BOP-type quotes we typically don’t need a lot of info to get the process started to offer you a proposal.