While you may think your business would never fall victim to theft, the harsh reality is that nearly every business has some exposure to it. Thieves (including your employees) no longer need direct access to cash to steal from you—merchandise, supplies and securities are all fair game.

While standard commercial insurance policies may provide some protection from criminal acts, they often do not cover losses resulting from fraudulent activities. Crime insurance was developed to deal with the limitations of other policies and extend protection to include coverage for a wide variety of wrongdoing.

Crime insurance is designed to protect your business whether your employees steal from you, a third party commits robbery or theft, or you are robbed on the way to the bank.

• Are you a small to medium-sized business with limited resources to spend on security?
• Do you engage in cash, credit card, or check transactions?
• Do you hire part-time employees or volunteers?
• Do you have inventory, stocks, and products that can easily be used and carried out by employees?
• Can employees handle financial records and customer data?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then you could benefit from crime insurance.

• Your business
• Employees
• Acts of cyber crime and social engineering

It is likely that a number of your employees have access to company funds or financial information. In some cases, employees may abuse this access for personal gain. Crime insurance can protect organizations from the misuse or illegal transfer of funds.

Employees and outside actors can extort a company for funds by holding a director or officer hostage or through other illegal methods.

Goods in transit are particularly vulnerable to employee theft and, in some cases, organizations may not notice anything has been stolen until it is too late. What’s more, if the theft takes place outside of the organization’s premises, it can difficult to prove, often leading to drawn out and expensive legal battles.

In some cases, your employees have access to cheques that they can easily alter for their own gain. Effective crime insurance policies provide coverage for losses that result from the forgery or alteration of a cheque.

• Government seizures
• Loss of income
• Part-time employees who are not working on your premises
• Independent contractors
• Employees who have been caught previously committing a dishonest act
• Legal losses
• War

Your insurance cost depends on several factors:

• Number of employees
• Annual revenue
• Presence or lack of office security
• Presence of irreplaceable items on the office premises
• How well you know and trust your employees

The least expensive form of crime insurance is $1,000 per year. The cost increases depending on the coverage type.

Theft can be an uncomfortable issue, but it is imperative that you take the necessary measures to protect your business and your assets.

Contact CMB Insurance Brokers today to learn more about our coverage and theft protection solutions.