Company Literature

Dec 9, 2019

New York’s SHIELD Act

Following the path of California, New York has expanded its data privacy and compliance regulations by passing the Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security Act (“SHIELD Act”), which will go into effect March 21, 2020. The SHIELD Act will impose additional data security requirements on subject entities and will simultaneously broaden what is considered “Private Information” and what constitutes a “Breach.” The SHIELD Act will also expand what businesses the Act will apply to. Going forward, New York’s breach notification requirements will apply to any person or business that owns or licenses private information of a New York resident. The Act will help enrich the protections for New York residents and will extend additional data security requirements to businesses that do not maintain a physical presence within New York or a nexus to the state. The law previously only applied to those conducting business in New York.

Nov 6, 2019

Power Outage Checklist

What do you do when a power outage threatens? Your employees' safety is a top priority. See the following checklist See the checklist from Beecher Carlson's Loss Control Team for what to do before, during, and after a power outage.

Sep 25, 2019

Beecher Carlson Energy Practice Adds Industry Veteran Bob Carleton as Senior Vice President

Beecher Carlson Insurance Services, LLC (“Beecher Carlson”), a specialized large account insurance broker, announces the addition of Bob Carleton as Senior Vice President and Senior Account Executive. Bob will report to Geraldine Kerrigan, Executive Managing Director of Beecher Carlson’s Energy Practice. As a member of the practice’s service team, Carleton will work with energy clients as a lead broker and risk management consultant. He will additionally support the practice’s growing utility book of business. “Bob’s impressive tenure as an energy-focused risk management professional and insurance broker makes him a perfect fit for the Beecher Carlson Energy Practice,” states Erin Lynch, Energy Practice President. “His devotion to providing excellent service and knowledge in our sector will make him a great asset to both our team and our clients.” Carleton has extensive experience both as a risk manager and broker. He served as risk manager for a City Utilities of Springfield, Missouri, maintaining a strong risk management and loss control strategy, implementing insurer engineering recommendations, and improving insurance coverage. Bob later accepted a position as manager of risk insurance at NRG Energy, Inc., a Fortune 200 Independent Power Producer. He concentrated on renewable energy assets across the United States, managing several large claims and financings for an extremely intense asset development and acquisition program during his time with NRG. After NRG, Bob transitioned to the brokerage side, working as an energy account manager/producer for a large insurance and risk management consultant. Carleton has achieved the Associate of Risk Management and Associate of Enterprise Risk Management designations from AICPCU.

Sep 19, 2019

War Exclusion: Misconceptions about Cyber Coverage

In 2017, the NotPetya malware infected computers and servers across the globe, shutting down businesses and causing billions of dollars in damage. In response, President Trump issued a statement assigning blame to Russia designating the malware as an Act of Cyber Warfare. As businesses worked to recover, claims for damages and lost income began flooding the insurance market. Mondelez, the manufacturer of Cadbury Eggs, recently made headlines after a claim filed under their property policy was denied due to the property policy’s war exclusion. The denial has resulted in the spread of misinformation through articles such as “Big Companies Thought Insurance Covered a Cyberattack. They May Be Wrong” by The New York Times that fail to attribute the denied claim to the property market rather than the cyber market. Articles such as the aforementioned have sent ripples across the insurance world for companies who believe their cyber policy would not respond. When a cyberattack is blamed on a foreign government, many factors can impact coverage, including how the US government designates such an attack. To quote William Wright, partner and joint-head of cyber at Paragon International Insurance Brokers, “whilst it has promoted lively debate and much need language reform in the insurance market, Mondelez vs Zurich is at its core a very good reason for insureds to purchase stand-alone cyber insurance, where the intent and expectation of coverage is to pay claims emanating from pandemic, untargeted malware like NotPetya and Wannacry.” Insurance largely revolves around the word “intent.” When property policies were first written, the intent was not to cover mass cyber events such as NotPetya; therefore, it is not surprising to see the property market utilizing the war exclusion. The war exclusion, which is found in almost all commercial insurance lines, is meant to protect insurers from paying claims related to damages caused from war or war-like actions. To narrow the war exclusion in cyber policies, carriers may provide, for example an affirmative coverage grant for “cyber terrorism” or a “cyber terrorism” carve back to the war exclusion with the expected intention to provide coverage for mass non-targeted cyberattacks.

Sep 10, 2019

Beecher Carlson Announces Cyber Model Update

ATLANTA (September 10, 2019) – Beecher Carlson Insurance Services, LLC (“Beecher Carlson”), a specialized large account insurance broker, announced the addition of Advisen cyber loss data to enhance their proprietary CyberSelect™ In-Site Loss Model. CyberSelect™ is Beecher Carlson’s proprietary cyber liability and data breach response policy that offers one of the most comprehensive coverages on […]

Sep 4, 2019

Examining the Impact: D&O Risk Due to Cyber Breaches

Cyber breaches have always hit companies’ standalone cyber and property coverages in various ways. Until recently, D&O insurance has generally been shielded from the devastating effects of a breach; however, the massive securities class action and derivative settlements of Yahoo! and the current litigation against Equifax (and others) have changed this. A pattern of securities litigation resulting from the handling (or mishandling) of a data breach is currently emerging and becoming more prevalent.

Aug 29, 2019

California Emergency Regulation

The 2018 wildfire season was the deadliest and most destructive ever recorded in California, with more than 8,500 fires over an area of 1,800,000 acres. Air quality across the entire state was dramatically affected by these destructive wildfires. Although the 2019 fire season has been relatively quiet compared to prior years, the potential for fires increases in the latter half of the year as the Santa Ana winds strengthen. Wildfires expose populations to a number of environmental and health hazards. Particulate matter exposure is the primary public health threat from short-term exposure to wildfire smoke. The effects range from eye and respiratory tract irritation to more serious disorders including diminished lung function, bronchitis, aggravation of asthma, heart failure, and premature death. Even short-term exposure (days to weeks) can trigger a range of health problems ranging from burning eyes and a runny nose to aggravated chronic heart and lung diseases. Sensitive groups may be especially vulnerable to smoke exposure.

Aug 27, 2019

Beecher Carlson Expands National Healthcare Practice

ATLANTA (August 28, 2019) – Beecher Carlson Insurance Services, LLC (“Beecher Carlson”), a specialized large account insurance broker, announces the expansion of its National Healthcare Practice with the addition of industry veterans Shawn Smith, Kevin Junod, and Nick McKloskey. Smith will be located in Maitland, Florida, Junod will be located in Conshocken, PA, and McKloskey will be located in Atlanta, GA. Smith and Junod will report to Berni Bussell, National Healthcare Practice Leader. McKloskey will report to Ron Taylor, Senior Managing Director. “We are thrilled to welcome Shawn, Kevin, and Nick,” comments Berni Bussell, Beecher Carlson’s National Healthcare Practice Leader. “They not only bring valuable industry insight, expertise, and experience to our practice, but their creativity, resiliency, passion, and leadership are invaluable assets for our clients and our teammates.” Smith has also been appointed to Senior Managing Director - South Region Healthcare Leader. Prior to joining Beecher Carlson, Smith served as Senior Vice President and Healthcare Practice Leader – Florida with a global risk management and insurance brokerage company. He led and oversaw business development and client service for Florida healthcare clients and prospect. Over his 30-year career, Smith has specialized in delivering tailored solutions to healthcare clients. He holds a degree in Economics from Villanova University. With more than 30 years of experience, Junod has been appointed to Senior Managing Director - North Region Healthcare Leader. Skilled in insurance, risk management, and alternative risk, Junod provides innovative insurance and risk management solutions to clients in the healthcare, pharmacy, and manufacturing/services industries. He joined Beecher Carlson from a global insurance brokerage, where he served as Managing Director and Regional Healthcare Practice Leader. In this role he was responsible for leading business strategy and client services. Junod holds a BBA in Business / Risk Management and Insurance from Temple University. McKloskey has been appointed to Senior Vice President - Healthcare. McKloskey joins Beecher Carlson from a global insurer where he served as Regional Vice President of Distribution & Specialty Products responsible for the market management and regional execution of specialty products. With more than 15 years of experience, he specializes in regional, national, and key account management. McKloskey holds a BBA in Risk Management and Insurance from the University of Georgia.

Aug 27, 2019

Distracted Driving

Driving safely requires the driver’s full and undivided attention. Activities that divert attention from driving, including talking or texting on your phone, eating and drinking, talking to people in the vehicle, and fiddling with the radio and entertainment or navigation system impairs the driver’s ability to observe dynamic traffic and road conditions and react to […]

Popular Tags