Inside Job

Would you let someone into your home with permission to dig through your things without your direct supervision? People do it all the time with new housekeepers, construction workers, painters, etc. These people are usually recommended by friends or "reputable" companies, but the risk of theft still arises. 

Recently I've dealt with two situations. The first where someone was having some renovations completed and two of his jewelry items were stolen by the workers totaling about $22,000 (luckily one of the items was recovered). The second where this lady was very busy and was in desperate need of having her home cleaned before a large party. She didn't have time to supervise the cleaning lady she hired. A couple months later she realizes a significant amount of her jewelry is missing. 

You're probably thinking "But I'm smarter than that, I hire trustworthy people." Or better yet, "I'm home when they're working. What do I have to worry about?"

The truth of the matter is we have to depend on other people to help, but it's hard to be sure we can trust them. 

So how should you protect yourself? 

1) Hire from a recommended and backed service who does background checks on all their employees. 

2) Use referrals from close friends. 

3) Protect yourself with valuable articles coverage for your more expensive items that might be at home outside of your supervision. 

4) If you hire someone that is paid directly by you (an individual that does not work for a contract company or a cleaning company) make sure to do your research and reach out to your agent to see if you have employment practices liability coverage for domestics available to you. 

5) Always keep your valuables out of sight. 

6) Periodically spot check the work of the people coming to your home. 

Have you been victimized? What do you do to protect yourself? I want to hear from you!

The Risk Management and Agent/Broker Battle

So I recently had someone ask me if I had read any good articles about insurances agents thinking like risk managers. This really got me to thinking. After about a full hour of deep (Google) research I had come to the conclusion that it was up to me to put this together. 

Risk managers are typically used on the commercial side. It's an investment that a firm uses to lessen risk. They do this through the transfer, mitigation and avoidance of risk. So the question being posed to me of a personal lines agent thinking like a risk manager isn't something that I had consciously thought about. Subconsciously this is something I do on a daily, and even hourly, basis. 

The idea is that we should find the most cost effective, fully encompassing program that best meets the values and lifestyle of the client. The only way to do this is to have regular discussions with the client about how their assets and needs are changing. 

But what does this really mean? Every agent needs to be able to carefully listen for underlying themes and be creative. It's going to look different for every client, as it should. 

My best suggestions are

1) know the contracts of the companies you represent, inside and out. 

2) never be fearful to ask a client if they're happy with what you've put together for them. 

3) offer all possible options for a program. 

4) do your research before spitting out a yes or no answer. 

5) inform your client of the market, of the coverages they have and tell them what they're paying annually. 

6) learn as much as you can through continuing education classes. 

7) listen to your client. Don't provide them with the same program you give everyone, they don't want it and it's not good business. 

8) provide suggestions for ways that clients can completely avoid or mitigate risks. 

What are you're thoughts? How do you think like a risk manager? Maybe you're not even in the insurance field but there are certain things you do.