ReleaseWire Connect

Most business owners know that the most common types of commercial insurance are property, liability and workers' compensation. In simple terms, this covers damages to indoor and outdoor properties, damages to third parties and on-the-job accidents or injuries to staff.

No matter the size of a company, all businesses need insurance. However, many of these firms are handling their coverage the old-fashioned way. These old-school scenarios may sound familiar: policies handled in separate systems from loss prevention and safety incidents, manual input that should be replaced with automation, information pulled from other companies or brokers via email or spreadsheets instead of a centralized data system, response to workplace problems after the fact instead of proactive planning and creation of policies that benefit the insurer and not the insured. At the most basic level, Insurance Journal estimates that 75% of businesses are flat out underinsured.

Henry Ford once said that "the best we can do is size up the chances, calculate the risks involved, estimate our ability to deal with them, and then make our plans with confidence." This wisdom translates to the corporate world, as well. Companies—no matter their size—are smart to follow this advice when searching for insurance solutions, which include alternative risk captives.

In the world of commercial insurance, creating provisions for safeguarding assets and preventing loss is non-negotiable. Any reputable company knows this. However, where many businesses fall short is how they build and deliver these programs. It can be the weak link in policy development. Ernst & Young recently reported that using IT effectively for risk management can be the biggest weakness for many companies.

In the energy and transportation industries, risk goes with the territory. To combat this problem, most companies need an adequate risk management plan, which takes time and resources. In the natural gas industry, for example, a whopping $6 billion is spent annually on safety programs. And a recent study from NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) reports the same findings in the towing industry, which has a "higher rate of work-related death and injury" in comparison to other industries.