Technical Insurance Knowledge 22 September 2016

Whilst the press is full of stories of hacking and cyber crime, what is far less widely reported but no less common is the more “traditional” acts of crime that businesses can face on a daily basis.

Crimes like

  • Theft of money or property, by an employee or third party
  • Loss of client’s money or property you are responsible for, due to a criminal act by an employee or third party employee
  • Payroll crime, such as “the setting up of ghost employees”
  • Malicious damage to data
  • Telecoms & Utilities theft

Not only is this kind of crime still a constant threat, as more and more businesses move deeper into technology and they have more devices around it is also on the rise.

A 2014 report by the government showed that over 45,000 SME’s were burgled and nearly 70,000 had faced a theft by an employee.

One recent example was that of a highly trusted employee with over 30 years of service, stealing over £70,00 of stock to help fund his retirement. Whilst he was charged with theft the stock had gone and with no cover there was no way to recoup the loss.

Whilst the big players have in-depth systems and procedures in place that make it difficult for their staff or suppliers to commit workplace crime, the reality is that most business haven’t thought about it, don’t have the procedures and no cover in place should something happen.

Often it is the “it won’t happen to me” thought process. When we do talk to business owners about it we usually hear something along the lines of;

“I’ve got a good team, they’ve been with me for year and I trust them – they wouldn’t do it to me”

Which thankfully, is often the case, but then when something does happen it is doubly painful to feel let down by someone you trusted AND have no way to at least recover the financial loss.

Cover is often simple to set up and inexpensive and like all insurance the value of the peace of mind is often as important as the cover itself.   If you’d like to have a chat about what’s covered and how it might work for you just give Robin or Leonie a call on 01509 274000 and we can talk you through it.

Sadly whilst trust and loyalty is still there in the workplace we are seeing more and more examples of the less pleasant side of human nature. And as ever, it is better to be covered just in case.