Category Archives: Vlogs

Metropolitan Risk Advisory’s Insurance Brokerage and Risk Management Vlogs and Video Series Content.

Cyber Liability Insurance, General Liability Insurance, HR Challenges, Risk Management, Vlogs

Our SIM-Hacking Prevention Guide

We recently wrote a piece about what SIM-Hacking or SIM-Swapping is. Click this link here to read it. We’re following up on that article with a quick guide to preventing SIM-hacking. We’re not here to re-explain what SIM-hacking is, we’re here to talk about how to protect yourself from risk.


If you agree with us that SIM-Swapping is a potential problem & you want to protect yourself from cybercriminals, then this guide can help you protect your accounts from cybercriminals.

 

1. Make a list of the important stuff that would pain you if you were hacked.

Here are a few accounts to start with.  Your list of accounts to protect may grow longer but these accounts would be the most problematic.

  • Work Email/ Work Google Account
  • Bank Account for Work or Personal
  • Organizational/Workplace Databases
  • Social Media Accounts (Facebook, Linkedin & Vimeo)

2. Understand how each account lets you recover/reset your password.

In this case, each one uses 2-step verification. The first factor is typically the primary email address you used to set up the account. The second factor is your mobile phone number (text messaging). I suggest testing each account above to have them bring you through the steps of a password reset. The ones that send a text message to your mobile phone are the ones that are most vulnerable to SIM-HACKING as that is the purpose.

These are the accounts we are going to lock down in the next few steps.

 


How To Protect Yourself From SIM-Hackers

At Metropolitan Risk, we purchased a YUBIKEY, which is a small piece of hardware that replaces the text message/cellphone as a second level authenticator. Google offers a similar product known as the Titan Security Key. We opted to use a security key because you must have the key in your physical possession and you must confirm to the hardware that you are a human being. These security keys require human touch to confirm and cycle the key on. If you don’t like the idea of a separate piece of software, there are some apps on your cellphone called Authenticators that can do similar things.

We opted for a separate piece of hardware to the cellphone as a 2nd step in the 2-Step Verification. We do use an authenticator as a 3rd level authentication process in the event we lost the YUBIKEY hardware. 

 

1. If you’ve purchased a YUBIKEY, your next task is to log into the accounts you are concerned about & research the multi-step authentication process for password recovery.

    • This is the most time-consuming part of the process as each account can have different methods & steps to execute this piece.
      For Example,  you are telling Google not to send a text message to your cellular phone. Instead, you are telling Google to look for your YUBIKEY as the primary authentication.

NOTE: that if your organization manages your email account, that you speak with your admin. As our google account administrator, I’ve turned on 2-step verification to allow my staff to use yubikey. My staff would not have been able to set this up without admin approval. CLICK HERE for a quick guide for Google as an example on how to execute 2 step authentication as an example.

2. Once you follow the instructions for linking your account with the YubiKey you can select “trust this device”. This way you won’t need to use the YubiKey every time you log into an account because the software recognizes your device AND it has been properly authenticated.

What Happens if I lose my YubiKey?

 In all the accounts you set up with the Yubikey make sure there is a 3rd way to authenticate in case the YubiKey isn’t available for some reason. This gives you an additional way to access your account and prevents you from getting locked out of say your google account. In our case, we use Google Authenticator as the 3rd option in case the Yubikey is damaged or otherwise unavailable. 

Call me paranoid, or maybe just a Risk Advisor… same thing. I purchased a TILE which is essentially a very small chip that allows me to always locate whatever the chip is attached to. I have one for my wallet, one for my keys and one for my backpack. You download an app onto your cell phone. The cell phone app communicates with the tile which is attached to your keychain/YubiKey and voilà, keys found. It can also reverse and help you find your cellphone by making it ring if you press a button, even when the sound is on mute for the phone.

Help and More

At this point, I’m feeling better about my personal situation.

The 2-step verification ensures that the person accessing your account on a new device is you. Remember, once a hacker obtains your user name and password, they try to access your account from devices that are not recognized by the site or software. The software is trying to figure out if it is really you on a completely different account or a hacker. If the hacker has some way to authenticate their device to trick your software that it is you behind the device, they aren’t getting in.

Last point, just like in the physical world. If they really want to steal your car…gone. By locking down your digital life and making it a bit more difficult, the hackers usually move on to easier prey. Then, there is no shortage of easy prey out there. 

We hope you found this helpful. There are a ton of resources online to execute this tactic to lock down your accounts and your life. Our goal was simply to make you aware of the SIM-Hacking. At least get you to start the process of locking down your very vulnerable digital life. 

Still have questions? Still want more info? Contact a risk advisor today OR visit our website here.

Commercial Auto, Human Services Practice Group Content, Risk Management, Vlogs

Auto Exposure in Home Healthcare Organizations

Many Human Services and Healthcare organizations rely on their staff to visit client homes, facilities, and provide transportation for clients.  A strong set of controls paired with the appropriate insurance coverage can significantly lower an organization’s cost of risk as it relates to auto exposure. Setting up the right controls is largely what will determine an organization’s cost of risk. Insurance coverage is the simplest part.

 

Prevention of scenarios with the right systems in place:

 

Scenario 1: A Non Profit checks Motor Vehicle Reports (MVRs) upon hire and even annually. An employee transporting clients causes a severe accident with another vehicle. Since the last MVR run was clean, they are found to have a suspended license. This is due to repeated reckless driving and speeding violations.

Coverage Response: The carrier pushes back citing it is the employer’s responsibility to know the status of the driver’s record and take preventative action.  The claim is denied by the carrier. Then, the Non Profit assumes full responsibility for the cost of the injured claimant in the other vehicle, the injured clients, and the physical damage to the vehicles. The damages

Preventative Solution: There are vendors who can provide Automated MVR updates any time there is an event on a driver record, allowing the employer to take immediate action.  Tie the Automated MVR update system to MVR grading criteria and a Progressive Discipline Policy within a well-defined Drivers Agreement. This is to hold drivers accountable and encourage safe driving.

Scenario 2: A Home Health Care Agency declines Hired and Non Owned Auto Coverage and does not require employees to maintain a minimum personal auto limit.  The Agency’s driving exposure includes personal vehicle use:

  • Nurse Supervisors driving to client homes & facilities
  • Aides running errands and providing transportation for clients to Dr.’s appointments

An Aide maintains the statutory minimum insurance requirement, transports a client and causes an accident with another vehicle.  The aide totals the other vehicle. The other driver and the client sustain injuries and sue the aide for $100,000 each.

Coverage Response: The statutory limit provides a maximum of $50,000 bodily injury liability to all persons and $10,000 to property, meaning the Agency is responsible for $75,000 to both the other driver and the client as well as value of the vehicle less the $10,000 from the aide’s policy. As Hired and Non Owned Auto isn’t in place, this is uninsured loss the Agency would pay out of pocket.

Preventative Solution: The Agency should require a minimum limit for personal auto coverage to form a Primary Layer before the business insurance needs to respond.  We recommend a $300,000 limit. Further, proof of coverage and payment should be collected annually. Purchase Hired and non owned auto with a $1,000,000 CSL AND included in an Umbrella.

 

Commercial Auto, Commercial Property, Construction Practice Group Content, Directors & Officers, Food & Beverage Practice Group Content, General Liability Insurance, Human Services Practice Group Content, Line of Insurance, Transportation Practice Group Content, Vlogs, Workers Compensation Insurance, Workers Compensation Premium Audits

Commercial Insurance 101: An Introduction to Insurance

Commercial Insurance is one of those things that every company has but not every company understands. In some cases, a person is chosen to be put in charge of the insurance buying process and this person is usually an HR person who has a very little understanding of what goes into the insurance buying process.

 

To recap the video, commercial insurance is essentially when a person, business, or group of people transfer a risk that could cost money in damages to an insurance carrier. To transfer the risk, the business will pay a flat fee – a premium – that changes in cost every year based on the previous year’s claims. There are also difference types of insurance as well, including workers compensation for worker injuries on the job. There is also auto liability, general liability, property damages, and others.

 

The one part of insurance many do not understand is: Why do carriers agree to this? The damages may be 10x the insurance premium. It turns out that out of the hundreds of millions of premium policies carriers write every year, they will lose money on only a very small fraction of them. When insureds (those buying insurance) pool their risk into a small group of carriers, many of them pay for a premium. However, much of the time it turns out that their were no damages or claims to need compensation. That does not mean they should not pay for insurance the next year. Insurance is for the protection against the unpredictable. A driver with a perfectly clean record can skid on ice one day. Those damages can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Learn about the different types of commercial insurance and the role it plays inside of your business. This is just a starting point to learn some of the basics of commercial insurance.

 

Still have questions? Call one of our risk advisors today at 914-357-8444. Or, visit our website here.

 

Employers Practice Liability Insurance, General Liability Insurance, Human Services Practice Group Content, Vlogs, Workers Compensation Insurance

Workers Comp Claim: How To Prevent Hiring Your Next One

Did you know that MOST workers comp challenges originate from the moment you send that offer of employment letter out?

 

If you didn’t, you are not alone. When you hire a new employee, you inherit their ENTIRE medical history! Your competition has turned this hiring process into their competitive advantage over you. Learn what tools you have to insulate yourself from your next Workers Comp claim and ensure you’re hiring folks that YOU KNOW can do the job…

 

This video takes you through the hiring process, the laws, regulations, and other small but important facets of hiring employees you may have not known before. Then, we’ll tell you how you can deal with these issues. Obviously, hiring a professionally trained team to teach, inform, and place different safety mechanisms within your hiring system is costly but the best option available. Metropolitan Risk is one of those teams. We deal with these issues on a standard basis, as it is one of our main points of business with small companies.

 

If you have questions about how to prevent hiring your next workers comp claim, you can contact one of our professional risk advisors at 914-357-8444. Or, you can click here to visit our website with more information and blogs.

Line of Insurance, Vlogs

Buying Insurance Is A Flawed Process

Frustrated by the commercial insurance renewal process… 

Every year commercial insurance buyers dread going into “renewal season” attempting to try and get the best pricing for their insurance program. The entire process is flawed, as shown here by another great article.

They receive their quotes at the last minute, asked to make a six-figure purchasing decision usually within 48 hours. That decision is nearly impossible to make correctly! Making the entire process flawed.

In this quick video see why this strategy fails far more than it succeeds. Over the long run, smart companies have figured out a way to drop their program renewal costs 30% more than their average competitors and keep it there year over year giving them a competitive advantage.

 

Renewing your insurance should not be the hassle that it currently is. It should be another cog in a smooth-running field where different groups exchange goods and services seamlessly in the private sector. Our video and other articles help make the process feel more like the latter.

 

Still have questions? You can contact a risk advisor at metropolitan Risk at 914-357-8444. Or you can click here for for our website. We have hundreds of different articles that can help answer other necessary insurance questions.

Risk Financing, Risk Management, Vlogs

MisAligned Goals

Commercial Insurance Is Essentially A Very Expensive Credit Line In Reverse… 

Have you ever missed a payment on a Visa card only to watch your interest rate double because of that simple mistake? Misaligned goals are common and, unfortunately, costly. This happens all the time, and currently there is no way to take back that simple mistake. Like an offense, it stays on the record wherever you go, meaning being proactive and anticipating mistakes like this can be crucial to narrowing costs regardless of the amount of claims filed.

Find out how the commercial insurance marketplace works the same way. Why their goals and your goals are misaligned, trapping the commercial insurance buyer in a cycle of escalating premium increases.

Knowing their playbook helps you adjust your game plan to beat them and your competition. While your goals will never be aligned and on the same page, understanding their objective better will help navigate yourself to your own objectives: lower claims, lower premiums, less costs in general.

 

Still confused? Still have questions? We are here to help. That is, after all, our job!

 

Contact one of our professional risk advisors right now at 914-357-8444 or visit us at our website here.

Construction Practice Group Content, General Liability Insurance, Risk Management, Vlogs

Construction Liability Insurance: Why Loss Pics Are Important

There is a secret to knowing your construction liability insurance renewal pricing months early.

What if we told you that you could predict within a reasonable variance how much your construction liability insurance pricing will change at your renewal? Crazy helpful huh? Well, look no more for a solution to your problem.

If you do not have proper CLI and you are a contractor in construction, get a good policy right now! Here is a great article on why it is so important to have.

It’s a simple calculation that the commercial insurance marketplace uses to determine your insurance renewal pricing. CLICK HERE to get an idea if your construction liability insurance pricing will increase or decrease!

Usually, the calculation uses different formulas and algorithms that take into account previous losses, claim numbers, payroll amounts, location, etc. to figure out how much your company will lose this year and in the future. All of this is to figure out a new renewal price for your insurance policy that seems to be based on this amount of losses so that the insurance company ends up green for the year.

Still confused? Still have questions regarding this type of insurance? You can contact a professional risk advisor today at 914-357-8444. Or, you can visit our website for more information here.

Line of Insurance, Risk Management, Vlogs

Do Insurance Carriers Know Too Much?

Do Commercial Insurance Carriers Know Too Much?

It wasn’t too long ago when the worst run companies thought they could escape their poor claims results by shutting down and starting another company to try an outrun their loss history and insurance past.

How about the construction company who thought they would be slick. They tell the insurance company they were carpenters instead of roofers to get the lower rate.

Unfortunately, as clever as companies trying to save a buck think they are, large insurance carriers are 100 times better run and always thinking three steps ahead. Insurance carriers are always on top of companies they are insuring. They are constantly investigating claims, asking for updates, and sending their own consultants,. This video can show you not how to get away with fraudulent claims but to show you how every single one of your “Ferris Buellers Day Off” schemes has already been dealt with 1,000 times with the same insurance carrier. Unlike your company, they deal with other companies every single day.


The game has changed folks. In this quick little video, we share the why and how. Being forewarned allows you to be prepared.

 

Still, have questions? You can contact one of our professional risk advisors right now at 914-357-8444. Or, you can visit our website here.

Claims Management, HR Challenges, Other, Risk Management, Vlogs

Workers Comp Questions and Advice

There are 3 questions every organization should put to each level within their organization to get a sense for how aligned they are as it relates to managing employee injuries, near misses and workers comp claims in general. Doing so will open up plenty of different conversation with your employees regarding their answers. Hence, why these questions must be asked. The more you understand may be a hard pill to swallow, but it usually allows for progress within the company and potentially will help lower claims and in turn, lower premiums.

When it comes to insurance claims and workers comp injuries, Mark Twain’s famous quote jumps to the fore:

” It’s not what we don’t know that hurts us…it’s what we think we absolutely know that kills us.”

Executives, HR reps, and senior management are almost always shocked when they poll the employees of their company and ask these 3 crucial questions. Though fairly straightforward, the answers they receive usually are not. The video will go through the questions, what you might expect, what the answer usually is, and how you deal with this new batch of information.

This brief video should give you some pause. We suggest you poll your own employees as soon as possible. You might be shocked at what you discover from their answers.

 

Do you have questions about any of the content in the video? Contact one of our professional risk advisors at 914-357-8444. Or, visit our website for more information here. We are always here to help.