A commercial crime insurance plays an important role in the smooth functioning of business by covering its various assets against a series of acts of dishonesty, theft or fraud of the employee and third-parties. No matter, how trustful your employees are (or you think so!), it’s more the senior staff and your most reliable workers who are involved in fraudulent activities. And when they strike, they attack you not for once but again and again over a period of time.
Therefore, it is necessary to purchase commercial crime insurance to get complete coverage against your employees’ acts.
Commercial crime insurance safeguards in the event of a loss which are caused by certain fraud acts, like
- Theft of property or destruction
- Computer fraud
- Dishonesty or criminal acts committed by workers
- Burglary or robbery committed by third-party inside or outside the business premise
- Forgery of important documents
Unlike burglary insurance, which only covers the insured business against forced entry into the business premise, a commercial crime insurance doesn’t come with such restriction. It means the policy covers every type of robbery, regardless of its type. Further, the policy offers a specific coverage in the event when a business commits a fraud or dishonest act, which may cause loss to your business.
Read More: What is Commercial Crime Insurance Coverage?
Along with the above-listed provisions, commercial crime insurance also covers the insured business against all types of crimes committed by third-parties. Identity fraud, paper forgery, etc.; are some of the common losses which a company may suffer. It also includes depositors’ forgery coverage which includes losses incurred from instruments like cheques, which are fraudulently drawn on the policyholder’s account by the third-party. A commercial crime insurance covers them all.
Last but not the least, a commercial crime insurance can give you financial security in the event of a non-material loss which can’t be replaced, like records, business information, etc.; which have been stored on the stolen computer.
Here, it is important to note that, criminal acts committed by the policyholder, indirect losses from the criminal act along with those losses or damages which arise due to the destruction of property, loss of income, etc.; are usually not covered under commercial crime insurance.
As per your business requirement, it is feasible to expand your commercial crime insurance and get coverage for legal fees, data reconstruction costs, care custody, etc.; as well.
Remember, even though your employees have been with you for several years, it doesn’t guarantee that they will never betray you. It is essential to buy commercial crime insurance to get complete coverage in case any of the employees betrays you.
Case
Situated in Mumbai, R.J Engineering was backed with over 200 employees. Last year, the company got a huge contract of exporting engineering items worth Rs 1 crore to a buyer situated in Maldives. Considering the nature of the business, the workers started working in double shifts on machinery which was taken on rent.
Read More: What are the additional costs under commercial crime insurance?
One day, a worker named Ramesh was working night shift when during the break, he stole fifty packets of engineering items. As these packets were to form the part of the export order, the company had to work for three more extra days to complete the entire order. It was an additional cost which the company had to incur.
Luckily, R.J Engineering had a commercial crime insurance, and therefore, as soon as the theft came to light, the company approached its commercial crime insurance company for the claim settlement. The insurer appointed a surveyor who inspected the situation and found the claim to be valid. The insurer compensated R.J Engineering by paying additional costs which it had to incur to complete the order after the theft.
Without commercial crime insurance, R.J Engineering would have to incur all the expenses by itself. Thanks, to commercial crime insurance, R.J Engineering was able to curtail the losses to some extent.
