Here’s a piece of useless trivia for you. You know that old saying that something “isn’t worth the paper it’s written on”? The saying apparently originated back in 1861, when Count Johann Bernhard von Rechberg und Rothenlöwen (remember him?), an Austrian statesman, was presented with a document recognizing Italy as a nation-state, and first uttered
Crime or theft
New cyber-liability insurance coverage decisions from the federal courts
By Gene Killian on
Not long ago, there was a kerfuffle over the use of the term “OK, Boomer,” which I guess is a pejorative term aimed at my generation for being out-of-touch with the modern world. (See the Vox article here.) Truth be told, maybe we are out of touch, at least about some things. As someone…
Insurance Coverage for Employee Theft
By Gene Killian on
Sadly, it’s a scenario I’ve seen far too many times in the past 30 years of doing insurance coverage work. A trusted employee in the bookkeeping or accounting department isn’t properly supervised or audited, and begins siphoning off cash to support gambling debts, a drug habit, or expensive tastes. Sometimes, the employee starts taking cash…
Insurance Coverage for Premises Liability
I admit it, I admit it – I’m addicted to the TV show “Bar Rescue.” (When my daughter was about 12 years old, and my wife was out shopping for the day, we once binge-watched about six hours straight, which probably could get me into trouble with the child welfare authorities.) The idea…
The Illegal Acts Exclusion and “Entrustment” of Property
By Gene Killian on
There’s an excellent, but sad and haunting, nonfiction book written by Jeff Hobbs called “The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace.” It’s about a kid who grew up among poverty, gangs and tough guys in a rough section of Newark, but who was naturally gifted and ended up at Yale. Unfortunately, he couldn’t outrun…
Fidelity Bonds and Employee Fraud
By Gene Killian on
It’s amazing to me that Nigerian banker scams continue to appear in my inbox every now and then. After all these years, businesspeople apparently continue to fall for them. Click here for a pretty good fact sheet from the Australian government on how these scams work, and how to avoid them.
Recently, a Minnesota bank…
New Developments in Cyberliability Coverage
By Gene Killian on
If you’re a Rolling Stones fan, you may remember the (underrated) 1974 song, “Fingerprint File.” (You can hear it by clicking here…“Listenin’ to me/On your satellite.”) Who knew that, four decades ago, Mick and Keith could be so prescient about cybersnooping and leaks of sensitive data? Edward Snowden, Bradley Manning, NSA, Nigerian scammers…even British …
Crime Policies and Computer Fraud Coverage
By Gene Killian on
Can a first-party insurance policy ever provide coverage for third-party loss? Well…that depends on what the policy actually says, which goes back to the first rule of all coverage work: Read The Policy. (Corollary rule: Assumptions Are The Mother of All Foulups.)
Here are the facts from a very recent case decided by the U.S.