Professional Indemnity Insurance and Quality Risk Management Is Essential for SMEs

Gaining a competitive advantage can remain the major focus for SME professionals who protect themselves appropriately. Risk management can save a business a lot of hassle and finance, whereas professional indemnity (PI) cover can cushion the blow of the sometimes unavoidable issues and incidents.
Health and safety protocol, regular inspections, training programmes for staff - risk management can seem like a complex process. All managers need to consider risk management as a fundamental component to the day to day running of their business. If it is neglected, insurance premiums can rise and employers can be held liable for all kinds of claims - claims which are on the rise anyway.
The Insurance Times recommend brokers' assistance can help when placing cover. Brokers have experience in dealing with multiple organisations and therefore also have the ability to level SME risk management against similar, or even larger, companies across various industries.
Service providing organisations can only control so much of their business though and professional indemnity insurance can protect them from claims of negligence against their duty. A lot of these claims can be false but with the right cover, SMEs can stay focused on their business objective, rather than sparing more time and budget than they need to, going through the legalities of a claim.
If a customer or client believes they have incurred a loss or damage due to the negligence of another party, they are within their rights to claim. PI insurance should protect the accused, whether they are guilty of negligence or not, for any losses up to the settled insurance amount.
However, some policies come with limited cover and expensive excess payments. The positive side is that brokers are experts in the field of pi insurance and can take a bespoke order from a SME and find the right insurance package to match requests exactly. It saves time and is a great way to make sure that you get the exact coverage that you need and are appropriate for your circumstances and business concerns.
Different SMEs will have different vulnerabilities when it comes to legal action against them. Brokers specialise in finding heavily armoured PI insurance policies for all types of ventures, making it very difficult for plaintiffs to penetrate. Should an accuser make a legitimate claim, the broker-sourced policy will cover the legal expenses and save professionals from sacrificing their whole operation to deal with unfortunate and unexpected incidents.

Martyn Piper is an expert on professional indemnity insurance and after working within the industry for many years he now writes and shares some of that wealth of knowledge on a variety of insurance products such as pi insurance.

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Effective Ways to Reduce Workers' Compensation Claims and Related Costsf

Workers' compensation insurance safeguards the employees, injured in the course of employment. In many states of US, it is a mandatory policy and is required by every company with employees.
Despite of all the preventive measures, instances of workplace injuries are increasing every year, forcing the business owners to spend huge amounts on compensation claims. According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), nearly 3.1 million non-fatal workplace injuries and illnesses were reported among private industry employers in 2010.
Hence, it is necessary for every employer to implement effective safety measures, not only to reduce compensation claims, but also to improve workplace safety and employee security.
Employing a comprehensive program, tailored to suit the organization's specific needs and goals, helps the organization decrease the frequency as well as the severity of injuries at workplace. Following are few ways that can help you in establishing a risk free workplace, which further aid in reducing workers' compensation claims and related costs.
Implement risk controlling measures
Employees working in industries, manufacturing plants, construction sites, etc., are often prone to on-job injuries and accidents. Working with heavy equipment using hazardous material raises employee safety concerns. Hence, every employer needs to follow a series of steps to improve workplace safety. These steps include - risk identification, risk assessment and risk control.
• Risk identification is identifying the possible hazard/risk. A hazard is anything that could hurt the employee or any other third party. For example, damaged or frayed electric cables are potential sources of accidents at workplaces.
• Risk assessment involves finding of all the potential outcomes of identified risks/hazards and the seriousness of the damage they could cause. In the above mentioned example, frayed electric cables, the harm could be an electrical shock.
• Risk control is nothing but fixing the hazards. The employer should eliminate the hazard; if not, should at least try to make hazards less dangerous. Replacing the damaged electric cords with new ones is one of the risk control measures to avoid electrical shocks.
Risk controlling measures vary according to the nature of the vulnerabilities. However, effectiveness of any step lies in proper review and implementation of safety measures on a regular basis.
Provide safety training to the employees
The next best way to reduce workplace injuries is by emphasizing on-job safety during training. Provide safety training to all the employees about safe handling of equipment, possible risks in the workplace, company safety rules and procedures, emergency procedures (usage of fire extinguishers, etc.), importance of personal protective equipment required on the job, etc. This kind of training helps employees acquire all the skills and knowledge required to be safe in the job location.
For instance, if a worker's job involves working with sharp objects like broken glass, rusty metals, etc., his potential risks would be cuts and punctures on the skin. These risks could be avoided by providing hand gloves, and by offering an effective training on how to handle such things safely.
Be aware of the fraudulent claims
Insurance fraud occurs when the employees purposely provide some false information to receive the benefits of the claim. According to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, insurance fraud costs consumers, employers and insurance carriers at least $80 billion each and every year. Among which, worker's compensation insurance fraud alone accounts for a considerable percentage.
Use efficient software to track claim costs
Automating and tracking your workers' compensation claims process is another best way to reduce claim costs. Using effective claims management software eases your work as well as makes the process more accurate. With the help of such software you can instantly see all the expenses by the employee, type of injury, etc. It thus helps you save time and money besides taking control of your workers' compensation claims.
A comprehensive workers' compensation program always helps your organization do much more than simply saving the claim costs. It makes your workplace safer, secures employees and finally saves your organization from fraudulent claims.

JDi Data Corporation has provided insurance claims software since 1992. JDi Data offers web based workers compensation software and also claims systems for insurance claims departments, third party administrators and risk managers to administer property, casualty and general liability claims. JDi Data has built a reputation in quality claims management software with special emphasis on specialty lines and complex litigation.

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