New Coverages Enhance ISO's Crime Insurance Program

January 1, 2011 / 2 min read

NEW YORK, August 9, 1999 – Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO) has expanded its crime insurance coverage program with enhancements that protect businesses and government entities against employee theft, burglary, and other workplace crimes.

The program has also been made easier for insurers, insurance agents, and their customers to use and understand.

The new ISO coverages, filed with state insurance regulators for approval, are expected to become effective for insurers' use in mid-2000.

The enhancements extend the coverage provided by ISO's program to include losses caused by the insured's employees, such as employee theft of money, securities, and other property of the insured; and theft of clients' property on the clients' premises.

Also available, for the first time in the ISO program, is coverage for additional perils, including:

Forgery or alteration of negotiable instruments;
Loss through transferring money and securities via fraudulent telephone or fax instructions; and
Extortion threats targeting the insured's property.

"Crimes by employees in the U.S. workplace don't always grab headlines, but they are a major cause of loss for American businesses of all sizes," said Domenick J. Yezzi, Jr., ISO vice president - specialty commercial lines.

"ISO's new employee theft coverage gives insurers and agents a powerful product to sell to businesses that need protection from the dishonest acts of their employees," Yezzi added.

According to a study by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, American organizations lose more than $400 billion to employee fraud and other workplace crimes – ranging from theft of money and property to counterfeit documents and securities, computer fraud, and fraudulent financial transactions. "It's more than likely that the actual amount is much higher than reported because most employee theft goes undetected, and even when exposed, organizations are leery of adverse publicity about their inadequate internal controls," Yezzi noted.

The new ISO coverages will be offered as part of two new "master" coverage forms used when providing coverage to commercial and government entities through a commercial package policy. In addition to the new coverage forms, ISO has developed self-contained policy forms for insurers that provide crime and fidelity coverages outside of the commercial package program.

For more information on ISO's crime and fidelity coverages, call ISO Customer Service at 1-800-888-4476 or e-mail at info@iso.com.

Release: Immediate

Contacts:
Giuseppe Barone / Erica Helton
MWW Group (for ISO)
201-507-9500
gbarone@mww.com / ehelton@mww.com