Parents of new drivers know what they are up against when they are faced with insurance rates, but the increased premiums can still be a bit of a shock. Because teen drivers are considered to be the most “at risk,” insurance rates are expensive. In fact, insuring a young male driver may boost an insurance bill by 92%, while a female driver of the same age will boost the bill about 67%.

Before You Insure, Talk With Your Teen

Your teen may assume that, as soon as she is licensed, she has the freedom to drive immediately and as freely as she wishes. Before you insure your teen, talk to her about your expectations, such as distraction-free driving or driving during daylight hours. Make it clear that if your expectations are not met, you can cancel insurance and revoke driving privileges or you can ask your teen to take some of the financial responsibility of the insurance premium. Given the hefty price tag, you will probably have a teen committed to safe driving. Make decisions that work for you and your family and stay firm with your expectations. Remember, your teen driver must be insured, even if she drives infrequently.

Holding Your Teen Accountable for Safety

If your teen agrees to drive safely and adhere to any of your driving rules, he will most likely have the best intentions of sticking to it, but teens are sometimes easy to persuade; the whole peer pressure thing is still alive and well, including when it comes to driving. Fortunately, there are apps and tracking devices to monitor the way your teen really drives. While you may feel like you are overstepping your grounds of trust, think of monitoring as added security. These apps/devices will not only encourage your teen to drive safely and keep him safe on the road, but may also get you an insurance discount from certain companies:

• Tracking Driving Habits With GPS: There are several relatively inexpensive products on the market that plug directly into the car’s diagnostic port and track driving habits. You can set particular speeds or perimeter limits, and if your teen driver exceeds the speed or goes “out of bounds” you will be notified via text or email. Being able to “see” the way your teen really drives can help you have constructive conversations about her driving choices and habits. There are also a few apps on the market that will do the same thing as the plug-in tracker.

• Prevent Texting and Driving: One thing that most teens will continually try to do is text and drive, regardless of the laws or safety concerns. Rather than struggling to take the phone away, install an app that will prevent your driver from texting while driving. This app must be turned on by the driver (so there is a level of responsibility and trust required), but once it’s working, the app will prevent the driver from seeing or hearing any incoming messages or calls.

Decreasing Insurance Rates Before 25

While insurance rates often decrease when the young driver turns 25, there are ways to have discounted insurance for your teen. Depending on your insurance, you may be able to receive a reduced rate if:

• Your Teen Gets Good Grades: Some insurance companies offer a discount if your teen driver maintains a certain GPA. This is just another incentive for your teen to try harder at school. The situation is basically a math problem: Good grades=Car privileges.

• Drive a Safer Car: Although a standard sedan may not be your teen’s dream car, if it’s got a good safety rating and airbags/anti-lock brakes, you may be able to receive reduced insurance.

• Take a Class: Many older drivers can receive an insurance discount if they take a class to brush up on their driving knowledge, and some companies offer the same for teen drivers.

If your teen commits to driving safely, makes efforts to keep insurance rates low and keeps a clean driving record, his car insurance premium should be lower before the magic age of 25. Whether your teen driver is in a crash with an uninsured driver or if you fail to provide your young driver with insurance, you may need to hire a car accident lawyer to help you sort out any legal issues in the event of a car accident.

As thieves discover more and more ways to steal personal information, it is critical that people use identity theft protection services that involve a wide security sweep of all personal identifiable information and high-risk activity. The marketplace for identity theft protection now includes all kinds of monitoring services and features. Make the best choice by understanding each feature available, how they differ from each other and their capacity for sustaining protection. Credit Monitoring Credit monitoring is the process of reviewing a consumer’s credit activity with the credit bureau. It monitors the activity and changes to a credit report, including inquiries made by a creditor to request a copy of a report. Monitoring provides an alert system for potential fraudulent activity or accounts being established. Credit monitoring provides an alert system to activity affecting your credit report and credit score. Monitoring enables you to stay on top of fraudulent activity so that you can address the inaccuracies immediately. It also reduces the financial impact that identity theft can cause, by reporting the fraud earlier and reducing potential out-of-pocket losses. Identity Monitoring Identity monitoring looks at more than just credit information; it encompasses all personal identifiable information: name, birth date, address, email, phone number, Social Security number, etc. This could include monitoring the Internet, national databases, credit files, public records and more. If thieves have your personal identifiable information, it’s the perfect cover for their crimes because everything will point to you, not them. Even kids can become victims of identity theft: Each year, more than 140,000 identity theft cases involve children. Social Security Number Monitoring It’s exactly how it sounds – protection for one of the most important pieces of information that a person has. This type involves monitoring hundreds of millions of records for unauthorized use of a Social Security number (SSN). 70% of people are worried about the safety of their SSN. Monitoring an SSN is particularly important for children because thieves have plenty of time to use the child’s information for their own gain before the child finds out by applying for an account or a line of credit and is denied because of the thieves’ damage. Data Sweeps Unlike previous monitoring services that focus on particular data or activities, data sweeps encompass a plethora of touch points and personal information. Data sweeps monitor the Internet for instances of criminals using stolen phone numbers, addresses, birth dates and more. How many data points are included and how often the data sweeps occur vary from plan to plan. Data sweeps cover the information that consumers are worried about, like mailing addresses (50%) and phone numbers (60%). It can also help a person feel more secure about online presence because data sweeps can lead to removing exposed personal information on the web. Credit Card Monitoring The lending institutions that issue credit and debit cards will usually monitor transactions and notify cardholders of suspicious activity. Credit card monitoring, as offered through an identity monitoring service, will monitor the Internet for fraudulent activity involving credit card and debit account numbers, PIN numbers and other personal information in Internet hacker chat rooms and the dark web. Credit card monitoring looks at activity outside of the credit report and outside of activity monitored by the cardholder’s bank or issuing institution. As a result, it can detect fraud that may or may not make it to a credit report or be captured by the bank. Recovery Assistance Most services will not only keep you informed but help you resolve any suspicious activity. Features could include assistance from a credentialed professional. Some assistance features may only provide victims with next steps or resources, while others may actually take on some of the activities a victim must complete to rebuild his or her reputation. 47% of victims who spent 6-plus months fixing the issue(s) felt severe emotional distress vs. the 4% of victims who felt that way after resolving issues within 24 hours. Victims can limit the health and financial costs of recovery by using a protection plan that includes assistance from professionals who know how to get quick results. Lost Purse or Wallet Assistance Whether you misplace your wallet or it actually gets stolen, most identity theft protection services will help you contact the correct institutions and minimize the damage if a thief tries to use your stolen information. Despite the growing threat of malware and hacking, physical theft is still a problem, and 43% of physical theft happens at work. Service Guarantee Most companies have a service agreement that provides some sort of refund for customers if there’s a defect in the company’s service. New technological advances are made every day for security and thievery, so you need to make sure that a company will help you if its protection services can’t keep up with thieves’ new tricks. Some identity theft protection services go above and beyond with the layers of security and assistance they offer, in addition to the commonly included products listed above. Some of those extra special features are: Additional Databases While most services monitor your personal identifiable information online or on credit reports, not all of them will monitor databases like criminal records and sex offender registries. Some companies charge extra for monitoring these additional databases. Thieves don’t just use your personal information to empty your bank account. Thieves will steal reputable citizens’ identities and use them as aliases when committing crimes. Medical Fraud Assistance Monitoring for medical fraud involves protecting insurance records from criminal use and assisting victims when a thief tampers with a victim’s medical history or racks up medical debt. The crime rate for medical identity theft increases by 32% each year, and more than $12.3 billion in out-of-pocket expenses were spent in the past year because of medical identity theft. Tax Fraud Assistance Products include giving victims an action plan and providing forms and contact information for working with the IRS. Services that actually do recovery work for victims must have certified tax specialists who are approved for working with the IRS on behalf of the victims. In 2014, the FTC’s 1.5 million fraud-related complaints revealed that consumers have paid a total of $1.7 billion because of fraud, and a third of those complaints were tax-related. Tax fraud could include IRS phishing schemes, phone scams and stealing taxpayers’ information to file phony tax returns and get their refunds. Family Coverage Protection plans may allow members to add family members to their plan; however, adding family members often comes with additional charges. When family members share accounts (e.g. bank, music, email), passwords, etc., everyone feels the consequences if one of them becomes a victim. Other Other pieces of your personal information that may or may not be included in the common types of monitoring: loan/lease information, driver’s license, computer security, bank account information, passports, etc. Thieves’ use of hacking, malware and social media have skyrocketed over the past few years. As fraudsters improve their tactics, they gain access to more and more information. Each type of monitoring covers important information that could lead to serious damage if taken into the hands of a fraudster, and no one type covers everything. Likewise, each feature has importance, but they’re most effective when working together because they create sustainable, comprehensive coverage. People need to make sure that their identity theft protection plan includes all the necessary data points with multiple types of monitoring, assistance and recovery features, so their information stays secure.

There are more than 41,000 suicide deaths per year in the U.S; the majority occur among people of working age. This number alone can dramatically affect the workplace. Add to this number that there are about six people affected, many being coworkers, for every suicide death, and the potential impact to the workplace quickly becomes evident. Even workplaces with the most comprehensive suicide prevention policies and programs are not immune from a suicide that occurs at work or off-site. Because of the high likelihood that at some point a workplace will experience an employee suicide (or a suicide by a client, vendor or employee family member), it is critical that managers know how to respond and facilitate appropriate "postvention" services designed to help employees and the organization recover and return to normal. Postvention services include psychological first aid, crisis intervention and other support services that managers can facilitate for employees following a workplace suicide or suicide attempt. In 2013, the Workplace Postvention Task Force of the American Association of Suicidology and the Workplace Task Force of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, in partnership with the Carson J Spencer Foundation and Crisis Care Network, wrote, "A Manager’s Guide to Suicide in the Workplace: 10 Action Steps for Dealing with the Aftermath of a Suicide." The guide has been evaluated by managers in diverse work organizations, including by leaders in human resources, management, safety, occupational health and wellness and employee assistance programs. The overwhelming feedback about the guide was that it is useful; workplace leaders who reviewed the guide but have not yet experienced a workplace suicide plan to keep the guide as a resource. As the title of the guide implies, it provides managers with 10 specific actions they can take following a workplace suicide. The actions are divided into phases to help the manager work through the acute phase, recovery phase and reconstructing phase. Additional useful tools for managers include how to draft notification memos and prepare external announcements to disseminate to the broader workplace and the media. Some of the most useful tools in the guide include checklists for how to implement each action, descriptions of how to identify roles for managers during the response, instructions for following crisis decision-making flowcharts and templates for drafting crisis communication messages. The overwhelming majority of users said they would recommend this resource to other managers. This blog is designed to encourage you to look at the guide and consider using it as a resource, should the need arise in your workplace. We also welcome your feedback on suggestions to make the guide more useful to all workplace leaders. Feedback can be sent to the senior program director at the Carson J Spencer Foundation, jess@carsonjspencer.org. With so many working-aged adults dying by suicide each year, managers need to be prepared to deal with such a crisis. This guide provides concrete steps managers can follow after a suicide to psychologically support their workforce and provide leadership to the work organization as they work to return quickly to normal operations.

With an onslaught of bad recent cyber news, is cyber risk worth the trouble, and how should corporate directors be looking at this issue? The recent news is the high-profile breach of 4 million employee records at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management by alleged Chinese hackers and the news that even the security experts are getting hacked, with Kaspersky Labs reporting a breach supposedly committed by a nation state. President Obama also made cyber security an emphasis of his G7 talks in Germany, commenting that the U.S. government needs to be more "nimble, aggressive and well-resourced" to combat this threat. He also urged the U.S. Congress to pass the 2015 Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, a first step in a coordinated and systemic public/private response to cyber risks. The attacks show no signs of slowing. PwC's 2015 Global State of Information Security Survey indicates a compound annual growth rate of 66% for cyber incidents since 2009. The 10,000 respondents to the survey reported almost 43 million detected incidents during 2014 alone—or 117,339 incoming attacks every day of the year. Is cyber security risk worth it? Yes, but with a caveat. Without a doubt, the many innovations currently taking place with today's information technologies open up many new vulnerabilities. Risks are now difficult to isolate, and a protect-and-defend model is not effective against the systemic risks inherent across any corporate ecosystem. Attacks can also come from a growing list of sources, including hacktivists, foreign and domestic nation-states, customers, employees, partners, consultants, competitors, organized crime and the bored neighbor kid living in the basement and surviving on a diet of Cheetos, Red Bull and your weak IT security infrastructure. The direct and indirect costs of mounting an effective cyber security defense are only getting more expensive, and the risks are only increasing. Despite this, these technologies also have an upside—a significant one as they are now competitive table stakes, as new business tools always are. These tools are changing market dynamics and customer preferences, and the technologies embody distinct economic advantages such as the lowering of transaction and engagement costs. Business models and competitive advantages are changing as a result of these tools. These tools are shaping and defining business success, but the risks are holding many companies back. Which takes us to the caveat. The upside of these technologies outweighs the downside. Cyber is worth the risk, but boards, directors and managers need to be looking to exploit the business advantages of these tools, while at the same time mounting a "a nimble, aggressive and well-resourced" approach to mitigating these incessant risks. This is easier said than done; 89% of companies listed on the Fortune 500 in 1955 are no longer on the list. Business cannibalizes the companies that can't capitalize on the opportunities presented by changing market conditions, including new technologies. Directors need to be diligent in overseeing cyber risk as part of a comprehensive IT governance and enterprise risk governance approach. But they also need to be on top of governing cyber opportunity—that's the only way that they can make cyber security risk worth it.

Since the start of the decade, we've encouraged insurers and industry stakeholders to think about "Insurance 2020" as they formulate their strategies and try to turn change into opportunity. Insurance 2020’s central message is that whatever organizations are doing in the short term, they need to be looking at how to keep pace with the sweeping social, technological, environmental, economic and political (STEEP) developments ahead. Now we’re at the mid-point between 2010 and 2020, and we thought it would be useful to review the developments we’ve seen to date and look ahead to the major trends coming up over the next five years and beyond. Where are we now? Insurance is an industry at the tipping point as it grapples with the impact of new technology, new distribution models, changing customer behavior and more exacting local, regional and global regulations. For some businesses, these developments are a potential source of disruption. Those taking part in our latest global CEO survey see more disruption ahead than CEOs in any other commercial sector (see Figure 1), underlining the need for strategic re-evaluation and possible re-orientation. Yet for others, change offers competitive advantage. A telling indication of the mixed mood within the industry is that although nearly 60% of insurance CEOs see more opportunities than three years ago, almost the same proportion (61%) see more threats. The long-term opportunities for insurers in a world where people are living longer and have more wealth to protect are evident. But the opportunities are also bringing fresh competition, both from within the insurance industry and from a raft of new entrants coming in from outside. The entrants include companies from other financial services sectors, technology giants, healthcare companies, venture capital firms and nimble start-ups. How are insurers feeling the impact of these developments? Customer revolution The insurance marketplace is becoming increasingly fragmented, with an aging population at one end of the spectrum and a less loyal and often hard to engage millennial generation at the other. The family structures and ethnic make-up within many markets are also becoming more varied and complex, which has implications for product design, marketing and sales. This splintering customer base and the need to develop relevant and engaging products and solutions present both a challenge and an opportunity for insurers. On the life, annuities and pensions side, insurers could design targeted plans for single parents or shift from living benefits to well-being or quality of life support for younger people. On the property and casualty (P&C) side, insurers could create partnerships with manufacturers and service companies. Insurers could also offer coverage for different lifestyles, offering flexible, pay-as-you-use insurance or providing top-up coverage for people in peer-to-peer insurance plans. As the nature of the marketplace changes, so do customer expectations. Customers want insurers to offer them the same kind of easy access, show the same understanding of needs and provide the sorts of targeted products that they’ve become accustomed to from online retailers and other highly customer-centric sectors. Digital developments offer part of the answer by enabling insurers to deliver anytime, anywhere convenience, streamline operations and reach untapped segments. Insurers are also using digital developments to enhance customer profiling, develop sales leads, tailor financial solutions to individual needs and, for P&C businesses in particular, improve claims assessment and settlement. Further priorities include the development of a seamless multi-channel experience, which allows customers to engage when and how they want without having to relay the same information with each interaction. Because the margins between customer retention and loss are finer than ever, the challenge for insurers is how to develop the genuinely customer-centric culture, organizational capabilities and decision-making processes needed to keep pace with ever-more-exacting customer expectations. Digitization Most insurers have invested in digital distribution, with some now moving beyond direct digital sales to models that embed products and services in people’s lives (e.g., pay-as-you drive insurance). A parallel development is the proliferation of new sources of information and analytical techniques, which are beginning to reshape customer targeting, risk underwriting and financial advice. Ever greater access to data doesn’t just increase the speed of servicing and lower costs but also opens the way for ever greater precision, customization and adaptation. As sensors and other digital intelligence become a more pervasive element of the "Internet of Things," savvy insurers can – and in some instances have – become trusted partners in areas ranging from health and well-being to home and commercial equipment care. Digital technology could extend the reach of life, annuities and pension coverage into largely untapped areas such as younger and lower-income segments. Information advantage Availability of both traditional and big data is exploding, with the resulting insights providing a valuable aid to customer-centricity and associated revenue growth. Yet many insurers are still finding it difficult to turn data into actionable insights. The keys to resolving this are as much about culture and organization as the application of technology. Making the most of the information and insight is also likely to require a move away from lengthy business planning to a faster and more flexible, data-led, iterative approach. Insurers would need to launch, test, obtain feedback and respond in a model similar to that used by many of today’s telecom and technology companies. A combination of big data analytics, sensor technology and the communicating networks that make up the Internet of Things would allow insurers to anticipate risks and customer demands with far greater precision than ever before. The benefits would include not only keener pricing and sharper customer targeting but a decisive shift in insurers’ value model from reactive claims payer to preventative risk advisers. The emerging game changer is the advance in analytics, from descriptive (what happened) and diagnostic (why it happened) analysis to predictive (what is likely to happen) and prescriptive (determining and ensuring the right outcome). This shift not only would enable insurers to anticipate what will happen and when, but also to respond actively. This offers great possibilities in areas ranging from more resilient supply chains and the elimination of design faults to stronger conversion rates for life insurers and more effective protection against fire and flood within property coverage. Two-speed growth These developments are coming to the fore against the backdrop of enduringly slow economic growth, continued low interest rates and soft P&C premiums within many developed markets. Interest rates will eventually begin to rise, which will cause some level of short-term disruption across the insurance sector, but over time higher interest rates will lead to higher levels of investment income. On the P&C side, reserve releases have helped to bolster returns in a softening market. But redundant reserves are being depleted, making it harder to sustain reported returns. The faster growing markets of South America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East (SAAAME) offer considerable long-term potential, though insurance penetration in 2013 was still only 2.7% of GDP in emerging markets and the share of global premiums only 17%. Penetration in their advanced counterparts was 8.3%. Rapid urbanization is set to be a key driver of growth within SAAAME markets, increasing the value of assets in need of protection. Urbanization also makes it harder for those from rural areas to call on the support of their extended families and hence increases take-up of life, annuities and pensions coverage. The corollary is the growing concentration of risk within these mega-metropolises. Disruption and innovation Many forward-looking insurers are developing new business models in areas ranging from tie-ups between reinsurance and investment management companies to a new generation of health, wealth and retirement solutions. The pace of change can only accelerate in the coming years as innovations become mainstream in areas ranging from wearables, the Internet of Things and automated driver assistance systems (ADAS) to partnerships with technology providers and crowd-sourced models of risk evaluation and transfer. At the same time, a combination of digitization and new business models is disrupting the insurance marketplace by opening up new routes to market and new ways of engaging with customers. An increasing amount of standardized insurance will move over to mobile and Internet channels. But agents will still have a crucial role in helping businesses and retail customers to make sense of an ever-more-complex set of risks and to understand the trade-offs in managing them. On the life, annuities and pension side, this might include balancing the financial trade-offs between how much they want to live off now and their desired standard of living when they retire. On the P&C side, it would include designing effective aggregate protection for an increasingly broad and valuable array of assets and possessions. Companies can bring innovations to market much faster and more easily than in the past. These companies include new entrants that are using advanced profiling techniques to target customers and cost-efficient digital distribution to undercut incumbent competitors. It’s too soon to say how successful these new entrants and start-ups will be, but they will undoubtedly provide further impetus to the changes in customer expectations and how insurers compete. In the next two articles in this series, we look at how all these coalescing developments are likely to play out as we head toward 2020 and beyond and outline the strategic and operational implications for insurers. While we’ve set a nominal date of 2020, fast-moving businesses are already assessing and addressing these developments now as they look to keep pace with customer expectations and sharpen their competitive advantage. What comes through strongly is the need for reinvention rather just adjustment if insurers want to sustain revenue and competitive relevance. As a result, many insurers will look very different by 2020 and certainly by 2025. As new entrants and new business models begin to change the industry landscape, it’s also important to not only scan for developments within insurance but also maintain a clear view of the challenges and opportunities coming from outside the industry. For the full report from which this article is excerpted, click here.

The world is getting smaller. Companies of every size do business around the globe. This poses business interruption risks both direct and indirectly. Recent examples include the devastating flooding in Thailand and the Tohuku earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan. Property claims can be hard enough when they are at home; adding distance and language differences can make things more time-consuming and add expense to resolving a claim. There is good news, though: International claims are not that different than any other claim. For example, in 2013, when Ingersoll Rand suffered an $11 million-plus flood loss at a manufacturing plant in Shanghai, we calculated the property damage and business interruption loss amounts, prepared the claim and worked with the loss adjustor and the insurance company's forensic accounting team. We effected a settlement within three months of the end of the loss. Experience is the key. The Language The insurance world speaks English. The first question we are asked about preparing international claims is whether we have someone who speaks the local language. While this might have some benefit, it is far more important that someone understand the process and the numbers. On the rare occasion where a translator is necessary, that is all that is needed: a translator. It is not necessary to have a claims practitioner who is fluent. You are much better off with practitioners who know what they are doing on a property claim. The Location The time and cost to fly consultants around the world is a real concern. Often, policyholders will be inclined to hire less experienced professionals because of their proximity to the loss. This is a mistake. For the most part, information can be transferred electronically and explained over the phone. For companies based in the U.S. with operations abroad, all information necessary to prepare a claim can be transferred through headquarters. There are certain elements of a property claim where on-site assistance is needed (physical inventories, building or equipment inspections, etc.) This type of specific technical assistance can be coordinated with the insurance company and local resources. As with accounting information, the results of these physical inspections can be documented and sent back home. There is usually no need to send someone from here to there. As real examples, we have prepared and settled dozens of claims around the world without setting foot on the loss site. This is accomplished by sharing information electronically and communicating by phone, web meeting, web sharing portal, etc. The alternative of using local, less experienced professionals would undoubtedly add confusion to the process. Experience is the most important requirement in preparing any property claim. Don’t get the wrong impression - we have traveled all over the world for our clients when asked. Sometimes, the parties involved require the travel, or the loss simply demands it. However, this type of travel is less frequent now. If required, travel should be scheduled to maximize productivity to reduce the amount of travel needed. Again, experience and expertise allow this to be accomplished most efficiently. The Local Policy Local policies that cover losses abroad may have some differences from the global policy. If these differences affect recovery, in general the master policy can be invoked to make up any differences. You will want to prepare the claim according to the local policy, but be aware of differences. Your broker should be able to help sort out any differences and the reasons for those differences. The interpretation of the local policies by local adjusters can create confusion. Just be aware that the intent of the local policies should fit in with your global program - to indemnify for the loss. Summary Losses happen all over the world. Just because you are in New York and the loss is in Paris, France, does not mean you should treat it any differently than if it were in Paris, Texas. Language and location are not a barrier in this day and age. If you compromise expertise for proximity to the loss location, in the end it will cost you more. Look for a team that has had success managing international claims throughout the process, leading to results for clients.

1. Implement a fraud-abatement program Employee education helps defer fraud, so creating a fraud abatement campaign that fits for your industry and includes education of employees can have a significant impact on the number of questionable claims filed. Communicate regularly with your employees about workers’ compensation and eliminate misconceptions by explaining what it is and how it works. Consider using social networks, flyers, posters, employee newsletters and guest speakers to spotlight workers’ compensation fraud as a serious crime. The guest speaker can be a representative from your insurance carrier’s special investigation unit (SIU), a local law enforcement representative who is focused on workers’ comp fraud (such as a Department of Insurance fraud investigator or deputy district attorney handling prosecutions in the fraud unit) or a representative of your contracted SIU partner. Provide employees a mechanism to report fraud anonymously, such as a fraud hotline or email system, so they can easily report suspicions. Encourage employees to share information.  Insurance fraud is a felony in most states, and employers should demonstrate zero tolerance, with timely investigation of claims and reporting of suspicious claims to law enforcement. 2. Use sound hiring practices The best defense is a strong offense. Conduct thorough pre-employment background checks to eliminate candidates who are unable to perform the job or not a good fit. If you have questions about anything you find in a background investigation, ask the applicant to explain.  It is a good idea to hire an investigative agency to assist, especially if you do business in multiple states, to ensure the investigations abide by all local, state and federal laws and regulations. Consider pre-employment drug testing; drug users can be unsafe workers and are more likely to file false claims to obtain money for drugs. 3. Pave the way for return to work Communicate to employees that every attempt will be made to get injured employees healthy again and returned to work. Prepare a comprehensive, written, return-to-work plan, with detailed job descriptions that include temporary or alternative duties, and communicate that plan to appropriate persons. The functional job description is one of the best tools for identifying the discrete and unique duties, responsibilities and accountabilities associated with varying positions. The functional job description is a part of a continuing process throughout the entire employment relationship and should track and reflect changes in organization structure, tasks, accountabilities, skills and requirements. The functional job description should document the minimum job requirements and preferred qualifications of each position (including education, experience, licenses, certificates, physical requirements and work day/hours). This description can be used in conjunction with hiring practices to ensure the applicant has the ability to perform the job. Functional descriptions are also important for medical providers to use in determining return to work following an injury, including whether the employee can return to work full duty or in a modified capacity. 4. Surveillance video equipment Monitoring is a proven spoiler of workplace crimes.  Consider both covert and overt monitoring, depending on the job site, type of claims filed and privacy concerns. If an injury is alleged, quickly secure the video and forward to your investigative partner to secure the evidence, log chain of custody and provide copies as needed. If the video does not match the employee’s description of the injury, create a strategy to share copies of the video with medical providers to ensure that only warranted benefits are obtained. Communicate with your claim professional, defense attorney and investigative partner to determine the best plan of action. For example, additional investigation may be warranted before putting the video into evidence, such as surveillance to document the employee’s current physical abilities or a recorded statement or deposition by the injured worker to memorialize his account of the injury. Your team will create a strategy to appropriately leverage the video in handling the claim and potential fraud. 5. Have a plan for when an industrial injury occurs Provide training to leadership on how to respond when an industrial injury occurs. Respond immediately to any reported injury or rumor of potential injury. Promptly recommend your predetermined medical provider to the injured employee. A detailed description of the accident and injury should be obtained, and any relevant workplace evidence should be preserved. Have a professional investigation conducted as soon as possible. A timely investigation can help ensure the injured worker receives the appropriate benefits at the appropriate time. A thorough investigation can include statements by the injured worker, witness statements, scene inspection, photographic evidence, the securing of workplace equipment or other evidence. An investigation can also include a search of public records, criminal and civil court records, Department of Motor Vehicle records, a prior claims search, the securing of copies of records such as police report, 9-1-1 call record, OSHA report or other, as applicable. The investigation can identify potential subrogation so that the claim professional and defense attorney can pursue potential third-party liability. The investigation will also highlight suspicions; consequently, having a professional, third-party investigative agency conduct the initial compensability investigation is a critical tool in preventing fraud. 6. Familiarize yourself with investigative tools Investigation of claims provides many benefits on workers' comp costs and is especially critical for claims that have “red flags,” to ensure that only warranted benefits are administered and that potential abuse or fraud is identified early. Technological advances have provided new investigative tools as well as enhanced the capabilities of “old-school” investigative solutions. Background investigations, Internet searches, social-network monitoring and database searches are cost-effective investigations that can be conducted quickly and provide a plethora of valuable information. Information found on social networking often includes current activities, past behavior, hobbies, interests, sports, clubs, association, vacations and more. This evidence can include both photographic evidence and written information. If the injured worker is not improving despite medical treatment, consider having surveillance conducted to determine the level of physical abilities, limitations and restrictions. Surveillance evidence provides the best impact. The investigative agency should conduct a pre-surveillance investigation that includes searching social networking sites, databases, public records and DMV records. While currently the use of drones is not legal in most states, this is technology that may be incorporated into the investigative toolbox in the near future. Field investigations are important to determine compensability of a claim, so obtain recorded statements from the injured worker and any potential witnesses. Remember that “witnesses” are not only people who may have seen the injury occur, but people who may have information about the injured worker’s prior injuries, prior claims, hobbies, other employment, activities, etc. This may include co-workers who work near the injured worker, eat lunch together, share a carpool or take breaks together. Question potential witnesses if they personally obtained photographs or video of the subject incident or scene, as this is often the case given the widespread use of smartphones. Medical facility searches and pharmaceutical searches locate prior medical records and pharmaceutical history, which can help determine compensability and apportionment, identify potential drug abuse and ensure that only warranted benefits are paid. 7. Implement a safety program Make workplace safety a priority; a safe workplace makes fake or exaggerated injuries harder to legitimize. Hold regular safety meetings and remind employees about workplace safety through social media, posters, flyers or employee newsletters. Consider a program that rewards workers for meeting safety milestones. Encourage employees to identify potential safety issues and share their ideas. To reduce repetitive injury claims, provide onsite ergonomics solutions to ensure employees are performing their duties the correct way. Encourage prompt reporting of injuries to immediately identify and resolve any problem that may contribute to workplace injuries. 8. Create an Experienced and Specialized Team Build a strong and dedicated team to manage your workers’ compensation claims. Your team should include experienced claim management professionals, specialized legal resources, risk managers, a licensed investigative agency specialized in workers’ compensation and an SIU with certified fraud specialists (either internal with your insurance carrier or contracted directly). Communicate with your claim professional and ensure that he is actively identifying red flags and investigating your claims in a timely fashion. Partner with a licensed investigative agency that is experienced in your industry. If insured with a carrier, communicate with the carrier’s SIU to ensure that your claims are being reviewed by fraud specialists. If you are self-insured or in a high-deductible program, partner with an investigative company that has a successful SIU. Communicate with your team regularly to ensure active handling of claims, identify suspicious claims early and build effective strategies to leverage investigative evidence to stop unwarranted benefits and fight fraud. 9. Listen Listening to employees can provide valuable information. The injured worker may have provided key information before and after the injury. Was the employee complaining before the alleged injury about work, physical pain or personal problems? Was he disgruntled, turned down for a promotion or had a change in job duties, supervisor or responsibilities? Did the injured worker talk about family problems such as health issues, additional family responsibilities or other personal situations? This information may be relevant and should be shared with the claim team. Listen after a workplace injury and throughout the claims process, as rumors of misrepresentations or foul play may filter through the workplace. Keeping an ear to the grapevine may help in weighing a claim’s validity. Have an “open-door” policy and encourage employees to share information and report suspicions. 10. Be Familiar With the Red Flags of Workers’ Comp Fraud

• Injury reported late or on a Monday or following time off
• Exaggerated details about incident or symptoms
• Co-worker skepticism or different versions of the incident
• Disgruntled, soon-to-retire, soon-to-strike, facing layoff or involved in seasonal work that is about to end
• Unexplained or excessive time off prior to claimed injury
• Has a history of short-term employment
• New on the job, and injury is unwitnessed or suspicious
• Experiencing financial difficulties or domestic problems before filing the claim
• Recently purchased a private disability policy
• Submitted employment application with misrepresentation(s)
• First notification of injury or claim made after employee is terminated or laid off
• Reported immediately after days off or alleged injury around date of a denied vacation request
• History of substance abuse, prior injuries or prior accidents, especially soft-tissue injuries
• Is known to participate in high-risk activity such as snowboarding, drag racing or boxing
• Suspicion or tip of unreported work, cash work, seeking other employment or self-employed
• Failed to report the injury in a timely manner or “forgot” to report critical details
• History of reporting injuries, especially soft-tissue injuries
• Other family members also receiving workers' comp benefits or other “social insurance” benefits
• Is unusually familiar with workers’ comp claim handling procedures and laws
• Is consistently uncooperative, refuses to sign documents or submits documents with cross-outs
• Information that employee is active or may be exaggerating limitations
• In-house surveillance, tip or information indicating the injury may be non-industrial or not legitimate
• Refuses to provide a statement or sign a medical release
• Moves out of state or country shortly after filing claim
• Protests about returning to work or changes provider once released to work
• Details of accident are vague or contradictory, have inconsistencies or are not credible
• Reported injury has same factors of other claims reported by co-workers, especially in the same time period
• Denial or failure to report prior injury or medical treatment
• Suspected altering of checks, off-work slips, prescriptions, or suspicious mileage reimbursement
• Dramatizes physical condition or draws attention to collar, brace or other supportive devices
• Is observed moving normally or without medical devices (collar, brace, cane, etc.)

What was once science fiction is fast becoming a fact of today’s business world. Computers that mimic the human brain are already entering the workforce in the healthcare, financial services and retail sectors, among others. Like humans, cognitive analytic computers can understand “natural” language (such as English) and learn lessons from the data they analyze, as well as from the users who “mentor” them. In other words, the machines possess an artificial intelligence more powerful than anything seen before. Unlike humans, cognitive analytic systems can process, analyze and store enormous volumes of data at Internet speed. In addition to tapping conventional databases for the information needed to aid in decision-making, the machines are capable of scanning myriad emails, reports, articles, books and other sources of knowledge to deliver recommendations and reach conclusions beyond the ability of any one person or team of people. In a 2014 white paper on cognitive analytics, Rajeev Ronanki and David Steier of Deloitte Consulting note that in the healthcare industry, “[cognitive analytic] systems are being used to improve the quality of patient outcomes. A wide range of structured inputs, such as claims records, patient files and outbreak statistics are coupled with unstructured inputs such as medical journals and textbooks, clinician notes and social media feeds. Patient diagnoses can incorporate new medical evidence and individual patient histories, removing economic and geographic constraints that can prevent access to leading medical knowledge.” In financial services, cognitive analytics is used to recommend and execute trades and to also assist in fraud detection and risk underwriting. Many of us are familiar with less advanced forms of cognitive analytics. In the consumer electronics realm, examples include Apple’s Siri voice recognition software and the oral command interface used in the Xbox video game system. Virtual Decision-Making Assistance It doesn’t take much imagination or intelligence (human or artificial) to envision how cognitive analytics could revolutionize auto insurance, especially the claims sector. Cognitive analytic computing could be of enormous benefit to an industry that will see fewer claims adjusters in the near future, thanks to the number of veteran adjusters who are retiring or planning to retire. Cognitive analytics could empower the remaining adjusters with decision-making assistance that was previously inconceivable – decision-making based on huge volumes of data drawn from a near-infinite pool of sources. Not long from now, computers will be able to scan photos of accident damage and instantly retrieve historical data on how similar claims were assessed and settled in the past. For example, a computer could analyze a person’s injuries relative to where they were sitting when the accident occurred and how the injury was sustained. The systems could also be used in first notice of loss (FNOL). Imagine an intelligent learning system that can reference every text related to previous claims and outcomes, as well as every law and vehicle code from all 50 states, to deliver settlement information in milliseconds. Let’s say a customer submits an FNOL. “I was in a parking lot, but when I backed out of my space I hit someone driving past.” Based on the information provided, the machine could determine liability and assign fault. It could also decide whether the claim is best processed with the help of a human adjuster or via self-service. If a customer reports an accident that leaves a small scratch on the car and no injuries, the computer would automatically send a self-service text to the claimant’s cell phone so she could take photos of the damage and transmit them back to the computer. The machine would then analyze the photos and develop an assessment. Yes, the computing system could be that advanced – so advanced that it removes much of the human element from the process. 'Brain Gain' Instead of 'Brain Drain' Many adjusters in their 50s and 60s are retiring, which means a lot of valuable expertise and experience is leaving the industry. In fact, I’m probably a member of the last generation that remembers widespread use of full-service, multi-skilled adjusters – people who know every aspect of the business. Younger adjusters frequently work in silos. These compartmentalized workers are very skilled in certain things but don’t have the “Renaissance man” backgrounds that allowed their predecessors to wear “multiple hats” when the situations called for it. Thanks to the new technology, however, the older generation’s experience and know-how doesn’t have to be lost forever. That information and wisdom can be transferred to complex cognitive computing systems that instantly retrieve the data on every one of their past settlements. This will let the remaining adjusters use the machines as virtual assistants, calling on them to provide the most logical settlement paths to the best possible outcomes. If achieving the best outcomes to claims is the goal, then cognitive computing systems will prove to be an invaluable tool. With access to a virtual universe of prior decision-making (good and bad), cognitive analytics has the potential to help adjusters find the right solution to each and every auto claims case.

It didn’t take much tech savvy for the creator of the website insecam.com to aggregate web links to more than 73,000 live surveillance cameras in 256 countries. The result: Anyone can use insecam.com to tap into any of these webcams and see what they’re pointed at, mostly in commercial properties. Each of these webcams uses the default password that shipped with the unit. And so now each is accessible by anyone via insecam.com. The Internet of Things (IoT) is on the verge of explosive growth. Research firm IDC projects the market for Internet-connected webcams, cars, electricity meters, gaming consoles, TVs, refrigerators and other household items will grow at 9% a year for the next few years. Global spending on technology and services to expand IoT will climb from $4.8 trillion in 2012 to $7.3 trillion by 2017, IDC predicts. Insecam.com's unique search service highlights the fact that wide swaths of the IoT are being implemented without so much as a nod toward the sudden creation of profound privacy and security exposures. More: 3 steps for figuring out if your business is secure ThirdCertainty asked Hagai Bar-El, CTO of Sansa Security, to outline what’s at stake for consumers and businesses. 3C: How did we get to a point where thousands of webcams are essentially wide open on the Internet? Bar-El: Webcams today are incredibly inexpensive and practically commoditized. Unfortunately, most consumer-grade webcams do not offer much in terms of added security. Consumers who are unaware of the importance of security measures typically rely on the default username and password that shipped with the webcam. Or their passwords are so weak that they are easily guessed, thus leading to new websites that enable voyeurs to peer into people’s personal lives in real time. 3C: Is it just security cams in commercial buildings? How exposed are the home surveillance cams that are being widely marketed to consumers? Bar-El: Most surveillance cams that are sold to households have three shortcomings: First, they lack strong security features. Some cameras do not encrypt traffic, some do not encrypt user passwords, and many do not support user authentication by any mechanism other than passwords. Second, many cameras are designed and distributed without any security engineered into the hardware or software layer of the product. The Insecam project creators were able to feature real-time personal video-streaming data because the only security measure implemented on the affected cameras was a default administrative log-in. Lastly, most webcams have limited and hard-to-use update capabilities, so even as flaws are discovered, it is practically impossible to update them on a large scale. U.S. Security Cameras 3C: Besides webcams, what are one or two other aspects of IoT that folks should be most concerned about? Bar-El: In the industrial enterprise space, people should be concerned with situations where IoT touches physical security and/or money, such as SCADA, automotive, financial and medical devices. In the home automation space, we are concerned about hackable IoT devices that control door locks and alarm systems. 3C: The mobile banking and mobile wallet industries are moving to take passwords out of the equation. Are any consensus solutions gaining traction? Bar-El: The trend we are seeing is the adoption of secure cryptographic authentication between an IoT device and the service with biometric or PIN authentication between the human user and the IoT device. This type of two-factor authentication will make future IoT devices both user-friendly and more secure. 3C: It seems like IoT is going to spread faster than good security and privacy practices. Agree or disagree? Bar-El: Agree. IoT manufacturers today want to sell as many devices as they can to quickly establish market share. Security takes time and requires skills that many manufacturers currently do not have. By providing security solutions starting at the chip level and allowing developers to provision security updates to their devices from the cloud, we believe we can make the security around next-generation IoT devices future-proof. 3C: How do you see the fundamental situation playing out in 2015? Bar-El: In 2015, IoT manufacturers will recognize the “build now, fix later” model is not sustainable and that important security features must be baked in when products ship. Considering that the IoT devices currently entering the market are smart-home-focused, the security mechanisms manufacturers introduce in 2015 must be future-proof for at least a decade, and they need to include mechanisms that enable that device to be updated in real time in the event a critical vulnerability is ever discovered in the product.

Loren Nickel, who has a major role in our profession as the director of business risk and insurance at Google, got his start without even doing a job interview. That story begins when his mother researched careers and suggested that in college he study to become an actuary. Nickel pursued statistics and actuarial science at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), and became president of the Actuary Club – with its maybe 10 members, he says. He wanted to build interest, partly to get more prospective employers to come to UCSB, so he decided to set up a website – this was in 1994 and 1995, before Netscape exploded on the scene through its initial public offering and introduced the Internet to the public consciousness. Nickel wrote the software for the website himself and paid $35 of his own money to get the UC system to host the site. He then used his e-mail address to answer questions from students and others about the actuary program at UCSB. The word got out, at least to one UCSB alumnus who played an important role in Nickel’s career. John Alltop, who was in charge of the actuarial services division of Fireman’s Fund, asked Nickel if he knew of anyone who would be interested in an internship. Nickel raised his hand. Alltop, who is now president of Actuarial & Risk Management at Bickmore Risk Services, asked him to visit. At his own expense, Nickel drove 365 miles up the coast to Novato, north of San Francisco, and paid for a night in a hotel. He says that the second he walked in the door he was given the internship even though “I told them I hadn’t even done anything for them yet.” Shortly thereafter, Fireman’s Fund hired Nickel full-time. He worked on various national accounts, and Fireman’s Fund rotated Nickel every 18 to 24 months to different operating divisions, ranging from workers’ comp and property risks to general liability, enabling him to learn different facets of the insurance business. Nickel learned the “big picture” by seeing how Fireman’s Fund used the actuarial component in its underwriting of client risks. Then he became the underwriting manager. In that capacity, Nickel was able to work with brokers and sales teams to see how actuarial projections fit in. He developed his communication, sales and people skills. That experience launched Nickel into his next career move, working for AON, a leading brokerage firm. This included an assignment in London to work with the operational risk team, designated as a center of expertise. Returning to the U.S., Nickel led AON’s actuarial division in the Western region, which included providing actuarial consulting services for Google for nearly three years. He joined Google in the spring of 2015. Nickel, who is 41 years old, lives in Marin County, north of San Francisco, so he commutes perhaps an hour and a half each way on one of the famous Google buses, to his office a few minutes from headquarters well down the peninsula in Mountain View. The bus is comfortable enough and the Wi-Fi so good that the ride is basically an extension of his office. Nickel says his consulting experience at AON is a good fit at Google, where his risk management responsibilities could be best described as “advisory work.” He works in consultation with various Google teams to help keep them more informed and able to make better decisions from a risk viewpoint. Perhaps the biggest change is that he’s now on the buyer’s side of transactions. This, of course, includes multiple brokers and insurers. Google’s stated mission is to organize the world’s data and make it usable by everyone on the globe, and all new products or services relate to that vision, but Google’s renowned “moonshot program” searches for disruptive innovations – which, by changing how people do things, can change the nature of risk. Google has fewer boundaries than most business ventures, to stimulate innovative thinking, so a traditional risk management program, with all of its financial constraints, doesn’t fit the Google model of business development. (Nickel is quick to point out that Google does employ a vast number of risk management best practices to protect its employees, property, users and the general public.) Nickel leads a risk management team of four direct reports, with an additional five Googlers who work within the risk management structure. He says Google is much less about the function where someone works (i.e., risk management) than about the right mix of individual skills. For instance, on his team, some have an insurance background while others have skills in legal, actuarial science, project management, accounting, etc. “It’s a very different mix of personnel than what you would find in a traditional corporate risk management department,” Nickel says. Asked how he gets in tune with and integrates risk management concepts with Google’s diverse divisions around the world, he says that making strong relationships is No. 1 – knowing the right people. This ensures that Googlers are aware of the advisory and outreach team in risk management. Risk management does not serve as a policing authority but serves more as an information source. Other corporate teams, such as legal, partner with risk management as issues arise. Responsibilities are clearly assigned and managed exclusively by organizational silos, as in most organizations. Nickel says everyone is very receptive about the information that the risk management team shares – in previous jobs, he often saw posturing. Nickel says a guiding principle at Google is that “Googlers take care of other Googlers,” so risk management is in the culture, and safety is paramount. Even the food choices are healthy. Google provides its more than 60,000 Googlers with free, very nutritional and delicious food and snacks as well as a wide variety of campus features that promote health and well-being. Google even provides onsite medical providers at its larger locations. Without sharing statistics, Nickel makes it clear that Google has “phenomenal” workers’ comp claim experience that is far better than companies of its size. He added that Googlers feel respected and appreciate how well they are treated. Asked if Google has any official opinion about the ownership or operation of driverless cars, where its pioneering work has sparked extraordinary interest, he said the risk department does not provide opinions on the products that Google creates. He did say the department is focused on making any new Google technology safer, getting it to market faster and winning support from regulators. "We do not determine how autonomous vehicles are used," he says. "Instead, the goal is to facilitate the creation of great technology that could improve the world." When asked what advice he would give to newcomers in risk management, Nickel suggests that they try to experience different roles from different perspectives – from both the insurance and user sides -- with respect to the implications of risk in organizations. “These diverse experiences provide a deeper context to the bigger picture of risk,” Loren says. “Risk managers have to have more than one style, approach or understanding of risk to truly be impactful.” From an educational standpoint, Loren adds that a “good grounding and understanding of mathematics and statistics is extremely helpful….For me, risk management success is much less a factor of knowledge than it is to gain perspective and practical experience. You need to learn to take nebulous concepts and to organize information that can be put into a plan that other people can understand and act upon.”