Cyber security

Another day, another story about criminals trying to get your credit card data.

So, short of hoarding cash and staying in your home — which carries its own set of risks — what do you do?

I have an app for that. Or at least an insurance policy.

For homeowners, every Farmers homeowners package includes Identity Fraud protection of $30,000. In a nutshell, if someone manages to get your information, Farmers will pay the legal bills to get your identity back.

Think of it as passive detection.

It's included for homeowners, but we can also add it to our renter's insurance policy.

We also have the option for active detection with Farmers Identity Shield. The Shield monitors your credit files and provides an annual report with details of your credit file and public records.

And if someone does manage to get ahold of your information, they will guide you through the identity recovery process and a whole lot more. You can get more information by calling me (417) 708 9583 or you can check out www.farmersidentityshield.com.


That may be all an individual needs, but what what can a business do to protect itself?

Most of the Business Owners Packages that Farmers offers include Cyber Liability and Data Breach coverage.

So if someone does manage to break in to your system and steal your clients' data (Just like what happened at Target) Farmers will help you hire a telemarketing agency to let your clients know what happened. It will also reimburse you for the credit monitoring you'll have to do for your customers.

Sounds a lot better than paying for all of that yourself, doesn't it?

www.farmersagent.com/dgragg

The importance of business income insurance

The news last night interviewed an employee of Industrial Wood Products who worried about her coworkers after this fire destroyed their workplace.

My job as an insurance agent is to help you get ready before bad things happen and then recover afterward.

Now, when most people think about insurance, they think about getting the money to rebuild their business's physical location.

But there is also a coverage called "Business Income" that is absolutely critical in instances like this one.

It pays you (as the business owner) the income that you're not making because your place burned down.

Let's be optimistic and say that it will take six months to rebuild the plant. Could you go without income for six months? Could your employees?

That's right. The Business Income rider includes the money you would pay your employees. So that when your business is rebuilt, you won't have to look for new employees because the people who work for and with you won't have to have had to find a new job to pay their bills.

To be clear: I know nothing more about the fire or the business than what's in the news; I am not commenting on the insurance in place at Industrial Wood Products. But I hope they had Business Income coverage so that the woman on the news and her coworkers won't spend the next few weeks trying to find a new job.

 www.farmersagent.com/dgragg