Oftentimes in the Property and Casualty world we are called in to find an insurance policy that a business owner needs with limits that are set by somebody else. Be it a 1m/2m dollar General Liability policy or a simple 25/50k Auto policy. Other times we are shopping a policy to new carriers to get a better rate. This is the day to day of Insurance brokers. Every once in a while we get people that dont understand why they need so much insurance. They run their business right and their customers love them. They have all the safety briefs and procedures in place and there is no way they are going to get sued… until they do. 

One part of this that many people aren’t aware of or don’t think about are people making false claims. Or drastically over exaggerated claims. One can do everything right, just as one of my clients did, but it didn’t stop a bogus multimillion-dollar lawsuit over an alleged injury. His insurance policy came to the rescue, not to pay the bogus claim, but to hire the attorneys to fight the claim. Simple allegations take money to fight and many clients are pleasantly surprised when their insurance policies reap the rewards of an entire legal team to fight frivolous lawsuits. Had it not been for his policy, he would have been out $20,000+ just in legal bills, and who knows how much more had the case gone to trial. 

The number of lawsuits filed in the last 20 years have skyrocketed. Honesty and integrity for some seems to be a thing of the past. Some people see fraudulent insurance claims as a victimless crime and an easy way to make a lot of money. Aside from the normal pitfalls that come with running your own business you also need to protect yourself from these types of people. The numbers are staggering and the last place you want to find yourself is up the proverbial insurance creek without a paddle. A good policy and a knowledgeable broker are the paddles you need to safely navigate today’s waters. Insuring yourself correctly and not cutting corners can be the difference of a flourishing business and a life of ease or losing it all.