Managing risk is an essential part of every business, large or small. Theft, fire, vandalism, riots: A host of perils could come your way and you need to be ready for them. Here are some of the basic steps you can take: 

STEP 1: Get a good insurance representative 

The best first step is to shop for a commercial insurance agent or broker who knows your type of business or is willing to invest the time and eff ort to study it with you. You are familiar with the operation of your business, and your agent or broker should be familiar with cost-effective ways of handling risk. A good insurance agent or broker is a valuable asset for your company.  

STEP 2: Priorities to consider 

When planning your insurance coverage, an important step to take – with the help of your insurance representative – is to identify those potential losses that could cripple your business, and insure against them. Don’t worry as much about items that pose little threat. But then be sure to consider everything between the two extremes. That’s the difficult part, and it requires much creativity and perseverance.

STEP 3: A partnership for prevention 

You can help protect your property from loss and help reduce insurance costs by taking a few positive steps on your own to discourage burglars, shoplifters, vandals, arsonists and others. Good inventory control and meticulous bookkeeping may help take temptation away from employees and suppliers. Investing in loss prevention often results in lower insurance premiums. In fact, your insurance savings may pay for this investment in only a few years. Here are a few loss prevention ideas you might consider:

• Install approved sprinklers, intruder alarms and fire alarms
• Secure all doors, windows and skylights, tightly
• Secure storage and other low-traffic  areas
• Isolate flammable materials and dispose of waste materials properly
• Leave some lights on and windows clear so police patrols can view the interior
• Encourage employees to protect the company by being watchful and careful
• Register with your local police and fire department so that they know who to call in an emergency
• Consider hiring a security guard when conditions warrant

By working with an informed insurance representative like Hubbard Insurance Group and taking a few proactive steps up front, you can build the security of your business even before you choose the scope of your insurance. 

For more information, call us at 1-800-900-2008 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Source: Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) 

Offer your employees the protection they deserve, and make your company a place where people want to work. Here are five great reasons to offer group benefits:

Protect Your Employees

While Canada’s national healthcare program gives Canadians access to doctors and emergency medical treatment, it doesn’t cover everything. In fact, some new drug treatments can have very high costs. A group benefits plan helps to ensure your employees and their dependents are adequately protected.

Protect Your Business

Group disability and health & dental benefits ensure your investment is protected in case an employee becomes sick or injured.

Maintain Productivity

Your employees face many common challenges created by the competing priorities of work and life. An Employee Assistance Program or a Best Doctors Program can provide outside resources, tools and support they need— and helping employees stay focused at work.

Attract and Retain Key Talent

A well-designed group benefits package can help to make your business more competitive, recruit top talent, retain employees and boost employee satisfaction and maintain productivity.

Provide Tax-Efficient Compensation

Without a benefits plan, employees must pay for day-to-day health, dental and prescription drug expenses with after-tax income. Employee benefit plans can be designed to cover these expenses using before-tax income—leaving more money in your employees’ pockets.

Group Benefits can be the key to helping your business attract and retain the right people. To find out more, speak to your Benefit Advisor or contact Hubbard Insurance Group and we will be happy to help. Call 1-800-900-2009 or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

Source: RBC Insurance 

If you rent an apartment or house, tenant’s insurance is available to help you replace your belongings after a loss due to theft, fire, water damage or other insured perils. Insurance pays for extra costs to help you get back on your feet after a loss. Insurance also protects you if someone gets hurt or someone else’s property is damaged because of your negligence.

HERE’S WHY YOU MIGHT NEED TENANT’S INSURANCE

1. It insures your belongings, helping you rebuild your life after a loss.

Think about all the things you own – the furniture in your bedroom and living room and all the items in your bathroom and kitchen. Think about the clothes, household items, toys, electronics and other things. Now imagine having to replace all of those items at once due to fire or certain types of water damage. Insurance doesn’t just cover furniture, TVs and expensive items. Insurance will repair or replace pots, pans, clothes and most other household items. Even if you think your belongings have little value, you might be very surprised by how much it would cost you to replace everything – all at once. However, keep in mind that coverage for some insured items may be subject to exclusions or maximum limits. Read your policy carefully to determine your exact coverage.

2. It helps you to cope with your other needs after a loss, covering extra costs that may result from an insured loss.

If there was a fire in your apartment and you were forced to leave the building until the damage was fixed, where would you stay? Without a kitchen to prepare food, could you afford to dine out every night? Tenant’s insurance pays for any necessary expenses while your apartment is being repaired, such as hotel bills, restaurant meals and moving costs. This coverage is called additional living expenses and will pay for additional expenses that you have to pay because you are not living in your own home. This coverage is subject to certain limits.

3. It helps to protect you and your family in the event of a lawsuit.

Tenants are responsible for the harm they cause to any part of their apartment, the building and to others who live or visit there. For example, if a cooking fire causes damage to the contents of your apartment and those of other tenants as well as parts of the building, you may be held responsible for the cost of that damage. Tenant’s insurance covers that cost. Similarly, if someone slips and falls in your apartment, you might be held financially responsible for the cost of the injured person’s pain, suffering and medical bills. A typical tenant’s insurance policy provides coverage, up to a limit, for the amount that you would have to pay to someone who successfully sues you. This is called liability coverage. It will also cover the legal costs of defending the lawsuit. You can often buy extra coverage to increase the limit of your liability coverage.

HOW MUCH DOES TENANT’S INSURANCE COST? 

The cost of tenant’s insurance depends on many things, including the amount of insurance you choose, where your apartment is located, how it was constructed, and the insurance company you choose. The value of your contents also determines the cost of your tenant’s insurance. The more you own, the more coverage you will need to replace those contents. You can also purchase optional coverage for risks such as water damage. When you compare how much you stand to lose if you don’t have insurance, the cost of tenant’s insurance is minimal. Insurance should be factored into your living expenses, much like the cost of food and shelter.

The information provided is intended for educational and informational purposes only. Please consult the appropriate qualified professional to determine if this information is applicable to your circumstances.

For more information, speak to one of our expert insurance advisors by calling 1-800-900-2009 or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

Source: Insurance Bureau of Canada

Overview:

Our NEW referral contest rewards you for letting friends and family know about Hubbard Insurance Group! Simply refer someone to request an insurance quote and be automatically entered in our prize draw to win a FREE $100 American Express Prepaid Gift Card! 

Contest Rules:

1) The contest begins April 1, 2018 at 9:00 a.m. (EST) and ends on April 30, 2018 at 5:00p.m (EST).  

2) To enter, call 1-800-900-2009 and obtain a free, no-obligation quote and mention the active client who made the referral. 

3) For every referral, both you and your friend/family member will be automatically entered to win a $100 American Express Prepaid Gift Card.

4) A quote must be obtained in order to be eligible for the draw. No Purchase Necessary. 

5) The person being referred must not be an existing client of Hubbard Insurance Group

Additional Terms & Conditions: 

6) The Contest is open to Ontario residents only, who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory of residence at the contest opening date. Non-residents of Canada, individuals visiting Canada on the parent or grandparent supervisa, or visiting on any form of visa, are not eligible to participate in the contest and cannot assign their entry to another person.

7) A winner will be selected through a random computer generated draw by the Organizer (Hubbard Insurance Group) on May 8, 2018 at 2:00 p.m., and will be declared. Chances of winning depend on total number of participants.

8) To be declared winner, the entrant must be reached by the Organizer by email within five (5) business days of the draw. Any entrant selected to receive the prize not reached by the deadline will have their entry cancelled and another entrant will be selected.

9) Prizes must be accepted as awarded, are non-refundable and non-transferable. By entering this Contest, the entrants consent to the use of their name, city of residence, video image, and/or photograph in any related publicity or Internet posting without compensation or notification.

10) Contest modification. The Organizers reserve the right, at their sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend this Contest in whole or in part, should human intervention or an event take place that could alter or affect the administration, security, impartiality or conduct of the Contest as provided in these Contest Rules.

11) Liability limit: participation in the Contest. Persons who enter or try to enter this Contest release the Released Parties from any liability for damages these said persons may incur as a result of their entry or their attempt to enter the Contest.

12) No responsibility or liability is assumed for any computer, telephone, cable, network, satellite, electronic or hardware or software malfunctions, failures, connections, traffic congestion, labour unrest, or unauthorized human intervention, or the incorrect or inaccurate capture of entry or other information, or the failure to capture any such information.

13) Unless otherwise specified, this Contest is governed by the laws of Ontario and the laws of Canada applicable therein, and is subject to all applicable federal, provincial and municipal laws and regulations.

Failure to comply with one of the conditions mentioned in these Terms & Conditions or to accept a prize will cause the selected entrant to be disqualified. In such a case, the Organizers may, at their sole discretion, cancel the prize or, if time permits, proceed to another draw until an entrant is selected and declared a winner for that prize. 

For any questions or concerns, please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 1-800-900-2009. 

If you are in the transportation sector, you’re well aware that insurance is one of the top 3 costs for your business and cargo theft is not only a concern of yours, but a significant contributor to increasing insurance costs. 

Keep Your Cargo Safe:

The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) warns that if you want to keep your cargo safe, it’s best to keep it moving. Linked to the involvement of organized crime, cargo theft is described as an “epidemic” in Canada, with a total loss of $181 million in stolen cargo and equipment between 2014 and 2017.

“Any loaded trailer with cargo in it that’s sitting is at risk,” says Wayne Hummel, a cargo and auto theft investigator for IBC. “My suggestion to anybody with a load, don’t leave it sitting. If you have to leave it sitting, have some kind of security on it, especially if it’s an expensive load. They will take anything, they can sell anything. They can move anything.” Many heists occur when trucks and trailers are parked for the night in trucking yards, Hummel says.  While unsecured yards can be “a free-for-all,” thefts can occur in secured yards, too. Much of what gets stolen does not sit around for long. “These loads move very quickly,” Hummel says. “We lose loads of meat on a monthly basis. Sometimes they are sold before they are stolen. Or as soon as they see it, they know where to get rid of it.”

To keep things moving, some companies use multiple drivers for the same trip. The drivers rotate or sleep in shifts so that they don’t have to park the truck over long-haul trips. “I can guarantee you, those people rarely lose loads, because they are not unattended,” Hummel says.

Another popular method of theft is to take advantage of a network of companies that bid on contracts to drive loads for clients – and then take off with the cargo. “Fraud is becoming a bigger part of it — all the online brokerage stuff,” said Hummel. “The brokers put their loads out to be sub-brokered, and somebody will bid on that load. They end up winning the bid, they pick it up, they are a fictitious company, and your load’s just been stolen.”

One of the primary ways to combat cargo theft is to report it, Hummel says. IBC’s investigative services division has been operating the Cargo Theft Reporting program since 2014. Many occurrences of cargo crime go unreported by vendors, IBC notes, because transport companies do not want their insurance premiums to increase if they report a loss.

Recognize and Report It

Help IBC fight cargo theft across Canada. To report stolen cargo:
- Make an anonymous phone call to 1-877-IBC-TIPS (422-8477), which operates day and night
- Complete and submit an anonymous Cargo Theft Incident Report Form
- Contact an IBC Consumer Information Officer

 Hubbard Insurance Group is here to work with you and ensure your protection fits your business needs. Our Risk Management team can help you put a plan in place to reduce your risk and lower your insurance costs.

Sources: Canadian Underwriter, Insurance Bureau of Canada