With ever increasing M&A activity across many sectors, there is an insurance coverage that can take some of the risk associated with acquiring a target company. Inaccuracies in representations and warranties made by the seller or the target company in connection with a merger or acquisition can result in costly liabilities.

Buyers can be left without the ability to recover losses and sellers can be forced to hand back a portion of the purchase price.

Representations and warranties insurance helps protect both buyers and sellers involved in these transactions from financial loss in the event inaccuracies in representations and warranties are made. By purchasing representation and warranties insurance, buyers can distinguish a bid, sellers can reduce indemnity obligations, and both parties can close deals with ease and confidence.

Typically these polices are available for transactions with values from $20 million to $1 billion. The policy period can match the survival period of the representations and warranties and can cover the complete set of representations and warranties made by a seller; including environmental and intellectual property matters.

Coverage is available with limits of up to $50 million for any one transaction and premiums range from 2-5% of the limit of liability purchased, while deductibles are typically between 1-3% of the transaction value.

There are many benefits of the coverage to both buyer and seller as it can go a long way to protecting both parties' interests.

Questions? Reach out to one of our Corporate Risk Advisors today at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or simply call us at 905-696-9090

The concept seems a strange one. Why would cyber criminals go after transport? The usual suspects when it comes to cybercrime tend to be financial institutions – such as the recent hacks on Desjardins and Capital One. The answer, though, is rather simple.

Cyber criminals go wherever there is technology. If that technology can be exploited in a booming industry, then they’ve basically hit the jackpot.  This is what is happening in the transport industry. There has been substantial growth in the transport industry largely spurred on by the introduction of innovative technology.

How have we seen technology benefiting and making a greater presence in the transport industry?  

1. Interconnected networks has streamlined industry-related processes

e.g. the introduction of route planning incorporated with GPS services so that the best route is always readily available.

2. Improvements in safety features

e.g. accident prevention sensors reducing the number of collisions on the road

3. Driver monitors censoring important physiological details such as fatigue or intoxication furthering keeping the roads safe

To make sure that all this technology is being used effectively and efficiently, most organizations within the transport industry rely on centralised IT systems. This means that all of the necessary information regarding vehicles, their cargo, and the drivers can be stored in one place.

However, as much as technology increases profits, it also increases vulnerability. The transportation industry has adopted technology at such a fast pace that the infrastructure to keep these IT systems secure hasn’t had a chance to catch up.

This means that cyber criminals often target centralised IT systems to isolate and take control of cargo and equipment. If a hacker is able to gain access to the centralised system, then they have the entire organisation in the palm of their hands. The damage that can be done from such a position could be immeasurable.

Let’s look at cargo as an example. A new tactic, called “fictitious pick-up”, is the current hottest trend with cyber criminals. In this crime, these criminals search for valuable loads on online load boards and, using false information, obtain contracts. Then it’s a simple matter of showing up with a truck, driving to the point of collection, and leaving before anyone is any the wiser.

There is also business identity theft – where criminals create false documentation in a company’s name, learn pick-up locations and company information through online systems, and then arrive at the agreed-upon pick-up points to steal cargo.

Ransomware is the cybercriminal’s bread and butter – and the transport industry is no exception to this. Hackers can implement ransomware to hijack a truck’s control system in order to suspect deliveries and strand drivers until the demanded ransom has been paid. In fact, a study from the University of Michigan found that trucks are far easier to hack into and control than a regular car.

It seems crazy but because technology is so strongly integrated in these vehicles, hackers can break into these control panels and disable the brakes or affect the acceleration. It is a scary reality.

Companies around the world lose hundreds of millions of dollars every year due to different forms of cyber breaches. The transport industry is no exception to this. At this point, you will want to know if you’re at risk. The simple answer is that if you don’t have protection against cybercrime, you are at great risk.

As discussed in previously, cybercriminals are increasingly targeting medium-to-small sized businesses. Many may think that, since their company is not a big multinational corporation, that they are safe from this risk. Sadly, that just isn’t true. Smaller organizations lack the resources and in-house teams to tackle massive breaches and therefore are targeted at an increased rate.

If you are concerned about your company’s safety, contact one of our licensed brokers today at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call us at 905-696-9090. Let us help you stay protected.

According to a major study conducted by KPMG, as much as 84% of Canadians state that they will reconsider doing business with an organization that has suffered a data breach.

To those who have kept their finger on the pulse, this comes as no surprise. As we have mentioned before, cybersecurity is becoming an essential part of any organization’s insurance plan in the modern day.

The consulting firm surveyed thousands of people and found that, not only did a vast majority of people distrust businesses after they had suffered data breaches, but also that approximately a quarter of those people had their login credentials stolen as a direct result of data breaches.

Whilst cybersecurity has been a major topic of discussion in tech circles for the better part of a decade, this discourse has found its way in the mainstream in recent years.

Why is this?

Simply, more Canadians are affected by data breaches today than ever before. This has raised awareness of the issue in the general populous.

Another important factor was the timing of this survey. Only a month prior, the federal government revealed that thousands of stolen usernames and passwords has been used to apply for various services.

Since then, the Treasury Board of Canada has revealed a whopping 48,000 Canada Revenue Agency accounts had suspicious activity attached to them after cyberattacks occurred in July and August of 2020.

Furthermore, KPMG stated that cybersecurity threats had been greatly heightened by COVID-19 as people began using more online accounts for work and leisure.

“Cyber criminals are ruthless. They’re after your identity, login credentials, money, and sensitive information,” said Hartaj Nijjar; a national leader in cybersecurity.

Moreover, another reason for this surge in cyber awareness amongst the population is that the government itself led a national public awareness campaign on the dangers of inadequate cybersecurity.

The messaging for the people seems to be clear as ever – if an organization does not take care of its customers’ data, the vast majority of those customers will take their business elsewhere. There is a demand for companies to be held accountable with their cyber security that has never before been seen.

KPMG’s survey further showed that 90% of responders were reluctant to share any personal or financial information with an organization that had suffered a data breach. This could prove to be especially destructive to organizations in the online age as the emphasis on a good reputation is more important today than ever before.

More and more Canadians are using online platforms in all aspects of their life; something that is caused either by necessity due to the Coronavirus and/or because people are becoming more technologically inclined. This has clear consequences for organizations that do not take cybersecurity seriously as they will no doubt be left behind and lose millions in revenue.

If your company does not have adequate cyber protection, now is the time to act. Cybersecurity is no longer an idea of the future, it is a necessity of the present.

To learn more about how to keep your business protected, email one of our licensed experts today at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call us at 905-696-9090. Let us help you stay safe!

The world seems to simultaneously be both on fire and under water. There has been a spree of natural disasters all around the world – from the wildfires and floods in Europe and Asia in July to the wildfires and floods in Canada and America today.

We have previously covered how climate change is worse than we all think – but what does this mean from an insurance perspective?

In short, “climate change is exacerbating extreme and freak weather events so rapidly that even the insurance industry is struggling to keep up.” (Bloomberg)

These rapid extreme and freak weather events are now making their consequences felt in the form of billions of dollars worth of losses in the insurance industry. Swiss RE AG, for example, released a mid-year report which showed that insurers had to cover $40 billion in losses caused by natural catastrophes – up $7 billion from the 10-year average.

The problem seems to be two-fold.

Firstly, these events are happening quicker than ever. Once-in-a-100-year weather events have turned into semi-regular occurrences.

Take the winter storm in Texas this past February as an example. Despite being a record storm causing approximately $15 billion in losses, it has quickly been forgotten due to how many other environment catastrophes have occurred since then.

Secondly, these weather events are becoming more powerful and damaging with every iteration. Weather events such as snowstorms, hail, tornados, and wildfires which have historically caused relatively minor damage are now becoming increasingly stronger.

Combining the increased strength of these weather events with an even greater frequency leads to insurers not being able to rely on previous models.

According to Swiss Re, “the insurance industry needs to upscale its risk assessment capabilities … and expand its contribution to financial resilience.”

Erdem Karaca, who overseas catastrophic perils in the American region for Swiss Re, added “models are less mature for secondary perils. A peril like wildfire is also impacted by humans. Ninety percent of ignitions are caused by humans so it is difficult to quantify through models.”

However, it isn’t all doom and gloom. According to Karaca, modellers have gotten much more sophisticated over recent years at predicting flood risk – one that is particularly relevant right now with extreme floods being seen all around the world.

Whilst better modelling and better information will mean higher premiums for some, it will also mean a much higher level of protection.

Ultimately, we must all do our part in slowing down climate change and going as green as possible – whether that is through individual actions or through pressuring corporations to be more environmentally friendly.

If we all work together towards the same goal, there is no limit to how much of a positive change we can all make.

Cyber insurance is a bit of a catch all and covers cybercrime such as social engineering, ransomware (extortion), electronic compromise, breaches, phishing schemes and the like. It is without a doubt the single biggest claim area for insurance, and in the first half of 2021 we have seen more cyber claims then in the past 5 years combined.

Given that 80% of cyber attacks start on email, it really has become a lead defining factor of if you require Cyber Insurance; If you use email corporately are personally, then you should have coverage in place.

Beyond the insurance itself one of the major advantages of cyber insurance is the support, education and response teams available to us in event of a breach because without that resource, who do you call? police? your lawyer? With a policy in place the pros will be there to support you and more importantly take over management of the claim.

It really is not an issue of if you have a claim, but when and to leave yourself exposed here should not be an option, it’s just sound risk management.

While there is an exposure for any data you may maintain for your clients, it really goes well beyond that. As an employer we are all susceptible, given the nature of the extremely personal data we have for our staff. Think bank accounts, SIN, personal contact information etc.

Insurers typically are in agreement that, like any type of insurance, there are exposures where coverage is not attainable on a broad scale.

Losses caused by cyber wars – and widespread outages of electricity and telecommunications – insurers report that the following three categories of widespread critical infrastructure outages are generally uninsurable:

• satellite communications
• the Internet; and
• the electrical grid.

In regards to ‘cyber war’ exclusions, this is a work in progress in an extremely fluid coverage sector. Insurers are still using modified property insurance related war clauses but are working to draft wordings on exactly what a cyber war ‘event’ would look like. As is the case with everything cyber related – “stay tuned”.

There is a plethora of reading available on this subject of course and there is a 1min  quick read here and a little more in depth reference data here if you are interested.

Questions? Reach out to one of our advisors, call us at 800.900.2009 or email us This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Coverage does not have to be expensive to be effective.