Products

At ProRisk we are building a fully diversified book of business. This approach applies to our management liability book as well as to our cyber liability program. The diversification is intended to be along all types of businesses be they public Canadian, public inter-listed, private or non-profit. We are looking at diversity across industry types as well including natural resources, transportation, communications, technology, manufacturing, financial institutions, real estate and retail / wholesale operations.

Directors and Officers

The ProRISK Primary D&O policy is designed with the buyer in mind; comprehensive coverage built into an easy to understand format. Our goal is to provide your clients with the coverage they deserve versus the coverage that you have to negotiate.

The ProRISK Primary D&O policy has many industry leading benefits. Please call to discuss the needs of your D&O Clients as we have the flexibility to tailor our products to your specific insured's needs.

We do not add restrictive endorsements such as a "Reliance endorsement" which often serves to redefine the severability condition provided under a primary policy. We do not have any restrictive definitions in our wording that create confusion or limit the coverage in the program.

Our terms and conditions are designed to follow the primary policy as outlined in our Insuring Agreement and considering the objective of an excess policy is to follow the primary coverage as opposed to redefining it, we think this makes preeminent sense.

Underwriting Capacity: We hold Binding Authority Agreements with Lloyd's of London which provide D&O and Fiduciary capacity of more than $50,000,000 and we have $20,000,000 in capacity available for either professional liability or crime. For cyber liability, we can access up to $20,000,000 in capacity using our own in-house facility along with markets with whom we have a correspondent relationship. Fiduciary Liability Insurance Crime Coverage Cyber Liability Insurance Professional Liability Insurance

Network Liability and Privacy Security, commonly known as Cyber Liability.   

In today's business environment the heart of every organization is its computer network and its commitment to information technology resources, as virtually every enterprise is reliant on technology for its day to day success.  While technology improves efficiency, increases productivity and makes doing business easier, we know real threats to profitability exist through technology.  

Computer hackers are constantly surfing for network weaknesses in an effort to capture financial information, personally identifiable information on customers, clients, patients, students, members and employees, medical records, credit card data, intellectual property and other sensitive corporate information. The challenge in protecting data, while often viewed as external is in fact internal as well.  While hackers and third party vendors account for the majority of data protection risks; employee theft of data, staff mistakes and computer system glitches, along with lost and stolen laptops and personal devices collectively represent the majority of a company's network and privacy security liability risk.

To complicate matters further, no industry sector is immune with network liability and privacy security losses occurring in the government, education, entertainment, financial services, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, retail, professional services, non-profit, telecommunications, technology and the energy sector.

As a result regulators, governmental agencies along with shareholder advocacy groups and plaintiff's bar lawyers are holding directors and officers to a strict standard in executing their fiduciary duty in the management of network liability and privacy security on behalf of their corporations.
 
There are over 30 different personal information protection / privacy statutes in force across Canada and each jurisdiction uses different language in the various statutes. 

In Canada, the Canadian Securities Administrators recently issued "CSA Staff Notice 11-326 on Cyber Security", see hyper link to the notice:  

(http://www.osc.gov.on.ca/en/SecuritiesLaw_csa_20130926_11-326_cyber-security.htm).

In the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued "Corporate Finance Disclosure Topic No. 2 Cyber Security", see hyper link to the notice:

( http://www.sec.gov/divisions/corpfin/guidance/cfguidance-topic2.htm).

These issued documents provide guidance on appropriate disclosure regarding network liability and privacy security risk in Canada and the USA, with addition implications on Canadian companies that are publicly listed in Canada and the USA.

Network liability and privacy security insurance is designed to protect directors, officers and businesses from the liability and expenses arising from the theft or loss of data, as well as the liability and the expenses arising from a breach of data security or privacy.  This is particularly important when your company is responsible for third party data.

 

Professional Risk Underwriters provides a comprehensive coverage solution for its client with an emphasis on giving its clients "what they deserve in coverage and not what they have to negotiate in coverage".  

We hold binding authority agreements with Lloyd's of London underwriters which provide ProRisk with capacity of up to $20,000,000.  We can use this capacity on either a primary or an excess basis and we can issue the policy contract in either Canadian or US dollars.
In addition to our committed capacity, we are able to enter the open market at Lloyd's of London and gain access to additional capacity.

White Collar Crime:

Business today is focused on producing top line growth, bottom line profit and on preserving its asset base; it is a matter of survival for every business in this challenging economic climate. Unfortunately, fraud studies clearly illustrate that companies lose millions of dollars each year as a result of employee theft. White collar crimes steal your competitive edge, they increase your costs of goods and services making your firm less competitive and in worst case scenarios can lead your company to bankruptcy.

It is clear from experience that employees may commit a fraud if confronted with the right triggers. While collar crime results from the combination of opportunity and motivation and takes place once rationale supports the act of theft.

Opportunity exists when too much trust is placed in the hands of key employees, in essence when internal controls are weak. Motivation arises from deterioration in personal circumstances or pressures to meet aggressive business targets. Embezzling employees fool themselves by rationalizing their deeds with anger and fear being big drivers in the explanation of their theft of assets.

Companies often misunderstand while collar crime and occasionally they are lead to believe that a commercial crime policy is unnecessary because employees do not have access to cash in order to steal. In examining numerous employee theft losses over the years, we know that other items of value will be stolen, such as securities, raw materials, warehouse merchandise, bulk items and equipment.

Targets of Employee Theft

Construction, forestry, mining, transportation, manufacturing, wholesale, business services and retail organizations are susceptible to employee theft. Any unfinished item or finished product can be a target for any fraudster when an opportunity accompanies the need and a source for the disposal of the stolen items exists. Any item can be valuable enough to steal when a sufficient quantity exists over a period of time and recent fraud surveys have shown that many frauds have been perpetrated over a three to five year period.

Misconceptions exist with unfinished goods as they are perceived to be unattractive and therefore little protection or few inventory controls exist to protect them. Unfortunately this may prove to be a costly error as unsecured raw materials are ideal targets for a fraudster to steal since so little effort is required and the likelihood of getting caught is minimal.

Our loss experience with employee theft has shown us that employee theft extends to mundane materials such as metals, wood, plastic, syrup, fertilizer, bags and animal by-products to name a few mundane materials. The theft of these unfinished goods over a period of three to five years can have a significant impact on a company's bottom line.

It goes without saying that finished products offer a fraudster a greater rate of return for their theft of company assets and require a greater degree of protection.

Strong internal controls in which a strict separation of duties exists are important, but with any controls your company is ultimately relying on the human element. The human element is not a panacea for the elimination of employee theft as employees often collude with others internally and externally in the circumvention of internal controls.

Computers systems add a layer of complexity to exposure of employee theft as the opportunity for fraud increases, the likelihood of detection decreases and the potential for a larger payout grows with "tech-savvy" employees. It is for this reason that every company should look to a commercial crime insurance policy to supplement its strong internal controls.

Commercial Crime Insurance:

Professional Risk Underwriters provides a comprehensive coverage solution for its client with an emphasis on giving its clients "what they deserve in coverage and not what they have to negotiate in coverage".

We hold binding authority agreements with Lloyd's of London underwriters which provide ProRisk with capacity of up to $10,000,000. We can use this capacity on either a primary or an excess basis and we can issue the policy contract in either Canadian or US dollars.

In addition to our committed capacity, we are able to enter the open market at Lloyd's of London and gain access to additional capacity.

Products Under Development:

We are in the process of developing a number of complimentary lines of coverage to allow us to deliver a full suite of professional liability and executive / management liability products to our brokers. Additional products will be announced shortly.