Intel Intel

6 New Year’s Resolutions to Reduce Your Risks in 2022

Powered By

Have you made your New Year’s resolutions?

About 44% of adults surveyed in a recent Medifast poll said they planned to set a resolution for 2022, compared to 50% in 2021. Top resolutions for the new year include financial health, holistic health and wellness, and focusing on self-care or body positivity, the survey found.

While not everyone will make a New Year’s resolution for 2022, a majority of Americans feel optimistic about the future, according to a new Fidelity Investments study. When it comes to financial health, common resolutions among those surveyed included saving more money, paying down debt and spending less.

Insureds should consider reassessing their insurance coverage needs now to support their financial goals for the coming year and help make it safer, more secure, and more successful for themselves, their family and their business.

1. Assess whether your Homeowners Insurance policy is appropriate for your home’s value and location. 

Although about 93% of homeowners have insurance, many do not take the opportunity every year to review their coverage to identify coverage gaps, and approximately 64% of homes are undervalued by an average of 27%, leaving many homeowners considerably underinsured.

Any changes you make to your home can impact its assessed value and your Homeowners Insurance needs, especially major changes such as adding rooms or outbuildings, converting a detached garage to an attached garage, adding a skylight or installing new windows or doors.

Did you recently invest in a swimming pool, trampoline, or build a treehouse? If so, ask your insurance broker or agent whether you need Personal Umbrella Coverage to adequately protect yourself should accidents occur while guests are using your new recreational amenities.

Experts predict severe weather events, flooding, earthquakes and wildfires will continue to become more frequent and severe. Now is the time to check in with your insurance broker or agent to assess whether your Homeowners or High-Value Homeowners Insurance policy includes adequate coverage for property damage caused by fire, wind, hail and water, as well as coverage for backup sewer and drain damage and mold.

If your geographical location means that your risks for such damage exceed the coverage provided by your current policies, your insurance broker or agent can recommend specialty coverages that can give you greater protection and help you mitigate associated property damage costs, such as Primary and Excess Flood, Earthquake, Wind and Excess Wind coverage. If you live in a wildfire-prone area, you can invest in Homeowners Insurance that includes expanded wildfire coverage.

2. Check your insurance coverage for high-value personal items

Many homeowners mistakenly believe that their Homeowners Insurance policy provides full coverage for all items inside their homes or on their property. The reality is that contents coverage is a percentage of a Homeowners Insurance policy and there are coverage limits for high-value personal items such as artwork, jewelry, antiques, collectibles, and musical instruments.

To safeguard personal items, you likely need the coverage afforded by a Personal Articles Floater. This specialized coverage can help you replace your high-value items if they are lost or stolen, repair them if they are damaged by a severe weather event, smoke, or an accident. A Personal Articles Floater may be purchased for single items of great value, or it can be tailored to provide the level of coverage needed for several items or a collection.

3. Take simple but effective steps to protect your home and family from fires

In 2020, fire departments responded to a structure fire approximately every 64 seconds, according to a National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) report. A total of 379,500 residential structure fires occurred that year, the NFPA reported, resulting in 2,630 civilian deaths and $8.7 billion in property damage.

Investing in the appropriate Homeowners Insurance and specialized coverages can help you when things go wrong, and making fire safety a priority can help keep you and your loved ones safe when it strikes. Install new batteries in your smoke detectors, test your fire extinguishers regularly, review basic safety and emergency plans and stage evacuation drills with your family.

If you are a homeowner in a wildfire-prone area, the NFPA, FEMA and other leading experts recommend these basic fire-prevention steps:

  • Keep your roof clear of debris.
  • Use fire-resistant roofing materials.
  • Keep the 5-foot radius around your home free from debris and flammable materials like wood mulch.
  • Trim overhanging branches from trees within a 15- to 20-foot radius of your home.

To further mitigate your risks, ask your insurance broker if your Homeowners Insurance policy includes expanded wildfire coverage. Homeowners in 10 wildfire-prone states can obtain such coverage through policies backed by Burns & Wilcox, which has partnered with Wildfire Defense Systems (WDS), a private insurance fire resource company that provides homeowners insured through its partner companies with wildfire risk management services.

4. Shore up your defenses against cybersecurity threats

According to the FBI’s 2020 Internet Crime Report, the most common cyber crimes reported by victims included phishing scams, non-payment/non-delivery scams, and extortion. The FBI received 791,790 cyber crime complaints in 2020, with reported losses of more than $4.2 billion, the report stated. In 2021, the number of data breaches publicly reported was expected to make it a record-breaking year, Forbes reported.

In addition to creating an incident response plan for your company, training employees in identifying and responding to threats, identifying key cybersecurity stakeholders and assessing your third party-related data risks, you can protect your company and its assets with a Cyber and Privacy Liability Insurance policy tailored to your specific needs. These policies can provide coverage for a range of exposures, including third-party claims, first-party costs, public relations efforts, credit protection, regulatory penalties and notification and forensic costs.

 5. Complete a safety check and assess your risks for on-site hazards

The start of a new year is a perfect time to perform a thorough review of your company’s premises and practices and address any potential risks to your staff or clients. Find and repair damaged walkways, repair or replace inefficient or malfunctioning equipment, check safety systems such as fire alarms and sprinklers, and have all staff review emergency plans and implement safe practices.

Your risk assessment should also include consulting your insurance broker or agent to evaluate whether your Commercial Property and Commercial General Liability (CGL) Insurance policies are appropriate for your specific needs.

A CGL Insurance policy can mitigate financial exposures from bodily injury, property damage, personal injury, advertising liability and product liability, but because coverages and needs vary widely from business to business, it is in your best interests to have an expert assess your needs. You may find that to appropriately address your risks, you need additional property and liability coverages, such as Excess Property or Equipment Breakdown.

6. Every business has environmental exposures—find and address yours

Most business owners underestimate their company’s environmental liability exposures. Every business faces potential liabilities and costs related to health effects and cleanup from environmental pollution due to accidents, fires, extreme weather events, or natural disasters, and the costs can be catastrophic.

Environmental claims continue to rise in the U.S., driven primarily by natural disasters. As climate change contributes to more severe weather events, experts believe oil spills and other environmental incidents could become more common, ABC News reported in September of 2021. In 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency assessed nearly $160 million in civil enforcement penalties.

Environmental Insurance policies can include coverage for fines and penalties, where allowable by law. Such policies can be exceptionally broad, including coverage for first- and third-party cleanup at owned, non-owned, rented or permanently leased locations; on-site or off-site cleanup; emergency response costs; business interruption, and many of the other substantial costs you may incur to remediate environmental damage.

A happy new year starts with safety and security

Remember that your insurance broker or agent can provide you with expert assistance to complete the action steps outlined above, assess your ongoing risks and more. Clarifying what your existing insurance policies cover and bridging any gaps with additional coverage to provide you with appropriate protections for your personal and professional exposures will help you gain the financial security and stability you need to keep all of your 2022 New Year’s resolutions, from purchasing that gym membership to upgrading your billing system.

Sign Up For Newsletter Updates

Featured Solution(s)

Featured Expert

Similar Articles

Serving you and your clients

To see your local Burns & Wilcox team, please enter your address.

Featured Solutions

6 New Year’s Resolutions to Reduce Your Risks in 2022

Residential Property

A home is generally a person’s largest asset, one that requires a tailored solution to meet the needs of the

6 New Year’s Resolutions to Reduce Your Risks in 2022

Casualty (Commercial)

One of the most common risks faced by all organizations is financial loss caused by legal liability for injuries to persons

6 New Year’s Resolutions to Reduce Your Risks in 2022

Property (Commercial)

The Property Insurance segment has recently faced a severe tightening in capacity and Underwriting guidelines.  Multiple years of poor Underwriter

6 New Year’s Resolutions to Reduce Your Risks in 2022

Cyber/Privacy/Technology/Media

Cyber security threats are consistently ranked a top issue for organizations worldwide. While technological advancements bring about new innovations and stronger security

6 New Year’s Resolutions to Reduce Your Risks in 2022

Environmental

Almost every company faces some kind of environmental exposure. Every risk has a potential environmental exposure and requires a special need for expertise –

Kaufman 2023 Annual Report

A comprehensive review of performance across Burns & Wilcox and Kaufman companies

View Report

Sign Up for Updates

Sign up to receive the latest industry news and product information from Burns & Wilcox.