Professional Carwash & Detailing

Cover Story
(Continued from page 39)
When you read the title of this article, what came to mind — a
thief coming onto your premises with the intent to take money or
property by force, or possibly a newscaster telling about an indi-
vidual being harmed by an intruder who was caught stealing their
property? Many of you may have experienced this first hand and
are concerned about protecting yourself against damages relat-
ed to crime.
Your agent may have told you that you need coverage for
property and money in a special form policy which includes theft,
because it is not excluded — or a Business Owners Policy (BOP)
form, which also provides this protection. If you followed your
agent’s advice, congratulations, you can rest assured you have
insurance coverage for this type of crime.
However, there is another crime that you may not have consid-
ered that is a real threat to your business’ financial well-being —
employee theft.
The U. S. Chamber of Commerce estimates that 75 percent of
all employees steal at least once, and half of these same
employees steal again... and again. The Chamber also reports
that one of every three business failures are the direct result of
employee theft. It’s naive to think that employee theft will not
happen to you. While employee theft may be only as serious as
the swiping of a stapler or a bottle of Liquid Paper®, the stealing
of money, office supplies and office equipment can become
quite a serious problem for your business if it is not monitored and
kept to a minimum.
“Employee crime is one of the biggest and costliest problems
facing private businesses today,” said Lisa McGee, a private com-
pany customer group manager for Chubb Specialty Insurance.
Can you purchase insurance protection for damages caused
from employee theft? The answer is yes, you can. Check with
your insurance adviser to determine the limits available and the
premiums at various deductible levels.
One of the best ways to limit your damages from employee
theft is to:
1. Expect it; and
2. Prevent it.
Based on the statistics and a number of other reasons, it’s
important you realize that your business is not exempt from this
exposure to loss. Some of the most trusted employees are often
times the ones most likely to be involved in employee theft. It
may take the form of stealing company property, corruption
schemes and/or accounting trickery. Statistics show that the aver-
age tenure of employment of those caught for theft from their
employer is nine years. It is thought that long-term employees
decide they are under paid or unappreciated and therefore feel
justified stealing from their employer.
Here are a few common sense ideas and good business prac-
tices you can implement to prevent damages from crime:
1. Have a system in place to oversee expense reports and
check signing. In general, it is a good idea that two people
(preferably not from the same department) sign off on
approvals in the event someone is trying to bilk the company.
2. If you have equipment such as cell phones, pagers or com-
puters that employees use for their daily activities, you need
policies clearly spelled out, and signed agreements that state
when they take the equipment they understand it is company
property and they must not be negligent with it or let others use it.
3. Know who works for you with pre-employment background
screenings. Risk management statistics show that more than 40
million Americans used fraudulent resumes or false statements
on job applications to obtain a job. These same screens on
pre-employment and current employees revealed 75 percent
had an undisclosed criminal history.
4. Use of security cameras allows you to covertly document
employee theft and overtly for customer theft and fraud. The
use of investigative and security services will further deter theft
and, of course, make certain an investigation takes place any
time a theft is suspected.
5. When a theft has been proven, make an example of any one
involved. A police report is mandatory anytime you have an
insured loss, and being willing to prosecute to the fullest extent
of the law will serve as a deterrent to others in the future who
may be tempted to steal from your business.
6. Never count any employee out as a suspect. Smart money
says it will be someone you wouldn’t expect to commit a crime
against you or your business.
Insuring yourself against crime is far more serious than just buy-
ing insurance for known exposures. In essence, the numbers tell
the story, and your effort to prevent crimes and thereby reduce
losses is an effective way to manage a profitable business.
Even with the best laid plans it is still possible you may incur a
loss. Count on your insurance adviser to review your current insur-
ance program and explain other coverages or limits that will help
you take the financial bite out of crime.
Scott Brothers is president and CEO of Joplin, Missouri-based The Insurancenter. The Insurancenter has been insuring the car care industry since 1986, and is the largest writer of car wash insurance nationwide.
Preventing employee theft
By Scott Brothers, CIC