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Bon voyage: smart tips for the safest travel

For many of our clients, traveling is a well-deserved reward for their hard work. They find great pleasure while getting lost in an exciting destination’s local culture, indulging in delicious cuisine at the world’s best restaurants, exploring ancient ruins, and experiencing the beauty of nature while taking in majestic mountains. Certainly, that is what we hope each journey will be for our clients. Because we are in the risk management business, we know that expected delights can suddenly turn otherwise. Among the travel-related issues we have witnessed: Stolen valuables and travel documents, unexpected illnesses, detainments in foreign nations, natural disasters, even threats of kidnapping or actually being held for ransom. And so, as the travel boom continues and our clients re-engage their wanderlust, we felt it was a good time to offer some best practices for safe and stress-free vacationing. Steps to take before you leave There is a lot you and your team of travel advisors or assistants can do, before you embark, to help ensure smooth sailing. As you dream about your upcoming vacation, we suggest taking care of the following items: Be informed about the destination: Your concierge or travel advisor should provide general and safety information about the region. (The State Department’s travel.state.gov website is a portal to advisories related to specific countries.) Separately, if you are headed off the beaten path, such as on safari, make sure your advisors provide a network of contacts that can assist in the event of an emergency. Confirm your travel insurance coverage: Most luxury credit card companies offer a concierge level of travel services including travel insurance. A quick phone call should help understand exactly what will and will not be covered, as there are often many exceptions. Consider medical evacuation and similar coverages that provide extraction services, medical assistance and more. Again, you will want to understand costs and caveats before signing on. Determine whether you need Kidnapping & Ransom coverage: These policies include negotiation assistance and cover the cost of ransom, among a host of relevant services. Typically, we recommend them to high-profile individuals who will be traveling somewhere with security concerns, but please contact your insurance professional if you want to learn more. Confirm coverage for valuables you plan to take: Whether you will be traveling with jewelry, art, or other high-cost items, you should make sure your policies’ coverage extends worldwide. Your insurance professional will have this information if you need clarification. Backup your important documents: Storing copies of your ID, credit card numbers and important phone numbers on the cloud means you will always have easier access to this information, which, in turn, will make it easier to get replacement documents should you need them. If you use a password manager, it is especially critical to be sure your password is not used elsewhere and is challenging for hackers to replicate, as it protects every other password. Prepare your home: Ask the security company to perform a systems check. Additionally, make sure your backup generator has sufficient gas. And make sure a caretaker or friend has keys (or install a keyless entry) in case trouble arises in your absence. Share your itinerary: Let people at home know when you are traveling and where you are staying so they can alert authorities should something go awry. Steps to take on your trip Your bags are packed, and you are ready to go. Whether you are jetting off via private charter, commercial airlines or embarking on the wide-open seas on a yacht, these strategies will help keep you and your possessions safe so you can simply relax and enjoy the scenery: Be extra mindful with your valuables: Place geotags on important items you plan to check on commercial planes, to track them should they get lost. Only use the safe in your hotel room for low value items. Instead, use the hotel’s vault for all valuables. Be aware of your network when traveling: It is important to have a list of contacts where you will be traveling in the event of an emergency. Having a local advocate can be quite helpful. Be intentional, especially while you are abroad: Because not every locale follows the same due process as the United States does, it is important to research and know the customs of that particular region while vacationing. It is also worth locating the American Embassy in countries you travel in, just in case, and asking your lawyer for the names of colleagues they may have abroad who would be able to help you in worst-case scenarios. Follow local protocols and laws: Most importantly, be aware of any such local ordinances prior to your travel. Some countries, have tight restrictions or outright prohibitions regarding alcohol. For example, chewing gum is illegal in Singapore and in many Muslim countries, women are expected to dress conservatively and wear headscarves in certain areas. Wait to post on social media until you are back home: While it is tempting to share your good time with friends and acquaintances, remember that doing so also alerts potential burglars that you are not home. Moreover, if you post while on vacation you can also reveal where you and your family are traveling, thus putting yourselves at risk. With a little preparation, travel can be joyful and stress-free. Having the proper insurance portfolio to protect yourself against all exposures ensures a delightful adventure awaits you! Following these best practices is the surest way to spend a truly relaxing vacation. ...

Why posting vacation photos isn't worth the likes

Remember the hotel robbery of one of today’s most well-known reality stars? The criminals relied on the star’s Instagram account to plan the attack. In fact, the crime’s mastermind, said, “The jewels were shown on the Internet, and the star said that they didn’t wear fakes. . . You just had to look at the Internet and you knew everything, absolutely everything.”  Salacious details aside, there is a lesson to be gleaned as travelers plan their vacation getaways: posting travel photos and itineraries—either before or during—is very risky business. Yet, social media feeds remain full of beach shots, après-ski snaps and European destinations, not to mention hashtags like #travelgram, #instatravel and #vacation. There are three main reasons for concern, even for those with fewer followers than celebrities: 1. Property theft/damage: Whereas in the past clever burglars would read obituaries to prey on grieving families and empty homes, today’s ambitious thieves turn to Facebook, Instagram and other digital platforms to identify targets and ensure easy access. More than 75% of convicted burglars believe that other burglars are using social media to find targets, according to one police department survey. The tipoffs can be anything from location data to photos showcasing high-worth items like art, electronics and jewelry. 2. Liability: There are countless horror stories of teens breaking into unoccupied homes to throw a rager, and causing significant property damage. Even worse: If one of the partygoers is hurt, they could sue the homeowner—and win. 3. Family security: More often than one might imagine, a traveler will share a photo of a plane ticket or boarding pass—essentially providing a road map of their whereabouts. Obviously, this puts travelers and/or their children at greater risk for kidnapping and ransom schemes. It is not difficult to imagine someone with nefarious intentions waiting at a gate with their name on a sign and whisking them away (watch the movie Taken for the very frightening Hollywood version). Fortunately, each of these situations is easily avoided by employing smart social media practices when it comes to travel. Here, then, are a few sample rules. Avoid posting photos before or during a trip. If someone really wants to share vacation photos, better to do it with a “latergram.” Safe exceptions can be made for private groups, but they’re only safe if everyone in the group knows not to repost, screen-grab, etc. Never post a picture of your ticket. Not just for the locational vulnerability, but also because there can be retrievable personal information embedded in these codes. Block locations. Geotagging is often unintended. And because most smartphone settings automatically track locations, the user needs to actively disable location services. Similarly, avoid “checking into” places on Facebook. Coordinate meet-ups offline. Don’t use comments to make plans with friends who are also traveling. Teach the next generation. Digital natives are used to living their life on social media and may not be aware of the potential dangers. Make sure that these best practices are passed along! While these practices may make a globetrotter’s social media feed less exciting, they will ensure that they, their family and their homebound assets are more secure. Clearly, it’s also important to have the proper insurance portfolio to protect oneself against all exposures. But as a first step, following these guidelines is the surest way to spend a truly relaxing vacation. ...

Risks in air: an aviation insurance overview

The majority of our clients spend a good deal of time traveling from place to place, high above the clouds. Some charter a private jet, others fly their own single engine aircraft, and many hop a helicopter to the Hamptons or LA to skip traffic. Almost all of these trips are uneventful, but as risk-management experts we know that often enough the friendly skies are not so friendly. In fact, the lawsuits and payouts resulting from crashes and other midair incidents have become so extreme that they have actually scared off some insurers. In the spirit of better-safe-than-sorry, we’ve created this brief of aviation’s inherent risks and the precautions and policies we recommend to minimize them. When you fly private Though COVID-19 caused havoc on commercial airline travel, it has been a boon for private charter companies. To reduce contact with the virus, travelers are flocking to charters. A majority of those bookings are being made by new customers, and industry experts believe that once those flyers experience the ease of this type of travel—check-ins only 15 minutes before boarding, no taking off shoes, direct flights, privacy—many of them will be hooked. From a risk-management perspective, however, there is a downside, and it’s one that should be addressed before one pulls up to the airport: You could be held liable should something go wrong on the trip because private flyers select aircraft providers and determine flight paths as well as schedules with the aircraft operating company. Don’t worry—there are ways to counter this concern, depending on your connection to the plane. If you are chartering  Ask for additional insured status. Once the charter company lists you in its insurance policy, you will be protected to the limits of its liability (ideally, a minimum of $25M for helicopters, $50M for turboprops and $100M for jets). This will lessen the burden on your own umbrella liability policy. If you fly private regularly, you might want to consider sticking with one charter company that will give you ongoing additional insured status. Request a waiver of subrogation. After payouts, insurance carriers often seek reimbursements from “responsible parties,” and as a charterer that could include you. Obtaining this protection limits a charter company’s insurer from going after your assets. If you own a jet—or a share of one Make sure you are properly protected: Whether you own a piece of a plane, or all of it,—you’ve entered a higher realm of liability risk. Ownership means signing lots of contracts. Before you do, consult an aviation attorney and insurance professional to ensure you are aware of the risk and have mitigated the potential damage. When you charter a helicopter Autorotation notwithstanding, helicopters defy many of the laws of flight. If an airplane malfunctions, chances are it will glide, slowing its descent. Helicopters, which are traveling at lower altitudes to begin with, fall stone-like to earth. All of which is to say, even a minor accident in a helicopter can be very serious—causing broken backs and necks at best, disfiguring fires and death at worst. Obviously, underwriters know this, so insurance solutions are both significantly more expensive and somewhat limited. For example, one client of ours recently insured a six-passenger turboprop with $50 million in liability coverage for less than $30,000 a year; insuring a seven-seat helicopter in the same market cost a second client $130,000 annually, for a maximum liability of $25 million. So, if you’re thinking about purchasing a helicopter, you’ll likely need to consult a team of experts to get the maximum protection. If you’re chartering a flight, treat it as you would a jet:1) get named as an additional insured and 2) request that waiver of subrogation. When you are the pilot If you don’t get paid to fly, the insurance market considers you a hobbyist. And that means that, regardless of your training, you will be placed in a high-risk category. In other words, you’re looking at high premiums and low liability limits. A recent series of serious accidents and expensive settlements have made the market even tougher. But that doesn’t mean you can’t pursue your passion. Here’s what we suggest: If you own—or want to own—a small plane Talk to trusted advisors first. Insurance professionals and trust and estate attorneys will make sure you and your “bug smasher” are adequately covered. It’s important to note that it will be quite a challenge to protect yourself with insurance policies alone. Your team will need to get creative to fully insulate you against potentially massive payouts. Make sure you are insured when you’re grounded too. Fire, wind, heavy snowloads, hangar collapse, accidents during handling ... there are plenty of risks attached to planes even before you get up in the air. To park your plane, airports require you to sign a contract and show proof of insurance. Some plane owners may wish to self-insure, which will necessitate providing financial statements and written commitments. If you’re learning to fly or flying someone else’s plane Choose a flight school carefully. When you hire someone to teach you to fly, you’re hiring their plane too, and the problem with that is you can’t know how well that plane is being maintained. Once you get in the cockpit, you could be liable if something goes wrong and causes an issue. The lack of control you have in this situation can argue for a more radical solution: It may be worth buying your own small plane and learn to fly it. That gives you oversight over the insurance, so you can rest easier knowing you have the proper coverage. Consider non-owned aircraft coverage. These policies are available to pilots who borrow or rent small planes and to corporations that charter private flights or have employees and executives who fly or would like to fly themselves on business trips. Essentially, they cover bodily injury and property damage that may occur as you operate or use third-party-owned aircraft. If you want to fly a vintage or experimental plane Prepare yourself for an even more challenging insurance market. Seaplanes, home-built, vintage models and the like are treated quite particularly by the industry. Can you obtain coverage? Sure. Will it be quite expensive? Definitely. Obviously, and rightly, there are many factors at play when it comes to protecting yourself in the air. All of them make finding sufficient aviation insurance a challenging task. Challenging, but not impossible—especially if you work with a team of dedicated experts. Should you have more specific concerns, we are always available for a more targeted discussion. ...

Protecting yourself from common liability risks

An unwelcome consequence of prosperity is that high-net-worth individuals become more vulnerable to the threat of personal liability suits, whether legitimate or not – especially in today’s litigious world. Each year brings a new peak in both the number of cases and the total amount paid out through a settlement or judgment. Here are today’s most common liability risks and our advice on how to safeguard against them. 1. Risk: Visibility A magazine feature about your home, social media posts, board service or a garage full of luxury cars — all can attract unwanted attention, even if you aren’t a celebrity. What you can do Limit social media posts highlighting your jewelry, luxury vacations, home furnishings, or other obvious signifiers of a high-end lifestyle. Before speaking in public, consider having your remarks reviewed by a professional to ensure that nothing you say could be construed as slanderous. 2. Risk: Minors and Young Adults As long as minors and young adults permanently reside at your address, you are responsible for their actions. The threat they pose to your liability increases as they get older, such as when they obtain their driver’s license or go to college, where incidents like hazing may occur. Additionally, their social media activity can lead to issues like cyberbullying or unwanted attention to your family’s lifestyle. What you can do As a rule, children are often unaware of liability issues, so it’s crucial to keep them fully informed, especially teenagers who are more likely to engage in risky behavior. Consider enrolling them in a defensive driving course and educating them on the significance of safe driving habits. As much as you can, limit or monitor their social media usage, and never allow alcohol or drugs at gatherings you host. 3. Risk: Entertaining Inviting a large group into your home can be a wonderful experience, but it also comes with elevated liability exposure. Serving alcohol can have serious repercussions should a guest be hurt in a drinking-and-driving or pool accident. What you can do If the pool will be open to guests, it is wise to hire a lifeguard, especially if children are present. Ensure that any outside vendors you hire are covered by their own workers’ compensation and general liability policies. Additionally, consult your broker about situation-specific liability protection. If you frequently host parties, confer with your wealth manager and attorney about transferring your property to a trust or LLC to create legal separation in the event of a lawsuit. 4. Risk: Renovations and repairs Any work being conducted on your property, whether it’s daily maintenance or new construction, exposes you to liability in the event of a worker being injured on the job. What you can do When hiring contractors, prioritize those with solid reputations. Limit the number of subcontractors involved and make sure everyone provides proof of workers’ compensation and general liability insurance. 5. Risk: Driving The potential trouble caused by automobile accidents has increased over the last several years. Texting, talking on the phone or looking at a vehicle’s screen is just as perilous as driving under the influence. What you can do Recognize the seriousness of taking eyes off the road, whether you’re getting directions or regulating the air conditioning. Use technological assists, such as Do Not Disturb, to help avoid the temptation of texting. And, of course, never drive while impaired. Proper Coverage Accidents happen, and with successful individuals increasingly becoming targets of costly lawsuits, it’s important to not only have personal liability insurance but the correct amount. Personal liability insurance is commonly included in policies like homeowners, automobile, and watercraft. It shields you from losses resulting from negligent acts that cause injury, property damage, or reputational harm, except in the event of criminality or malicious intent. However, the amount of coverage provided by these is often limited, therefore, we often recommend purchasing personal excess liability coverage which provides an additional layer of protection. Determining the proper amount of coverage requires a thoughtful conversation with your broker but you can start by taking our Liability Assessment Tool, which helps suggest a range of liability based on your lifestyle. The unfortunate truth is that personal liability risk is everywhere, and while it cannot be entirely prevented, paying extra attention to the scenarios that result in most claims will prove to be beneficial. ...

Smooth sailing ahead: what you need to know about yacht insurance

Island hopping through the Caribbean or cruising the Mediterranean, yacht ownership should be a sun-filled dream come true. But, as every seafarer knows, storms and structural mishaps can quickly turn the dream into a nightmare. Contributing to that nightmare, yacht insurance policies are notoriously demanding and their terms are extraordinarily complicated. To help you navigate these complicated insurance waters, here are our insights to help ensure that you are never left high and dry. Current Conditions Securing yacht insurance has been a challenging task in recent years due to various factors including increasing natural disasters, regulatory changes, and economic shifts. The overwhelming payouts have forced several carriers out of the industry, and those that remained not only increased rates significantly but became extremely picky about who and what they would insure. In fact, today, many carriers would prefer to not cover first-time yacht owners at all. So, the first thing we tell people who ask about insuring a yacht is that the process will be an intricate one. Needless to say, it’s more important than ever to find an insurance professional who has the knowledge to put together a successful package, and the strong industry ties to get it done. The Right Approach For Securing Yacht Insurance Unlike some other more pro forma coverages, this one is neither quick-binding nor set-it-and-forget-it. It will take some work to get adequate coverage, then require more communication with your broker to adhere to the carrier's demands. These suggestions will make it easier to do both: Lean into the process: To obtain insurance, your broker has to paint your circumstances in the best possible light, and that is going to require know-how (theirs) and time (yours). Our watercraft team has the advantage of having worked for carriers, so they understand exactly what underwriters need to see, but they can’t create that packet of information without your help. Be prepared to answer questions: Underwriters want to know everything, from the primary mooring spot (although the bigger the yacht, the less it matters) to cruising itineraries to hurricane contingencies to who is your captain and crew. If you are buying a pre-owned yacht, you also need an accredited appraisal of its condition and value. Keep your insurance professional on speed-dial: Making sure you are properly protected means thinking beyond the vessel itself. Specifically, your insurance professional should review all contracts for marinas, shipyards and the like; few of those entities provide the blanket coverage you would expect them to, instead offloading as much liability as possible onto vessel owners. And to make sure your insurance remains valid, you will need to keep your insurance professional apprised of all operational changes, especially in personnel. Many carriers reject captains who they deem too inexperienced. It’s also important to let the insurer know, via your broker, whenever there are navigational changes. Four Concerns That Could Put You In Deep Water Yacht ownership comes with its own set of potential problems which is why proper coverage is essential. Here are some of the potential worries: Gusts and gales: When the winds blow, vessels get tossed about even when they are tied up at a marina. Big storms can rip pilings out of the ground, and that is bad whether it is your boat’s moorings or not, because once one boat is let loose, it can ping pong destructively through neighboring vessels. During those 2017 catastrophic storms, thousands of boats sank, but many others ended up on dry land, up to 1,000 feet from the water. Lightning: This is becoming more of an issue as vessels become more sophisticated. A strike can wipe out an entire electrical system, and these days that system can cost a million dollars or more. As a result, carriers have increased lightning deductibles. Fire: A bad shore power connection, an engine issue, shipyard carelessness ... any of these hazards can lead to costly damage, particularly because many boats are highly flammable. Groundings: Professional captains significantly cut down on the incidence of groundings and collisions. Nonetheless, the possibility remains, especially in crowded sea lanes such as those off the coast of Florida and in the Caribbean. A Tight Ship: What Needs To Be Covered Appropriate coverage protects you when there is loss of property, liability claims and environmental damage. The essentials include: Hull and machinery: Think of it as property coverage for your boat, protecting not only the vessel and its infrastructure, but also some personal property, tenders and recreational watercraft, even the mopeds you use to zip around towns after you dock. However, though helicopter pads on your yacht can be included, the helicopters will require additional coverage. Protection and indemnity (P&I): This provides coverage for your liability for anything, fixed or floating, that your yacht hits. It also encompasses bodily injury to passengers or the crew, property damage and a mariner’s version of workers comp. You also want your P&I policy to reflect your intended navigation area. If you are going to be cruising internationally, your policy must be able to respond every port around the world (note: this is why a great majority of yachts are covered under one of 13 P&I clubs). Wreck removal: Should your boat sink, the local jurisdiction may mandate that you remove it. That is quite an expensive proposition. Vessel pollution liability: This is another requirement in many jurisdictions— the United States made it mandatory after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Frequently rolled into P&I, it also covers fines and penalties incurred for causing damage to natural habitats such as reefs. Yachting is almost by definition an interstate activity, so maritime insurance is less regulated than most other coverages. One benefit of this lesser oversight is that much of it can be tailored specifically to your— and your vessels—needs. We understand the tremendous pleasure that you expect to receive from yacht ownership, so we look forward to using our all-hands-on-deck approach to make sure nothing ever rocks your boat. ...

How data impacts your personal insurance program

In today’s interconnected world, your online presence is more than just a reflection of you. From the data you share on websites and the social media posts you make, every digital interaction leaves behind a trail that can influence how carriers assess your risk, set premiums, and even handle claims. As carriers navigate mounting losses due to the ongoing severe weather events and other modern risks, they strive to minimize future liabilities by leveraging all available data for their policy evaluations.  This overview will help you understand how your online activity and digital footprint impacts your insurance profile so that you can understand which choices will better protect your insurance program. 1. Images from drones impact home insurance premiums When it comes to home insurance premiums and policy decisions, carriers utilize various data sources including drone footage and property history to accurately assess risk. This may allow carriers to spot concerns that were previously nonissues. However, the information also makes it easier and cheaper for carriers to make an appraisal, and those benefits can be passed along to the buyer. Carriers can pinpoint specific areas of concern like wind damage, fire risk, or theft exposure, and adjust rates accordingly should those risk assessments warrant. That said, if you're shopping for home insurance in a region recently affected by a natural disaster, carriers will have data about related losses nearby and require specific documentation confirming there are no known issues with your property. 2. Data about driving habits affects automobile insurance rates Auto insurance carriers not only track accidents and tickets, but are now analyzing driving characteristics including speed, acceleration, braking patterns, and more. Some drivers voluntarily enroll into programs that allow carriers to monitor their travels, often in exchange for lower premiums if the data indicates safe behavior. (Of course, premium increases are a possibility should the opposite prove true). Drivers, however, do not always know that their data is being collected. Given these potentially ambiguous circumstances, we believe that best offense is defense — i.e., defensive driving. It will mitigate the chance that data about your driving leads to higher premiums and minimize the likelihood of an incident. 3. Medical records alter life insurance policies When applying for life insurance, it’s not just your age and health status that matter. Routine medical visits, an innocuous visit to a chiropractor, or even a routine prescription could raise red flags in your application, potentially increasing your premiums or complicating your eligibility. Medical data, including billing codes inputted by medical practitioners can raise flags, whether those flags are justified or not. And electronic record keeping ensures that a lot more information than that is available, and any of it can make carriers less willing to offer policies or at least more likely to ask for higher premiums. 4. Social media influences liability coverage Similar to medical records, your social media presence could be examined by carriers before they offer you coverage or renew policies. As a reminder, anything you post online, such as texts, emails, Tik Tok videos, even a seemingly innocent post or comment, can leave a digital trail that might affect your insurability. You don’t want to find yourself in a position in which a hack or a lawsuit can expose you to damages. Therefore, maintaining a thoughtful and privacy-conscious social media presence can help minimize potential risks in the eyes of carriers. While this increasing reliance on data might seem overwhelming, it does offer some advantages, especially for those with lower risk profiles. With more precise data, carriers can now tailor rates to individual risks rather than relying on one-size-fits-all premiums. This means that people with lower risks may enjoy more affordable rates. As the industry evolves, insurance is becoming more personalized, which can benefit those who continue to take proactive steps to manage their risks. The digital landscape is surely a complicated one, but it’s one our team at Alliant is adept at navigating. You can count on us to continue to provide you not only with the most appropriate coverage options, but with the up-to-date knowledge needed to make the best choices. ...