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A massive egg recall is occurring throughout the United States. Millions of shell eggs are suspected of being infected with Salmonella Enteritidis. The recall is countrywide and the Food and Drug Administration has regular updates and explanations of the recall.

Is there business insurance for such an event?

Typically, product liability insurance will cover only third-party claims. This means claims from those outside of the business claiming to have been injured by the product. But, massive product recalls involve expenses beyond potential claims such as loss of revenue, business interruption, and costs associated with the recall. Those costs are generally not covered in a traditional product liability policy.

Texting while driving. For fleet owners, a zero-tolerance policy is the best way to educate company drivers on the dangers of this activity.

How dangerous is texting while driving?

An article out of Salt Lake’s Deseret News last Friday follows a test conducted by Allstate last Thursday at the company’s sponsored Family Driving Challenge. An instructor from Allstate would ask questions to drivers over a cell phone. Simple math questions, for example. Within three seconds the drivers were hitting cones on an obstacle course.

Orkin, the leading pest controller in the U.S., has issued a warning that bed bugs are jumping to commercial properties. Excuse the pun.

Recent articles this year in the New York Times and New Yorker Magazine discussed the bed bug infestation in relation to homes and homeowners. The New York Times article discussed the fact that homeowners insurance under a standard policy does not cover the removal of a bed bug infestation.

What about commercial insurance?

The Oklahoma Department of Insurance is warning against a new health insurance scam. Again, it is fake health insurance. Companies claiming to be health insurers take premiums and never pay claims.

Oklahoma Commissioner Kim Holland offers the same advice that we have discussed before: always check to make sure the insurance company is authorized to do business in your state. Always.

Here is our link to our list of contact information for every state regulatory body in the U.S.

School is starting across the country as summer comes to a close.

The start of the school year signals critical changes to traffic patterns. Education, training, and reminders to your fleet and business drivers goes a long way to preventing accidents and claims.

So, how does traffic change? What should we be reminding our drivers?

• Traffic Law Changes – Some states have different traffic laws for “school” days and “non-school” days. School zones are now active and the speed limit changed accordingly. Right turn laws may be changed to restrict such turns on red lights. Make sure your drivers are aware of changes and how they affect routes.

Computer networks are subject to changing risks over time. A good business insurance plan is going to take into account the possibility of a network disruption and resulting business interruption. It is always important to keep in mind how much money your business would lose if it was out of business for…one day?…two?…one month?

The evolution of cloud computing, social media, streaming content, and, interestingly, security measures, has changed the nature of potential network attacks. Experts warn of some of the most dangerous threats evolving for 2010-2011:

The Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) posted its list of theft data for passenger vehicles 1 to 3 years old. The Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), is an affiliate of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Top of the list? The the 2007-09 Cadillac Escalade. To give you an idea of how much the theft of Escalades affects the public, consider that the HLDI estimates the average theft payment per year for all passenger vehicles to be $14. It is $143 for the Escalade. Losses for SUV’s are six times higher than for passenger vehicles.

Last week’s post regarding Prudential’s “Alliance Accounts,” resulted in some comments and a number of direct emails. Thank you, first, to all of the Servicemembers’ beneficiaries who wrote with personal stories regarding their experiences, and, second, to those who had on opinion one way or another.

Retained earnings accounts are accounts wherein a beneficiary’s benefit is held in a corporate account (usually owned by the insurer) until the beneficiary decides on another option. Last week Bloomberg wrote about Alliance Accounts and other similar accounts set up by life insurers for beneficiaries of fallen soldiers.

Bloomberg.com is running a story by David Evans that will appear on the newsstands beginning August 16 in the September issue of Bloomberg Markets magazine.

Admittedly the story has little to do with business insurance.

Rather, the article is about “Alliance Accounts.” This is the way Prudential Financial pays out death benefits to beneficiaries of our fallen soldiers. Our readers include insurance professionals, small business people, and financial planners, so I’d like some feedback on this practice.

Prudential has released a study tracking the financial behavior of women over a ten-year period. What are the trends? What are strengths, changes, and challenges faced by women and expressed in their behaviors? What unique challenges do women face as a part of their financial experience? These are a few of the many questions explored in the report.

The report suggests that 95% of the women surveyed were financial decision makers and 86% of married women were the primary decision makers in their household.