All posts by futureaccess

adult in meeting with laptop and paper work on top of desk. when is a risk management consultant needed? robert harder explains.

When Will I Need A Risk Management Consultant?

Risk Management Consulting

The easy answer? When you want to know that you are managing risk effectively and buying insurance in response to the plan.

Not everyone appreciates one of my favourite sayings, borrowed from the TV show The A-Team, and George Peppard’s character, John “Hannibal” Smith, which is “I Love It When A Good Plan Comes Together?

And my follow-up which is, ““If you don’t know where you are going, (or have a plan) any road will get you there.”

Managing risk is a deliberate plan and insurance is a loss financing tool used in the post-loss phase of risk management. Risk management is a process, not a project. It is continuous.

The first step is identifying risks. If you haven’t determined what can happen to your business, how do you buy insurance.

The second phase is to quantify risk, determine frequency and severity outcomes

The next phase is to select tools to manage risk, of which there are many, and

The fourth phase is to implement the plan, followed by the continuous management of the process.

Can you do all that alone? Not likely?

Are you buying insurance without a risk management plan? Possibly.

lease agreement on desk with paper work. the importance of understanding your lease with robert harder

Leases – Disaster Lurks?

Contracts

Do you have a lease, either as lessor or lessee? If so, have you read and understood every word? If not, you could be in trouble if something bad occurs.

From a risk management perspective, there are several clauses that need particular attention, including Repair, Indemnity, Abatement and Insurance.

adults in a meeting shaking hands over paper work. robert harder consulting in explains international business.

International Business –

International

A common engagement for us is to as work with a company that is expanding beyond their borders, either provincially, or more often to the United States, Mexico and beyond.

We are very familiar with cross border insurance requirements and how to arrange your insurance.

This includes global policies, locally admitted insurance, licensing requirements, jurisdictional issues, workers compensation, monopolistic states and self-insurance.

Companies have relied on us to guide them with their operations in Canada, United States, Mexico, Honduras, Brazil, Chile, Spain, UK, Germany, Poland, China, Japan and others.

stacks of coins and pens on insurance form. learn about self-insurance with robert harder consulting inc.

Self-Insurance – what is it?

Risk Management

“Oh, we will just self-insure that” NO, you don’t just simply “self-insure”.

Self insurance is not the same is ignoring insurance as a loss funding mechanism for losses.

Self-insurance is a deliberate, planned and specific mechanism. An uninsured risk is not self-insured.

Creating a captive insurance company is self-insurance, but a large deductible is not.

Terminology gets murky, but a large self-insured retention is considered self-insurance.

Insurance is the spreading of risk using the law of large numbers to share losses with others, administered by an insurance company.

Tax laws allow insurance companies to expense a possible future claim payment as a reserve. Businesses cannot expense reserves, possible future claims, against current income, even with a self-insured retention, large deductible, or the absence of insurance. any exceptions are beyond the scope of this forum.

men and woman in a meeting with paper work on the table. learn about supply chain risk management with robert harder consulting inc.

Supply Chain Risk Management

Risk Management

Most companies have some idea how their insurance will respond to a disruption to their business, but most have little idea if or how their insurance will respond if there is disrupted by an event at another business, such as a customer, supplier, or specified property or landmark.

adults in a meeting. shop for insurance with robert harder consulting inc.

How Often Should I Shop My Insurance?

RFP

There is no easy answer, but I will offer some insight.

If you are a public entity, you probably have a purchasing bylaw which requires you to tender goods and services based on a variety of criteria, such as size of contract and frequency, if more than $10,000 and at least every three years.

At the very least, most business should conduct a Request for Proposals at least every five years, but there are exceptions which I will address.

Here are some things you should address first:

– How well am I being served now?
– Has pricing changed much since our last RFP?
– Does my provider investigate alternatives frequently?
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