This past March, a ransomware attack caused government operations in Atlanta to come to a complete standstill. It left courts unable to process warrants, residents unable to pay bills online, and travelers unable to use airport Wi-Fi. Attacks like these have become the rule rather than the exception for businesses, with former FBI director Robert Mueller saying it best: “…there are only two types of companies: those that have been hacked and those that will be hacked.” Everyone is a target, so the seeming inevitability of becoming a hacking victim has now made risk management strategies more important than ever.

During this year’s Pinnacle University (Pinnacle U) event, we presented an overview of parametric insurance. Unlike traditional insurance coverage, parametric insurance is not an indemnification product. Instead, it determines a benefit payable in advance of the policy purchase by estimating the loss as accurately as possible, subject to certain conditions being satisfied. The cost of the policy is based on a pre-determined trigger. Examples might include maximum sustained wind speed for hurricane coverage or earthquake magnitude as measured by the Richter scale.

Pinnacle recently hosted the 5^th annual Pinnacle University (Pinnacle U) event in our Bloomington office. The Pinnacle U program is a collaborative effort with Illinois State University (ISU) to provide training and development opportunities to both our employees and local college students. Consistent with our firm’s commitment to community, Pinnacle U is well-received in the Bloomington-Normal area.

Each year, we ask our clients to rate their level of satisfaction with Pinnacle’s services and request their input as to how we can improve their overall client experience. We’re proud that our 2017 client survey yielded a 99% satisfaction rate, and we sincerely thank our client participants for their responses.

Another big California workers’ compensation rate reduction is coming, effective mid-year 2018. This will be the seventh straight decrease, with the last reduction taken January 1, 2018.

This past week, the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California (WCIRB) approved and released the pure premium rate filing, effective July 1, 2018. This rate reduction has not yet been approved by the California Department of Insurance, and is open to a public comment period and hearing.