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04/27/2024

Business Protection News transcripts

March 2024

Risk management resources to help mitigate risks

Welcome to the Business Protection Solutions Newsletter. I am Lea Vanden Boom, Property and Casualty Consultant for TruStage™.

Do you ever have employees drive their personal vehicle for credit union business? Have you wondered how insurance would apply in these cases? Driving a personal vehicle on business brings up questions on how the employee’s insurance and the credit union’s business auto policy work together.

Your employee’s personal auto insurance is always going to be primary. In most cases, the employee’s personal auto insurance will be the only protection available for physical damage to the employee’s vehicle. Insurance follows ownership. If there is a loss where liability is triggered, the employee’s personal auto insurance is primary and then the credit union’s business auto and excess liability policies may be available if the limits on the employee’s policy are used up.

Here are a few scenarios to illustrate how personal auto insurance and a business auto policy either work or do not work together.

  • An employee’s vehicle is damaged while parked in the credit union parking lot. It was a hit and run and the responsible party is not known. The employee would file a claim with their personal auto insurance and the credit union’s business auto policy would not apply.
  • Your employee runs to the post office to purchase additional stamps for a credit union mailing. They do not pay attention and cause an accident, resulting in a pedestrian having bodily injuries. The pedestrian files a suit due to the damages. The employee would file a liability claim with their personal auto insurance. If their personal auto liability, and possibly personal umbrella policy, limits are used up, the credit union’s business auto and excess liability may apply. The physical damage to the employees’ auto is covered under their own auto policy, the credit union's policy would not cover any damages to the employees owned auto.
  • An employee is towing a credit union-owned trailer using their personal vehicle. Material in the trailer flies out and causes damage to another vehicle. Since the employee was driving their personal vehicle, the claim would be filed with their personal auto insurance.

Be in the know before you go. When an employee uses their personal auto for credit union purposes, keep in mind that Insurance follows ownership. To learn more about use of personal vehicles for business purposes or your Business Auto Policy, contact your TruStage Property & Casualty Consultant or other members of your sales team for assistance.

Please keep in mind that the facts and circumstances of each individual claim are what determines coverages and that these examples are for illustrative purposes only. Individual states vary on at fault and no-fault insurance coverage requirements that will also determine outcomes. Full policy language will always be reviewed at the time of a claim.

TruStage™ Insurance Products offered to financial institutions and their affiliates are underwritten by CUMIS Insurance Society, Inc. or CUMIS Specialty Insurance Company, Inc., members of TruStage Financial Group, Inc.  Some coverages may not be available in all states. If a coverage is not available from one of our member companies, CUNA Mutual Insurance Agency, Inc., our insurance producer affiliate, may assist us in placing coverage with other insurance carriers in order to serve our customers’ needs.  CUMIS Specialty Insurance Company, Inc., our excess and surplus lines carrier, underwrites coverages that are not available in the admitted market. Corporate Headquarters 5910 Mineral Point Road, Madison WI 53705 CUP-3360903.16-0224-0326 © TruStage

January 2024

Risk management resources to help mitigate risks

Welcome to the Business Protection Solutions Newsletter, formally known as the P&C Minute. I’m Alison Morris, Property and Casualty Consultant, with some Business Protection News.

Did you know, you can submit Certificate of Insurance requests, add, or change locations, file a claim, and so much more — all online?

At TruStage™, we strive to provide your credit union with technology-based programs to help manage and streamline your day-to-day requests and stay on top of demanding verification needs. And, for many years now, we’ve offered Smart Forms, or more formally known as Online Interactive Forms.

One great feature of our automated forms is the ability to save and complete later. Just scroll to the bottom of the form, hit save, and when it’s convenient, you can resume with all your information intact.

Another excellent feature is uploading documents. I have seen this used countless times for copies of lease agreements. If your credit union is leasing a new space for a branch, try our Smart Forms which automatically encrypt the data.

Are you worried about security with these forms? All of the data and fields are encrypted during the entire process to maximize the privacy of the information. So, try it by going to www.TruStage.com and selecting either claims or policies. You may also call 800‑637‑2676 for additional assistance.

We think you will find it simple, and easy to use.

TruStage™ Insurance Products offered to financial institutions and their affiliates are underwritten by CUMIS Insurance Society, Inc. or CUMIS Specialty Insurance Company, Inc., members of TruStage Financial Group, Inc.  Some coverages may not be available in all states. If a coverage is not available from one of our member companies, CUNA Mutual Insurance Agency, Inc., our insurance producer affiliate, may assist us in placing coverage with other insurance carriers in order to serve our customers’ needs.  CUMIS Specialty Insurance Company, Inc., our excess and surplus lines carrier, underwrites coverages that are not available in the admitted market. Corporate Headquarters 5910 Mineral Point Road, Madison WI 53705 CUP-3360903.15-1223-0126 © TruStage

September 2023

Risk management resources to help mitigate risks

Welcome to the Business Protection Solutions Newsletter, formally known as the P&C Minute. I’m George Teague, Property and Casualty Consultant, and I’d like to share some recent check fraud trends.

There has been a significant increase in fraudulent checks clearing member accounts. This is due in large part to the growing stolen mail problem that is impacting several states. Thieves are stealing members’ issued checks and manufacturing fraudulent checks using information from the stolen checks. Alternatively, the thieves alter the checks (payee and/or dollar amount) using check-washing techniques and deposit them elsewhere.1

Credit unions may recover losses from members’ issued checks that are intercepted and altered by pursuing a breach of presentment warranty claim under UCC 4-208 (Presentment Warranties) against the depositary institutions that accept them. Credit unions have been successful in recovering altered check losses from depositary institutions through this process; however, it may take three to five months to receive reimbursement.

Credit unions should also notify TruStage™ of the loss to satisfy the 90-day loss reporting requirement under the Fidelity Bond and that the credit union is pursuing recovery. When the loss is reported, a claims review will take place, and coverage determination will be made. For more information on UCC 4-208 and pursuing breach of presentment warranty claims, refer to the Business Protection Resource Center.

With the exception of altered checks, credit unions typically incur a loss from the fraudulent checks created using the information from members’ stolen checks. Credit unions are obligated to return the fraudulent items by their midnight deadline. This includes counterfeit and forged drawer signature checks.

Another byproduct of the stolen mail problem has fraudsters opening fraudulent business accounts at credit unions to cash stolen checks. These checks were issued by businesses to other businesses and the fraudsters are opening business accounts in the name of the business listed as payee. Credit unions are receiving breach of presentment warranty claims from drawee institutions for accepting checks containing a forged endorsement.

The Business Protection Resource Center contains a wealth of risk management resources including our RISK Alerts, risk overviews, checklists, on-demand training and webinars, and access to partner resources. For risk mitigation strategies related to these scams, you can locate resources within the deposit account services category or search the keyword “fraud” within the RISK Alerts Library.

Of course, you can also contact a Risk Consultant directly for guidance by emailing riskconsultant@trustage.com or by calling 800‑637‑2676.

TruStage™ Insurance Products offered to financial institutions and their affiliates are underwritten by CUMIS Insurance Society, Inc. or CUMIS Specialty Insurance Company, Inc., members of TruStage Financial Group, Inc.  Some coverages may not be available in all states. If a coverage is not available from one of our member companies, CUNA Mutual Insurance Agency, Inc., our insurance producer affiliate, may assist us in placing coverage with other insurance carriers in order to serve our customers’ needs.  CUMIS Specialty Insurance Company, Inc., our excess and surplus lines carrier, underwrites coverages that are not available in the admitted market. Corporate Headquarters 5910 Mineral Point Road, Madison WI 53705 CUP-3360903.14-0823-0925 © TruStage