A Simple Solution to Reduce Liability Insurance Claims: Change Your Quality Control Practices

The insurance climate is constantly changing. CostsManagemento Obtaining a Customer Signature At
for coverage fluctuate and new regulations areEvery Phaseo Implementation of A Formal Quality
continually created. Though insurance claims canControl Programo A Standard Set of Customer
prove costly, operating a business without coverage,Acceptance Procedureso Statistical Process Controlo
particularly in the information technology industry, canA Formal Vendor Verification Process
create a highly vulnerable situation for the* Make certain the business is in compliance with at
organization. To keep insurance costs at bay,least one of the mainstream industry standards,
companies can take proactive steps to curbincluding:o UL/CSA – The American organization,
insurance claims.Underwriters Laboratories, and the Canadian
Typically, companies will have General LiabilityStandards Association are independent nonprofit
insurance coverage, which addresses claims of bodilyorganizations that are responsible for writing, testing
injury or property damage, and Professional Liabilityand certifying product safety standards.o ISO 9000
insurance, also known as Errors and Omissions– Maintained by the International Organization for
insurance, which protects organizations against claimsStandardization, the ISO 9000 is a family of
of professional negligence and errors or omissions instandards for quality management systems.o CE
professional work. While protecting the company withMARK – A mandatory conformity mark placed on
General Liability and Professional Liability insurancea product by the manufacturer that ensures
coverage provides a certain level of riskcompliance with the health, safety and environmental
management, avoiding claims all together byrequirements of European Union.o ANSI – The
enhancing quality control has proven to be mostAmerican National Standards Institute is a private
beneficial. In fact, recent trends point to kinks innonprofit organization that develops national
quality control as the primary contributor to claimsconsensus standards for products, services,
made on these two forms of coverage. This isprocesses and systems in the U.S.
especially important to General Liability insurance for* To protect customers against malevolent code and
computer consultants.other vulnerabilities related to security in the
Quality control is an effective risk management toolcompany’s services, perform regular tests prior
that, when used, demonstrates a direct correlationto release or dissemination.
between reduced risk and lower premium costs. IT* To reduce claims on General Liability insurance for
companies can implement various strategies tocomputer consultants, implement a contract retention
tighten quality control, including:plan that spans at least seven years.
* There are several fundamental, that whenThese solutions will help companies in IT-related
integrated into the quality control procedures, willindustries demonstrate a heightened commitment to
serve as safeguards for claims made againstquality control. As a result, more costly claims will be
Professional Liability and General Liability insurance foravoided and insurance underwriters will feel more at
computer consultants. These include:o Alpha and Betaease providing Professional Liability insurance
Testingo Prototype Developmento Total Qualitycoverage to the organization.