Although U.S.-based businesses may not be physically affected by natural disasters in other parts of the world, they may be financially affected if they are subject to losses due to interdependencies with oversea suppliers.

Business owners who depend heavily on suppliers should have Contingent Business Interruption (CBI) insurance and Contingent Extra Expense coverage.

Plagued by skyrocketing medical costs, arbitrary medical decisions and escalating legal challenges to treatment, the workers’ comp system in California was in crisis in the late 1990s. By 2003, at the height of the crisis, employers were paying out $6.45 in insurance premium per $100 of payroll, and insurance companies were paying out $1.86 in claims costs for every $1.00 of premium collected.

Approximately 80-to-90 percent of workers’ compensation costs are losses or loss related.  Therefore the best way to reduce expenses is to reduce the number and severity of accidents. The following steps can help business owners reduce the costs of workers’ compensation insurance. 

Workers’ compensation insurance, often referred to as workers’ comp, is insurance coverage that provides employees injured on the job medical treatment and prescribed wage replacement. All employers are mandated to provide their employees with workers’ compensation coverage.

More than 25 percent of businesses that shut down following a disaster never open their doors again. While there is no way to prevent a natural disaster like an earthquake from occurring, there are critical measures that can protect the company's bottom line from nature's fury. A disaster plan and adequate insurance are keys to recovery.