I encounter a lot of similar situations when dealing with foreign trip travel insurance; realize that your underwriter, and probably his/her bosses several levels up, may begin the process of validating your proposal without necessarily having the geographic knowledge to realize you’re going to a region that their company will not insure.

Even more importantly, your underwriter may be selling you the wrong policy in the first place. Foreign trip travel insurance policies cover things like medical emergencies, trip cancellations, and other relatively routine incidents. Many travel managers think they can buy a foreign trip travel policy and call it a day, only to be baffled when the policy doesn’t cover evacuation costs after armed conflict breaks out in the region where their employees are located. Foreign trip travel policies have significant restrictions for evacuation costs in the event of war or political conflict, with a few insurance companies providing some limited coverage, while others may not provide any.

Some companies (typically larger ones) solve this problem by starting a captive, a single-use insurance company created for the sole purpose of covering its creator. Avis, for example, has a captive set up for rental car liability. Another big company like Hilton could create a captive to cover everything from PR scandals to emergency evacuations of personnel from foreign countries. These firms hire actuaries to calculate how much the captive needs to be properly funded, with emergency evacuation funds typically being based on the cost of evacuating personnel from a given country at a moment’s notice. Captives have the additional benefit of tax preferential treatment; all funds can be invested and do not incur taxes.

These are just a few of the nuances you’ll run across when selecting the proper insurance policies for your mobile employees. If this sounds like information you need to know, come attend my presentation later this month at the 3rd Global Congress on Travel Risk Management here in Houston. I wish you safe travels, and I’ll see you there!

The EEOC believes that employers who use criminal background checks should develop a targeted screening that considers the type of crime, how long ago, and how it would compromise the position for the prospective employee. And that those excluded from that opening be given an opportunity for an individualized assessment to determine whether the policy as applied is job related and consistent with the business need. It requires employers to document and justify their use of the criminal history when making an employment decision.

The safest way to handle the new EEOC guidelines is to not inquire about criminal history or if that isn’t possible, seek legal counsel as to what policies need to be created around specific job requirements. Any criminal history that is used in a negative employment decision must be job related. Employment application questions should be directed to your legal counsel (who is hopefully versed in employment law). You can also purchase insurance known as Employee Practices Liability Insurance from your insurance professional to help you through an unforeseen event.

Except for Tropical Storm Andrea, which formed in the Gulf of Mexico in June and crossed Florida to New England, the United States has been spared a hit. Last year, four tropical systems struck, including Hurricanes Isaac and Sandy (the latter dubbed a “Superstorm” by the governors of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticutt due to differences in deductibles applied), which together caused more than $52 billion in damage and killed at least 179 people.

“The season looks to be a huge bust,” says Phil Klotzbach, lead author of Colorado State University’s annual storm forecast. “That’s one of the fun things about being in the weather business. It definitely keeps you humble.” For the last four years, the CSU weather team has projected one major and multiple minor hurricane strikes on the U.S.

Colorado State pioneered seasonal hurricane outlooks. In April (and reaffirmed in August), CSU predicted an above-average eighteen storms, eight of them hurricanes and three of them major systems. NOAA also missed the boat, predicting a seventy percent chance for thirteen to nineteen storms, six to nine of them hurricanes and three to five of them major.

The predictions were based on warmer sea temperatures, a strong West African monsoon, and the lack of a Pacific El Niño, a phenomenon which can create Atlantic wind shear. However, the shear (winds that blow at different speeds or directions at varying altitudes) was and is present and has been ripping storms apart. In fact, the shear “has been relentless out there” despite the absence of an El Niño, says Matt Rogers, president of Commodity Weather Group in Bethesda, Maryland.

Mid-level relative humidity across the tropical Atlantic, typically about thirty percent, has also been lower than usual in 2013. “It’s been dry out there, and when I say dry, I mean dry,” Klotzbach says. “I’m still not quite sure why it’s been as dry as it has.” If no major hurricane–one with winds of 111 mph or more–forms in the Atlantic this year, “it will be the first time since 1994,” according to Rogers.

This year’s first hurricane, Humberto, was born at 5:00 a.m. EST on September 11, just missing the record for the latest storm formed since satellites began watching the entire Atlantic in 1967 (in 2002, Hurricane Gustav developed at 8:00 a.m. on the same day). Humberto disintegrated in the central Atlantic. Storms Chantal, Dorian, Erin and Gabrielle all dissipated when they ran into the wind shear and dry air. Because of the shear and dry air, several tropical waves never had a prayer to become full-fledged storms.

One of the few areas in the hemisphere that has been somewhat favorable for hurricane development in 2013 is the Bay of Campeche and southwest Gulf of Mexico, with storms Andrea, Barry, Fernand and Hurricane Ingrid, all of which hit Mexico.

The calmer weather has offered a reprieve for U.S. property insurers, as well as rate increases generated from the loss history due to storms of the recent past. Traveler’s Chief Executive Officer Jay Fishman said this month that his company bought back $633 million of its stock since June 30 amid lower natural disaster losses. That’s the highest amount for the insurer in a third quarter since it was formed by the 2004 merger of Travelers Property Casualty Corp. and St. Paul Co. “The third quarter, as everyone knows, has been benign and quiet from a windstorm perspective,” Fishman said September 11 at an investor conference in New York hosted by Barclays.

Dan Kottlowski, a meteorologist at AccuWeather in State College, Pennslyvania, says wind patterns are forming that will prevent any storms from developing nearby or threatening the U.S. As of now, no storm has made landfall on the Texas coast past the middle of October, due to weather fronts sweeping across Texas as fall season sets in.

While we can’t write off hurricane season altogether until early December, lower water temperatures combined with cold fronts sweeping further south this time of year usually signal the end of tropical systems. One very notable exception: Last year, Hurricane Sandy was born on October 22.

So if the weather channel folks seem sad these days, you know why. Hurricanes hitting the U.S. make for ratings bumps. And exciting photo ops.

The oil and gas industry ranked reputational risk as eleventh on its list of concerns in 2010. After the Macondo well blowout in the Gulf that same year, which resulted in approximately $40 billion in damages, fines, and court awards against BP, the industry now considers reputational risk over the environment to be its number one priority.

Any contracting or service firm working on a high profile project is under the microscope for safety and construction best practices. Before 1980, there were seven major accounting firms in the U.S. One of these firms was driven out of business due to bad publicity coupled with lawsuits. The firm could have survived the suits, but most of its major clients dropped the firm after the public relations debacle. The financial crisis of 2008 severely damaged the reputation of a major insurance company; two icons of the banking and financial services industry were forced to liquidate/merge. All were a result of bad financial press, which emphasized business mistakes.

The speed of social media in spreading both fact and rumor makes it that much tougher for companies to manage the public relations fallout of a catastrophic event. Also, negative comments are stored digitally and often publically, leading to prolonged public relations effects. While social media makes it easier for corporations to identify and reach potential clients,  it also increases the likelihood that an employee’s gaff will cause a major headache for the company, which in some cases leads to lawsuits. Problems can occur when a senior executive posts something inappropriate on his/her Twitter or Facebook account, or even just sends a poorly-worded email. Finally, the inappropriate use of client data for prospecting potential clients could entail additional liability for the firm, always with the potential for reputational damage.

Speaking of data mining, cyber attacks and system-hacking seriously damage the trust factor of the company. From personal information (leading to identity theft and the resulting requirement to notify the affected parties as soon as possible) to business models that rely on internet-based systems to generate income, these electronic invasions can become instant public relations debacles.

How do you protect your firm’s reputation? Solid risk management procedures, a top-down culture of safety and integrity, consistent hiring practices, and risk management oversight are critical factors. Insurance is one solution to mitigating the fallout from a bad “situation,” but an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure in the information age. The primary driver of protection to a firm’s reputation lies with management, staff, and the IT department.