- How much does commercial crime insurance cost in Victoria?
- The cost of commercial crime insurance in Victoria depends on your specific details, coverage, and deductible. The best way to know is a free quote — as an independent broker we compare 17 insurers to find your lowest price.
- How do I get commercial crime insurance in Victoria?
- Request a quote online in minutes or call Insurabiz at 613-355-3130. We'll compare our full panel of insurers to find the right commercial crime insurance for you in Victoria.
- Why use a broker for commercial crime insurance in Victoria?
- A broker works for you, not one insurer. We shop the whole market at once to find the best commercial crime insurance coverage and price in Victoria — with local advice and an advocate at claim time.
- What does commercial crime insurance cover?
- It covers money, securities and property a business loses to dishonest acts. The main insuring agreements are employee dishonesty, forgery or alteration of cheques, theft of money inside and outside the premises, computer fraud, funds transfer fraud and counterfeit currency. Social engineering fraud, where staff are tricked into sending money, is usually a separate agreement with its own sublimit that must be added.
- Doesn't my property policy cover theft?
- Only partly. A commercial property policy usually covers theft of contents after a break-in, often with limits on money and securities. It does not cover employee theft, forged cheques, electronic funds transfer fraud or payments sent to a fraudster. Those losses need commercial crime coverage, either added to a package or written as a standalone policy.
- What is social engineering fraud coverage?
- It covers losses when an employee is deceived into transferring money, typically by an email impersonating a supplier, client or executive. Standard funds transfer and computer fraud agreements usually exclude these losses because your own staff authorized the payment. Social engineering cover is often sublimited and may require a documented callback before payment details are changed.
- Isn't payment fraud covered by my cyber policy?
- Sometimes, but not reliably. Some cyber policies include a social engineering or funds transfer extension, often at a modest sublimit, while others leave theft of money to the crime policy. Cyber is built for breach response, data restoration, extortion and downtime. The safest approach is to check both wordings together so each fraud scenario falls clearly under one policy.
- An employee stole from us over several years. Is that covered?
- It can be, which is the classic crime claim. Under a discovery form, the policy in force when you discover the loss responds, subject to any retroactive date. Under a loss sustained form, coverage depends on the policy in force when each theft happened. Most wordings treat the whole scheme as one occurrence, so one limit and one deductible apply.
- What is the difference between a discovery form and a loss sustained form?
- A discovery form covers losses first discovered during the policy period, even if the dishonest acts happened earlier, unless a retroactive date limits it. A loss sustained form covers losses that happen during the policy period and are discovered within a short window after. Discovery forms usually handle long-hidden employee fraud better, especially when you change insurers.
- How much crime coverage does a small business need?
- Enough to cover what could leave the business before your controls caught it. For employee dishonesty, consider how much one trusted person could move over months. For funds transfer and social engineering, start from your largest supplier payment or payment run. Package sublimits of $25,000 or $50,000 are often too low for businesses that pay by electronic transfer.
- Are thefts by owners or partners covered?
- Generally not. Crime policies define employees to exclude owners, partners and, in many wordings, directors acting outside an employee role, because the business cannot insure against its own controlling people. Organizations with a separate board or outside investors should ask about the specific definition, and look to directors and officers coverage for governance claims.
- How is commercial crime insurance priced?
- By the agreements and limits you choose, the number of employees with access to money or payment systems, and the strength of your controls. Underwriters look for segregation of duties, dual approval of payments, callbacks on banking changes, independent bank reconciliations and outside review. Prior crime losses and how cash-intensive the business is also affect the rate.
- What should I do first if we've sent money to a fraudster?
- Call your bank immediately and ask it to stop or recall the transfer, because recovery chances fall quickly. Then notify your broker and insurer in writing, report to police and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, and preserve every email, bank record and system log. Don't wait until your internal review is finished to give notice.
