by Frank B. Thompson, CPCU
President PT Risk Management
The world sure has changed since I began my working career. The goal in those days was to further your high school education, find a good job and become a successful member of society. Parents instilled in their children respect for others, a pride in being an American and a strong work ethic.
Society is different today. The integrity instilled in a past generation has died and today we see a morally bankrupt society that believes in entitlement. They are entitled to what you have spent a lifetime accumulating.
Newsweek is reporting that in Phoenix, like many other municipalities around the United States, home invasions and kidnapping are a daily occurrence. The current high unemployment rate, increase in gang wars, and states that are closing prisons and paroling violent inmates to save money have made home invasions and kidnapping a very real threat.
In the late 1970’s we were glued to the news reports of the lumber company owner whose daughter was kidnapped and was being held for ransom. We all breathed a sigh of relief when she was found alive chained to a tree in Northern California. We now live in an era in which this could happen to any number of us who live, work and travel in our depressed economy.
The telephone call that could come while you are at your office will be the most frightening call of your life, “We have your wife and children, and if you ever want to see them alive, we want a million dollars”. Or what about the employee making home deliveries or your valued service person who is taken and a ransom demand made? What do you do, where do you turn, how do you come up with the cash? This is a very real scenario and one that we hope never occurs.
The current economy now is dictating strong consideration for buying Kidnap and Ransom Insurance. This coverage has been around for many years for those companies that have executives traveling overseas or for bank executives that have special knowledge of codes and combinations for vaults which would allow access to large sums of money. However, there has been a strong trend among energy related companies to buy Kidnap and Ransom Insurance to protect their employees and the bottom line.
Coverage is readily available at a reasonable price and can be tailored to fit your company or individual needs. Insurance companies that write this coverage offer expertise to avoid certain scenarios, and help to put in place a plan if such an event should occur. Kidnap and Ransom Insurance is another way to protect your family, your employees and the assets that you have spent a lifetime to accumulate.
