Happy Wednesday! We hope that everyone enjoyed their Fourth of July weekend and using information last week's Big I Buzz, you were able to avoid some of the holiday travel! 

This week we are sharing information about Wisconsin State Law license plate regulations, what's driving the cyber insurance market and how the federal interest rate hike can affect the insurance industry. 

License Plate Reminder

Now is a great time to remind your clients about Wisconsin State Law license plate regulations to help them avoid unnecessary tickets. Feel free to share the below image and copy on your social media pages. 

Did you know that per Wisconsin State Law if you are issued two license plates you must attach both to your vehicle? Your license plate must be kept in a legible condition, which means no plate covers. This also means that your registration plate lamps, wiring and connections must be maintained in a proper working condition. Finally, if you are given two license plates you must attach the validation sticker to the rear plate as shown below. Connect with your local Trusted Choice independent insurance agent to make sure you've got the coverage you need when it comes to your vehicle! 

Evolving Risk is Driving Cyber Insurance

According to the 2021 NetDiligence Cyber Claims Study, the top five causes of loss for samll and medium-sized enterprises over the last five years based on number of claims was: ransomware, hackers, business email compromise, staff mistakes and phishing.  The increase in ransomware attacks since 2016 has encouraged underwriters to focus on cybersecurity and putting controls in place to help mitigate the impact of cyber events. While there's no way to eliminate cyber risk, insurers are applying minimum requirements on risk controls to obtain cyber coverage like multifactor authentication, endpoint protection and firewalls. Read more about upcoming regulatory enforcement and prevention and resilience here. 

What Fed's Interest Rate Hike Means for Insurance

The Federal Reserve again hiked interest rates Mid-June by 0.75%. Insurance Business reports, that Mark Bernacki, Amwins Chief Underwriting Officer believes,  "Insurance agents should be talking to their clients to make sure they have "sufficient insurance" against a backdrop of soaring loss costs as the Fed seeks to dampen the effects of inflation. They should also be educating them on what the interest rate change means for the insurance market." So, what does this mean for the insurance market? Bernacki stated to Insurance Business Mag, "Obviously, there's the expectation that this could have some short-term pain, both for the economy as well as the insurance industry, but long term this should ultimately be good for both the economy and the insurance industry and also strengthen the labor markets that we're seeing." Read more from the report here. 

For more news, check out the Action News section of our weekly e-newsletter, Big I Buzz. If you aren’t subscribed, click here to add your email to our emailing list. Additionally, we send out monthly newsletters with content curated just for you and your role. Make sure you're on the list to receive our communications by heading to bit.ly/industrynewsforyou to stay in the loop!