Many advisors suggest agents simply jettison small commercial accounts. But sometimes small is good. When small accounts are processed and serviced efficiently, these books can be much more stable in tough times than a few large accounts. More than one …
Know Your Binders. Improperly written binders are one of the most significant exposures agencies have to being sued by their own carriers so knowing how to write binders correctly is imperative. One of the issues is binding authority has become …
Is Your Agency Still Accepting Cash Payments? Relatively few agencies today, at least relative to ten years ago, are accepting cash. Technology will reduce cash payments even more. The means to never accept another cash payment already exist, but this …
Have You Updated Your Procedures to Cover Handheld Devices? Without question, handheld devices, whether they be simple phones, pda’s, or smart phones, have transformed agency communications. Agency producers and staff can and do communicate with clients, vendors, and carriers using …
Very often in agencies I see, parents and their child/children make a spoken, but not formal, agreement for the child/children to buy the family’s agency when the parents decide it is time to retire. No one talks about price initially, …
Below are four agency E&O tips, taken from Chris Burand’s E&O Blog found exclusively on InsuranceJournal.com. Divorce In personal lines, it is important to verify that the person requesting a change in coverage has the authority. This can be difficult …
Review Your E&O Carrier’s Requirements for Carrier Writing Standards. There’s a myth going around that if an agency writes with a carrier rated B+ or better by A.M. Best, their E&O policy will cover them. Based on the E&O policies …
Proper Authorization. I recently saw a situation where, in a divorce, one spouse deleted the prized vehicle of the soon to be ex-spouse to spite that person. Not knowing of the divorce, the agency complied. Of course the vehicle was …
I have spoken at more than 200 insurance industry events. I have met with thousands of agency owners, producers and CSRs. In more than two decades of working with insurance agencies, the No. 1 need has never changed: Agency owners, …
Binding Summaries. A significant risk unrecognized by most producers and CSRs is the risk of being sued by the agency’s own insurance companies. A large proportion of E&O suits that make it all the way to court are brought by …
