Most insurance industry professionals (both broker and company) follow both the letter and spirit of the law, but the information that has come out in the press about the bid-rigging, potential "tying" arrangements, and various forms of earnings manipulation are clearly wrong and deserve t...

ins geek, Yes, my experience is mostly commercial / surplus lines. Major metro area on east coast. Bonuses went down quite far in ranks for U/Ws, less so for claims and other support functions. This has been several companies (both insurer and reinsurer), not just one. I've been in biz for 25 yrs w/...

Again, from solely the "company" persepctive as opposed to broker (of which I have no knowledge), never heard of a "company" U/W getting paid a "commission" in the true sense of the word. Annual bonuses are usual and customary for senior U/W and above. Lower level bonus...

Company U/W around $40,000 with college degree from good school. After 5 years experience with company, a good performer can expect to double that, and a fair performer can expect about 50% increase. At start, very little difference between personal lines and commercial lines U/W, but given the comm...

Hey, at least you did not call me a "wisenheimer" or "weenie" like in the Noodle thread (wink). I can empathize too "" as many of the deals that I see cross my desk relate to serious dislocations in the insurance markets (availability, capacity, price), but the only dif...

As far as my business affiliation goes, yes I work for an insurer. I have said as much in prior posts, and my user name certainly implies it. I did not realize it was a sin to be affiliated with an insurer. While I realize that Insurance Journal targets independent agents and brokers, I did not real...

Not every town and city had easy access to air carriers. As you said, sometimes trains, cars, boats, etc. Whatever you need to get there. What about Risk Retention Group or Group Captive as an alternative market? Risk Purchasing Group to make the total risk(s) more appealing to traditional markets? ...

Just to make sure my point is clear ... the actions that have been described in the press (if true) are reprehensible and should be punished. Clearly, many of the activities described would constitute antitrust behavior (bid rigging, price fixing, market allocation, group boycott, tying arrangements...

If I am not mistaken, the insurance industry is only granted a partial exemption from the antitrust laws under the McCarran Ferguson Act and the Sherman Act. In order to enjoy such exemption, it requires the act in question to occur: (a) "within the business of insurance"?; (b) such busine...

Is this PEO large enough to become a qualified self-insured? Have looked at a number of PEO programs, and it has been exceedingly difficult / impossible to find a viable fronting company to issue policies for a large deductible structure. However is this PEO can qualify as a self-insured, this may o...

Being on the underwriter side of things, it is interesting to see feedback from brokers on this subject. I am curious as to what constitutes an appropriate due diligence / review of the client's available options. Would a broker typically line up the quotes and offer some type of side-by-side compar...

Try to reconstruct the insurance carriers via certificates of insurance that may have been required for vendors, suppliers or for business contracts they performed in those years. If there were any contracts with state or local govt's, may find copies in their archives. Likewise, contacting the Risk...

Points well taken. The laws of supply and demand still rule, and there is certainly a price for risk that will "clear the market"?. But my view of the marketplace is perhaps a bit broader. Many of the deals that I see include "ART" market entities / structures, such as: Captives,...

You say "...won't be held captive to insurance company rule"? From what I am reading in the various trade and general press, sounds like the large "alphabet" houses / brokers were the ones who were "ruling" ... and demanding participation in their controlled books of bu...

Perhaps you can place future expected premium payments (anticipated renewal premium and/or max potential A/P if swing plan) in a premium trust account w/ insurer as the beneficiary. That way, underwriter always has the option / ability to draw on the Trust to fund the premium, if not paid timely by ...