Industry Resolutions for 2005

This is Insurance Journal‘s year-in-review issue and what a year it was!

Between four hurricanes that churned through southeast coastal states; the aftermath of the hurricanes, resulting in floods as far north as West Virginia; and New York Attorney General Eliott Spitzer’s investigations, followed by repercussions in other southeast states–our industry will be picking up the pieces for months, if not years to come!

As if that isn’t enough, we have to cope with efforts to establish a federal insurance regulatory system. Articles in the national section, written by Dave Thomas and Charlie Boyle, on page N6, highlight hurricanes, the PCI merger, Agency Acquisitions, the Progressive drive, and SMART legislation. These are all topics of great concern.

The southeast section, beginning on page 10, chronologically summarizes newsworthy 2004 events in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia. While I attempt to balance news coverage in every issue, Florida and the southeast coastal states took the lion’s share of space in 2004, due to coverage about the effects of and aftermath from Hurricanes Charlie, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne.

As I write this the Florida Legislature is holding special sessions to discuss the aftermath of the hurricanes, double-deductibles, and ways to keep the Citizens Property Insurance Company solvent. These discussions promise to carry over to and perhaps beyond the regular spring legislative sessions.

In recent conversations, Alabama Insurance Commissioner Walter A. Bell, and Mississippi Insurance Commissioner George Dale, commended the insurance industry for its fast response during a time of need. Both agreed that our industry provides a service to policyholders, and at the same time, taxes levied on the industry provide a huge amount of funding which supports state insurance commissions and often even contributes to state general funds, which finance and keep multiple state agencies running on a day-to-day basis.

The goal of the insurance industry, therefore, should be to emphasize positive information, while attempting to clean up negative publicity. The general public believes what it sees on television and reads in newspapers, and all of that is negative. It’s up to you to educate the public about the flip-side of that coin.

As we turn our calendar page from Dec. 31, 2004, to Jan. 1, 2005, we need to consider what the future holds and how to influence it so that customers become your allies and view you as friends. This can be done by improving your non-selling communications, contacting customers with personal notes and e-mails and let them know you care just as much about their concerns as you do about getting them to sign at the bottom of that policy.

I hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday season. I would like to thank everyone for helping me learn about the industry and providing me with news and story information. I encourage everyone to e-mail me or call at any time.

Topics Florida Hurricane