Well’s Fargo knew the make and model of the car and the age of the primary driver. That alone should have prompted alot of questions about the make up of the household. I would also bet the Hogan’s have a little money on deposit with Well’s Fargo.
If you’ve got money it’s your job to protect it. How much do you want to bet the agents at Wells Fargo offered an umbrella policy? The problem is most won’t insure you if you’re a celebrity. That means that the policy was probably deemed to be too expensive.
If they were married in 2007 wouldn’t that mean that he could not include her in the lawsuit? I guess not if his attorney is trying it. I would hope that the agency has documentation in file where the umbrella was offered. We need to add a Constitutional Amendment that begins with “It’s not my fault…..”. That seems to be where we’re headed.
Oh good gracious, what was Hulk/the broker thinking?
My spouse and I have a one family rental dwelling plus our primary residence and one auto and even we have an umbrella policy.
And we are dirt poor compared to Hulk.
I bet they didn’t, Mr. Solvent. I’ve had customers get quotes from Wells Fargo and they aren’t all that great. They should have refused to insure his acocunt without a PUP. In this case, I think Wells Fargo should lose.
I have a couple of high profile individuals…not to the Hulk Hogan level perhaps…that I insure with Umbrella limits of $2,000,000. Will they come to sue me when they get a judgment for $5,000,000? This is plain sick that litigation is allowed in these cases. The agent can’t possibly offer enough coverage for every situation. How much insurance is too much? There’s no such thing.
My husband is a farmer and I am an insurance agent, and we have those PA limits living in a small rural community and probably will write an umbrella next year.
If the agent did offer the umbrella they should have proof otherwise that is an E&O issue.
As far as writing enough of a limit for a client they do have to be involved but again from an E&O standpoint if you are going to insure a high profile client, I would get more in writing of what you did and what you offered etc.
From what I hear, Wells Fargo did their job. Hogan gave up all his money in his divorce as his ex claimed to be his manager as well as spouse of 20 some years and that entitled her to more money. This is all about revenge. BTW…have you seen Hulks new girlfriend, she looks a like the ex when she was younger. When the ex won the “manager” role in the divorce court Hulk’s attorney’s immediately started setting up this legal action.
No I do think this is the responsibilty of the agent to protect their clients. Hulk might not have known what an umbrella policy was his fiancial advisor or company should have at least offered this to him and because of his net worth- they should have a legal form for him to sign rejecting higer limits and umbrella policy. Whoever wrote his auto deserves to be fired- 250,000 what? That is just crazy
If you sell insurance to a high net worth individual and they have the same coverage that the average guy has, you haven’t done your job properly. Insurance is about asset protection, NOT JUST COMMISSIONS
…Have you seen the X’s new boyfiend? She cougared up and is dating her eldest son’s (the one that had the accident) best friend from high school. Not enough facts to determine right or wrong…but buying from local agent may have been a better way to go???
You can’t have a form to opt out of every coverage available. As an agent if you don’t offer something as simple as an umbrella I think you’re opened up to liability but what about every optional feature on every policy? Where do you draw the line?
Yes, I have seen her new bf, and it’s disgusting. Even if he was 20 years younger, ok, it’s never good when he’s been your childs friend ! !
The local Wells Fargo office that handled the insurance knows very well how to dot their “I’s” and cross their “T’s”. You watch, in the end, you’ll see it’s about revenge.
Maria, it is our responsibility to properly insure our clients, that’s why agents have E&O issues. Atty John Morgan advertisement – “if your insurance agent did not offer you Uninsured Motorist or did not sell you enough Uninsured Motorist coverage, you may have a claim against your agent.” No, we are held liable even if the client elects not to take the insurance coverage’s we recommend. We are also to be mind readers – when an insured asks for a Certificate of Insurance and we ask if the holder needs to be listed as an “Additional Insured”, they say no, it is our responsibility to know what their contract calls for with a Contractor even if the client insists (they are trying to save $50 or $75).
So to say you don’t think it’s the agents responsibility to protect their clients, is an E&O waiting to happen.
How the conversation may have gone:
HULK: Do you think this 250k policy will cover my 30mil bu*t?
AGENT: Imagine your bu*t in a size small gee string.
AGENT: OWWWWW!
I think everyone is overlooking one small issue here. I don’t know of a company that will write an umbrella for someone who has an 18 year old son that drives a race car! …… he was drift racing at the time and had been for about a year.
If the ex handled the insurance business for Hulk & called Wells Fargo. She would have given their names as Terry & Linda Bollea & may have never mentioned “Hulk Hogan”. The average agent/person who is not a wrestling fan would not know this is Hulk Hogan’s wife & that they are high profile.
Wells Fargo has E & O insurance that will take care of the issue. If WF has it in writing they discussed, explained and offered the Excess Liability coverage and it was rejected, the E & O won’t have to pay.
But WF doesn’t have it. So the E & O carrier will pay.
TAR, I do believe it is the agent’s job to protect the client, that is what an agent is for. But if you are going to handle a high profile account you better have your ducks in a row. Checklists, documentation etc.
Yes a good point they might not know he was Hulk Hogan so that could be a concern as well, but if Linda was the business manager and trully tried to make sure they were covered then she should have also properly informed the agent of all their exposures. The agent can only ask so much and the insured has to comply and give out that information.
If the son was racing was the policy even written correctly to pay? Isn’t racing typically excluded?
There are lots of holes going on here. Heck they had a how on last night on TV about Hulk and how he is broke and going back into wrestling or something. So I am sure him and his lawyer are both trying to find someone else to help pay. If the wife is dating the boy’s bf, then shouldn’t she be involved. She didn’t file for divorce till after the accident, so why is he being held liable only?
While it is true its the agents responsibility to explain risks to the insured, how much coverage is enough? What if I have a client with 5 mil in assets, carries 10 mil umbrella then has a claim for 30 million. He now has 20 mil out of pocket, what do you all say about that? You cant predict how much a claim will be before it even happens. Oh, and I’m sure that Wells offered the umbrella more than once and documented that he declined. I sell against them all the time and find them to be very professional.
I can assure you the agent knew who Terry Bollea was when they first insured him. On the private client side, the insurance carrier must know the occupation of the person they are insuring, not one of them will bind without it.
Everyone knows who they are. “Occupation” is even a question on the HO app. There is no way WF did not know who they were. The problem is not with their insurance, it is with their parenting skills…who let’s a kid that age have a car like that? These people are trying to recover their squandered fortune from WF…they may as well file a sinkhole claim while while they are at it!!
Good points Maria. At first your comments sounded a bit cavalier. Unfortunately insurance agents are the guilty party most often and the clients have amnesia after a loss. Sorry to be a bit cynical.
I couldn’t disagree more. Perhaps there is a twinge of get back attached but if she’s smart enough to take on the role as business manager she needs to be aware of the legal consequences which include exposures.
She could very easily end up suing Wells for their failure to advise her of her fiduciary exposure and to offer to cover her adequately.
Now that may have happened, I certainly hope it did.
The point is, she’s in no different a position than a bank board member, a church board member or an HOA board member. So many people take on these positions for which they are not FULLY qualified and they end up accepting exposure along with all the “perks” they sought to get their in the first place.
If Wells did its job and documented it, I’m with the Hulk and I hate to even write that but it is what it is, she deserves to stand on her responsibilities…..the same as you and I do.
“Maria, it is our responsibility to properly insure our clients, that’s why agents have E&O issues. Atty John Morgan advertisement – ‘if your insurance agent did not offer you Uninsured Motorist or did not sell you enough Uninsured Motorist coverage, you may have a claim against your agent.'”
In most states, UM coverage is required to be offered by law. That’s not the same with an umbrella policy. We don’t know whether a PUP was offered or not at this point, so there’s no sense opining. Apparently, since the Hulkster wasn’t involved in the insurance procurement, he doesn’t know what transpired, so he’s suing everyone. Typical.
Posted By: FLagent/insured
Comment:
I can assure you the agent knew who Terry Bollea was when they first insured him. On the private client side, the insurance carrier must know the occupation of the person they are insuring, not one of them will bind without it.
==========================
I bet the underwriter didn’t know what “Pencil neck geek trasher” meant on the occupation line.
The John Morgan example of his U/M commercial was an example how trial lawyers are now going after insurance agents for not selling enough uninsured motorist coverage. U/M is not compulsory in Florida. So we must be careful even when the client waives off on certain coverage’s, it’s not always the agent’s fault. Insured’s tend to get amnesia after they are involved in a claim. Now trial lawyers are trying to find another way to steal oops sue insurance agents and the insurance industry.
In 2007 Wells was still offering PRIVATE CLIENT through AIG, now CHARTIS. That is all PRIVATE CLIENT offers coverage to, high income and profile people, with umbrella limits over $10 million not uncommon. The homes that he owned, and the cars that were driven could have been in the the name of JOHN DOE, but both Wells and AIG were aware of this persons assets. The underwriters with PRIVATE CLIENT would have been all over this. The only question is, at the time of writing the policy did the HOGAN FAMILY’S driving records qualify for an umbrella. If they did WELLS and AIG have a problem.
Hogan, for most brokers, would be considered a high-end client, who would at our firm require at least a 6 month review, especially with youthful operators.
I would say, unless Wells Fargo (a bank who is in it for the revenue and cross-sale above the service, and answers to its shareholders)has documentation that they recommended coverage and were turned down by the client, and/or could prove there was absolutely no market for them, then they are negligent.
How does a man amass an allged fortune of $30mil. and not have the common sense to make sure he is properly covered? I like the Hulster and all his shenanigans, which obviously have paid handsomely but I have to conclude he is one dumb showman.
OK- to the comment that perhaps Wells didn’t know who the client was- if you have a client with several multi million dollar properties you had better offer an umbrella. If the client doesn’t pursue it, then you better have documentation to back that up. As to Linda being the biz mgr and this is payback for the divorce- LEGALLY if she claimed and was settled with as such and she made the willful decision NOT to purchase the coverage and that can be shown in documentation- OH YES, she is then responsible. If Wells can’t provide proof that they offered the coverage they YES, this would be E&O because they didn’t do their job properly. As for the kid in the car- it was street legal and proper premium should have been applied during the course of the policy. I highly doubt he was the listed principle driver as most carriers won’t allow a youthful on such. However, as a licensed driver in the household he would have legal access to the car- again back to premium being charged unless he was specifically excluded.
Come on people, you’re in insurance- think about it! This suit has merit and if you don’t believe so quit sitting in seminars for your CE and start working on some designations with teeth. Perhaps an expanded insurance education is needed.
I completely agree! It does sounds like there is merit for this suit. Agent’s should be held responsible to providing adequate coverage as well as having disclaimers or signed forms rejecting the quotes.
This kid was bad news…He not only had multiple tickets. He had multiple tickets often on the same day. He was a serious accident waiting to happen. He didn’t even take responsibility for the other kid’s injuries & publicly blamed the victim. He was probably uninsurable. If the Hogan family can’t take responsibility for their bad parenting, why should Wells Fargo have to pay?
It is Not our job to force our clients to buy anything.
Now, with that said, as an agent, it is your job to recognize risk and to make recommendations to your client.
Look folks, this is simple. You’re in insurance. The entire premise as such is transfering risk via a written legal contract (policy). That is your profession. Period.
If you can’t identify a client with an obvious need for excess limits then you need to leave our industry. If you can identify the need, then you need to do so with your client and let your client choose how they want to handle that exposure; either self insure it knowingly or transfer it knowingly.
The tricky thing there is that “knowingly” and they aren’t trained professionals with the expectation to “know” the risks of todays world……you are!
I have very little doubt Wells did their jobs on this. I am confident that their team offered and documented.
However, for misses Hulk her goose is going to be cooked and here’s the catch 22 for Wells.
If they documented the offer and denial of excess limits they will beat the Hulk’s suit. HOWEVER, if they failed to recognize her fiduciary duty as his business manager and offer her solutions, she’s going to loose her suit with her husband but could easily win her own against Wells on that count.
I can just see the blank steer in his face when the agent offered the umbrella. I get it and it is like I am taking money from their table when I offer my P&C clients life insurance or Umbrella.
Well’s Fargo knew the make and model of the car and the age of the primary driver. That alone should have prompted alot of questions about the make up of the household. I would also bet the Hogan’s have a little money on deposit with Well’s Fargo.
If you’ve got money it’s your job to protect it. How much do you want to bet the agents at Wells Fargo offered an umbrella policy? The problem is most won’t insure you if you’re a celebrity. That means that the policy was probably deemed to be too expensive.
If they were married in 2007 wouldn’t that mean that he could not include her in the lawsuit? I guess not if his attorney is trying it. I would hope that the agency has documentation in file where the umbrella was offered. We need to add a Constitutional Amendment that begins with “It’s not my fault…..”. That seems to be where we’re headed.
Oh good gracious, what was Hulk/the broker thinking?
My spouse and I have a one family rental dwelling plus our primary residence and one auto and even we have an umbrella policy.
And we are dirt poor compared to Hulk.
I bet they didn’t, Mr. Solvent. I’ve had customers get quotes from Wells Fargo and they aren’t all that great. They should have refused to insure his acocunt without a PUP. In this case, I think Wells Fargo should lose.
All parties should have seen this coming. In the event of a serious incident, what did they think was going to happen?
I have a couple of high profile individuals…not to the Hulk Hogan level perhaps…that I insure with Umbrella limits of $2,000,000. Will they come to sue me when they get a judgment for $5,000,000? This is plain sick that litigation is allowed in these cases. The agent can’t possibly offer enough coverage for every situation. How much insurance is too much? There’s no such thing.
You think Wells Fargo should lose???
Am I missing something here? I did not notice all the evidence, documents, etc in the article to arrive at that (or any) conclusion.
My husband is a farmer and I am an insurance agent, and we have those PA limits living in a small rural community and probably will write an umbrella next year.
If the agent did offer the umbrella they should have proof otherwise that is an E&O issue.
As far as writing enough of a limit for a client they do have to be involved but again from an E&O standpoint if you are going to insure a high profile client, I would get more in writing of what you did and what you offered etc.
From what I hear, Wells Fargo did their job. Hogan gave up all his money in his divorce as his ex claimed to be his manager as well as spouse of 20 some years and that entitled her to more money. This is all about revenge. BTW…have you seen Hulks new girlfriend, she looks a like the ex when she was younger. When the ex won the “manager” role in the divorce court Hulk’s attorney’s immediately started setting up this legal action.
No I do think this is the responsibilty of the agent to protect their clients. Hulk might not have known what an umbrella policy was his fiancial advisor or company should have at least offered this to him and because of his net worth- they should have a legal form for him to sign rejecting higer limits and umbrella policy. Whoever wrote his auto deserves to be fired- 250,000 what? That is just crazy
If you sell insurance to a high net worth individual and they have the same coverage that the average guy has, you haven’t done your job properly. Insurance is about asset protection, NOT JUST COMMISSIONS
…Have you seen the X’s new boyfiend? She cougared up and is dating her eldest son’s (the one that had the accident) best friend from high school. Not enough facts to determine right or wrong…but buying from local agent may have been a better way to go???
You can’t have a form to opt out of every coverage available. As an agent if you don’t offer something as simple as an umbrella I think you’re opened up to liability but what about every optional feature on every policy? Where do you draw the line?
Yes, I have seen her new bf, and it’s disgusting. Even if he was 20 years younger, ok, it’s never good when he’s been your childs friend ! !
The local Wells Fargo office that handled the insurance knows very well how to dot their “I’s” and cross their “T’s”. You watch, in the end, you’ll see it’s about revenge.
Maria, it is our responsibility to properly insure our clients, that’s why agents have E&O issues. Atty John Morgan advertisement – “if your insurance agent did not offer you Uninsured Motorist or did not sell you enough Uninsured Motorist coverage, you may have a claim against your agent.” No, we are held liable even if the client elects not to take the insurance coverage’s we recommend. We are also to be mind readers – when an insured asks for a Certificate of Insurance and we ask if the holder needs to be listed as an “Additional Insured”, they say no, it is our responsibility to know what their contract calls for with a Contractor even if the client insists (they are trying to save $50 or $75).
So to say you don’t think it’s the agents responsibility to protect their clients, is an E&O waiting to happen.
How the conversation may have gone:
HULK: Do you think this 250k policy will cover my 30mil bu*t?
AGENT: Imagine your bu*t in a size small gee string.
AGENT: OWWWWW!
I think everyone is overlooking one small issue here. I don’t know of a company that will write an umbrella for someone who has an 18 year old son that drives a race car! …… he was drift racing at the time and had been for about a year.
If the ex handled the insurance business for Hulk & called Wells Fargo. She would have given their names as Terry & Linda Bollea & may have never mentioned “Hulk Hogan”. The average agent/person who is not a wrestling fan would not know this is Hulk Hogan’s wife & that they are high profile.
Wells Fargo has E & O insurance that will take care of the issue. If WF has it in writing they discussed, explained and offered the Excess Liability coverage and it was rejected, the E & O won’t have to pay.
But WF doesn’t have it. So the E & O carrier will pay.
Great point!
If you’re looking for coverage go online to Personalumbrella.com
TAR, I do believe it is the agent’s job to protect the client, that is what an agent is for. But if you are going to handle a high profile account you better have your ducks in a row. Checklists, documentation etc.
Yes a good point they might not know he was Hulk Hogan so that could be a concern as well, but if Linda was the business manager and trully tried to make sure they were covered then she should have also properly informed the agent of all their exposures. The agent can only ask so much and the insured has to comply and give out that information.
If the son was racing was the policy even written correctly to pay? Isn’t racing typically excluded?
There are lots of holes going on here. Heck they had a how on last night on TV about Hulk and how he is broke and going back into wrestling or something. So I am sure him and his lawyer are both trying to find someone else to help pay. If the wife is dating the boy’s bf, then shouldn’t she be involved. She didn’t file for divorce till after the accident, so why is he being held liable only?
While it is true its the agents responsibility to explain risks to the insured, how much coverage is enough? What if I have a client with 5 mil in assets, carries 10 mil umbrella then has a claim for 30 million. He now has 20 mil out of pocket, what do you all say about that? You cant predict how much a claim will be before it even happens. Oh, and I’m sure that Wells offered the umbrella more than once and documented that he declined. I sell against them all the time and find them to be very professional.
I can assure you the agent knew who Terry Bollea was when they first insured him. On the private client side, the insurance carrier must know the occupation of the person they are insuring, not one of them will bind without it.
Everyone knows who they are. “Occupation” is even a question on the HO app. There is no way WF did not know who they were. The problem is not with their insurance, it is with their parenting skills…who let’s a kid that age have a car like that? These people are trying to recover their squandered fortune from WF…they may as well file a sinkhole claim while while they are at it!!
Good points Maria. At first your comments sounded a bit cavalier. Unfortunately insurance agents are the guilty party most often and the clients have amnesia after a loss. Sorry to be a bit cynical.
I couldn’t disagree more. Perhaps there is a twinge of get back attached but if she’s smart enough to take on the role as business manager she needs to be aware of the legal consequences which include exposures.
She could very easily end up suing Wells for their failure to advise her of her fiduciary exposure and to offer to cover her adequately.
Now that may have happened, I certainly hope it did.
The point is, she’s in no different a position than a bank board member, a church board member or an HOA board member. So many people take on these positions for which they are not FULLY qualified and they end up accepting exposure along with all the “perks” they sought to get their in the first place.
If Wells did its job and documented it, I’m with the Hulk and I hate to even write that but it is what it is, she deserves to stand on her responsibilities…..the same as you and I do.
Just perhaps his experience is a reason not to let your bank be your insurance agent.
They may be changing banks soon.
WWHHOOOOOOOOO!!! WHWWWHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!
WWHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“Maria, it is our responsibility to properly insure our clients, that’s why agents have E&O issues. Atty John Morgan advertisement – ‘if your insurance agent did not offer you Uninsured Motorist or did not sell you enough Uninsured Motorist coverage, you may have a claim against your agent.'”
In most states, UM coverage is required to be offered by law. That’s not the same with an umbrella policy. We don’t know whether a PUP was offered or not at this point, so there’s no sense opining. Apparently, since the Hulkster wasn’t involved in the insurance procurement, he doesn’t know what transpired, so he’s suing everyone. Typical.
Posted By: FLagent/insured
Comment:
I can assure you the agent knew who Terry Bollea was when they first insured him. On the private client side, the insurance carrier must know the occupation of the person they are insuring, not one of them will bind without it.
==========================
I bet the underwriter didn’t know what “Pencil neck geek trasher” meant on the occupation line.
The John Morgan example of his U/M commercial was an example how trial lawyers are now going after insurance agents for not selling enough uninsured motorist coverage. U/M is not compulsory in Florida. So we must be careful even when the client waives off on certain coverage’s, it’s not always the agent’s fault. Insured’s tend to get amnesia after they are involved in a claim. Now trial lawyers are trying to find another way to steal oops sue insurance agents and the insurance industry.
In 2007 Wells was still offering PRIVATE CLIENT through AIG, now CHARTIS. That is all PRIVATE CLIENT offers coverage to, high income and profile people, with umbrella limits over $10 million not uncommon. The homes that he owned, and the cars that were driven could have been in the the name of JOHN DOE, but both Wells and AIG were aware of this persons assets. The underwriters with PRIVATE CLIENT would have been all over this. The only question is, at the time of writing the policy did the HOGAN FAMILY’S driving records qualify for an umbrella. If they did WELLS and AIG have a problem.
Hogan, for most brokers, would be considered a high-end client, who would at our firm require at least a 6 month review, especially with youthful operators.
I would say, unless Wells Fargo (a bank who is in it for the revenue and cross-sale above the service, and answers to its shareholders)has documentation that they recommended coverage and were turned down by the client, and/or could prove there was absolutely no market for them, then they are negligent.
How does a man amass an allged fortune of $30mil. and not have the common sense to make sure he is properly covered? I like the Hulster and all his shenanigans, which obviously have paid handsomely but I have to conclude he is one dumb showman.
Butch Pope
CFE
Uspap Certified
I’m with the Nature Boy on this one: WHHOOOO!!!
OK- to the comment that perhaps Wells didn’t know who the client was- if you have a client with several multi million dollar properties you had better offer an umbrella. If the client doesn’t pursue it, then you better have documentation to back that up. As to Linda being the biz mgr and this is payback for the divorce- LEGALLY if she claimed and was settled with as such and she made the willful decision NOT to purchase the coverage and that can be shown in documentation- OH YES, she is then responsible. If Wells can’t provide proof that they offered the coverage they YES, this would be E&O because they didn’t do their job properly. As for the kid in the car- it was street legal and proper premium should have been applied during the course of the policy. I highly doubt he was the listed principle driver as most carriers won’t allow a youthful on such. However, as a licensed driver in the household he would have legal access to the car- again back to premium being charged unless he was specifically excluded.
Come on people, you’re in insurance- think about it! This suit has merit and if you don’t believe so quit sitting in seminars for your CE and start working on some designations with teeth. Perhaps an expanded insurance education is needed.
I completely agree! It does sounds like there is merit for this suit. Agent’s should be held responsible to providing adequate coverage as well as having disclaimers or signed forms rejecting the quotes.
This kid was bad news…He not only had multiple tickets. He had multiple tickets often on the same day. He was a serious accident waiting to happen. He didn’t even take responsibility for the other kid’s injuries & publicly blamed the victim. He was probably uninsurable. If the Hogan family can’t take responsibility for their bad parenting, why should Wells Fargo have to pay?
It is Not our job to force our clients to buy anything.
Now, with that said, as an agent, it is your job to recognize risk and to make recommendations to your client.
Look folks, this is simple. You’re in insurance. The entire premise as such is transfering risk via a written legal contract (policy). That is your profession. Period.
If you can’t identify a client with an obvious need for excess limits then you need to leave our industry. If you can identify the need, then you need to do so with your client and let your client choose how they want to handle that exposure; either self insure it knowingly or transfer it knowingly.
The tricky thing there is that “knowingly” and they aren’t trained professionals with the expectation to “know” the risks of todays world……you are!
I have very little doubt Wells did their jobs on this. I am confident that their team offered and documented.
However, for misses Hulk her goose is going to be cooked and here’s the catch 22 for Wells.
If they documented the offer and denial of excess limits they will beat the Hulk’s suit. HOWEVER, if they failed to recognize her fiduciary duty as his business manager and offer her solutions, she’s going to loose her suit with her husband but could easily win her own against Wells on that count.
As an insurance and financial specialist how does plup not come to mind when a man with this much money come to you. Big opportunity.
I can just see the blank steer in his face when the agent offered the umbrella. I get it and it is like I am taking money from their table when I offer my P&C clients life insurance or Umbrella.