Interesting article and, as a former GA (now single carrier program manager) it touches on my long feared horror scenario.
What responsibility does a GA have to present their “best” quote? GA underwriters will usually present what they think is their best quote — but they are often wrong.
~ It might be the cheapest (and have an A&B exclusion, for example) because price often dictates who writes the account.
~ Or the underwriter might choose a carrier because (s)he thinks one the carrier’s underwriter is easier to work with than another carrier’s underwriter is.
~ Or it might be the fastest — speed matters and some carriers rating programs are faster than others. And in any event GA, underwriters don’t have time to rate all their carriers to see which is cheapest, much less to compare policy forms (except, perhaps, on classes that they specialize in).
So looking at the lawsuit above, and doing so from a purely hypothetical standpoint, what if the GA had presented Burlington instead of another carrier who maybe had A&B coverage? Would they have been liable at that point? If they didn’t offer A&B coverage, when they had it available, is that an E&O?
Interesting article and, as a former GA (now single carrier program manager) it touches on my long feared horror scenario.
What responsibility does a GA have to present their “best” quote? GA underwriters will usually present what they think is their best quote — but they are often wrong.
~ It might be the cheapest (and have an A&B exclusion, for example) because price often dictates who writes the account.
~ Or the underwriter might choose a carrier because (s)he thinks one the carrier’s underwriter is easier to work with than another carrier’s underwriter is.
~ Or it might be the fastest — speed matters and some carriers rating programs are faster than others. And in any event GA, underwriters don’t have time to rate all their carriers to see which is cheapest, much less to compare policy forms (except, perhaps, on classes that they specialize in).
So looking at the lawsuit above, and doing so from a purely hypothetical standpoint, what if the GA had presented Burlington instead of another carrier who maybe had A&B coverage? Would they have been liable at that point? If they didn’t offer A&B coverage, when they had it available, is that an E&O?
Really? What’s the matter, didn’t the retail broker have an E&O policy deep in one pocket? Maybe I’ll start using wholesalers more often.