Many agency owners take great pride in generating low loss ratios year after year. These agencies are often small but very, very profitable. These agency owners are not happy with many carriers who have de-emphasized loss ratios. They cannot fathom why any carrier would not LOVE their good loss ratios. They do not understand that…
This page has evolved from our original Hurricane Katrina Resource Page. Except for a few links to articles available only to IIABA member agencies and paid VU subscribers, all of this content may be used for noncommercial purposes. If you have any questions or suggestions, please email This page has evolved from our original Hurricane…
Over the next several months we are going to explore how you can protect your data from a data breach and what the federal and state laws say you must do to protect it and what you must do in the event of a data breach. Stay tuned while we take you through a process…
When automobile claims come in we always talk to the insured about the benefits of self-insuring the loss if they can, but more and more we are seeing lawsuits being filed for claims sometime down the line. If the insured reports the claim to us (the agency) and we note their account, but they decide…
Email evidence was a highly publicized part of the Microsoft antitrust case, with both sides resurrecting chatty notes that are several years old. The case has shed light on some sobering facts about email. Not only is it more than idle chatter, it’s also very hard to get rid of. In this article, Jack Fries…
An insured requested that a second location be removed from his policy. He made the request on 09/29/06. The second location was sold 06/24/04 and he requested that it be removed effective 06/24/04, the date he sold the property, with a return of premium. He presented court house records showing that the property had been…
Your agency/company contract has been amended as follows: “The Agency shall have no authority on behalf of the Company to provide new coverage or increase existing coverage when the National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning, tropical storm watch or warning or hurricane watch or warning for an area within a 200 mile radius…
Recently, our “Ask an Expert” service received a simple, one-sentence question: “How do you get your submissions noticed by an underwriter?” In this article, we’ll give you some tips from our expert faculty, underwriters, and fellow agents on how to submit an account that floats rather than sinks.
Quite a few agencies now practice agency underwriting by establishing minimum limits that they will write for auto, CGL, etc. There are definitely advantages to doing this and, in general, it’s a great idea. However, there can also be pitfalls that agents should be wary of….
CLUE reports, like MVRs, have become a staple of most personal lines underwriters. However, what happens when someone discovers an error on a CLUE report? What are the ramifications for declining an account based on inaccurate information and what can the consumer do to get the problem corrected?
