The time that your staff spends on collection is much more expensive than the returns. If you establish a procedure that suggests that payment will be made by the agency if the insured does not pay a direct billing, legal precedent exists for an assumption of the same expectation in the future. A warning to…
It is almost embarrassing to say, but most insurance agents reckon their success by the balance in their checkbook. They don’t pay attention to those superb Operating Statements (Profit & Loss Statements) produced by their expensive Agency Management Systems and most don’t even print their Balance Sheets because either they don’t recognize the importance of…
A respected client of the Agency Consulting Group recently analyzed the impact of direct bill income on the working capital and asset base of their independent agency. They found it difficult to maintain a “healthy” 30 day working capital requirement to satisfy financial institutions because of a conversion of much of its premium base from…
After years of preaching to agencies that they should not call customers whose direct bill policies are in a “pending cancellation” state due to non-payment of premium, at least one insurer is suggesting that agents make a “courtesy call” on most clients whose direct bill policies are unpaid past their due dates. Could this present…
Some independent contractors sell L&H insurance and split commissions with a bank-owned agency. The agency does not get a copy of any of the documentation, from application to policy. Servicing is done solely by the insurer. Because of the way business is done, there is nothing that is recorded on the agency management system (no…
Here are the components of a Disaster Recovery Program (DRP) that was unfortunately missing in New Orleans and was woefully inadequate in the State of Louisiana. As critical as the attack on New York was on 9/11, the comparison of Mayor Giuliani’s leadership and coordination and that of the lack of the same in New…
Our Tennessee association has produced an outstanding new disaster plan that includes information on earthquakes, inland storm systems and flooding, fire conflagrations, transportation and industrial accidents, terrorism, and other types of disasters. IIABA members can now download this plan and adapt it for use in their agencies.
An insured received her commercial property renewal and paid it in full. She then received a cancellation notice. According to the insurer, they failed to bill the insured three years ago for a policy and wanted the premium for that term. She refused to pay it so they are cancelling the current policy for nonpayment.…
Can an agency that fronts money for an insured cancel the policy when the insured refuses to pay? If you think the answer is “yes,” then you’ll definitely want to read this article!
