When my plumbing contractor husband recently renewed his general liability coverage, he asked our agent if he would have coverage if his employee installed a gas water heater and it later leaked, injuring someone in his customer’s household. His agent said, “Probably not,” based on the total pollution exclusion. Case law regarding what is and…
In 1995, the Legislature added section 1725.5 to the California Insurance Code (Cal. Ins. Code) to require various types of insurance licensees to print their license numbers on business cards, written price quotations for insurance products, and print advertisements distributed exclusively in this state for insurance products. That law took effect in 1997. The California…
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), geothermal energy technology “harnesses the Earth’s heat,” and at least three types of technology that take advantage of that natural resource. These include ground source heat pumps, direct use geothermal and deep geothermal systems. This article provides a brief overview of this technology and some of the property…
The insurance industry has long gone through periods of “hard” and “soft” market conditions. In hard markets, insurance premiums increase and capacity – the ability of insurance markets to accept coverage – typically shrink. In soft markets, premiums decrease, and market capacity typically increases. Many newer agents have never experienced a hard market. The ability…
As an insurance agent, you understand that your clients and their organizations face new challenges every day, including keeping workers’ compensation costs down, receiving proper workplace injury reports and improving employee morale. It doesn’t need to be difficult to address these needs. In fact, by simply guiding your clients to the right nurse triage program,…
As the marketplace for long-term care insurance continues to shrink, more agents seek ways to expand their revenue and meet their insureds’ needs by offering other coverages. Critical illness coverage, which provides additional insurance protection for medical emergencies such as strokes, cancer, or heart attacks, can offer your clients protection and build customer loyalty.
Agency owners often ask, “How long should I keep expired insurance policies?” When we’re talking about liability policies, the new answer may be “forever.”
Many agents struggle to understand business interruption (BI) insurance, also called business income insurance. This important coverage protects business owners if a covered property loss, or in some cases government shutdown, causes them to close their business and reduces them income. This article covers the basics of BI coverage.
Assaults, slip and falls, gas leaks and other liability issues can wreak havoc on a commercial real estate (CRE) insured’s loss history. With property rates expected to climb again next year due to Hurricane Ian’s impact on the reinsurance marketplace, CRE exposures, especially CAT-exposed properties, will be hit hard with rate hikes, according to many…
Insurance losses related to jewelry are huge — much more than most insurers realize. According to Department of Justice statistics, 70% of all personal property (contents) theft losses are jewelry. Insurance companies process billions of dollars in jewelry losses each year. Some of these jewelry losses are hidden because they’re reported as “contents” losses under…
