As we go through life, we often remember some events or situations much more vividly than others. For me, one of those involved my early days as a CSR in an insurance agency in Utica, New York (I handled S-Z for commercial, personal and claims). As a newbie CSR, I was asked by one of the...
A recent news story spoke to U.S. businesses facing a potentially emerging legal threat (relating to COVID-19) from claims that workers brought coronavirus home and infected relatives. The financial impact has the potential to be significant. This “take home” article noted that between 7 and 9 percent of the U.S. COVID-19...
This is the time each year when most businesses are diligently working on their budgets and plans for the following year. They are determining their new business and retention goals as well as trying to project their expenses. Obviously, generating a profit is the major...
There is a very basic concept regarding E&O loss prevention. Essentially, the more client exposures that are insured, the less the E&O exposure. E&O claims most often occur when the client suffers a loss and that loss is either not fully covered or possibly, not covered at...
The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly created its share of issues, with business interruption coverage probably getting the most attention. However, there are other scenarios that have occurred which have posed some interesting discussion. Recently, I received an email from an E&O Plus insured asking about how to handle a...
In any given year, approximately 50 percent of all E&O claims against agents are closed for no payment. In other words, at the end of the day, the agency did the right thing and was determined not to have any legal liability for the client suffering the...
“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” - Epictetus, a Greek Stoic philosopher (50 – 135AD) Somehow, I doubt that Epictetus was talking about insurance agents back in his day, but actually, his words of wisdom are definitely applicable today. When you look at the standard...
Most folks know what phishing is, but did you ever wonder how the term originated? In researching this question, the word phishing was coined around 1996 by hackers stealing America Online accounts and passwords. By analogy with the sport of fishing, these internet scammers were using email lures, setting out hooks to "fish" for passwords...
When your agency is notified by your client of a claim, hopefully in most of those situations, the client has coverage for the issue that has just occurred. In those situations, everything should be good to go. But what if the client does not have any coverage for that loss? How would your agency handle...
Based on the latest numbers from the E&O Plus program, allegations involving inadequate limits are generating around 6 percent of all claims. As a result, it is definitely an issue that agencies should focus on. I remember a discussion around five years ago where the client broached the issue of limits with an agency staff member. The conversation essentially went like this: “I have...