Rough Notes

Hallmarks of Insurance Professionals

As most insurance practitioners are aware, knowledge and expertise are essential. What may not be realized is that the insurance industry is probably number one among business and professional entities in providing education, information, and guidance at all levels. Formal education in the insurance business goes back to the early 20th century and to the Wharton School of Business and Finance at the University of Pennsylvania. Insurance education has reached highly professional levels, which ...

Ohio Casuality: Open for Business

They have people in place from the CEO to the president to managers and underwriters who are looking to write business, is the way Mike Kneflin, partner/producer at Kneflin-Dillhoff-Hils & Kruse Agency Inc, Cincinnati, OH, describes Ohio Casualty Insurance Co under the leadership of its new president and COO, Ralph S. (Mike) Michael III. Dan Carmichael, president and CEO of the parent holding company, Ohio Casualty Corp, said that Mike brings a different focus on marketing financial servi...

Court Decisions

Title Insurance: A Home Owner's Assurance

Anyone who has ever purchased a house knows how complex and often frustrating the entire process can be. Of course, finding a reputable real estate agent who can show you available properties is the first step. When all this is done and the agreed-upon contracts are in place, a title search must be conducted to examine ownership of the property and determine whether any encumbrances exist that would prevent the free and clear transfer of title to the new owner. The title search may well be th...

Coming of Age

Slow but steady might very well have been the watchword for Paul Krantz & Co Inc, Yonkers, NY, from its founding in 1946 until 1997 when things changed dramatically, Jim Krantz, CEO, remembers. That was the year when Robert Kestenbaum joined the agency as president -- it had been renamed York International Agency Inc. Over the years, the company continued their growth strategy of hiring the best people available, many of whom came from large national firms. Last year, they were able hire ...

Identity Theft Becomes a Hot Topic Among Business Owners

Many business owners and individuals are already in trouble. According to the Federal Trade Commission, identity theft accounts for about $54 billion in direct and indirect costs to US businesses and individuals. CLG Financial has been selling free-standing identity theft loss reimbursement insurance for three years. Recently it began promoting an updated comprehensive businessowners policy (BOP) from The Hartford Financial Services Group that now includes identity theft loss reimbursement an...

Will Goliaths Defeat David?

In a recently released Conning & Co study titled The Emerging Shakeout in Personal Lines, the study's author, Conning analyst Bruce Hale, describes this predicted shakeout as Goliath driving David out of the personal lines business over the next few years. The "Goliath" in the metaphor includes what Hale describes as the current leaders in the personal lines marketplace -- Allstate, Progressive, Geico and USAA. The "David" represents what Hale calls "lagging" insurers and that means all o...

Promoting 'People Power'

Demmie Hicks, the founder and president of DBH Consulting Inc, in Atlanta, GA, challenges traditional management models and encourages her clients to view every member of their organization as a vital contributor to its success. Recognizing that many agencies would rather stay independent than be swallowed up by consolidators, Hicks researched the factors that are critical to remaining independent. One of the most overlooked factors, she found, is the development of people at all levels of an...

E-Commerce Sales Hit $1.3 Trillion in 2003

Epli Protection for Small and Middle Market Companies

Employment practices liability insurance (EPLI) has been available on a stand-alone basis since the early 1980s. The product was developed to provide protection against allegations arising from the employer/employee relationship. It shields employers, directors, officers, and the corporate entity from allegations of a variety of wrongful employment acts, including sexual harassment, age discrimination, wrongful termination, etc, alleged by any current, former, and prospective employees. In 19...

Does Size Matter?

Phoebe, a not-for-profit organization that specializes in health care, housing, and support services for older persons in eastern and central Pennsylvania, is a faith-based organization that is an affiliate of United Church of Christ. It has been operating continuously since 1903. Since the new millennium, however, Phoebe had watched the cost of its professional and general liability insurance coverages rise at an alarming rate. One of the largest, uncontrollable expenses was the cost of the ...

'Cheers?'

Hypothetical situations related to liquor liability were presented to Laura Allen, manager of commercial lines P&C for Risk Placement Services (RPS) in Lexington, KY. RPS is one of US' largest wholesale brokers and a managing general agency writing a broad variety of specialty lines insurance. The laws regarding a bar or tavern owner's responsibility in the situations vary from state to state, Allen says. Insurance coverages for bars are not really your standard BOP policy. This is an exc...

Agency Financial Management

Dealing with Shareholder Dynamics

The reality of agency shareholder partners is quite an interesting phenomenon with instances in which those relationships seem to work well on the surface but where they may unfortunately suddenly cease being functional. Underlying many shareholder relationships is a certain tension, part of which relates to the tendency to attempt to measure which of the partners is pulling harder at the oars or carrying his or her own weight. As one might expect when there are substantial age differences am...

Public Policy Analysis & Opinion

From Kc to K Street

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners' (NAIC) history of lobbying Congress seems to track the general changes in Congressional lobbying over a very long period of time. In recent years the lobbying framework has become capital intensive. Retaining representation at a healthy fee has become a necessity. Traditionally, the NAIC's federal lobbying activities could best be described as survival above prowess. No reasonable observer can deny that the NAIC has proved highly influentia...

Pf&M At A Glance

Aais Bop Program

Small businesses represent the fastest growing segment of the US economy, and most of the Americans work in these businesses where co-workers typically number in the ones or tens rather than the hundreds or thousands. But small business does not mean small loss exposure. The variety of small businesses is staggering, and so is the potential exposure. And all need insurance coverage, which is the reason for the American Association of Insurance Services' (AAIS) Businessowners Program (BOP). Th...

To The Point

Beyond Tomorrow-the 'What If?'

The insurance business is unlike any other enterprise. Insurance is irretrievably linked to risk faced by every other aspect of life and commerce. But the insurance business has been resilient and adjusted to the variety of needs of its customers, large and small, often with creative ideas that anticipate exposures and innovations. Looking to the immediate and longer-term, the insurance industry -- and that certainly includes the very influential producer groups -- should consider making dema...

Critical Issue Report

Recent Study Addresses Workers Comp Dilemma

In many states, the workers compensation system is in shambles, primarily due to the high cost of medical care, according to most industry observers. Consequently, a debate is currently underway in the workers compensation insurance arena over who should choose the health care provider when a worker is injured on the job. Workers and their advocates have argued that the choice of the treating doctor or provider should be left to the worker. The Workers Compensation Research Institute and the ...

Winning Strategies

The Producer Treadmill

When you look at the average plateaued producer, he or she appears to be on the treadmill of life. At best, these producers are experiencing flat growth, meaning they are working really, really hard to stay the same. At the same time, they are really busy. They consistently run out of time because they have so much going on, when in fact they have gained nothing when their 30 minutes on the treadmill is up. When you are on a treadmill, the scenery never changes! If you are an RIP Producer (Ru...

Technology

'Combined' Interface Effort Takes 'Quantum' Leap

The Carrollton, TX-based MGA and its IT subsidiary, Quantum Integrated Systems, are following Agents Council for Technology's (ACT's) call and are providing a way for agents needing access to commercial insurance products to "win-win" through its QuoteExpress platform. According to Michael Hardin, EVP of marketing for the Combined Group, carriers "love" the system. Their QuoteExpress platform has more than 3,000 questions, so in order to have a true, dynamic question set, they had to make eac...

Risk Management

Who Knew What When?

Employers sometimes are confronted with a dilemma when an employee is suspected of committing acts of dishonesty. They need to be careful that they have the proof necessary to show beyond a reasonable doubt that the person or persons accused did, in fact, commit the acts or crime. If employers are not careful, or persist in pursuing a criminal action, they can be confronted with a costly legal action. Another concern should be that their crime insurance does not become inapplicable based on t...

Specialty Lines Markets

Cyber Liability

The age of cyberspace has created some very scary privacy and security issues. During the course of a conversation at the 2005 RIMS Convention, Brad Gow, VP, ACE USA Professional Risk, pointed out another risk to businesses of which almost no one is aware because victims do not want it publicized -- cyber liability. Company databases can hold sensitive customer information such as credit card numbers, Social Security numbers and other confidential information. Businesses are becoming increasi...

Enterprise Risk Management

Catalyst for Convergence

Convergence has been one of the buzzwords in the financial service sector for the past 20 to 25 years as financial service companies attempted to bring together the insurance market and the capital market. Conning Research & Consulting notes that the primary role of insurance has historically been to provide a ready source of liquid capital (i.e., cash) so insureds could pay for their direct losses and/or their liabilities. As a result, the insurance industry has been working to develop n...

Building Equity Value

Benchmarking Revenue, Driving Value

By gaining an acute understanding of your revenue sources and metrics, you will be better prepared to control your agency's survivability while maximizing its value. From an organic perspective, basic economics teaches that there are three ways to increase revenue organically: 1. increase price, 2. add a new product to the mix, and 3. sell more existing products. Contingents remain a viable, and often necessary, source of revenue for independent agents. The best performing agencies treat cont...

Agency-Insurer Productivity

Scratch My Niche

Making the transition from generalist to specialist is not a daunting task for any producer or agency. Normally, all that is required is an interest, an education, and a declaration. Those who have been kicking around for a while will probably discover that they have clusters of clients already segmented into specific classes. This is a good start. Now it is time to qualify your choices. It is not enough to specify just the class of business; you should also identify the size and scope of you...

Coverage Concerns

Personal Auto Insurance Buyers Need Guidance

The current barrage of media advertising by automobile insurers, including insurance companies, brokers and agencies, raises concerns about limited knowledge on the part of the audience and whether comparison price quotes apply to the same coverages and limits. Clearly, insurance buyers need to be informed. Insurance providers have an obligation to help insureds and prospective buyers understand both the scope of coverages and their costs. A brief review of the scope of individual coverages f...

Midwest Regional News

Illinois Supreme Court Rules On Insurance-Related Issues

Marketing

Loss Control-More Than Just an Add-On

Whether the market is hard or soft, successful agents focus much of their attention on loss control. Stephen Gillen, J.W. Terrill VP and manager of risk management services, who has worn several hats during his career -- from corporate risk manager to insurance company and broker employee -- says one of the most important elements of integrating loss control and risk management with sales is an ability to listen to clients. By implementing a loss control business plan, agencies can help clien...

Benefits Business

Wellness Programs Seem to Pay Off

Frenkel & Co, one of the US' oldest property/casualty insurance brokerages, was founded in 1878. In 2001, after an employee buyout of previous ownership, Craig Hasday, president and partner Larry Kirshner formed the Frenkel Benefits LLC division to consolidate employee benefits and related services. In January, Frenkel Benefits acquired Onsite Wellness, its long-time partner in providing wellness services. Hasday says the new vision is a dramatic step forward for the firm, allowing it to ...