Don’t Be Late For This Very Important Date

April 22, 2011
By Kevin Ring

With all of the well trained and highly qualified professional people at insurance agencies, why do most of them totally ignore the most important day of the year for workers’ compensation?

Here's a hint: it’s not the renewal date. No one can forget that day or they wouldn’t get paid.  read more..

Managing Claims Key To Insurer Profits, Deloitte Says

April 25, 2011
By Caroline McDonald, PropertyCasualty360.com
NU Online News Service, April 25, 2:55 p.m. EDT

Since claims are the single largest expenditure for a property and casualty insurance company, investing in claims management operational improvements is one of the most effective strategies to drive profitable growth, according to a report by Deloitte.  read more..

Illinois Department of Insurance News

Illinois Department of Insurance Provides Free, One-on-One Counseling to Storm Victims in Centralia and Du Quoin; Department warns of offers from unaffiliated 'insurance adjusters'.  read more..

CCM: Channel Coordination Mess or Customer Communications Management?

April 19, 2011  By Mark Breading

Customer Communications Management, long established as a need in the insurance industry, is gaining momentum as a primary discipline. But has the industry really made progress in managing communications with customers, or is CCM just another fancy acronym or the latest buzzword? Has the industry moved ahead?  read more..

PCI Files Brief In Supreme Court Climate-Change Case

Arthur D. Postal, PropertyCasualty360.com April 20, 2011

Insurance-industry lawyers are calling a global-warming lawsuit based on nuisance laws “the most significant case for the property and casualty insurance industry before the U.S. Supreme Court this term.”  read more..

Carrier Report Card: Pricing Remains Tops for Producers

April 12, 2011
By Robert Regis Hyle, PropertyCasualty360.com

Independent insurance agents want what every consumer wants these days—one stop shopping. When agents have issues, they don’t want to call 10 different people in the carrier’s organization to get the issue resolved, explains Mike Fitzgerald, senior analyst in the insurance practice for Celent.  read more..

Nuclear Dilemma: Adequate Insurance Too Expensive

Juergen Baetz, Associated Press April 21, 2011

In financial terms, nuclear incidents can be so devastating that the cost of full insurance would be so high as to make nuclear energy more expensive than fossil fuels.  read more..

Producers Need To Take Advantage Of Shortsightedness

April 12, 2011
By Mark E. Ruquet, PropertyCasualty360.com

Opportunity is knocking for insurance agents seeking to bring new blood into their agencies. All they need to do is not follow the shortsighted discriminatory practices of which some employers are being accused.  read more..

Carrier Report Card: Just Trying to Get Along

April 15, 2011
By Robert Regis Hyle, PropertyCasualty360.com

Frank Petersmark, CIO advocate for X by 2, a software architecture consultancy, believes there is a natural friction there between agents and carriers when it comes to keying in data. From his days as a CIO at Amerisure, Petersmark recalls dealing with agents that wanted the carrier to take care of as much of the processing as possible and unburden [the agents] of the responsibility so they could just sell.  read more..

Weather Helps Fight Texas Fires, But Homes Still Threatened

Weather during the last couple of days has helped firefighters battle several massive wildfires in Texas that have destroyed hundreds...  read more..

Bed & Breakfast Market Gains Popularity, Offers Insurers New Opportunities

National Underwriter P&C April 18, 2011
By Bonnie Cavanaugh

The bed and breakfast market is a potential growth area for insurers as this comfy niche of the travel industry attracts a growing number of travelers seeking unique, but budget-friendly accommodations.  read more..

Business Groups Welcome Workers' Comp Fix Call By Illinois Governor

April 13, 2011
By John O'Connor, Associated Press Political Writer

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois business leaders welcomed Gov. Pat Quinn's call Tuesday for workers' compensation reform, but a key lawmaker cautioned there's a long road ahead before reaching any compromise.  read more..

North Carolina Tornadoes Kill Dozens; Level Properties

April 18, 2011 By Associated Press

ASKEWVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A tornado-spewing storm system that killed at least 45 people across half the country unleashed its worst fury on North Carolina, where homes broke apart, trees snapped, and livestock were swept into the air.  read more..

Iowa Tornado Devastates Town

A tornado destroyed 12 to 15 blocks in the southwest corner of Mapleton, Iowa and damaged neighboring areas when it struck about 7:20 p.m. Saturday, April 9. In total, the tornado destroyed about 100 homes beyond repair, and has displaced an estimated 500 to 600 residents.  read more..

Avoiding Bad Faith When Handling Catastrophe Claims

Steps to Succeed
April 11, 2011
By Dennis J. Wall, Esq.

Insurance bad faith exposure is always in the background of claim handling. This is never more true than in situations involving the handling of catastrophe claims. Handling these claims is different from handling other claims, however, and insurance bad faith law is one reason.  read more..

Special Circumstances May Mean Agents, Brokers Owe Greater Duties

April 8, 2011
By Peter J. Biging

Recent court rulings confirm that agents and brokers do not owe duties to their insureds to provide complete coverage for liability and property damage under ordinary circumstances.  read more..

Illinois House May Scrap Workers' Compensation

April 8, 2011
By Christopher Wills, Associated Press SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP)

The Illinois House is considering a plan to scrap the state's much-criticized workers' compensation system, leaving businesses and their employees to battle in court over payment for each workplace injury.   read more..

Missouri Senate Endorses Workers’ Comp Changes

By Chris Blank | March 17, 2011

Missouri senators have given first-round approval to legislation that restricts employees from suing co-workers over injuries incurred on the job.  read more..

Missouri Updates Insurance Consumer Complaint System

March 31, 2011
The Missouri Department of Insurance has responded to Gov. Jay Nixon’s call for more efficient government by launching a new online system for verifying consumer complaints. The department now sends complaint data to insurance companies online. read more..

Missouri Bills Address Employee Liability in Workers’ Comp

April 1, 2011

Missouri legislators are considering two workers’ compensation bills to address whether an employee is liable when an employee is injured on the job

SB 8 would restrict co-employee liability in workers’ compensation cases, holding employers liable, irrespective of negligence, for personal injury or death of an employee, but barring employees of that employer from liability, unless that employee purposefuly and dangerously caused or increased the injured employee’s risk of injury.  read more..

Wisconsin Passes Bill to Reduce Auto Liability Coverage Minimums

April 6, 2011

Insurers are praising the passage in Wisconsin of a bill that would reduce the mandatory minimum auto insurance liability limits in that state.

The American Insurance Association (AIA) commended the Wisconsin State Senate for passing Assembly Bill 4, legislation that insurance trade groups say will improve the state’s automobile insurance climate for consumers. The bill was passed by the Wisconsin State Assembly in March.  read more..

The Five Standards of Great Claims Organizations: Part One

The World As One

March 14, 2011
By Carl Van

Oh I’ve, been smiling lately, dreaming about the world as one. And I believe it could be, someday it’s going to come.” – Cat Stevens

I’m aware that there are plenty of articles about good claims practices in the claims world. I would like to take a different approach to all of the studies and the data that has been compiled, and provide a different approach based on my observations of the truly outstanding claims organizations that I’ve had the opportunity to work with.  read more..

App-titude Test for Insurers

April 1, 2011
By Mary Anne Medina

In today’s world, everywhere you look there is new technology in the form of smart phones, handhelds, notebooks, and tablets.

With an ever increasing and rising number of smart phone users, many companies have seen the need to develop and offer mobile apps for BlackBerry, Apple, and Android smart phones. The car insurance industry is joining in with the rest of the world to provide apps that make a policyholder's insurance needs easier to obtain. Allstate, Geico, State Farm, Progressive, and many more have offerings for the tech-savvy customer.  read more..

Building An IT Strategy In Insurance

Frank Neugebauer March 31, 2011

The simple truth is there is no such thing as IT strategy in insurance, just the IT element of the business strategy.   read more..

IIABA Chairman: End ‘Nightmare’ Of Multistate Licensing

Mark E. Ruquet, PropertyCasualty360.com April 1, 2011

Mike Miley, chairman of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, tells us what tops the association’s legislative agenda, in advance of its annual America Legislative Conference.  read more..

Sitting on a "Goal Mind"

To avoid irrelevancy, rethink your dated sales approach

American Agent & Broker April 2011

Have you ever considered that "goals" and "gold" are tied together, and one actually leads to the other? For us to maximize our revenue potential in this marketplace we need to understand the relationship between the gold we have with our clients and prospects and the goals we have for our production. We need to use our minds—our knowledge—to maximize our potential. In this market, there are a number of challenges affecting our business.  read more..

Do we dare become professional?

March 25, 2011
By W. Kurt Fickling

I consider myself to be a professional insurance agent. But by what standards do I consider myself professional? As a property-casualty insurance agent, I have no real industry standards to measure my professionalism. Of course, there are legal standards I must conform to, but is there a "code of practice" with which I must comply? Other than individual state requirements for licensing and continuing education, I know of none.  read more..

Quinn Proposing Changes to Workers' Comp in Illinois

April 4, 2011
By Deanna Bellandi, Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — Amid a federal investigation of potential workers' compensation abuses, Gov. Pat Quinn's administration on Friday proposed systemwide changes to prevent possible malfeasance and save employers money.  read more..

Buyers, Don’t Get Too Comfortable With Low Workers' Comp Prices

February 15, 2011
By Caroline McDonald, PropertyCasualty360.com

A number of issues, including regulation, medical and insurer costs are high on the radar this year for workers’ compensation experts, one who warned that buyers most likely will be looking at price hikes in 2012.

Mark Walls, assistant vice president, claims with Safety National in St. Louis, Mo., observed that of a number of workers’ comp areas he is watching this year, legislative issues in two states—California and Illinois—are at the forefront, and cover opposite ends of the spectrum.  read more..

Up Against The Clock: Insurers Avoiding Coverage Of Wage & Hour Claims

But huge demand among insureds presents opportunity with right risk controls

National Underwriter P&C March 28, 2011
By Mark E. Ruquet, PropertyCasualty360.com

While there is sizable demand from insureds for coverage against the increasing tide of wage-and-hour claims made under the Fair Labor Standards Act, carriers remain largely reluctant to write policies—fearing a good chance of losing their shirts if they do.  read more..

Condo Coverage Conundrums

March 28, 2011
By Christine G. Barlow

Condominiums are a difficult subject in insurance because of the intersection of the unit owner’s policy and the association’s policy. Where exactly do the two policies meet?

Who is responsible for what part of the building is a common and confusing issue. A year or two ago, we presented a wildly popular web seminar explaining just how the coverage worked. Recently, fellow FC&S expert Diana Reitz blogged about improvements and betterments, so now seems to be a good time to talk about condominiums.   read more..