Handling Employment-Related Injury Claims

Applying Workers’ Comp, EPLI or Both

By Diana Reitz

June 26, 2012

Several years ago, I was the agent handling an employment-related charge of sexual harassment that was filed against a high-ranking officer of a financial institution, who also was a prominent member of the community.  read more..

Modern-Day Heists: Top 10 Collectibles at Risk

Non-cash Items are attractive, valuable targets for burglars

By Laura Bergan

July 11, 2012

By Laura Bergan, vice president of sales and marketing of American Collectors Insurance
If you believe Hollywood’s depiction of a typical heist, you’d think that only cars and cash are the targets for thieves looking to strike it rich. Not so. The files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation are filled with cases of stolen art collections, militaria, and even moon rocks.  read more..

The Effectiveness of Arc Mapping To Determine Fire Origin Area

By Timothy A. Hazelwood

July 11, 2012

The science of fire origin and cause investigation can be a very complex subject. No two fires are ever alike and therefore, every fire investigation has its own particular set of challenges. However, regardless of whether the investigation is for a small vehicle fire or a large commercial loss, many of the steps used in competent fire investigation are the same.  read more..

Have Tech, Will Travel

A son’s film career keeps an insurance tech guy moving

By Rick Gilman, APR, CMP

June 28, 2012

I’ve been very fortunate in my career to have traveled all over the world for business: London, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong and many places in between. The challenges we all face when on the road is finding ways to work remotely while doing the work that needs to get done.  read more..

Focus on Execution to Succeed

By Tim Cunningham

June 28, 2012

The hard reality is the insurance agency business model is fairly simple. You sell and service with a modest back office infrastructure. The business does not require a great deal of capital and you have the benefit of a relatively robust renewal commission stream although it requires a good service platform. You are subject to external forces beyond your control—your need to persevere through the economic collapse in the midst of a soft property-casualty insurance presented a major challenge. Despite the simple business model, executing the model is your biggest challenge.  read more.. 

Learning from the Losers

By Laura Mazzuca Toops, PropertyCasualty360.com

July 6, 2012

Managers and business owners are constantly being harangued to adopt “best practices” and emulate the Warren Buffets and Steve Jobs of this world. But maybe it’s time to reverse this trend and learn from the biggest losers.  read more..

Being There: 2 Key Technology Tools Make Remote Work Possible

By Frank Sentner

July 18, 2012 

Just about every week, an independent agency owner or agent asks me some version of this question: “How is remote computing from hundreds or thousands of miles away just as secure as sitting at a computer in the main office?”  read more..

Personal-Lines Insurers Can Thrive in a Multichannel World

By Sam J. Friedman

July 12, 2012

Auto and home insurers might have a tough road ahead of them when it comes to expanding market share organically, but there are growth strategies they could pursue to capitalize on the evolving needs of today’s increasingly tech-savvy personal-lines consumers.  read more..

e-Education and the Old ‘Fuddy-Duddy’

Sifting Through a Deluge of Updates

By Ken Brownlee, CPCU

June 26, 2012

Once a month, I open an envelope from the National Underwriter Company and out drops a hundred or more pages of additions, updates, and replacements for my nine volumes of Fire Casualty & Surety Bulletins. It takes me about half an hour to sort the pages, figure out what to keep and what to discard, and re-stack the books in my insurance library.  read more..

Punitive Damages and Social Media Transform Litigation

By Caterina Pontoriero, PropertyCasualty360.com

July 5, 2012

Bad faith claims and technology are among the hottest trends in insurance litigation today. PC360 spoke with two professionals in the field—Robert Miller, senior vice president and director of liability and property claims at Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group, and Donald Myles, a partner with the Phoenix, Arizona-based firm Jones, Skelton & Hochuli—about changes in punitive damages, the use of social media in injury claims and the need to get young partners involved early on in defense trials.  read more..

Game On!

Educating Millennials Via Gaming and Social Networks

By Douglas Dell

June 26, 2012

Last year I visited a high school specializing in math and science. What stayed with me from that visit was the use of technology in the classroom. No matter the class—music, language, or engineering—there was a constant click of keyboard strokes. The students weren’t just looking at flat information on a screen; they were interacting with the curricula, using software to create melodies, translating words into meaningful messages, and writing code to direct the movement of a robot’s arm.  read more..

Assessing Damages Post-Catastrophe

Wind, Water, and Pre-Existing Structural Defects

By Thomas A. Mierzwa

June 26, 2012

In the event of a tornado, hurricane, or severe tropical storm, the potential for damage to nearby buildings and civil structures is significant. This potential increases with various factors, such as the proximity of the storm event to the structure, age, construction quality, engineering, and materials used in construction.  read more..

Cat Preparation 101

The memory of last year’s unprecedented cat season is still fresh in the minds of most insurance buyers. Take a step-by-step approach to pinpointing risks and handling claims when loss is inevitable.

By Jill Dalton

June 28, 2012

For many businesses, the 2012 U.S. East Coast hurricane season coincides with a particularly precarious time. Although the economy in some areas of the world appears to be edging toward recovery, budgets remain tight and insurance rates for property catastrophe coverage are up as much as 25 percent.  read more..

Adopting The Paradigm of Success

By Christopher Tidball

July 10, 2012 

It’s no secret that one of the best ways to gain a competitive edge is to simply understand what your competitors are doing right and wrong. Both success and failure can come in many forms. At the end of the day, however, it boils down to three key competencies: people, processes, and technology. Organizations either get them right, or they do not; unfortunately the latter is more prevalent.  read more..

Your Family Emergency Plan

This white paper will provide a step-by-step guide to creating a family emergnecy plan, which can be enacted during fires, severe weather and floods.  read more..

Insurance Regulation Report Card: Top 5 and Bottom 5 States

By R.J. Lehmann

June 20, 2012 

The R Street Institute recently released a report card grading the insurance regulatory environments in each of the 50 states. The report card measures states on 14 objective variables to gauge the extent to which their insurance regulatory environments embody the principles of limited, effective and efficient government.  read more..

‘What Can We Do About Ben?’ Examining the Duty to Advise

By Peter J. Biging

June 25, 2012

When faced with claims against agents and brokers for failing to properly advise their clients, courts have generally found that agents and brokers are not “risk managers” and are not responsible for advising their clients to purchase specific types or amounts of coverage—absent “special circumstances.”  read more..

When Legacy is a Good Thing

Only in insurance technology can a positive word take on negative connotations.

By Jeffrey Glazer

June 28, 2012

Ask a person about the legacy they want to leave, and the conversation will turn reflective and sincere.  They may tell you about their commitment to making sure that their work is solid, delivered with integrity, and enduring.  read more..

Two Steps to Building Business Through Facebook

By Robyn Sharp

June 27, 2012

Insurance agents are constantly being told to use Facebook and social media marketing in their agencies. Social media marketing is an excellent place to reach out to prospects and develop relationships with current clients simply because of the volume of people using it.  read more..

Are You a "Conversation Company"?

By Laura Mazzuca Toops, PropertyCasualty360.com

June 21, 2012

By now you're probably sick of hearing about how important it is for your business to be involved in social media. Chances are if you're reading this, you're already actively engaged on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and elsewhere.  read more..

Contamination & Miscues: Protecting Against Product Liability

Competition in the Recall space heats up as companies face increasing federal regulation

By Bonnie Cavanaugh

June 25, 2012

Interest in Product Recall and Liability insurance is rising among companies in the U.S., especially as supply chains grow ever more global, thereby exponentially increasing exposures to manufacturing and distribution problems.  read more..

Supreme Court Upholds Healthcare Law

By Allison Bell

June 28, 2012

In one of the most anticipated rulings of the century, the Supreme Court has announced its decision on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.  read more..

The Price May Be Right, But Other Factors Sway Personal Lines Buyers

By Sam J. Friedman

June 25, 2012

In terms of deciding whether to change personal-lines insurers and which new carrier to choose, price remains the primary—but not only—factor considered by auto and homeowners’ consumers.  read more..

Cautionary Tales: Nine Recent Recalls Highlight Need for Product Liability Coverage

By Staff Writers

June 20, 2012 

Interest in Product Recall and Liability insurance is rising among companies in the U.S., especially as supply chains grow ever more global, thereby exponentially increasing exposures to manufacturing and distribution problems.  read more..