GREEN MOUNTAIN AGENT VERMONT INSURANCE AGENTS ASSOCIATION | NOVEMBER 2019
Happy Thanksgiving!
Vermont Insurance Agents Association is a statewide trade association representing nearly 100 independent insurance agencies in Vermont, with more than 900 employees. VIAA member independent insurance agents represent more than one insurance company, and as a result, can offer clients a wider choice of auto, home, business, life and employee benefits.t
Green Mountain Agent is a publication of
CONTENT ________________ November 2019
04 Letter from the President
600 Blair Park Road, Suite 100 Williston, VT 05495 Phone: 802-229-5884 Fax: 802-876-7912
08 Evolve19
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12 Feature: Agency Operations
VIAA Officers
14 NewsFlash
President Alan K. Kinney
17 On the Hill
Vice President Dan Rodliff Secretary/Treasurer Michael Barrett
23 E&O Corner
National Director Ron Bixby
29 Feature: Sales & Marketing
Directors 35 Insurance Commentary
Chip Ams Erin Odell, CIC Paul Plunkett Jessica Fleury Ex-Officio
40 Feature: Knowledge
Staff
43 Company & Agency News
Executive Director Mary Eversole mary@viaa.org
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LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT ______________________________ November 2019
Fall is the time when we all settle in, summer fun is over, school is underway and we plan for our upcoming year. Here at VIAA, we’re getting things ready for you for 2020! 2020 is a CE renewal year, so we are planning a great slate of programs to help you meet your Vermont CE requirements. Nationally recognized industry expert and blogger Bill Wilson will be teaching “When Words Collide.” Bill will share his 4-5 step process that he has practiced to assist independent agents resolve over 100,000 disputed claims. We will be offering two great new designation programs: The Management Liability Insurance Specialist (MLIS®) program. This self-study program focuses on directors and officers (D&O) liability, employment practices liability (EPL), and fiduciary liability insurance. The Associate in Insurance Account Management (AIAM) program. This web-based curriculum is geared toward helping account representatives and managers obtain the needed skills to provide the best service possible to clients. We are busy here at VIAA making sure you have what you need, when you need it! Wishing you, your families and your staff a Happy Thanksgiving.
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Alan Kinney VIAA President
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EVOLVE 2019 Great Learning
EVOLVE 2019
A Little Relaxation
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R E N R O 3 WAYS SMART FORMS GET COMPLETED
INSURANCE APPLICATIONS BACK FIRST TIME
AGENCY OPERATIONS
By Ken Wohl
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How many times have you received an insurance application from one of your clients that’s ready to take to the market on the first attempt? The answer is probably not very often.
The amount of complicated questions that the insured must complete within the application usually means that applications are not complete at the first time of asking. Then, the agent must send the application back to the insured for corrections, delaying the time it takes the agency to send the application to the carrier and receive a quote. This happens a lot. The sheer amount of information on the average insurance form can easily cause the insured to overlook or skip applicable questions or become confused about irrelevant questions leaving them unsure which sections to fill out. Then, they contact the agency via phone or email to find the answers— another time-consuming, tedious process for both parties.
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There’s a better solution: Smart forms. Take your applications into the 21st century. Smart forms are digital, automated, interactive and make questions and sections less confusing for the insured, resulting in more complete applications. Here are three ways smart forms help your clients send you complete applications quickly and easily: 1) Require certain questions. Every agent is simply looking to get the necessary information from the insured so they can go to the market. With smart forms, the agent can mark questions that are a requirement, which means the insured can’t click submit until all required questions are complete, forcing them to fill out all the needed information. As a result, when the form is submitted to the agent, the chances of it being filled out correctly and ready for the market the first time are high.
Smart Forms continued 2) Hide sections. Prevent your clients from filling out an entire 15-page form when you know only three pages are required. With smart forms, you can hide non-applicable sections or questions. That way, insureds never even see them during the application process. Eliminating questions also make forms less confusing for the insured. In addition, you don’t have to answer the insured’s questions about sections that aren’t relevant for going to market and the application is completed quickly and correctly. 3) Comments and tips. Confusion is the enemy of an application being completed correctly the first time. However, even the required questions on a form can still be confusing for the insured. For example, should the insured provide in-depth details on a question about business activities or will one word or sentence suffice? To combat this problem, proactively address certain questions that you know the
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insured will get stuck on by adding helpful tips and directions. For example, leave a comment on the business activity question and say, “Please provide as much detail as possible.”This feature makes it easier for the insured to answer questions on their own— the first time. And hopefully, if they do come to a question that would traditionally cause them to stop and call their agent, they already have the right information to continue and complete the application without asking for help. Reduce the amount of work for the insured and unnecessary interactions with you, the agent. Use smart forms to ensure that the insured can fill out forms quickly, accurately and without having to consistently ask the agent questions about the process. Stay tuned to your weekly News & Views enewsletter for more ways to get completed applications back from your clients at the first time of asking.
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NEWSFLASH
Department of Financial Regulation, Life Insurance Policy Locator Tracks $140,290 for Vermont Consumers Since 2016
Each year, millions of dollars in life insurance benefits go unclaimed by beneficiaries who can’t find their loved ones’ policies or in some cases may not even know the policies exist. In recognition of National Life Insurance Awareness month, the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation (DFR) is highlighting the Life Insurance Policy Locator. This free tool, maintained by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and in partnership with DFR, has helped 62 Vermonters claim $140,290 in benefits from 2016 - 2019. The policy locator requests are secure, confidential, and free. Any matches found by participating insurers are reported to state insurance agencies. The companies then are responsible for contacting beneficiaries. “We are happy to provide this free service to Vermonters and encourage anyone who believes that there might be a lost life insurance policy within their friends or family to take advantage of this program,” said DFR Commissioner 14
Michael Pieciak. “Our Department’s number one priority is ensuring Vermonters get what they are owed and that financial promises are kept.” Consumers can use the Life Insurance Policy Locator for help locating life insurance policies and annuity contracts of a family member or close relationship. Who can use the locator? Anyone. This service is open to the public, including beneficiaries and legal representatives. If they find a lost policy, what information do people need to request their benefits? A certified death certificate is the most helpful document to have on hand. Bank statements and identification cards with personal information may also be useful. How long does it take for a request to be completed? It may take up to 90 business days to receive a response. If no matches are found, requesters will not receive a response.
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ON THE HILL: Big ‘I’ Successful in Advocating for Federal Reporting Requirement Exemption By Joseph Cortina
The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2513, the “Corporate Transparency Act,” sponsored by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-New York) and Rep. Peter King (R-New York). The legislation passed the House with a vote of 249-173.
Department to define “substantial economic benefits.” The penalties for failure to comply with these reporting requirements are quite severe with civil penalties of up to $10,000 and criminal penalties of up to three years in prison.
The legislation would require nearly every small business with fewer than 20 employees to file new reports on their beneficial ownership with the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). All businesses would have to comply with the new requirement annually—starting within two years of the law’s enactment for existing businesses or upon incorporation of a new business.
When this legislation was introduced in May, the Big “I” was the only producer group that advocated on behalf of agents and brokers in an attempt to exclude them from this new onerous requirement. The Big “I” was successful in including a full exemption for agents and brokers in the bill by showing that insurance producers already provide beneficial ownership information to state regulators and that the additional burden of providing it to FinCen would be duplicative and unnecessary.The Big “I” will continue to advocate for exemptions in similar pieces of legislation that may be considered in the Senate.
FinCEN would require the disclosure of any individual who “receives substantial economic benefits from the assets” of a business. The legislation defers to regulators at the Treasury
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C E O & R O N ER
Email: Friend or Foe of Insurance Agencies By Curtis M. Pearsall, CPCU, AIAF, CPIA President – Pearsall Associates, Inc. and Consultant to the Utica National E&O Program
Email was first created in 1971, but it didn’t start to play a big role in people’s lives until the 90s. It has contributed to our level of communication becoming more written and less verbal. Many years ago, the sound of phones ringing and staff talking on the phone were extremely common in insurance agencies. Nowadays, agencies are quieter as email communication has become more the norm. From an insurance agency perspective, has this been a good thing? Generally, the answer to that question is probably, “Yes.” Email has created the ability for agencies to communicate with their various customers (clients, insurance carriers, wholesalers, etc.) in a fairly efficient manner. Pre email, for an agency to bind coverage, to secure information, or to get updates on a client’s exposures, agency staff had to either pick up the phone and hope they would get the party they desired or use regular mail, which had its advantages and drawbacks. Today, email has largely replaced both of these approaches. A typical question from many agency’s staff, especially on matters dealing with an errors and omissions (E&O) claim, deals with the issue of whether email is an acceptable and legal form of communication. The question is whether the email is clear, whether the recipient consented to receive email communications, and whether the email was received. With respect to the latter issue, emails can get deleted or caught in the recipient’s spam filters. Approaches to received. With respect to the latter issue, emails can get deleted or caught in the
recipient’s spam filters. Approaches to address the acceptability of emails include written certification from a customer that you can communicate by email and to which address, and written acknowledgment that the recipient received the email. Some agencies use an approach that requests the recipient send back an email stating something to the effect of, “I got your email.” What about the issue of the client sending the agency an email requesting the binding of coverage? Can the client presume that by sending the agency an email that the coverage is, in fact, bound? Let’s look at an actual claim and give consideration to any lessons to be learned. This claim arose out of a hit-and-run involving a minor child. The client allegedly sent an email to the agency to add a vehicle to their auto policy. The email got caught in the agency’s spam filter and thus the agency
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Email: Friend or Foe continued never saw the email. As a result, no coverage was bound for the additional vehicle. The customer never followed up with the agency until after the accident, several months later. It is not clear why the client didn’t contact the agency especially when a revised declaration page and premium should have been anticipated. It appears that they presumed that by contacting the agency (via email), coverage was technically bound. What could the agency have done better? While it is certainly much more common that agencies include on their voicemail greetings a statement such as, “Please note, coverage cannot be bound or amended without written verification by an agency representative,” it would be advisable for agencies to include something similar on their emails. Including the voicemail statement as part of the signature line on their emails, would make it very clear to clients that they cannot simply send an email on some change in coverage and expect that the coverage has been bound. This is a form of client accountability.
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It would be wise for the agency to advise clients (for all existing clients and then especially on all new business) the various “do’s and don’ts” on communicating with the agency in the form of an engagement letter. When an E&O claim occurs, the defense of the agency could be potentially impacted by taking steps to ensure clients understand the rules of engagement, especially when it comes to matters involving email. NOTICE: This information is provided solely as an insurance risk management tool. It is provided with the understanding that the member insurance companies of the Utica National Insurance Group are not providing legal advice, or any other professional services or advice. Utica shall have no liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damages alleged to have been caused, directly or indirectly, by the use of this information. You are encouraged to consult an attorney or other professional for advice on these issues.
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ARE YOU PLAYING CHESS OR CHECKERS?
SALES & MARKETING
By Charles Brennan One of the fastest-growing sports in America is pickleball. Pickleball combines elements of tennis, badminton and table tennis into a game in which two or four players use paddles to hit a perforated plastic ball, similar to a wiffle ball, over a net. It’s very competitive—and a lot of fun.
the interviews and wanted to prepare himself for the conversations. As we walked through the potential interview questions, I said to him, “How do you think the interview will end?” He gave me a puzzled look and said, “How should I know?”
After a recent match, my opponent commented to me that he felt like he was playing checkers but I was playing chess. It was a funny moment, but I explained to him that after watching his game for a couple of minutes, I noticed his play was very predictable. Essentially, he was playing with a one-move-at-a-time checkers mindset, while I was playing with a long-term strategy and chess mindset.
I told him we could figure that out in a couple of minutes. He was up for the task. We brainstormed and decided on the four most likely conclusions of the interview. Once we identified the outcomes, we put percentages—totaling up to 100%—on the likelihood of each one.
The chess mindset comes in handy in many situations and is a useful approach in business. For example, an interview is highly predictable. A while ago, my son was applying for a financial position in New York. He was a little nervous about
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Our next step was to craft out a response for each outcome. Of course, we placed more attention on the most expected outcome. This strategic approach led to a more comfortable and effective interview because he knew what to expect. He was calmer and more confident about the entire process, and did well enough to get offered the job he wanted.
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KNOWLEDGE
Chess or Checkers? continued Given that an interview is highly predictable, you can also say the same about a sales call. However, there is a difference between pre-call planning and strategic preparation. During years in sales and conducting thousands of training programs, I have noticed that in pre-call planning you examine what you want to say and do in the interaction. Strategic planning is more involved, requires critical thinking and can improve the outcome of a conversation. Strategic preparation puts you a few steps ahead of the competition or the people you are interacting with. If combined with the right skill sets, resources and tools, this can be a very powerful approach. Strategic planning diminishes the possibility of missed opportunities and realizations of “I should have done this” or “I should’ve said that!” Initially, strategic planning can be a little time consuming. But, because most customers or prospects say and do the same things, your strategic plan can be reused with only slight adjustments. If you have participated in sales calls and customer interactions, you can predict what will happen with an 80% level of accuracy. You can pick up on individuals’ tendencies. Much like in chess, you are several moves ahead of the person on the other side of the desk or the other end of the phone. Thinking ahead provides you with a great advantage. Go beyond what you want to say, present and do. Start to think about what you can do to make the interaction more effective. If you can prepare for the following situations that will occur during the interaction, you should be at least one step ahead. To prepare, answer these four questions: 30
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1) How will the interaction start after the cordial salutations occur? 2) If the person is unreceptive or neutral, what are the three conversations that need to occur to move the person in a positive direction? 3) If the person is predisposed and receptive, what conversations need to occur to solidify their commitment and support? 4) How will the conversation end? Adding the answers to these questions to your game plan will increase the likelihood of a better outcome. Strategic planning requires you to anticipate what will happen, to think critically and to play more chess not checkers. Charles Brennan is president of the Brennan Sales Institute, a provider of advanced sales skills training.
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How to Explain Coinsurance to Clients
William C. Wilson, Jr. CPCU, ARM, AIM, AMM is the founder of InsuranceCommentary.com. He retired from the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America in December 2016 where he served as Assoc. VP of Education and Research and was the founder and Director of the Big "I" Virtual University for over 17 years. www.viaa.org
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How To Explain Coinsurance to Clients Although most commercial property policies provide examples of how coinsurance works (e.g., check out the Additional Conditions – Coinsurance in the ISO CP 00 10 – Building and Personal Property Coverage Form), why policies have such a clause is a mystery to most insureds…and many agents. So, let’s look at the purpose behind coinsurance…
"Coinsurance is a contractual requirement that the insured carry agreed upon insurance-to-value, as specified by a percentage entry on the Declarations page." aggregate, most losses are partial and don’t result in a total, or even substantial, loss.
According to research done by the late John Eubank, CPCU, ARM, the coinsurance condition was introduced as a ‘standard’ clause by the Louisville Board of Fire Underwriters in 1885 for pork and tobacco risks and was expanded to other property in 1890. However, individual insurer use of this condition dates back to at least 1877 (Continental Insurance Company), if not earlier.
Without a financial incentive, insureds who are not risk aversive might be inclined to purchase relatively small limits of insurance. Since that inclination depends, in part, on the structure and occupancy of the building, the amount of the incentive is largely determined by those factors.
Coinsurance is a contractual requirement that the insured carry agreed upon insurance-tovalue, as specified by a percentage (usually 80%, 90% or 100%) entry on the Declarations page. If, at the time of loss, the limit of insurance is less than the value of the property times the coinsurance percentage, the insured will become a “co-insurer,” along with the insurance company, when a loss occurs. The purpose of coinsurance is not to punish an insured for carrying inadequate insuranceto-value, but rather to provide a financial incentive that: (1) encourages them to carry adequate limits in the event of major losses, and (2) rewards them (in many instances) with a significant premium reduction for doing so. Why do insureds need an incentive to carry limits of insurance approaching the value of their property? Simple…because, in the 36
To illustrate, according to one estimate, less than 2% of fire losses are total, and 86% of fire losses result in damages of 20% or less of the building value. That is, if a building is worth $500,000 and a fire occurs (which isn’t that likely to begin with), there is an 86% chance that the damage will be $100,000 or less. So, if the insured is a risk taker, why not insure the building for $100,000 or less? Of course, the statistics above are just for the peril of fire…if you add windstorm and other potentially catastrophic perils, the numbers may change. These numbers are averages. Statistically, a reinforced concrete office building is MUCH less likely to experience a major loss than a wood frame woodworking shop. So, the owner of the office building could be less inclined to carry full insurance to value because the probability of a serious loss is virtually nil. On the other hand, the owner of the woodworking shop is much more likely to insure to value
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Coinsurance Continued because it is easy to visualize a major loss occurring. shop is much more likely to insure to value because it is easy to visualize a major loss occurring. Coinsurance provides an incentive for adequate insurance-to-value by providing a rate credit for carrying relatively high limits to value…the credit is much larger for the fire-resistive office building because the owner needs a larger incentive and the rate credit reflects the lower probability of loss. For example, look at the calculations below:
The gross rates and premiums are the rates and premiums that would be charged if coverage was written without a coinsurance requirement. The 80% rates and premiums are those that apply when the insured contractually agrees to carry a limit of at least 80% of the value of the property at the time of loss. Note that the woodworker gets only a 10% credit from the gross (no coinsurance) premium, while the office building gets a 70% credit. What if the owner of the fire-resistive building heard that there was only a 14% chance that a fire loss would cause damages in excess of 20% of the value of the building…wouldn’t he/she only buy $20,000 of insurance? No, because he/she couldn’t pass up the bargain, as shown below (and we all know that most insurers wouldn’t let him anyway :-):
As you can see, if the insured elected to buy only $20,000 coverage rather than $80,000, he/she would experience a premium reduction of less than 17% while reducing the coverage amount by 75%. Conversely, for 25% in additional premium, the insured can increase his/her coverage by 300%! Thus, coinsurance provides an incentive to purchase higher insurance to value than some (perhaps many) insureds would be inclined to do otherwise. In doing so, insureds can save significant amounts and they have the assurance that, in the unlikely event that they do have a major loss, they’re covered… IF they insured to value in accordance with the coinsurance provision. Copyright 2016-2019 by InsuranceCommentary.com. Reprinted with permission. www.viaa.org
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5 Crucial EPLI Coverage Elements to Discuss with Your Clients
KNOWLEDGE
By Jacquelyn Connely
Although employment practices liability insurance has been around since the 1990s, there’s still essentially no standardization among EPLI coverage forms. And while most EPLI policies on the market today include coverage for what experts call the “big four”—wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment and retaliation— everything else can vary drastically from carrier to carrier. “Most policies will have another subsection that serves as almost a grab bag, where they might list out a number of additional exposures covered by the policy,” explains Sean Jordan, senior research analyst, International Risk Management Institute. “That’s where you might see some more variation, and you need to be very aware of how all of that is worded.”
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The section typically refers to “wrongful employment practices acts,” “inappropriate employment conduct” or “workplace torts” and enumerates a variety of other employment-related perils that do not fall within one of the big four categories.Selling EPLI, then, “is not like going out and selling an auto policy or a homeowners policy, where largely a lot of carriers are selling the same policy and there’s a lot of boilerplate language,” says Remmie Butchko, CEO of Georgetown Insurance Service Inc. in Silver Spring, Maryland. “I like to tell our producers to pick a handful of EPLI policies, read them cover to cover and know them inside and out so they can very professionally and properly educate their clients, because if you try to go out and pretend you’re an expert in 15 different EPLI policies, it won’t work.”
EPLI Coverage Continued And all of that means EPLI “is not a good coverage to get into a price war over,” Butchko adds. “There are a lot of buyers out there that are all about price, but in EPLI, if the price looks unusually low, it’s probably for a reason. Save your price wars for commercial auto or workers comp. You’re getting into very, very dangerous waters when you to try to sell on price in EPLI.” How can you make sure you’re helping your clients secure the best EPLI coverage possible? Here are five crucial EPLI coverage elements to watch out for: 1) Defense costs. For Butchko’s agency, whose EPLI insureds fall primarily in the small to middle market, “one of the most critical things is how the policy addresses defense costs,” he says. “It can be as simple as whether defense costs are inside the limits or outside the limits, or if they have a sublimit— some people call it an additional limit, but I like to think of it as a sublimit, because it’s a limitation on defense costs.” A handful of policies, Butchko notes, still offer unlimited defense outside the limits: “They’re few and far between, but there are still some out there.” Similarly, how does the policy handle choice of counsel? “Do you get to pick your attorney or do you have to rely on the insurance company to say, ‘This is the person who’s going to defend you?’” Butchko points out. “Given the types of situations you see in the EPLI space, I think it’s important for a business to have some say-so and maybe even have the outright choice in who’s going to defend them. 2) Wage and hour. Next, how does the policy handle wage and hour claims? “We see that all over the map,” Butchko says. “Sometimes it’s excluded altogether, oftentimes it has a sublimit, and most of the time, the sublimit will only pay defense and
not actual damages.” “Every carrier has their own philosophy on wage and hour,” agrees Clint Wesolik, Esq., director/national product leader, EPL, CNA. “Some are offering full indemnity coverage that includes reimbursement for the shortfall in pay due to, for example, failure to pay overtime. That’s still pretty limited for the most part, but for carriers that do offer wage and hour, it is defense costs only and it’s a sublimit.” After that, the coverage often varies by industry—for example, “carriers may not be willing to offer it for fast food or retail, where there’s just more likelihood of that type of claim,” Wesolik points out. “And then you get into issues about the states—California obviously is a hotbed for this kind of litigation, and after that it’s probably New York and Florida. Those states are very high in frequency for wage and hour-related claims.” Jordan cautions that wage and hour coverage of any kind is still not all that common on EPLI forms. “We’re still not seeing a lot of wage and hour coverage on standard EPLI policies,” he says. “A lot are going to have a specific wage and hour exclusion. You may be able to have either a wage and hour defense-only endorsement tacked on, or insureds might want to get a standalone wage and hour policy that can cover both defense and indemnity.” 3) Hammer clause. Butchko suggests paying attention to this in terms of any kind of consent to settle. “How is that going to be handled? Does the insured have any say-so, or do they just have skin in the game? That can vary a lot from policy to policy,” he says —and the best option depends entirely on the risk appetite of your insured.“It’s almost like picking a deductible,” Butchko explains. “Some people are more risk-tolerant than others, and some people say, ‘You know, I don’t mind rolling the dice.
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EPLI Coverage Continued I’ll participate 20-30% in a consent to settle because I feel confident that I’m in the right.’ Obviously when the insurance company recommends to settle, we recommend that as well, but it really depends on the buyer. At the end of the day, you are pretty much participating in a loss at that point.” 4) Third-party liability. This coverage would apply in a situation where a non-employee, such as a client, alleges harassment, discrimination or the like against a corporation or one of their employees. “Some carriers are offering with separate limits, and some are lumping those limits in with standard coverage,” Jordan says. “There’s some variation in terms of whether it’s its own insuring agreement or whether it’s included with the rest of the policy.” 5) Crisis management. Traditionally, this was an expense EPLI carriers “considered overhead for the insured,” Wesolik explains. “The mindset was, ‘We will defend you on the claim, but we are not in the business of covering your PR expenses or any efforts to address the reputational harm associated with a claim.’” But today, in part thanks to the #MeToo movement, “we’re seeing more interest in that type of coverage, and more willingness on the part of carriers to at least offer some sort of reimbursement for expenses associated with a crisis event,” Wesolik says. But be careful—carriers currently address the exposure with a wide range of approaches. “Each carrier has its own way of defining what exactly constitutes a crisis event that triggers coverage, and there’s going to be differences in the levels of reimbursement and the types of expenses that are subject to reimbursement,” Wesolik cautions.
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“Some policies will say there has to be a reasonable belief that the claim will exceed the retention before the coverage is applicable,” Jordan agrees. “That means you could have insurance companies arguing if your retention is $50,000 and they think, ‘This is going to be about a $40,000 claim based on our math,’ there would be no coverage there—at least not on the crisis management sublimit.” Additional issues might include exclusion of “industry-wide events,” a requirement that the event causes “material public harm” to the insured organization, or specifications regarding when the crisis event concludes, Jordan adds. “With some carriers, if you get a PR firm that advises the crisis event no longer exists, then it’s over,” Jordan explains. “Others just base it on when the sublimit is exhausted, and others have a time limit, such as 12 months after the event. There’s all kinds of variation.” Furthermore, how does the policy define “crisis management expenses and services”? What about “crisis management firm”—does that mean a crisis management company? A PR firm? A law firm? All of the above? And are crisis management limits part of or in addition to aggregate limits? Are limits separate for “personal” versus “company” events? What about retentions and reporting requirements? “Read very carefully,” Wesolik summarizes. “Make sure you confirm exactly what the coverage would be, because there are major differences among the carriers in what they are willing to offer and where they are willing to offer it.” Jacquelyn Connelly is former IA senior editor.
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COMPANY & AGENCY NEWS www.viaa.org
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Vermont Mutual Welcomes French as Marketing Representative
Vermont Mutual Insurance Group® recently named Christopher French, CPCU, AU, AIS, ACS, as Marketing Representative for the state of New Hampshire. For the past 18 years Mr. French has worked in the areas of Marketing and Underwriting for both a regional and national carrier. Vice President of Marketing, Shaun Farley, stated “We could not be more pleased to welcome Chris to the Marketing team here at Vermont Mutual.” Farley continued “Chris brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in the market place. He is sure to be welcomed and appreciated by our Agency Partners in the state of New Hampshire." Mark McDonnell, Executive Vice President and COO, added "We are grateful to enjoy strong and profitable relationships with our agency partners. The role Chris will play as a Marketing Representative is integral, to not only Vermont Mutual's success, but also to the ongoing success we share with our independent agency partners in New Hampshire. Mr. French remarked "I'm excited to represent a great company that enjoys an exceptional reputation in the marketplace. I appreciate the value Vermont Mutual places on partnership with our independent insurance agents and I look forward to deepening those relationships in my new role." Mr. French will be based in Munsonville, NH and Montpelier, VT.
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Bourdon Insurance Agency to Join The Richards Group Bourdon Insurance Agency is pleased to announce that the firm has been acquired by The Richards Group effective October 1, 2019. The partnership with The Richards Group will benefit clients by ensuring that decisions and service remain local for years to come, while expanding client services and resources. The Bourdon staff will have a new office location at 94 Court Street in Middlebury. “It means a lot to us that Sue Bourdon felt The Richards Group was the best fit to continue the excellent work that Bourdon Insurance has done over the decades,” said Drew Richards, Vice President of The Richards Group. “Their roots are as a Vermont based family business, just like ours at The Richards Group. We’re excited to make this investment in Middlebury and to continue to serve this vibrant community.” “When we considered what firm was best for our clients, employees and the community, we knew The Richards Group was the right fit. The Richards Group is Vermont based and locally owned, and we have similar priorities and values,” commented Sue Bourdon, President of Bourdon Insurance Agency. “Our clients will benefit from the new insurance markets and technologies that The Richards Group will make available, along with their employee benefit and retirement plan consulting expertise.”