Resources Magazine Winter 2002

Announcing the

Bonnie L. Avila, CISR, CPIW Marsh USA, Inc. Grand Rapids, Michigan

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n a year marked by difficult transitions to higher premiums and greater challenges just finding coverage, the knowledgeable customer service representative with exceptional people and problem-solving skills has proven to be an agency’s most valued asset. The National Outstanding CSR of the Year Award was established to honor these special individuals.

The 2002 National Outstanding CSR of the Year, Suellyn “Susi” Boastick, CISR, exemplifies this honor. A Commercial Lines Manager/CSR and Systems Administrator with The Lewis Insurance Store, Inc., in Champaign, Illinois, Ms. Boastick was selected from a slate of five finalists after the list of state winners was further narrowed. Her insightful essay on the topic, “The Role of the CSR During a Hard Market,” defined and emphasized the personal contact and service that is necessary in the insurance industry today, more than ever.

Ms. Boastick received a cash award of $1,000, a gold and diamond pin, and her name is inscribed on a sculpture on permanent display at the Society of CISR’s headquarters in Austin, Texas. Additionally, a scholarship has been awarded to her employer, The Lewis Insurance Store, for participation in any National Alliance program.

Kris Kortum, CISR ISU/Corporate Insurance Management St. Louis, Missouri

Suellyn Boastick, CISR The Lewis Insurance Store, Inc. Champaign, Illinois

Congratulations to Susi Boastick, the four national award finalists, and the many CSRs who have faced the hard market with confidence and leadership.

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2003 National Outstanding CSR of the Year Award. Closing deadline for all materials is May 1, 2003. Contact the Societies of CISR and CIC at 800/633-2165, www.scic.com/cisr/ csraward.htm for more information about how to nominate and compete for this prestigious award.

The Outstanding CSR of the Year Award is sponsored jointly by the Societies of CISR and CIC. 2

Resources Winter 2002–2003

Lisa M. Lubey, CISR, CPIA E.L. Webster Insurance Agency Waldorf, Maryland

Margo L. May, CISR, ACSR Marsh USA, Inc. Reno, Nevada

in this issue…

From the President Ethics Takes a “TIME OUT” Be it in corporate boardrooms or on collegiate football fields, “ethical conduct” has become a subject of national concern.

“Unethical conduct” raises its ugly head when people are hurt by the truly unexpected actions of others—actions that range from monies being diverted from pension funds, false statements of profitability, or college football coaches who deny they are leaving a university when they have in fact already reached agreement with another institution.

In many cases the financial hurt created by unethical conduct is not as serious as the feelings of stupidity and betrayal by those misled or actually deceived. The client stated, “I trusted my agent.” The adjuster said, “Don’t worry.” The player lamented,“My coach told us we were family.” The company president said, “Buy our stock.” These are examples of all too frequent explanations by people who got the short end of the deal.

Features 4

A “New” Perspective on Business Income

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The Art of Alternative Risk Transfer A Group Captive Primer

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529 Plans A Great Way to Save for College

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2+8+9≠1 Business Auto and Garage Policies

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Five Often Overlooked Ways to Hire Winners 28 For Best Results, Make Quality Submissions “X-Ray” Methods and Predictors

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Back to Basics and Beyond

Departments 14

Where is YOUR Agency Headed?

Keep Track with GPS

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Risk Management for Small Agencies Services Not Limited by Size

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We have all come to know individuals who espouse and claim to be people of character and integrity. However, there is a great deal of support for the notion that character and integrity are earned by those actions you take when no one is watching—not when you are facing a client, coworker, or camera. How many times have you, as an insurance and risk management professional, been asked to “forget” a past loss, “reclassify” your client’s employees for workers compensation purposes, “create” a loss, or “pretend” a Corvette is a two-door Chevy coupe? And how many times have you been told not to worry because “no one” will ever know or find out?

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The Educational Investment Sharp Employees are the Competitive Edge

The Role of the CSR in a Hard Market 2002 National Outstanding CSR of the Year Award Essays

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Insurance Vocabulary Crossword Go Figure…

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CE News of Note CE Reciprocity Simplifies Nonresident Compliance

Alliance News 9

The Producer School Fast-Track Training Sessions in 2003

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The National Alliance National Program Schedule A New Opportunity for Agencies The CIC In-House Solution

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Advancing the Profession Together The NAIW and The National Alliance

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The Denver MEGAdventure March 10–14, 2003

38 President, the Society of CIC

Hard Market Lessons Learned Today’s Reality for Prospecting, Selling, and Negotiating

IT’S WHAT YOU DO WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING.

Unfortunately, the most important person will always know, and that person is you!

Not only must you live with the knowledge of what you did, the harm you caused others, or the consequences of being discovered, you must also constantly agonize over what will happen the next time you are tested when “no one is watching.”

Business Interruption

In the News CIC, CISR, and CRM Newsmakers 2007-0103

Web site: www.scic.com ◆ E-mail: alliance@scic.com ◆ Phone: 800/633-2165 Resources Winter 2002–2003 3

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Resources Winter 2002–2003

The terrorist attacks to the World Trade Center and Pentagon buildings are considered to be the largest property, workers compensation, and aviation losses in our history. Of all the claims resulting from the attacks, business interruption and related claims are the costliest and most complex of the claims to resolve, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. As quoted from Claims Magazine, more than onequarter of the losses resulting from September 11th will be for business interruption, and will come from a range of industries including financial services, communications, media, and travel. The report describes the main types of expected claims as contingent business interruption (dependent property coverage), service interruption, electronic media, extra expense, civil authority, and ingress/egress.

The complexity of the Business Income losses following 9/11 are due, in part, to the diversity of the types of businesses whose business income was and will continue to be affected by the events. Beginning with the obvious are those businesses that experienced direct damage from the event. Those directly damaged would include the owners, lessors, lessees, and lending institutions of damaged property.

Owners and users of services directly damaged, including underground subways and transmission towers, present unique business income challenges.

A more far-reaching and complicated group of businesses are those that suffered business losses but were not directly damaged by the blasts. They were indirectly affected from the standpoint that their operations were suspended entirely, suspended in part, or impaired. This group encompasses a wide variety of businesses including: ■

Building owners and tenants of undamaged buildings in the affected area that did have access prohibited by civil authority.

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Building owners and tenants of undamaged buildings in the affected area that did not have access prohibited, but suffered a loss of revenue due to reduced clientele.

Businesses that couldn’t operate or occupy their locations because they had to clean up dust and debris, but suffered no “damage” other than the cost and time it took to “clean up” their area. This category of business brings up new concerns over the issue of “debris removal” and whether having to remove debris is in and of itself considered “damage” to property. If this is considered “damage,” then both the business income coverage and direct damage debris removal coverage could be triggered. If this is not considered “damage,” then neither coverage would come into play.

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Businesses that suffered a business income loss because of their dependency on those businesses directly damaged.

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Businesses that suffered a business income loss because of their dependency on those businesses not directly damaged but rather indirectly damaged.

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Businesses that voluntarily closed. This category includes businesses such as trade shows, conferences, corporate getaways, and most major sports events.

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Businesses affected by businesses that voluntarily closed or postponed their operations. This category includes the vendors of all the sporting events, trade shows, concerts, etc.

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Businesses that cancelled events such as TV shows, movie productions that were delayed, cancelled, or revised, and concerts.

Businesses affected by contract cancellations such as events, conventions, and hotel rooms.

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Businesses affected by airline cancellations, cutbacks, and delays.

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Businesses throughout the country whose income was affected because of fear and a sense of depression, such as amusement parks, vacation destinations, and restaurants.

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Businesses affected because of false rumors (such as restaurants whose employees were accused of celebrating upon seeing the event on TV) where individuals spread the rumor (through the Internet, typically) with the effect of destroying the image of the restaurant.

And the list goes on and on and on...

The issue of determining the types of businesses to suffer business income losses is complex, as is the question of the types of financial losses they will sustain. Clearly, businesses will suffer losses in the four major areas of income loss including: Loss of Business Income; Extra Expense; Loss of Rental Value; and Leasehold Interest.

Given the unprecedented lengthy time period for cleanup, repair, rebuilding, relocation, and claims handling, all four of these categories will have the same shortcoming of inadequate limits and coverage downfalls. An additional consideration for all four categories of income loss is the fact that there is limited equivalent space in the proximity of the World Trade Center, space that is available is much more expensive, and the space outside the World Trade Center building has purportedly much lower earnings capacity per square foot.

Some of the many questions surrounding Loss of Business income include: ■

How do you evaluate liability for business interruption claims for businesses that were not in proximity of the events of September 11th?

Continued on page 6.

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Business Interruption…continued from page 5.

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How do you measure the period of interruption, weighing in such factors as civil authority closures, physical damage reconstruction, regaining profitability, recapturing contracts, etc?

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How will the losses of September 11th be differentiated from the post-event changed economy, and is it necessary to do so? (Claims Magazine)

Compounding these issues is the enormity in claims dollars that the answers to these questions mean to the insuring companies.

“Imagine yourself as an insurance executive with the knowledge that any decision you make on any one loss could impact multiple claims in multiple industries all for one event (the WTC). Accordingly, insurers will be very careful as to how they react to a variety of technical claim issues.”

(International Risk Management Report—Expert Commentary) Even the most seemingly straightforward business interruption issues have become complicated in light of 9/11, beginning with the issue of Civil Authority. All cases of catastrophic loss have had the element of “civil authority” come into play, as each loss requires different groups in authority to safeguard people and property and to enforce their own unique governmental authority. These groups could include personnel from the police department, fire department, coast guard, FBI, EPA, city, state and county health departments, and all other groups that have authority within

the area. Curiously enough, typical insurance forms do not define who or what “civil authority” is. In the absence of a definition in the form, we can first look to how the dictionary defines the words as: “a person who exercises authority over civilian affairs.”

In broad terms, coverage under Civil Authority pays for income lost when access to a location is prohibited by order of civil authorities following a covered peril. The language under the Civil Authority section of the forms differs contextually from carrier to carrier. The ISO version begins by stating: Civil Authority. We will pay for the actual loss of Business Income you sustain and necessary Extra Expense caused by action of civil authority that prohibits access to the described premises due to direct physical loss of or damage to property, other than at the described premises, caused by or resulting from any Covered Cause of Loss.

Prohibition of access to the described premises is required under the form. Impairing or impeding access may not be sufficient to activate coverage. In the World Trade Center loss there were many geographical areas that were impaired by authorities such as police, fire, and National Guard, making it difficult to gain access to business districts resulting in lost revenue. While the actual businesses were not required to be shut down nor access specifically prohibited, impairment of access created loss with questionable coverage.

The ISO form goes on to state: The coverage for Business Income will begin 72 hours after the time of that action and will apply for a period of up to three consecutive weeks after coverage begins.

The coverage for Extra Expense will begin immediately after the time of that action and will end: (1) 3 consecutive weeks after the time of that action or (2) When your Business Income coverage ends; whichever is later.

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While these paragraphs appear to be simply stated, the lead-in language is open for interpretation. The wording of the form, which states that the coverage for business income will begin 72 hours after the time of the action, brings up some questions of interpretation.

Does the form mean to say that the insureds must wait to see if the civil authority closure is more than 72 hours for their business income coverage to begin, and that because the waiting period of 72 hours has been met, that coverage will effectively begin as of the first day of the loss?

Does the 72-hour “waiting period” begin from the point of loss as defined by the physical damage, or from the point of loss as defined by their business income loss?

For example, if a physical loss occurs to a restaurant on Sunday morning when it is closed, does the 72-hour period begin at the point of physical loss (Sunday) or business income loss, which might be Monday night when they would have normally been open for business?

How do you calculate the “dollar” amount for 72 hours if, in fact, the 72hour period is meant to translate into a “dollar” deductible amount? Is the amount really equal to that first 72 hours worth of lost income? If so, how do you calculate that? How is the total business income recovery determined? How do you calculate that?

The Civil Authority paragraph goes on to state that it will pay loss “due to direct physical loss of or damage to property, other than at the described premises.” The ISO form is broader than many other company forms in that damage need only occur somewhere other than at the described premises or “insured premises.” ISO forms prior to 1985, and some insurance company forms presently in use, state that damage must occur at an adjacent premises which effectively means that the loss must occur very close to the insured’s location. The American Heritage Dictionary defines “adjacent” as: “lying near, close, or contiguous; neighboring; bordering on.” Some Civil Authority language requires that the insured suffer direct damage in order for the Civil Authority paragraph to be activated, which is the most limiting of the forms.

Some of the company’s forms are broader in scope as they relate to Civil Authority than the ISO version. One of the major company’s forms pays not only when Civil Authority prohibits access to the insured’s premises, but also covers if Civil Authority prohibits access to a dependent property’s premises. In addition, some companies provide longer time frames than three weeks; some provide an automatic 30-day period. The 2000 ISO edition date now allows the purchase of 60, 90, or 120 days of coverage. This revision was introduced before the September 11th tragedy.

It is clear from these and numerous other questions surrounding “civil authority” that there will be reason enough for the future form series to define and clarify the coverage terms.

A closely related issue to Civil Authority is the issue of coverage for business income due to denial of access as a result of a covered peril. This coverage is typically referred to as ingress and egress coverage.

The coverage is not a standard ISO form nor is it “typically” a part of a commercial property form. Coverage of this type is generally a manuscript endorsement or part of a very broad-based insurance portfolio.

Different from Civil Authority closing down or impeding access, this coverage refers to the peril itself closing down or impeding that access. Typical examples of this have been where flooding has wiped out roads, an earthquake might force a bridge to collapse, a hurricane could blow a multitude of debris impeding access. A recent example would be the collapse of the bridge in Oklahoma, which effectively closed an interstate highway—I-40. What is unique about all of these examples is that access in and out of an area is affected; the businesses themselves did not suffer direct damage; the businesses are able to demonstrate that they are suffering from a business standpoint because access to their businesses is curtailed. In all of these cases, the business seeking business income recovery would have had to have coverage for the peril that caused the loss to the access routes.

In defining “access,” a typical insurance policy wording provides:

Loss of Ingress or Egress: This policy covers loss sustained during the period of time when, as a direct result of a peril not excluded, ingress to or egress from real and personal property not excluded hereunder, is thereby denied.

Thus, there are three elements for coverage: ingress to or egress from the insured property is prevented by a covered peril, and an indirect loss results. One of the problems is that few of the terms are defined by the policy, but common definitions provide some guidance.

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“Ingress” and “egress” are synonymous with “access.”

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“Prevent” is synonymous with “deny.”

able, the cost of the materials might be significantly higher or have a longer lead time to obtain.

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The Manufacturing category of dependent property occurs when the insured depends on one or a very few manufacturers or suppliers for most of its merchandise. The firm upon which the insured depends is called the manufacturing property.

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The Recipient category of dependent property occurs when the insured depends on one or a few businesses to purchase the majority of its products.

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The Leader category of dependent property is when an insured depends on another firm to attract their customer base. This normally occurs due to the proximity of one business to another business that acts as the magnet for the customers to be attracted to a firm. A simple example of this would be a large department store (anchor store) which attracts customers to a mall, thus creating traffic to the smaller shops in the facility. Another example is a restaurant in a large office complex whose customer base is made up of the office workers in that building or buildings. The leader relationship also occurs from referrals wherein a company receives a majority of its customers from a referring company and the referring company sustains damage resulting in loss of income to the company to which the clients had been previously referred.

Thus, a covered peril that “impedes” or “hinders” access may NOT be sufficient to trigger coverage. Access must be, as a practical matter, impossible.

Moreover, the denial of access must be the direct cause of loss of business income.

One of the more far-reaching types of business income losses that has arisen from September 11th is in the area of Dependent Property Coverage, also known as Contingent Business Interruption. This type of insurance claim differs from other forms of business income claims in that the claimant is someone other than the firm directly affected by the coverage situation. The claimant is a firm whose business income is affected due to a physical loss affecting a firm on whom they are dependent. Dependent Business Income insurance and Dependent Extra Expense insurance protect a firm against interruption and extra expense losses resulting from damage caused by an insured peril to property that it does not own, operate, or control. In other words, a business income loss must be caused by damage to property following an insured event, e.g. fire, and it must be crucial to the business, e.g. the fire causes damage to the main production line.

There are four situations in which coverage is used: ■

The Contributing category of dependent property occurs when the insured depends on a single supplier or very few suppliers for their goods. These suppliers may be difficult to replace, and if a substitute supplier was avail-

Dependent Property Coverage is available by endorsement to the ISO series of forms.

The form is restrictive in several areas: ■

The endorsement requires that the type of dependent property be identified as being a recipient, contributor, manufacturer, or leader. A combination could be noted on the form as well.

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The endorsement typically requires that the firm upon which the insured is dependent be identified by name and Continued on page 8.

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Business Interruption…continued from page 7. location. One reason this is done is to assist the insurance company to establish a rate for the dependent property exposure based on the rates of the dependency. However, by indicating the name and location of the dependency, the form responds only to a loss at the specified dependency and effectively “stops” the dependency at the point of identification. This can be very restrictive if the dependent property indicated is also, itself, dependent on another firm. For example, if a car manufacturer were dependent on a business to supply them steering wheels, it would be that supplier that would be indicated on the endorsement by name and location. However, the steering wheel manufacturer may be solely dependent on one supplier for the plastic used in the wheel. If there was a loss to the plastics manufacturer, the steering wheel manufacturer would not be able to supply to the auto manufacturer, thus creating a potential business income loss. The loss would probably not be paid in that the plastics manufacturer was not identified on the form as a covered dependency.

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The endorsement ties into the territory of the insurance policy issued, which typically is the United States of America with some extraterritorial extensions. If a business is dependent on a firm outside the U.S. territory, coverage might have to be purchased separately if the insurance carrier insuring the Business Income was unable to write on a global basis.

Some insurance companies prior to the events of 9/11 were including some limited coverage for Dependent Property automatically in their coverage, typically for a sub-limit. Some of these companies, in addition, expanded the territory of the dependency to be global. By so doing, these companies will be much more likely to pay in the 9/11 loss because of the lack of specificity of their coverage.

The terrorist attacks present new challenges to the types of dependent property claims that are being submitted. Examples of expansive coverage claims reported in a report from Morgan Lewis/Deloitte & Touche include:

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Broker-Dealers suffering losses due to closure of exchanges, damage to property of counterparties, restrictions in access to premises of exchanges, customers, counterparties.

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Financial institutions unable to collect accounts receivable due to damage to property of customers or access restrictions (e.g., waiver of late fees, interest).

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Airlines losses due to airport closures, flight restrictions, extended indemnity coverage for continuing decline in travel.

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Hotels, rental cars, parking garages, theaters, entertainment, sports franchises.

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Media companies due to return of fees for cancelled events, and declines in advertising or circulation.

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Transporters (air freight, delivery, trucking, rails) due to closures, curfews, travel restrictions, additional expenses.

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Manufacturing businesses due to: – Inability to obtain parts, raw materials – Inability to deliver goods – Destruction or damage to customers’ offices – Road, bridge, tunnel, airport, and border closures – Disruptions anywhere in chain of production can trigger coverage for each business in the chain.

Claims of these sorts will add a new test to the meaning of dependent property coverage. The reality is that most businesses either did not carry dependent property coverage or had a limited dollar amount of coverage. Additionally, it is unlikely that most businesses suffering a dependent property loss identified the firms affected in the World Trade Center area as those firms upon which they were dependent.

Accordingly, while this is a huge area of loss, it is unlikely that most claimants will have coverage.

From the lessons learned and ongoing in the aftermath of September 11th, we have to look to the future of Business Income Insurance. In the broad sense, we are

seeing a number of significant changes in the insurance industry as a whole, including: premium increases; hardening of the insurance market; stricter underwriting standards; higher rates; reduced market capacity; terrorism exclusions; restrictions and sub-limits for time element coverage; insurer and reinsurer insolvency; and greater demand for alternative risk transfer solutions.

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, Business Interruption rates are increasing between 30 to 200 percent, depending upon the loss experience of the insured, while, in some cases, deductibles have increased 10 times since last year. It is not surprising that increased pricing and stricter underwriting were the first of many reactions that the insurance marketplace has made as a result of 9/11. The World Trade Center loss will spearhead form clarification; inclusion of term definitions; and restrictions and limitations relating to key issues.

The events of the past year truly give a new perspective to Business Income Insurance—heartfelt lessons that are destined to change this type of insurance for years to come.

About the Author: Laurie ZangwillInfantino, CIC, CISR, ACSR Laurie is president and cofounder of Insurance Skills Center, Inc., a Californiabased school specializing in training insurance personnel.

She is an expert in the area of property insurance and a columnist for Insurance Journal. Laurie is member of the CIC national faculty and instructs at CIC institutes and Ruble seminars.

Learn More About this Topic from The National Alliance A thorough knowledge of Business Income Insurance has never been more important.

This timely topic is covered in Commercial Property CIC institutes and Insuring Commercial Property CISR courses. Ruble Graduate Seminars often include Business Income as an optional topic; check the agenda of the Graduate Seminar you are considering attending. ■

“New Producers” File Goes Here

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ou walk into your client’s lobby with their insurance renewal in your briefcase. How in the world are you going to explain a double-digit premium increase? You fight the urge to blurt out pathetically, “Well, at least I have a quote! Lots of people are being non-renewed.” Welcome to LAST YEAR’S hard market!

This year, the hard market petrifies insurance buyers. Premium increases and coverage reductions are more severe than ever. Even your best customers with the least losses are subject to non-renewal. I bet you wish you hadn’t promised, “Things will be better next year.” They got worse for many insurance buyers.

What lessons have you learned prospecting, selling and negotiating insurance programs in the hard market?

LESSON ONE Ruthlessly Qualify Prospects Premium increases, constricted coverage, and non-renewal notices are problems insurance buyers face in the wake of the hard market. Many are frustrated. Some are furious with insurance agents. Yet, as Dynamics of Selling instructor Tom Barrett, CIC, AAI, says well, “Insurance buyers do not have as many choices as before. They need to find agents with skill and expertise, who they trust to take care of them.”

Are you that agent? How do you know? More importantly, are you viewed as skilled, trusted, and knowledgeable by your buyer? Then ask yourself, “Is my prospect really looking for the best insurance agent or the cheapest premium on the street?”

Ruthlessly qualify your prospects. If you can’t find coverage or customer relationship problems, then you’re just bidding price. Or worse, you may be used to keeping the incumbent agent honest. Don’t be the “Insurance Honesty Cop.” It’s not in your job description. Neither is “Practice Quoting”—the urge to waste your time, agency assets, and insurance company resources bidding business not ruthlessly qualified.

Safely assume everyone is concerned about cost—insurance buyers and agents alike. If your prospect doesn’t have a coverage or relationship problem and simply wants your best price, it’s time to “walk away.” Protect your most precious asset, time, by ruthlessly qualifying prospects. It’s good business and time management in any market.

LESSON TWO You Are the Product How are you viewed by clients and prospects? Are you expected to provide risk management strategies or to bid for insurance? Do you act as your buyer’s insurance negotiator or order taker? Are you presenting insurance solutions or “apples-to-apples” quote comparisons? Remember, you are the product. The answers to these questions tell you exactly how much you are valued by your buyer.

Longtime Dynamics of Selling and Dynamics of Sales Management instructor Jeff Gelona, CIC, states plainly, “It’s pretty

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simple. The top brokers in the hard market do the best job as risk manager and insurance negotiator. Top brokers build insurance programs valued by their clients.”

How have you set yourself apart from your competition? Have you crafted a powerful positioning statement that causes buyers to ask, “How do you do that?” Can you precisely state your coverage and customer relationship advantages? How do you expect your buyer to understand the value you bring if you can’t clearly communicate your advantages?

Tell Your Underwriter Why Your Buyer Qualifies. Let your underwriter know the odds of success. Share with your underwriter any coverage and relationship problems you’ve discovered. Partner to find ways to solve those problems. Be candid and tell your underwriter what it will take to earn the business. Explain the “Rules of the Game” you’ve set with your buyer.

When you submit ruthlessly qualified prospects, your underwriter’s hit ratio and your closing ratio soar.

When everyone around you is worrying frantically about premium increases, remember, professional insurance agents deliver the best value for every insurance dollar spent. Your experience, knowledge, and track record of solving client problems proves your value as a product.

Give Yourself Plenty of Time. Get your submissions in early. This doesn’t mean you avoid last-minute proposals, but it allows time for careful, not rushed, consideration. Prepare prospects by telling them in advance it takes more time to get the best possible terms, coverage, and insurance value. Let time be the ally of your underwriter and buyer.

Whether it’s as risk manager, insurance negotiator, or builder of protection programs, or insurance bidder, order taker, or “apples-to-apples” quote machine— YOU ARE THE PRODUCT!

Expect insurance submission challenges in the hard market. Plan ahead. Send complete submissions, help your underwriter know why the buyer is qualified, and prepare for last-minute proposals.

LESSON THREE It’s Not “How Much Premium?”

It’s “Can Coverage Be Found?”

LESSON FOUR The “Three-Step Sales Process”

According to Dynamics of Selling instructor David Connolly, ARM, the hard market means, “...hard to find capacity; hard to renew business; and hard to place new business.”

Marketing insurance submissions and getting underwriters’ attention are a greater challenge in a hard market. Insurance company professionals are buried beneath requests for coverage. More information is sought, long delays are usual, and lastminute presentations result. These factors figure in decreased trust from insurance buyers. What can you do to help your underwriters approve your submissions and help buyers in the hard market?

Send Complete Submissions. Incomplete insurance submissions waste everyone’s time. Know what your underwriter needs to make a positive decision for you and your buyer. Don’t wait to be asked for loss runs, financial statements, or supplementary applications. Write narratives and explain your prospect’s operations in detail. Include your buyer’s Web site. Complete and thorough underwriting packages are non-optional in a hard market.

Dynamics of Selling and Dynamics of Sales Management National Program Director Jeff Wodicka, CIC, advises, “If you sell value, not price, understand well when to ‘walk away,’ and most importantly, commit to a selling process, then there is no need to change selling styles because of a hard market.”

The “Three-Step Sales Process” keeps you from “winging it” in the field. “Winging it” is the result of poor or nonexistent planning, not the benefit of years of successful experience. “Winging it” wastes time.

The “Three-Step Sales Process” is also a sales management tool. Measurable, repeatable selling steps lead to success for professional insurance agents. What is the “Three-Step Sales Process?”

Step One: Diagnostic Appointment. Begin by building rapport with your buyer.

Learn what coverages and services are valued most. Find out how your buyer hired and fired prior insurance agents. Ask what cost, coverage, or service problems exist now or in the past. Make sure your buyer agrees to your “Rules of the Game.”

Step Two: Protection Review. Review your buyer’s policies, financial statements, and operations. Find out how important your risk management ideas are to your prospect. Let your prospect tell you what’s a priority. Gain commitment every step of the way.

Step Three: Presentation of Solutions.

Separate yourself from other competitors by delivering insurance ideas as solutions, not quotes. Be specific and document the betterments of your insurance program.

Offer to help your buyer with comparison spreadsheets. Become the “Point of Comparison.”

When you commit to the “Three-Step Sales Process,” you stop “winging it.”

Track and measure your results. The “Three-Step Sales Process” is fundamental to success in any type of insurance marketplace.

There are certain to be hard markets in the future. Take time and review these hard market lessons learned. Sell value, not price; ruthlessly qualify prospects or “walk away”; know exactly what “You Are the Product” means; and commit to the “Three-Step Sales Process.” Insurance sales success is yours in any market—hard or otherwise.

About the Author: Ed Lamont, CIC Ed leads Dynamics of Selling, teaches at James K. Ruble Seminars, and is the national sales coach for the Chubb/National Alliance Producer School. Ed is also a producer at Burke, Bogart, and Brownell—an independent insurance agency in Boca Raton, Florida.

Learn More About this Topic from The National Alliance More lessons can be learned at the insurance-specific Dynamics of Selling and Dynamics of Sales Management programs.

The National Alliance School for Producer Development trains new producers in a record three weeks, and cross-selling, sales centers, and goal setting are timely topics for producers and sales managers at Marketing & Sales Ruble Seminars. ■

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Captives—Most Visible, Least Understood

he alternative risk transfer market (or ART for short) is considered an enigma in many quarters of the insurance industry. Small and middlemarket agents, multiline underwriters, claims adjusters, and loss control folks generally have little if any knowledge of the ART market. Most of these people know that captives, for example, exist, but because they never come into contact with them, rarely take the time to understand them. The term “ART market” is a misnomer. There is no central “market” from which one can purchase an ART product or service. Bermuda fancies itself the hub of the ART market, and to some extent it is, but the expression “ART market” is actually just shorthand for a collection of diverse concepts, products, and services available to individual firms, or more commonly, groups of firms, that assume a significant portion of its (their) own risk. In fact, significant risk assumption is the cornerstone of every ART concept and program. The opposite of this, purchasing insurance for all but very small losses, describes the conventional market. In this sense, the ART and conventional markets are mutually exclusive; both cannot legitimately occupy the same space at the same time. Another important characteristic of the ART market is control. ART programs generally permit, and in many cases require, services unbundling. Unbundling means accessing essential services from a variety of sources, each subject to their own performance contract, as opposed to purchasing everything from one source, e.g., an insurance company.

Contrary to popular belief, the ART market grew quietly (albeit slowly) during the 13year soft insurance market that ended about a year ago. Even though conventional insurance programs were ridiculously inexpensive, many firms formed captives and other ART market programs in anticipation of the inevitable market change. Today, of course, as conventional insurers restrict coverage and raise premiums on accounts with stellar loss histories, interest in the alternative market is skyrocketing.

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To most of us, captives represent the most visible and paradoxically are the least understood of any alternative market option.

Most of us know what a captive is, but few of us can explain how a captive works or whether or not a captive makes sense for a particular application. Captives, similar to retro plans, operate on actuarial loss projections for losses within a certain set of parameters, e.g., from $0 to $250,000. This means that there must be enough historical loss data available to reasonably predict losses for a future period. For example, Amalgamated Industries, Inc., incurs workers compensation losses of $3 million each year, and pays about $5 million in annual insurance premiums. Few individual losses ever exceed $200,000. As long as this trend is likely to continue (based on an actuarial analysis), Amalgamated could fund its own captive up to a per-occurrence limit of $200,000 and purchase excess insurance that would provide statutory coverage above the captive’s limit. So, instead of paying $5 million to an insurance company, Amalgamated could pay its captive $3 million of this to cover losses within the $200,000 retention. The remainder ($2 million) would be used to pay for the expenses associated with administering the captive. This includes excess insurance, claims handling, loss control, and fronting expenses. The main benefit, of course, is that Amalgamated retains control of the loss reserve fund, including investment income and underwriting profit.

Group-Owned Captives Since it is impossible to discuss every possible captive application here, we’ll focus on one highly popular option—the groupowned captive. Group captives were popularized in the early 1980s when a few innovative thinkers discovered that if a major multinational firm paying $5 million a year in insurance premiums could form its own captive (known as a singleparent captive), 10 middle-market firms each paying $500,000 could do the same

thing. In fact, 20 middle-market firms each paying $250,000 could also form a group captive. It matters little how many members comprise a group captive, as long as there is enough actuarial credibility in the combined loss data. We use each member’s annual premium as the main qualification indicator because it generally reflects expected losses, but only up to a point. For example, forming a group captive with 200 members, each paying about $25,000, will work, but accurate loss projections can only be accomplished in the aggregate, since no individual member’s losses would be considered actuarially sound.

Group captives can be either homogeneous or heterogeneous. Homogeneous captives are formed for and by one type of business. For example, groups of building contractors, bakeries, and metal fabricators have each formed group captives within the last year. The homogeneous approach has one important benefit—each member faces (almost) identical coverage, claims, and loss control issues. A group captive can be a potent vehicle for addressing each of these issues using the power and clout inherent in a group setting.

These types of captives offer excellent opportunities for “cross pollination,” i.e., captive members are able to learn from one another, and in the process, strengthen the captive and its financial benefits to its owners.

Heterogeneous captives are comprised of a variety of different business types. Heterogeneous captives’ members do not share similar business risk characteristics, but ideally, each member’s loss profile will be similar to one another. For example, a bakery and a metal extrusion operation are clearly in very different businesses, however, for similar-sized operations their workers compensation loss profile may be remarkably similar. While the specific types of worker injuries may be dissimilar, the frequency, severity, and duration (loss profiles) of the losses may be very similar. When members’ loss profiles coincide, expected loss projections are more accurate since there are fewer “outliers,” i.e., significant variations, to consider.

Conversely, when members’ loss profiles are significantly dissimilar, actuarial credibility is reduced.

As the name indicates, policyholders own these captives. This means that each member wears two hats—policyholder and shareholder. As with any other business, members must invest in (capitalize) group captives, i.e., each member must purchase stock in the company. As a rule of thumb, capital must equal at least 20 percent of the captive’s written premium. Put another way, the captive’s solvency ratio, expressed as premium-to-capital, should be 5:1 or lower. Returning to the above example, $5 million of first-year premium requires at least $1 million of paid-in capital. While there are many ways of valuing captive stock, a popular method is the equal pershare value. Regardless of how much premium each member pays, the opening capital contribution is the same for all members. This may seem unfair at first, but it greatly simplifies the stock valuation process, and creates a level playing field for all of the directors/owners. Over time, the price of the stock can fluctuate based on the captive’s performance.

Fronting Group Captives The vast majority of group captives are fronted. This means that all policies are issued by a U.S.-licensed, admitted multiline insurer. This insurer uses the captive as a reinsurer, ceding that portion of the risk held by the captive. In the above example, a fronting insurer will cede the first $200,000 to the captive, and then provide excess insurance up to either statutory (workers compensation) or policy limits. Fronting serves several important purposes, not the least of which is regulatory compliance—workers compensation, for example, must be insured by a U.S.licensed insurer, a requirement that is satisfied through the front. Captive members may also have to provide certificates of insurance to vendors, suppliers, etc., that show evidence of insurance provided by an insurer rated not less than A by A.M. Best. Since the captive cannot qualify for a Best rating, the front serves this purpose.

The most important aspect of fronting is

the payment of claims. While fronting insurers do not enter into fronting agreements assuming that they’ll be required to pay first-dollar losses, that is precisely what they’ll do if captives cannot honor their financial obligations. In this sense, fronts represent ultimate security for the captive’s claimants, but not for the captive, per se.

One of the most important yet overlooked aspects of group captive ownership is how it changes the relationship dynamics between the client and the insurance providers. Owning a captive means being in the insurance business, which is quite different from simply buying insurance. Insurance buyers’ needs are straightforward: the best product at the least cost. Captive owners, on the other hand, cannot afford to subscribe to the “best for least” mandate, lest they under-fund the captive and eventually go out of business. Being in the insurance business means understanding how insurance companies make (and lose) money. So, while successful captive owners strive to obtain the best coverages available, they realize that the premiums they pay must be adequate; after all, they’re paying most of that premium to themselves.

About the Author: Don Riggin,CPCU, ARM Don Riggin is a vice president at Schiff, Kreidler-Shell, Inc., a Cincinnati insurance broker and consultant. He is also the editor of Financing Risk & Reinsurance, a monthly journal focused on the convergence of the insurance and capital markets.

Learn More About this Topic from The National Alliance To further explore alternative risk transfer and group captives, register for a CRM Financing of Risk course. Take a closer look at alternative risk funding at one of the Large Commercial Ruble Seminars. ■ Resources Winter 2002–2003

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he insurance world of today is different from the one that existed three years ago, most notably because of the hard market, downturn in the nation’s economy, the terrorism catastrophe, and the effects of Internet sales and service.

Agency growth and profitability goals remain a challenge, and agencies must operate differently than they have in the past.

Results from The Academy’s newly published Growth and Performance Standards (GPS) study show how agencies are performing in several key areas. Keep in mind that the greatest number of responses used December 2001 fiscal year-end results, though some agencies submitted fiscal year-end results of early 2002.

Overall, independent insurance agencies have an average revenue growth rate of 10% over the past 12 months. For some agencies, a hard market and economic downturn made reaching agency growth targets a challenge. Nevertheless, revenue growth has increased from the 8% rate of three years ago. Increase in commercial lines premiums and agency acquisitions contributed to the higher growth rate.

Another key to agency revenue growth is achieving a high rate of retention with existing accounts, since growth is based on the total of new and renewal business.

Average retention rates of this year’s survey are compared to the retention rates of the last GPS study, three years ago: Account Retention Rate Commercial Lines Personal Lines Life & Health

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2002 GPS 1999 GPS 90% 89% 89% 89% 91% N/A

Resources Winter 2002–2003

As the numbers indicate, retention has remained about the same. This is encouraging news with the significant policy price increases and reduced market availability for commercial lines products. Agencies may have to work harder to retain their accounts, but, thus far, they have been able to do so.

One way to improve account retention rates is to write more policies per account.

Clients who have several policies with one insurance agency are more likely to remain with that agency compared to clients who have only one account with an existing agency. Agencies which develop their accounts and perform cross-selling can achieve higher retention results. On average, agencies in the GPS survey have the following percentages of multiple policy accounts (accounts with more than one policy): Multiple Policy Accounts Commercial Lines Personal Lines

2002 GPS 1999 GPS 73% 72% 66% 64%

Agency purchases and mergers are obviously two ways agencies can achieve significant percentage growth numbers during a particular year. Agency purchases and mergers continue to occur, with a hard market and recession making it difficult for some agencies to prosper, leading to acquisitions with tangible benefits for the larger agencies.

Of the GPS agencies, 11% had purchased another agency or merged with an agency

by Jim Cuprisin, CIC, ARP in the past year. This compares with 12% of three years ago. A number of agencies, 15%, are planning on merging or purchasing an agency within the next year. While there is a slowdown in the economy and unsettled issues in the insurance industry such as terrorism, reinsurance, mold, etc., higher premiums are conversely helping some agencies, thus keeping agency acquisition rates fairly steady.

GPS participating agencies were surveyed on the amount of premium they write and the amount of commission they earn from carriers. From these numbers, The Academy was able to calculate an average commission level, as detailed below: Commission Rate Commercial Lines Personal Lines Life & Health

2002 GPS 1999 GPS 12% 12% 14% 13% 6% N/A

Compared to the last GPS study three years ago, the commission rate has remained nearly constant. With the hard market, the commercial lines premiums have certainly gone up considerably, and with consistent commission rates, agencies have the potential to earn significant revenue on commercial lines business.

With life and health commission, keep in mind that this figure includes life insurance, both new and renewal commissions.

The life and health commission also includes individual and group policies, and

annuities. The low commission rates for life insurance renewals skews the commission for this category to 6%.

One factor that can affect commission rates is the use of service centers. Agencies receive less commission with use of a company service center, but they also have less service work to perform, so there is a tradeoff. The GPS survey shows that 26% of agencies use a service center. Compared to the last survey, the usage has increased from 18%.

Technology has had a significant effect on how agencies perform and operate. Most agencies, 99%, use the Internet for business purposes. This compares with 73% in the last GPS study. Survey results show that agencies use the Internet for a variety of reasons, in the frequencies shown below: Frequency of Internet Usage Policy Processing Marketing/Advertising Claims Education Insurance Sales Other

2002 GPS 85% 69% 59% 51% 46% 22%

Agencies must continue to look for efficiencies by using automation to reduce costs and staffing needs. Agencies must also develop creative ways to use technology for marketing and sales, and to improve service.

The vast majority of agencies, 80%, also now have their own Web site and use it for marketing themselves and providing service for their clients. The following numbers indicate the percentages of agencies using the Web site for various functions: Function of Internet Usage Describe Products and Services Tell Agency History Link to Other Organizations Provide Personnel Directory Allow Insureds to Make Policy Changes Allow Insureds to Obtain Certificates Other

2002 GPS 97% 86% 68% 64% 13% 11% 17%

Agencies’ Web sites provide information about the agency for the consumers, helping to improve sales. Agencies are also realizing the benefits of providing services for their clients online, an area which should continue to grow.

Summary—Not Business as Usual.

Agencies must now operate differently than they have in the past. A hard market, terrorism losses, and changes in technology have altered the industry. Ongoing issues, such as mold, reinsurance, and online sales make the future unpredictable.

The successful agencies of the future will be able to embrace change and focus on taking advantage of new opportunities as they arise, instead of merely doing business as usual and reacting slowly to change. Innovation and education will continue to be two important barometers for agency success.

About the Author: Jim Cuprisin, CIC, ARP Jim earned his CIC designation in 1989 and his Associate in Research and Planning (ARP) in 1995.

He is the research director of The Academy and managing editor of Resources magazine.

Learn More About this Topic from The National Alliance The GPS study assists agency owners in the areas of financial management and agency staffing. These two areas are part of the Agency Management CIC Institute and the Agency Management Practices James K. Ruble Seminar. In fact, the AMP Ruble Seminar uses GPS data to aid in the analysis. ■

Since 1988, The Academy of Producer Insurance Studies has been the leading source of agency comparison standards with Growth and Performance Standards (GPS): ■

Income and expense items (e.g., commission revenues, compensation expenses, profit)

■

Balance sheet liquidity ratios (e.g., current, collection, and trust position ratios)

■

Productivity measures (e.g., revenues per person, account size, accounts per CSR)

This year’s study includes a wealth of updated information: ■

Regional and national results

■

Critical performance indicators for the top performing agencies

■

Commercial and personal lines focused agencies

■

Agencies in different sized metro areas

■

Agency planning guide

Order your copy for $35 + $5 shipping and handling by calling 800/526-2777 or visit our Web site at www.scic.com. A companion CD to compare your numbers to the benchmarks is available for an additional $10.

800/526-2777 • www.scic.com Resources Winter 2002–2003

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frequent question asked of me during my 20 years of marketing insurance and financial products was, “What is the best way I can start funding my child’s college education?” My answer for most of those 20 years has been, “It depends.”

married couples) without federal tax consequences, provided the owner does not make an additional gift to that beneficiary over a five-year period.

These contributions are excluded from the owner’s taxable estate.

As with all investment plans and products, considerations such as market risk, penalties for withdrawal of funds for other than college expenses, and the mechanics of specific state plans should be taken into account before making a choice. The following Web site, www.savingforcollege.com, has a comprehensive section on 529 College Plans, including advantages, disadvantages, and rankings.

It depends on age; the child’s age, parent’s age, or possibly a grandparent’s age. It depends on money; the amount you want to invest and the frequency of the contributions. It depends on risk tolerance. It depends on the tax consequences, both at time of contribution and at time of distribution. It depends on a lot of things!

Based on these and other factors, my recommendations have included: stocks, bonds, mutual funds, savings accounts, education IRAs, life insurance, and annuities. But recently my answer to the question, “What is the best way I can start funding for my child’s college education?” is, “The first place we need to look is at a 529 College Plan.” In reality, there are two types of 529 Plans: a Pre-Paid Tuition Plan and a College Savings Plan. This article will explain the main features of the College Savings type of plan.

These plans were approved by Congress in 1996, are sponsored by individual states, and are governed by the rules of section 529 of the IRS tax code—hence the name, 529 Plan. The original version of these plans merited some consideration, but many had salary or contribution restrictions or required taxes to be paid at the time of distribution. In June of 2001, the Bush tax bill that brought us lowered tax brackets and the $300 or $600 rebate, also brought major enhancements to Section 529, effective January 1, 2002.

These enhancements include TAX-FREE DISTRIBUTIONS! From inception, the plans included tax-deferred growth, but

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Resources Winter 2002–2003

the new enhancement changed the benefit to include no federal income tax on any earnings; and many states are following suit by not applying state income taxes.

Many of the state-sponsored plans are open to “in-state” and “out-of-state” residents, so a person residing in Texas could invest in the Rhode Island 529 college plan and have his child choose a college in California. Many plans allow tax-free rollovers and changes of designated beneficiaries to other family members, including first cousins of the original beneficiary.

Most plans now have no salary restrictions. Contributions can vary from $50 per month to as much as $250,000 maximum contribution. Familiar investment brokerage houses, such as T. Rowe Price, Salomon Smith Barney, and Fidelity, administer the plans. Another enhancement to Section 529 allows direct transfer from one 529 plan to another for the same beneficiary once per 12-month period.

The 529 plans also include a great estateplanning benefit. An account owner may contribute up to $55,000 for each beneficiary in a single year ($110,000 for

After all these years of answering a question with “It depends,” it is nice to be able to say, “Why don’t we look at a 529 College Plan first!”

About the Author: Charles C. Matejowsky, CIC, LUTCF Charlie Matejowsky is the vice president of financial services for Van Dyke, Rankin & Co., Inc. in Brenham, Texas. He started with his present firm in 1982 as a personal and commercial lines producer, and since 1990 has worked exclusively with life and health insurance, servicing both individual and group clients. Charlie is a member of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors and the American Health Insurance Association.

Learn More About this Topic from The National Alliance Related topics may occasionally be included in Graduate and Life & Benefits Ruble Seminars.

isk management is an important element of any business, regardless of size. However, its full significance was not realized until the events of September 11, 2001. Following 9/11, a renewed emphasis on risk management has taken root.

Risk management is essential to every business, and a natural service for all agencies writing commercial business to offer. This includes small insurance agencies. The smaller commercial accounts will probably not have a risk manager, and they will depend on their agents or brokers for help with risk management issues.

What is risk management, and what kinds of risk management services are we talking about? What are the potential ramifications of not providing risk management services? How does the smaller agency equip itself to offer those services?

The Identification Process Risk Management is a process that starts with the identification of a company’s exposures. Once identified, these exposures must then be analyzed and controlled. Exposures can be controlled in two ways— on a pre-loss basis through avoidance, prevention, reduction, segregation, or transfer, or on a post-loss basis with claims management, litigation management, or disaster recovery. Losses that cannot be controlled will have to be financed with funds from within the company (retained) or from outside the company (transferred).

by Wayne P. Dauterive, CRM, ARM and Marilyn B. Hollar, CRM, ARM The final but continuing step in the risk management process is administration, which includes implementation and monitoring of the risk management process.

Every business has a core set of exposures.

The size of the business, type and scope of operations, number of locations (domestic or international), and number of employees are some of the things that would distinguish one business’s exposures from another.

Every agency already deals with some of the identification and financing steps in its normal operations. The identification process for an agency usually involves completion of an application for submission to a carrier. A more thorough approach the agent could take to define exposures would be to utilize any of several identification methods: activity checklists, surveys, financial statements, flowcharts, and physical inspections, for example. The task is to identify those exposures that are not necessarily insurable. These exposures can either be actively or passively retained. Risks are actively retained when the insured knows they exist and makes a willful decision to pay for these losses with internal funds. On the other hand, losses are passively retained when there has been a failure to identify a loss exposure or a failure to act on a known loss exposure, whether by willful neglect or forgetfulness.

Failure on the part of the agent to identify all

exposures to loss could create an E&O situation for the agent.

As a result of a thorough identification process, added-value risk management service opportunities can open up. Examples of services the agent could offer are contract review, regulatory compliance review, claims management, development of a disaster recovery plan, and loss analysis with the development of a loss control/safety program.

Protect Relationships The potential ramifications of not providing risk management services could include losing clients to a competitor who does provide these services, having clients go out of business as a result of an exposure passively retained (one they didn’t know they had), having clients fall victim to an unforeseen disaster for which they had no planned recovery, or having an E&O claim filed against you, the agent.

The value of providing risk management services is in building relationships with your clients. You limit your potential by being perceived as strictly a vendor of insurance; you want to be seen as a business consultant and partner. Key risk management advisory relationships are critical to help to protect your insured’s assets and to reduce their cost of doing business. Additionally, risk management services can be a means of increasing your revenue on a fee-for-service basis.

Prepare with CRM So, how does an agent prepare himself to provide these types of services for his Continued on page 22.

Resources Winter 2002–2003

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M

ore than one year has passed since September 11, 2001. Our industry was in the beginning stages of major changes prior to that infamous date, but the events of September 11 brought us sudden, more significant adjustments than anyone could have imagined, making high-quality education for insurance professionals more valuable than ever before.

The hard market that was headed our way before the huge losses of 9/11 has quickly turned to granite. Companies and clients alike are asking for more information. And the bottom line is that agents must have a good education to make money.

tions, those doing the marketing and coverage negotiations must know which endorsements clients need the most and which ones may be negotiated away.

Sometimes, deleting a coverage may make the difference between getting a policy written and not. But first you need to know which coverages are important to your client and which ones are not.

And clients are asking more questions too.

Though many of the savvy ones already know price increases are coming, lots of insureds still want to know why the price is so high. Then they want to know if their coverage has also changed. Only welleducated agents can answer these tough questions.

Industry Changes First of all, companies are demanding more information. The days of photocopying last year’s policy and getting a quote in a week or two are gone. The days of knocking off 10 percent and selling a renewal to a long-standing client with no changes and no sweat are gone.

Sometimes it’s a matter of negotiation.

With ever-tightening underwriting restric-

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Need for Education We need to not only educate ourselves, but educate others as well. We all need to spread the word about the importance of CIC, CISR, CRM, and other designations to our peers, our clients, and yes, even our competitors, so our industry, though it’s going through difficult times, will be respected for its professionalism. For example, The National Alliance has

advertised the value of the CIC designation in business journals across the country, so even the non-insurance public will start relating CIC to quality agents.

One thing that will help us all get through this is staying on top of coverages and endorsements, and knowing the changes in new forms as insurance commissioners approve them. This means a lot of studying. The industry has seen five new CGL changes, three Commercial Property changes, two Crime changes, and two Business Auto Policy changes since 1995, not to mention the changes going on in the Homeowners 2000, BOP 2002, and other contracts. And try keeping up with the mold, terrorism, and life and health issues without the benefit of ongoing education!

Top Brokers Raise the Bar The National Alliance can enhance your knowledge and skills to maintain or increase your competitive edge. All the top U. S. insurance brokers recognize this fact, as shown by the following commitment Continued on page 23.

THE NATIONAL ALLIANCE PROGRAM SCHEDULE

CIC Institutes 26-29 27-29

PROGRAM KEY AM CC CP LH PL

Agency Management Commercial Casualty Commercial Property Life and Health Personal Lines

Birmingham, AL Atlanta, GA Tempe, AZ Portland, OR Columbia, SC Little Rock, AR Mystic, CT Olathe, KS Gaithersburg, MD Saratoga Springs, NY Denver, CO Springfield, IL Toledo, OH Charlotte, NC Las Cruces, NM Philadelphia Area, PA Fort Worth, TX Cambridge, MA St. Louis, MO Houston, TX Richmond, VA Indianapolis, IN Ontario, CA Orlando, FL

CC PL CC LH LH LH LH AM PL LH CP PL AM PL PL CP AM CC AM CC AM CP CC CC

MARCH 2003 05-07 05-08 06-08 12-14 12-14 12-14 12-14 12-15 12-15 12-15 12-15 12-15 13-15 19-21 19-22 19-22 19-22 19-22 19-22 19-22 20-22 24-27 26-29 26-29 26-29

Jackson, MS Austin, TX Edison, NJ Atlanta, GA Chicago, IL Las Vegas, NV Federal Way (Seattle), WA West Des Moines, IA Edina, MN Tulsa, OK Memphis, TN Salt Lake City, UT Sacramento, CA Omaha, NE Anchorage, AK Mansfield, MA Cary, NC Nashua, NH Pittsburgh Area, PA Milwaukee, WI Grand Rapids, MI Allentown, PA Louisville, KY Fargo, ND Syracuse, NY

LH CC

APRIL 2003

FEBRUARY 2003 05-07 05-07 05-08 05-08 05-08 12-15 12-15 12-15 12-15 12-15 19-21 19-21 19-21 19-22 19-22 19-22 19-22 26-01 26-01 26-01 26-01 26-28 27-01 27-02

Plano, TX Costa Mesa, CA

CC PL AM CP AM CC AM LH CP LH CP LH AM CP LH AM CC LH AM CP AM CC PL AM CC

02-04 02-04 02-05 02-05 02-05 02-05 02-05 03-05 07-09 09-11 09-11 09-11 09-12 09-12 09-12 09-12 09-12 09-12 10-12 10-12 23-25 23-25 23-26 23-26 23-26 23-26 23-26 24-26 24-27 30-03 30-03 30-03

Birmingham, AL Gainesville, GA Boise, ID Edina, MN Buffalo, NY Myrtle Beach, SC Nashville, TN San Diego, CA Honolulu, HI Chicago, IL Cleveland, OH Huntington, WV Little Rock, AR Tempe, AZ Cromwell, CT Cedar Rapids, IA Lenox, MA Annapolis Area, MD San Jose, CA Secaucus, NJ Denver, CO Indianapolis, IN New Orleans, LA Missoula, MT Asheville, NC Portland, OR Tyler, TX Lansing, MI Fort Lauderdale, FL Olathe, KS Sioux Falls, SD Houston, TX

Edison, NJ Springfield, IL Lincoln, NE Albuquerque, NM Harrisburg, PA San Juan, PR Austin, TX Los Angeles, CA Atlanta, GA Merrillville, IN Rockville Centre, NY New London, CT Wakefield, MA Edina, MN Greensboro, NC Oklahoma City, OK Woodstock, VT Middleton, WI Casper, WY Concord, CA Troy, MI Orlando, FL Columbus, OH

Baton Rouge, LA Birmingham, AL Dallas, TX

CP CP CC

JUNE 2003 PL AM CP PL AM CC LH PL AM CP PL PL CP CP CC CC PL LH LH CC PL CC AM AM CP PL CP CP AM LH CC CP

MAY 2003 01-03 07-09 07-09 07-10 07-10 07-10 07-10 08-10 14-16 14-16 14-16 14-17 14-17 14-17 14-17 14-17 14-17 14-17 14-17 15-17 15-17 15-18 21-23

21-24 28-30 28-31

CP CC LH CC AM CP LH LH LH LH AM AM CC CC LH CP CP AM PL PL LH CP CC

04-07 04-07 04-07 04-07 04-07 05-07 05-08 11-13 18-20 18-20 18-21 18-21 18-21 18-21 18-21 18-21 18-21 19-21 25-27 25-27 25-27 25-27 25-28 25-28 25-28 25-28

Boise, ID Lexington, KY Branchville, NJ Saratoga Springs, NY Virginia Beach, VA Fresno, CA St. Augustine, FL Lansing, MI Macon, GA Chicago, IL Tempe, AZ Windsor, CT N. Falmouth, MA Alexandria, MN St. Louis, MO Charleston, SC Houston, TX San Diego, CA Indianapolis, IN Jackson, MS Omaha, NE Federal Way (Seattle), WA Wichita, KS Philadelphia Area, PA San Antonio, TX Salt Lake City, UT

PL AM PL CC PL PL AM PL PL LH LH CP AM AM PL AM PL AM PL AM AM LH CC LH AM AM

JULY 2003 09-12 09-12 09-12 09-12 10-13 14-17 16-18 16-18 16-19 16-19 16-19 16-19 16-19 16-19 22-25 23-26 23-26 24-26 30-02

Shreveport, LA Tulsa, OK San Juan, PR Corpus Christi, TX Tampa, FL Annapolis Area, MD Denver, CO Indianapolis, IN Little Rock, AR Edina, MN Cary, NC Fargo, ND Albuquerque, NM Fredericksburg, VA Green Bay, WI Nashua, NH Memphis, TN Sacramento, CA West Des Moines, IA

AM AM AM CC LH AM LH AM AM CP PL PL CP CC CC PL AM CC AM

AUGUST 2003 06-08 06-08 06-08 06-09 06-09 06-09 06-09

Point Clear, AL Springfield, IL Jackson, MS Tucson, AZ Boise, ID Edina, MN Portland, OR

06-09 11-13 13-15 13-15 13-15 13-15 13-15 13-16 13-16 14-16 18-21 20-22 20-23 21-23 21-24

Houston, TX Honolulu, HI Indianapolis, IN Lansing, MI Lincoln, NE Reno, NV Cleveland, OH San Juan, PR Greenville, SC Ontario, CA S. Portland, ME Atlanta, GA Dallas, TX Anaheim, CA Coral Gables, FL

LH CC CC AM CC CP CP LH CP PL CC CC PL CP PL

SEPTEMBER 2003 10-12 10-12 10-12 10-13 10-13 10-13 10-13 10-13 10-13 10-13 11-14 17-19 17-19 17-19 17-19 17-20 17-20 17-20 17-20 17-20 17-20 17-20 17-20 17-20 17-20 17-20 17-20 18-20 18-20 24-26 24-27 24-27 24-27 24-27 24-27 24-27

Denver, CO Chicago, IL Grand Rapids, MI New Orleans, LA Wrightsville Beach, NC Albuquerque, NM Lake Placid, NY Tulsa, OK Rapid City, SD Austin, TX Tampa, FL Birmingham, AL Atlanta, GA Akron, OH Federal Way (Seattle), WA Norwich, CT West Des Moines, IA Olathe, KS Lexington, KY Westford, MA Edina, MN Springfield, MO Allentown, PA Providence, RI Nashville, TN Lubbock, TX Salt Lake City, UT San Diego, CA Edison, NJ Indianapolis, IN Anchorage, AK Little Rock, AR Wilmington, DE Bozeman, MT Houston, TX Virginia Beach, VA

CC PL LH CC CP AM CP CC CP AM CP LH AM CC CC PL PL PL CC AM CC LH CP CP CC PL CC CC PL CP PL PL CC PL CC CP

Continued on next page.

CC CP LH CC LH LH CC

To register for CIC institutes, refer to phone list on page 20.

Resources Winter 2002–2003

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THE NATIONAL ALLIANCE PROGRAM SCHEDULE

CIC Institutes

continued.

CALL TO REGISTER

To register for any CIC institute, call the corresponding state association or Society number listed below.

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas

205/326-4129 800/633-2165 602/956-1851 800/633-2165 800/633-2165 303/512-0707 800/424-4244 717/795-9100 800/277-1171 770/921-7585 800/633-2165 800/633-2165 800/628-6436 800/438-4424 800/633-2165 785/232-0561

Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Missouri Mississippi Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York

502/875-3888 800/633-2165 508/628-5452 717/795-9100 508/628-5452 517/323-0041 952/835-4180 573/893-4301 800/633-2165 406/442-9555 402/392-1611 775/882-1366 508/628-5452 800/424-4244 800/633-2165 800/424-4244

North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee (IIA) Texas Utah Vermont Virginia/DC Washington

Ruble Seminars PROGRAM KEY

26-28 31-02

Tulsa, OK Livonia (Auburn Hills), MI

AMP Agency Mgmt. Practices APRIL 2003 CO Contractors FI Financial Institutions 02-04 Myrtle Beach, SC GS Graduate Seminar 09-11 San Antonio, TX IHP Insuring Healthcare Providers 09-12 Laconia, NH LC Large Commercial 30-02 Kansas City, MO LB Life and Benefits ME MEGA MAY 2003 MP Managing People 07-09 Louisville, KY MS Marketing & Sales 07-09 Biloxi, MS MT Multiple Topic 07-09 Las Vegas, NV PL Personal Lines 07-09 Myrtle Beach, SC SC Small Commercial 12-14 West Des Moines, IA TR Truckers 14-16 Coraopolis, PA TRII Advanced Truckers 19-21 Scottsdale, AZ 21-23

FEBRUARY 2003 05-07 19-21 26-28 26-28 26-28

Plymouth, MN Omaha, NE Altamonte Springs, FL Cambridge, MA Raleigh, NC

20

Birmingham, AL Denver (Westminster), CO Phoenix, AZ Atlanta, GA Baltimore, MD Indianapolis, IN San Diego, CA Atlantic City, NJ Cleveland, OH

TR ME *GS *GS *GS *GS GS *GS MP

Resources Winter 2002–2003

04-06 09-11 11-13 18-20 23-27 30-02

Hershey (Grantville), PA Waukesha, WI Wrightsville Beach, NC N. Falmouth, MA Orlando, FL Gulf Shores, AL

*GS GS *GS *GS

*GS LB FI IHP SC *GS CO *GS

MS *GS *GS *GS ME *GS

JULY 2003 09-11 09-11 16-18 16-18 16-18 23-25 23-25

23-25 31-02

Minneapolis (St. Paul), MN TR Portland (Tigard), OR AMP Anaheim (Orange), CA LC Chicago, IL *GS Gaylord, MI *GS Cincinnati, OH *GS Dallas (Richardson), TX MS

06-08 06-08 11-13 13-15 13-15

West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

800/633-2165 608/274-8188 800/633-2165

BEFORE YOU RESERVE The dates and locations of the programs in these schedules are subject to change. Before making any travel arrangements, always verify the dates and location when registering for a program.

Seattle (Federal Way), WA *GS Marco Island, FL *GS 20-22 27-29

AUGUST 2003

JUNE 2003 *GS GS *GS *GS SC

MARCH 2003 05-07 10-14 12-14 12-14 12-14 17-19 19-21 26-28 26-28

Nashville, TN

PL CO

800/849-6556 800/633-2165 800/555-1742 405/840-4426 360/571-7100 717/795-9100 787/758-1001 508/628-5452 803/731-9460 800/633-2165 800/280-6082 800/633-2165 800/633-2165 508/628-5452 804/264-2582 360/571-7100

Westbrook, CT Lake Ozark, MO Whitefish, MT Atlantic City, NJ Hershey (Grantville), PA

*GS *GS SC MP *GS

Atlanta, GA Indianapolis, IN

*GS PL

SEPTEMBER 2003 08-10 10-12

Erie, PA Nashua, NH

*GS AMP

CALL TO REGISTER Call 800/633-2165 to register for all Ruble Seminars EXCEPT Graduate Seminars marked with an asterisk (*GS). For all seminars marked with an asterisk, call the corresponding state association listed below.

Alabama Arizona Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Illinois Indiana Kentucky Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Missouri New Hampshire New Jersey New York North Carolina Ohio

205/326-4129 602/956-1851 800/424-4244 717/795-9100 800/277-1171 770/921-7585 800/628-6436 800/555-9742 502/875-3888 508/628-5452 717/795-9100 508/628-5452 517/323-0041 952/835-4180 573/893-4301 508/628-5452 800/424-4244 800/424-4244 800/849-6556 800/555-1742

Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina Tennessee (IIA) Vermont Virginia/DC Washington Wisconsin

800/324-4426 360/571-7100 717/795-9100 508/628-5452 803/731-9460 615/385-1898 508/628-5452 804/264-2582 360/571-7100 608/274-8188

BEFORE YOU RESERVE The dates and locations of the programs in these schedules are subject to change. Before making any travel arrangements, always verify the dates and location when registering for a program.

THE NATIONAL ALLIANCE PROGRAM SCHEDULE

CISR Courses COURSE KEY AO IC IP PA PR AL

Agency Operations Insuring Commercial Casualty Insuring Commercial Property Personal Auto Personal Residential Advanced Lecture Series* *Advanced Lecture Series is available to CISRs, CICs, CRMs, ACSRs, & CPSRs only.

SR

Dynamics of Service

FEBRUARY 2003 04 04 04 04 04 04 04 04 05 05 05 05 05 05 05 05 05 05 06 06 06 06 06 06 06 06 06 07 10 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 12 12 12 12

Seattle, WA Columbia, SC Blue Springs, MO Toledo, OH Kingsport, TN Mechanicsburg, PA Naperville, IL Northampton, MA Seattle, WA Cornelius, NC Denver, CO Cleveland, OH Tulsa, OK Knoxville, TN Jefferson City, MO Wilmington, DE San Antonio, TX Raynham, MA Cary, NC Oklahoma City, OK Costa Mesa, CA Allentown, PA Odessa, TX Orlando, FL Pittsfield, MA Edina, MN Randolph, MA Lawton, OK Cedar Rapids, IA Fishkill, NY Boise, ID Little Rock, AR Myrtle Beach, SC Saint Louis, MO West Des Moines, IA Grand Rapids, MI Fresno, CA Reading, PA Addison, TX Amarillo, TX McAllen, TX Tewksbury, MA Providence, RI Columbus, OH Florence, SC Springfield, MO Reno, NV

AO PA PR PR IC PA IP PA PR IP PR PR PR IC PR PA PR PA SR PR PR PA PR PA PA ALS PA PR PR SR PA PR PR PR PR PA IC AO AO AO IP PA IP AO IC PR PR

12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 20 20 20 20 20 20 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27

San Juan, PR PA Western, KY PR Ft. Collins, CO PA Rapid City, SD AO Ann Arbor, MI PA Pleasanton, CA IC Visalia, CA PA Lancaster, PA AO White River Junction, VT PA Indianapolis, IN IC Greenville, SC PR Tucson, AZ AO Las Vegas, NV PR El Segundo, CA IP St. Petersburg, FL PR Ft. Lauderdale, FL AO South Holland, IL IP Portland, ME PA Grenada, MS IC Ogallala, NE IC Montgomery, AL AO Memphis, TN IC Fort Worth, TX IC Carbondale, IL ALS Davenport, IA AO Las Cruces, NM Ethics Mobile, AL AO Jackson, TN IC Kearney, NE IC Pittsburgh, PA ALS Edina, MN AO Falmouth, MA PA Omaha, NE IC Phoenix, AZ PR Richmond, VA IC Huntsville, AL AO Mechanicsburg, PA ALS Framingham, MA PA Wausau, WI AO Bluffton, SC PA Tuscaloosa, AL AO San Jose, CA AO Hagerstown, MD PA Houston, TX IC Springfield, IL PR Houston, TX Ethics Lexington, KY IP Topeka, KS IC Brookfield, WI AO Ontario, CA IC Lancaster, PA PA Mars, PA AO Waco, TX PA Madison, WI AO Kingman, AZ PR Dothan, AL AO Birmingham, AL AO Erie, PA AO Santa Barbara, CA AO Baltimore, MD PA Marietta, GA IC

MARCH 2003 03 03 03 04

Tupelo, MS Birmingham, AL Philadelphia, PA Flowood (Jackson), MS

IP PA PR IC

04 04 04 04 04 04 04 04 04 04 05 05 05 05 05 05 05 05 05 05 05 06 06 06 06 06 06 06 06 06 06 06 06 06 07 07 10 10 10 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12

Jonesboro, AR Birmingham, AL Nashville, TN Allentown, PA Philadelphia, PA Austin, TX Cheektowaga, NY Arlington, TX Peoria, IL Danvers, MA Denver, CO Tulsa, OK Chattanooga, TN Portland, OR Birmingham, AL Anaheim, CA Philadelphia, PA Syracuse, NY Randolph, MA Rochester, MN South Burlington, VT Newport News, VA Birmingham, AL Portland, OR Oklahoma City, OK Novato, CA Greenville, NC Philadelphia, PA Columbia, SC Glenmont, NY Billings, MT Parkersburg, WV Naperville, IL Morrow, GA Birmingham, AL Philadelphia, PA Denver, CO Cedar Rapids, IA Salt Lake City, UT Salt Lake City, UT Gering, NE Lafayette, LA West Des Moines, IA Charleston, SC San Juan, PR Saint Louis, MO Monterey, CA Tulsa, OK Westchester, NY Corpus, TX Edina, MN South Holland, IL Salt Lake City, UT Louisville, KY Kearney, NE Wilmington, NC Rock Hill, SC Sacramento, CA Hays, KS Cincinnati, OH Lubbock, TX New York, NY

IC IC PA ALS PA PA AO PA IP IC ALS PA PA PR PR PR AO AO IC IP IC AO IP IP PA IC ALS IP ALS AO AO IC AO PA ALS IC SR PA PR AO AO IP PA PA AO ALS PR ALS AO PR PA AO Ethics IP AO PR PA IP ALS ALS PR AO

To register for CISR courses, refer to phone list to the right.

CALL TO REGISTER To register for any CISR course, Advanced Lecture Series, and/or Dynamics of Service program, call the corresponding state association or Society number listed below.

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Missouri Mississippi Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia/DC Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

205/326-4129 800/633-2165 602/956-1851 800/633-2165 800/633-2165 303/512-0707 800/742-6369 717/795-9100 800/277-1171 770/921-7585 800/633-2165 800/633-2165 800/628-6436 800/555-1742 800/633-2165 785/232-0561 502/875-3888 800/633-2165 508/628-5430 717/795-9100 508/628-5430 517/323-0041 952/835-4180 573/893-4301 800/633-2165 406/442-9555 402/476-2951 775/882-1366 508/628-5430 800/742-6369 800/633-2165 800/742-6369 919/755-0847 612/835-4180 614/239-1387 405/840-4426 503/287-7570 717/795-9100 787/758-1001 508/628-5430 803/731-9460 800/633-2165 800/264-1898 800/633-2165 800/633-2165 508/628-5430 804/264-2582 360/571-7100 800/633-2165 608/274-8188 307/283-2052

Resources Winter 2002–2003

21

THE NATIONAL ALLIANCE PROGRAM SCHEDULE

Risk Management...

CRM Courses COURSE KEY

23-26

PRI ANA CON FIN PRA

MAY 2003

Principles of Risk Mgmt.

Analysis of Risk Control of Risk Financing of Risk Practice of Risk Mgmt.

Any individual actively engaged in risk management or a related field, including accounting, finance, insurance, loss control, legal, claims, and others, is eligible to attend the CRM Program.

Costa Mesa, CA West Des Moines, IA Kansas City, MO Minneapolis, MN

FIN PRA CON PRI

San Francisco (Burlingame), CA Nashville, TN Mystic (New London), CT San Juan, PR

ANA FIN ANA PRI

APRIL 2003 09-12

Orlando, FL

San Diego, CA ANA Philadelphia, PA PRA Houston, TX FIN Denver (Westminster), CO FIN

JUNE 2003 04-07 04-07 18-21 25-28

Portland (Tigard), OR Dallas, TX Las Vegas, NV Rutherford, NJ

PRI ANA PRA PRI

09-12 09-12 16-19 30-02 30-02

06-09 13-16 13-16 20-23

New York City (Albany), NY CON Boston, MA FIN Austin, TX CON Raleigh, NC ANA

SEPTEMBER 2003 PRI

10-13

Scottsdale, AZ

PROGRAM KEY

JULY 2003

DS Dynamics of Selling DSM Dynamics of Sales Mgmt.

09-11 16-18 23-25

MARCH 2003

AUGUST 2003

Portland (Tigard), OR Houston, TX

DS DS

APRIL 2003 09-11 23-25 23-25

Savannah, GA Cambridge, MA Baltimore, MD

DS DSM DS

MAY 2003 14-16 21-23

Portsmouth, NH Little Rock, AR

PRI

22

Minneapolis (St. Paul), MN Cleveland, OH Tulsa, OK

OCTOBER 2003 01-04 08-11 08-11 15-18

Chicago (Lisle), IL PRA San Francisco (Burlingame), CA FIN Washington, DC CON Denver, CO ANA

NOVEMBER 2003 10-13 12-15

Atlantic City, NJ Milwaukee, WI

PRA ANA

03-06 03-06 10-13 10-13 10-13

Philadelphia, PA Seattle, WA San Diego, CA Fort Lauderdale, FL San Antonio, TX

PRI PRA CON FIN PRI

06-08 20-22

Napa, CA Milwaukee, WI Providence, RI

Nashville, TN Denver (Westminster), CO

DS DS

DSM DS DS

Resources Winter 2002–2003

The dates and locations of the programs in these schedules are subject to change. Before making any travel arrangements, always verify the dates and location when registering for a program.

03-05

New Orleans (Metairie), LA DSM

DS DS

SEPTEMBER 2003

CALL TO REGISTER

03-05 03-05 10-12

Call The National Alliance at 800/ 633-2165 to register for any Dynamics program.

Charlotte, NC DS Dallas, TX DS Philadelphia (Langhorne), PA DS

15-17 29-31

Lansing, MI San Diego, CA

BEFORE YOU RESERVE DS DS

NOVEMBER 2003 DS DS DS

BEFORE YOU RESERVE

DECEMBER 2003

OCTOBER 2003

JUNE 2003 04-06 18-20 25-27

Pittsburgh, PA CON Orlando (Kissimmee), FL PRA St. Louis, MO PRI Dallas (Richardson), TX CON

DECEMBER 2003

Anchorage, AK PRI Atlanta (Norcross), GA ANA San Antonio, TX PRA Indianapolis, IN FIN New Orleans (Metairie), LA PRI

Dynamics 19-21 26-28

10-13 17-20 17-20 17-20

AUGUST 2003

MARCH 2003 05-08 05-08 12-15 12-15

CON

JULY 2003

FEBRUARY 2003 05-08 12-15 12-15 26-01

07-10 12-15 21-24 28-31

Seattle, WA

continued from page 35.

05-07 12-14

Scottsdale, AZ Las Vegas, NV

DS DS

The dates and locations of the programs in these schedules are subject to change. Before making any travel arrangements, always verify the dates and location when registering for a program.

clients? There are several ways to gain knowledge or training in risk management: reading articles or periodicals from insurance and risk management publications, purchasing risk management manuals or books, or attending seminars. Instead of using this shotgun approach, a more structured, thorough approach would be to attend the CRM Program where you can get a practical, working knowledge of the risk management process taught by risk management professionals. Investing in risk management knowledge will assist you in generating new business, retaining clients, increasing revenue, and building lasting, meaningful relationships with your clients.

About the Authors: Wayne P. Dauterive, CRM, ARM, and Marilyn B. Hollar, CRM, ARM Wayne is vice president of Certified Risk Managers International. He has held both public and private sector risk management positions as a municipal risk manager, a director of risk management for a Fortune 500 company, and as a vice president of risk management services for a brokerage firm.

Marilyn is academic director of Certified Risk Managers International and received her B.A. degree from Texas A&M University. She earned her ARM in 1990 and her CRM in 2001.

She has been in the risk management field for over 10 years.

Learn More About this Topic from The National Alliance For a basic understanding of risk management and its application to agencies of all sizes, attend the CRM course, Principles of Risk Management. More detailed information is offered in the other four CRM courses. ■

Sharp Employees…continued from page 18. to National Alliance programs. These brokers are tops for a reason—they believe in high-quality education.

What can you do to improve yourself and help your coworkers and industry peers?

■

The top 10 insurance brokers in the U.S. participate in all National Alliance programs—CIC, CISR, CRM, and NCIM: ■

Marsh USA

■

Aon Corporation

■

Arthur J. Gallagher

■

Willis Group

■

Acordia

■

Brown & Brown

■

Hilb, Rogal & Hamilton

■

USI Insurance Services

■

Lockton Companies

■

BB&T Insurance

National Alliance Programs The insurance industry offers great opportunities, great problems, and a good deal of stress. The National Alliance programs can help make the opportunities pan out, the problems smooth out, and the stresses come down. After all, being a professional means handling every account to the best of your ability. Insurance professionals hold the financial lives of clients in their hands 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Your responsibility as an agent or company representative can affect clients’ futures and their financial health. We can better serve our clients and even profit from these industry changes by educating ourselves and earning professional designations such as CIC, CISR, and CRM—setting ourselves apart as an elite group of insurance professionals.

■

Consider your update options based on program content, such as Ruble Seminars or Advanced Lecture Series, to get the most benefit from your time in the classroom.

Get your coworkers enrolled in National Alliance programs and set goals for insurance designations.

■

Let your peers and industry friends know about the insurance education programs that have the most value.

■

Make sure your customers and prospects know the meaning behind your designation(s).

■

Recruit talented, young people to the industry and get them started with the Producer School, CISR programs, or CIC institutes.

The National Alliance prides itself in providing practical information that helps agents shine on Monday and gives them the edge to know the right answers to com-

Of the top 100 U.S. insurance brokers: 98 participate in CIC 95 participate in CISR

78 participate in CRM pany and client questions. Certainly, the future has more changes in store for all of us. The most educated insurance professionals, those on the cutting edge of insurance education and research, will be the ones who shine in the hard market.

Those who neglect their education will truly understand why it’s called a “hard” market. ■

American AGENT & BROKER, with support from The National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research presents:

The Personal Lines and Small Business

Insurance Forum Tour 2003 Three cities, three opportunities to attend these important, one-day conferences:

October 28, 2003 • New York City November 21, 2003 • Chicago December 5, 2003 • San Francisco

■

CIC Institutes

Building on the success of the 2002 Program Business Summit, American AGENT & BROKER will hold three events on the Insurance Forum Tour 2003, featuring the latest developments in products, markets, exposures, and sales practices. Presentations from top producers, consultants, and well-known industry practitioners will be the order of the day.

■

James K. Ruble Seminars

Learn how to generate more business by:

■

Dynamics of Selling

• Improving your prospecting and sales techniques

■

The Producer School

• Selling more coverage to your current clients

■

CISR Programs

• Better serving your clients while lowering your own E&O risks

■

CISR OnLine

■

Advanced Lecture Series

■

Dynamics of Service

■

CRM Programs

Just consider the education options you have for constructing your own career path:

All of these programs are available in-house.

Property & casualty insurance producers, MGAs and other wholesalers, home-office marketing executives, and product marketers or service providers targeting personal lines and small-business insurance should plan to attend at least one of these events!

For additional information, visit our Web site at www.agentandbroker.com/conferences. Or contact Linda Brumitt in the conference department: lbrumitt@pfpublish.com; 800/706-2745, ext. 5546 or 314/824-5546.

Resources Winter 2002–2003

23

S

uellyn “Susi” Boastick, CISR, is the 2002 winner of the National Outstanding CSR of the Year Award. Ms. Boastick works for The Lewis Insurance Store, Inc., in Champaign, Illinois, as a commercial lines manager/CSR and systems administrator.

Ms. Boastick, who has been in the insurance profession for 10 years, graduated from Illinois State University, gained her Illinois Insurance License, and earned her CISR designation in 1996. Active in her church and community, she volunteers regularly at The Crisis Nursery, a lifeline for Champaign’s children in crisis.

To select the 2002 award winner, a blue-ribbon panel of four judges narrowed the field of 31 state winners to five exceptional finalists. The judges then measured the individual contributions each finalist has made to the insurance community, and evaluated the strength of their essays on the topic, “The Role of the CSR During a Hard Market.”

For her accomplishment, Ms. Boastick received a cash award of $1,000, a gold and diamond pin, and her name is inscribed on a sculpture on permanent display at the Society of CISR’s headquarters in Austin, Texas. Additionally, a scholarship for participation in any National Alliance program has been awarded to her employer, The Insurance Store.

The Outstanding CSR of the Year Award is sponsored jointly by the Societies of CISR and CIC.

24

Resources Winter 2002 2002–2003

We think you will agree that Susi Boastick is an exemplary, National Outstanding CSR of the Year Award winner, based on her words and wisdom in the following essay.

I

have always viewed my role as a CSR as being willing and prepared to service all the insurance needs of my clients. As a CSR with only 10 years in the insurance industry, this is truly my first experience with a hard market. Over the years, I have heard agents discussing the “hard market,” but never quite understood exactly what it meant. I read somewhere that the current tightening of our market is leaving some agents with a “queasy” stomach. I can see now what everyone was talking about.

As I approach the sixth year anniversary of my CISR designation, I feel even more strongly that it is important to continually try to educate myself by reading trade magazines, e-mail newsletters, and coverage forms, and asking questions.

I’ve always felt it was my job to help my client, not just by saving them some money, but by placing myself in a risk manager position. This means doing what I can to anticipate their coverage needs and making sure the coverage was there when they needed it. This is my opportunity to really demonstrate my “worth” to my clients and to make our agency stand out from the rest. I want our clients to see our agency and myself as partners in their business.

Attending continuing education classes is another way that I keep myself on top of what’s happening in our industry. Not only does the facilitator educate me, so do my peers. I love to hear what other agents are doing that works for them, the companies in which they place business, and how those carriers are responding to the changes in the market. In our present conditions, networking is one of our greatest tools.

Companies are now evaluating accounts on an individual basis, deciding if each one is an exposure they want to continue writing, and if so, what they want to

charge for each risk. Previously, customer service could have been defined as “quick to respond to client’s needs, and always looking out for the client.” Now, as rates continue to increase, companies tighten their procedures, and coverages decrease, it is also my role to do the best I can to keep up with what our contracted carri-

ers are doing, how their “tastes” are changing, and how this is going to affect my clients. In the past, we did not always get the opportunity to know how a renewal was going to change until it was actually in our hands, and sometimes that is the worst time to find out.

In my case, a lot of my insureds receive their policies a month or more ahead of the renewal, and they are getting it straight from the carrier. If I have not taken an opportunity to discuss the market changes with my client prior to receiving of the policy, it does not reflect well on our agency. This means that I need to be aware of what accounts I have coming up for renewal, anticipate if there are going to be significant changes to

each account, and determine if I should be attempting to get quotes from other carriers.

Unfortunately, as a result of the “tightening” we are experiencing, sometimes the only other choice for me, and every other agent like me, is to approach the alternative markets, such as excess and surplus lines, for coverage. This is not always a desirable option as it is taking longer to receive quotes, and I dread the premiums my insureds may have to pay in order to get the same coverages they have had for the past several years at much lower premiums.

Most of all, and probably one of the hardest parts in my role as a CSR in a hard market, is to do all I can to assist my client through this transition. I try to explain the differences in coverages, why their premiums are going up and why, in more cases than not, this is NOT an attack on them individually. At this point, because I come from a small agency, I even had to tell a couple of clients that I just couldn’t help them. They do not understand that their type of business risk might adversely affect the insurance industry as a whole, and therefore drive premiums up as a result of high loss ratios. They do not understand that for the past several years, carriers were taking any type of account at premium level, just to be able to continue placing business. What they DO understand is that their pocketbook is shrinking because their cost to do business is increasing. In some cases, an account may just end up going out of business because they can no longer afford their insurance.

Our agency has spent years building strong relationships with our clients and I see it as my job to try and continue in that way, hard or soft market, as my role as a CSR is to be there for my clients. ■

Resources Resources WinterWinter 2002–2003 2002

25

he Role of the CSR During a Hard Market,” was the subject that inspired a bounty of original and thoughtful essays in this year’s National Outstanding CSR of the Year Award competition.

Every day, with each renewal, CSRs are dealing with the challenge to supply the insurance companies with what they need in order to underwrite an account—all the while learning new and proactive ways to soften their clients’ premium shock. Retaining quality business through consistently good service is a necessary survival technique.

With each insurance professional and each agency doing what they can to work through the hard market on a daily basis, this top-of-mind topic struck a chord with this year’s entrants—particularly these four national finalists. Presented here are excerpts from their outstanding essays.

“A CSR is important to the insurance agency, especially during a hard market, because the focus becomes one of retaining quality business.”

26

CSR should be able to understand and explain how a hard market affects the insurance company, the agency, and the client. It’s important from the insurance company and agency side so that you can do your best to make this tough time easier by retaining as many good clients as possible.

A

municate effectively; build rapport and relationships; be a problem solver and decision maker; resolve complaints and satisfy the customer; convey a positive image through actions and appearance; make eye contact; know who your competitors are; support answers with proof, statistics, or evidence; and have extensive product knowledge.

A CSR is important to the insurance agency, especially during a hard market, because the focus becomes one of retaining quality business. It is important for the CSR to understand the personality of the client and to deal with them on their level. Always choose words they will understand instead of confusing insurance terms. Learn new and improved ways of dealing with clients. High quality customer service should always be given. This includes: deliver promises on time, every time; be consistent; com-

You need to build a relationship by listening to your clients about their needs.

This will not only help you to maintain this business relationship, but may also lead to new ones through referrals. Also, by continuing to be educated through insurance organizations and through the insurance companies you represent, you can continue to give professional and educated assistance to your clients.

Resources Winter 2002 2002–2003

Lisa M. Lubey, CISR, CPIA E. L. Webster Insurance Agency Waldorf, MD

F

or years, the insurance industry was in a soft market, which meant that I could call up the underwriter, at almost any company, and ask them to renew “as is” and there would be no problems, perhaps even a decrease in premium.

However, the hard market is upon us and with each renewal, the challenges to supply the insurance companies with what they need to underwrite an account is something that CSRs deal with every day.

With the hard market in our lives right now, the “typical” renewal is a thing of the past. Each renewal now is treated like a new piece of business—new applications, everything. The underwriters want information that a couple of years ago

“Being able to help our insureds obtain the information required by the insurance carriers… is something that I feel is part of being a CSR…”

“My continued education reinforces the latest in insurance coverages, which enables me to quickly answer questions.” wouldn’t have mattered to them in order to write a piece of business.

We have to be aware of the frustration on the insured’s side, as they don’t understand how one event can change how things are dealt with in the insurance field. Being able to help our insureds obtain the information required by the insurance carriers, as well as keeping our insureds happy, is something that I feel is part of being a CSR, whether in a hard market or a soft market. It’s just that in

a hard market, more information is needed, so our contact with our insureds is more day-to-day.

The enjoyment that the insured is happy, the insurance company is happy, and the producer is happy makes me, as a CSR, feel that I have performed a “job well done.”

Margo L. May, CISR, ACSR Marsh USA, Inc. Reno, NV

“Each agency/company tries to give their clients the best service possible, and those that do will be the survivors of a hard market.”

I

began my insurance career on the tail of a hard market (1989) and I am amazed at today’s hard market challenges. What a learning experience to see the difficulty in placing coverages for our clients. Our clients have received great pricing for over a decade and they expected this to continue. What a shock to the client when we quote premiums with increases anywhere from 20% to 300%. Limits are being decreased and certain coverage extensions are being removed. It is our responsibility that there are no surprises at renewal time for the client. This can be accomplished by (a) preparing the client, prior to renewal, (b) advising the client of market conditions, and (c) advising of current pricing conditions.

Daily responsibilities of the CSR include: checking policies for accuracy, endorsements to the policy, certificates of insurance, automobile ID certificates, loss summary reports, beginning the renewal process by requesting renewal information from the client, verifying audits, and handling day-to-day activity.

Have you ever talked to an angry client?

It is the CSR who tries to pinpoint the problem and come up with a solution.

Service is going to be one of the key factors in keeping our clients. Each agency/ company tries to give their clients the best service possible and those that do will be the survivors of a hard market.

W

hy should your role as a CSR change just because the market has changed? It shouldn’t. It may become easier or more difficult, but the job does not change.

My job is never the same because the client’s needs are never the same. Although placing business is tougher today, I am still accountable for keeping continuity between the producer, the company, and the client.

I pride myself in my customer service skills. I keep my producers happy by keeping their clients happy. This is important with the strain on the producers in today’s marketplace, as they need to be able to trust that I’m giving their clients better day-to-day service than they can. My continued education reinforces the latest in insurance coverages, which enables me to quickly answer questions. This kind of customer service is second to none and appreciated by all.

I believe this is my biggest strength.

The hardest part of customer service is prioritizing, knowing what is the most important project at any given time.

Every account I work on holds that same status. You never know where your next referral will come from.

Kris Kortum, CISR ISU/Corporate Insurance Management St. Louis, MO

Bonnie L. Avila, CISR, CPIW Marsh USA, Inc. Grand Rapids, MI

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hat autos are covered for liability in the Business Auto Policy and Garage Policy? The answer is determined by another question, “What symbol or symbols are used to trigger liability coverage?”

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backed his personally owned car over a pedestrian and the pedestrian was killed.

The death occurred on the garage’s premises. The family of the pedestrian sued both the employee and the garage. The employee was uninsured.

Most of us are familiar with the most commonly used symbols:

The garage’s insurer denied coverage for the garage on the basis that symbol 9 covers non-owned autos only if they are used in connection with the insured’s business, and the employee was not using his car in the business of the garage. The insurer then filed a declaratory action to have the courts uphold their denial. The lower court agreed with the insurer, and on appeal, the District Court concurred.

1 or 21 Any auto; 2 or 22 Owned autos; 7 or 27 Scheduled autos; 8 or 28 Hired autos; and 9 or 29 Non-owned autos.

Obviously, symbol 1 or symbol 21 is the most comprehensive. However, many insurers will not write these symbols. When that is the case, we are usually satisfied to use symbols 2, 8, and 9 (or 22, 28, and 29) to trigger liability.

According to ISO underwriting rules, insurers cannot write a Garage Policy with a symbol 21 for non-dealers. Symbol 21 is reserved for dealers.

I was recently retained by an attorney representing an agent in a suit brought against the agency by an insured. The suit involves the use of symbols 22, 28, and 29, instead of symbol 21.

The insured is a garage. The agency requested symbol 21 for liability. He was informed by the insurance company that symbol 21 could not be used, and the policy was issued with symbols 22, 28, and 29.

An employee of the insured left the garage to attend to some personal business, which in no way involved the garage. He 28

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However, the courts have allowed the family of the deceased pedestrian to continue with their suit against the garage. How can the court possibly consider the garage liable for this death when the garage didn’t own or hire the auto and, according to the court, it wasn’t being used in the garage’s business? Good question!

The aforementioned case went to the court system of one of our southern states for review. Many people don’t worry too much about establishing liability—they just look for a deep pocket!

Had the agent been able to use symbol 21 instead of 22, 28, and 29, would this claim be covered by the Garage Policy? I think so. After all, symbol 21 is “any auto,” and this was certainly “any auto.”

Symbols 2, 8, and 9 (or 22, 28, and 29) will probably cover 99.99% of the insured’s auto liability exposures. But symbol 2 + symbol 8 + symbol 9 does not equal symbol 1!

I know this defies the law of mathematics, but 1 is greater than 2 + 8 + 9.

Keep trying to get symbol 1 (or 21). After all, you never know if your insured may need it for that .01% of the losses not covered by symbols 2, 8, and 9.

About the Author: Jerry Milton, CIC Jerry has been a faculty member of the Society of CIC since 1980. He received his CIC designation in 1982 and serves as a CIC educational consultant for Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware. He does insurance consulting work and is regarded by the legal profession as an expert on insurance coverages.

If you’d like to hear Jerry teach, he’s scheduled for the following CIC Commercial Casualty Institutes in 2003: March 19–22 November 12–15

Cary, NC Little Rock, AR

Learn More About this Topic from The National Alliance Liability issues for the Business Auto and Garage policies are discussed at Commercial Liability CIC institutes and Insuring Commercial Casualty CISR courses. Likewise, property coverage for the Business Auto and Garage policies is part of the curriculum for Commercial Property CIC institutes and Insuring Commercial Property CISR courses. Business Auto and Garage policies are optional topics at James K. Ruble Graduate Seminars. ■

he following crossword puzzle contains a number of commercial property words and definitions. See if you can complete the entire puzzle.

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sionals must also know the conditions, limits, exclusions, insuring agreements, endorsements, and other parts of the policies.

An even harder puzzle occurs on a regular basis for agency producers and customer service representatives, and insurance company underwriters and claims representatives. But these real-life situations are not games. To compete in a hard market, insurance agency and company personnel must know the terms and definitions that appear in the insurance policies. These same insurance profes-

So complex policies don’t leave you puzzled, attend CIC institutes to gain— and retain—the information you need.

The most informed and educated insurance professionals will be the ones who succeed during the hard market, or any market for that matter. Challenge yourself to be the best you can be, and arm yourself with knowledge and understanding—on a regular basis.

Down 1. Unit of cost that determines premium 2. Most restrictive cause of loss form 3. A form used to handle changing property values

Across 2. Wrongful taking of property from premises by unlawful entry 5. Trash generated from an insured loss 8. The CGL covers _____ and completed operations.

10. Manufacturers Output Policy 12. Additional loss resulting from a direct loss 16. Maximum amount paid for all covered losses during a specified policy period 17. Cost of a policy 18. Value from a statement of values Answers on page 34.

4. Absence of business personal property usual to the occupancy 6. Form used for limited number of named causes of loss 7. Written insurance contract 9. Right to recover from another: _____gate 11. Form used for all causes of loss not otherwise excluded 13. Any person or organization whose name appears on the dec page 14. Person(s) or organization(s) protected under an insurance policy 15. Property transported over land or water

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H

ere is a true story. My dentist did a “clinical” evaluation of my teeth. That is his fancy way of saying he looked in my mouth and stared at my teeth with his own two eyes. He found no cavities in his “clinical” evaluation. I felt happy and relieved!

But then he took a quick x-ray. Lo and behold, the x-ray immediately spotted a cavity hiding under one of my fillings!!

In other words, what you see is not always all you get! An objective x-ray found a lot more important information than a highly trained eye.

Likewise, some applicants come across fine in a job interview. But, they then proceed to flop after you put them on the payroll. In fact, vast amounts of research prove most interviewers do poorly at predicting how an applicant will do if hired.

So, it is crucial for a manager to use special “x-rays” to spot potential trouble lurking within an applicant—and also uncover skills and talents that will prove beneficial on the job. Here are five superb “x-ray” methods you can use immediately to help you hire high-achievers—and stay away from underachievers.

1. Pre-Employment Tests Research shows that customized tests are the best way to accurately predict on-thejob performance. You can use three types of tests: Behavior tests—to evaluate interpersonal skills, personality, and motivations Abilities tests—to predict brainpower in problem-solving, vocabulary, arithmetic, grammar, and handling small details Character tests—to detect a “bad apple” who has a bad work ethic or might steal Tests can be given in paper and pencil test booklets or on the Internet. Important: only use tests designed for pre-employment assessments.

Customize tests you use by doing a “benchmarking study” to find out how your highly productive, low-turnover employees typically score. Then you quickly can compare applicants’ test scores

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against scores of your most productive employees. Of course, you can show preference for applicants who score like your winners.

2. Remember One Truism When I deliver my speech or seminar on Hire the Best & Avoid the Rest™, I always point out: Whatever behavior you see from the applicant during the screening process is likely to be the very best behavior you ever will see from that person! Surely you have witnessed this truism.

Let’s say you want to hire a high-energy person. Candidate A stays very highenergy during your entire screening process, including all in-depth interviews.

Candidate B starts interviews high-energy (a good sign), but then acts increasingly drained as the interviews go on (a bad sign). Candidate A is much more likely to be high-energy on-the-job than Candidate B. Do not expect Candidate B to suddenly explode with energy if you hire that person.

Interestingly, the same company also discovered that most of its superstar salespeople worked at McDonald’s for six months or longer in high school or college. This showed an interest in serving customers (after all, that is what McDonald’s stresses) plus stick-toitiveness (lasting six months or more in a normally high-turnover job). So, start digging into your bio-data treasures located in employees’ files.

5. RJP RJP stands for Realistic Job Preview. To do an RJP, (a) show applicants exactly what they will do on the job if you hire them, (b) let applicants think about it for 24 hours, and (c) then ask applicants if they want to take the job. Research shows

4. Bio-data I’m not referring to DNA. Instead, biodata is biographical data. Here’s how to benefit from bio-data. Grab the files on your superstar employees. Look for common work-related experiences or education that most of them have.

For example, one company I consulted wanted to hire salespeople to sell a service (not a product). Upon examining bio-data of the company’s superstar salespeople, we found the high-achieving salespeople had worked selling services. Most of the company’s underachieving salespeople worked in sales, also. But, the underachievers sold products, not services.

Do It Now If you remember these points, you can hire the best—and profit from it: • What you see is not all you get—but it is the best you will see.

• Use customized tests, since tests predict job success better than other methods.

• Take advantage of predictors right under your nose, including referrals from winners, bio-data, and RJPs. Importantly, you can start these valuable methods today and immediately start hiring the best. (Copyright 2001, Michael Mercer, Ph.D.)

3. Referrals from Your Best Employees Winners hang around with winners. Losers hang around with losers. Your best employees probably hang around with highachievers. Ask those employees to refer applicants.

if they know much about it!” I said let’s try RJP anyway. Sure enough, after seeing this awfully hot and dusty job, only a small percentage of applicants took the job. But, those who did stayed a long time. Note: They were people who acted distinctly “odd,” and relished feeling hot and sticky all day!

About the Author: Michael Mercer, Ph.D.

employers who give detailed RJPs get two results: • Fewer employees accept the job offer.

• Applicants who accept the job offer are less likely to turn over.

Importantly, an RJP needs to be superrealistic. For example, I consulted for a tire company. It had great difficulty getting people to work in “purgatory”—a horribly hot room in which hot, just-made tires were moved on the tire molds. Anyone who worked in the “purgatory” room spent all day covered in sweat and thick white dust. No wonder most people quit that job after a short time!

I recommended using RJPs. The company worried, “Applicants won’t take that job

Michael Mercer is a consultant, speaker, author, and founder of The Mercer Group, Inc. in Barrington, Illinois. Dr. Mercer’s pre-employment tests are used by companies across North America, and he has trained over 5,000 managers how to interview job applicants. You can subscribe to Dr. Mercer’s free E-Newsletter at www.drmercer.com or call him at 847/ 382-0690.

Learn More About this Topic from The National Alliance Hiring employees and other related human resources issues are topics of the Managing People James K. Ruble Seminar. The CIC Agency Management Institute also explores human resources issues.

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new business and updated information is needed for renewals. No longer is appetite the sole criteria of a carrier’s desire to write a new line of business.

Today’s climate impacts the underwriter in two ways—the pressure to write only quality risks, and increased workloads due to greater submission activity. As a result, most underwriters do not have the time to allocate to risks they view as unacceptable. What helps the underwriter discern a good deal versus a wheel spinner? Accurate and precise information. Simply put, accurate and precise information up front is critical. When a risk is not acceptable, more information and in-depth analysis is required.

Information Is the Key oday’s hard market has created increased rates, restrictive terms, and appetites that seem to change weekly, not to mention the anxiety that comes with communicating these changes to your clients. Is it possible to still obtain a “good quote” from your underwriter in today’s marketplace? Absolutely. However, doing so requires a quality submission to produce this result. Yet there is more to a submission than transferring information to an Acord application or a Microsoft Word template. As an account manager or producer, your role within the underwriting process is key and the accuracy and preciseness of the information

you provide to your underwriter can impact your customer. Better yet, there are tools for facilitating quality submissions.

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It increases your underwriter’s understanding of your client, enabling him or her to offer the best terms and conditions at a competitive price.

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It assists with identifying additional products and services that may provide a benefit to you and your client.

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It reduces the alternative sources of information an underwriter must reference.

Today’s Insurance Environment The hard market appears to many insurance buyers to have arrived suddenly.

While the tragedy of September 11 will go down as the largest insurance event in our country, if not the world, commercial prices were increasing prior to September 11th. After many years of unprofitable commercial portfolios, a few major, forward-thinking commercial insurers began re-profiling their portfolios as early 1999, non-renewing the unprofitable accounts, and seeking 5–10% rate increases on the remaining accounts. It wasn’t long thereafter that the many other insurers began seeking similar rate increases. By the end of 2000, the majority of the companies were communicating and obtaining rate increases. Accompanying these rate increases was a fundamental shift in underwriting strategy, a “Back to Basics” underwriting approach.

When you look at the underwriting process, lack of information is one of the bottlenecks that impedes a fast decision and quote turnaround. After an underwriter receives your application, he typically will quickly weed through what he doesn’t want and let you know. However, the remaining submissions, assuming they are within the company’s appetite, are where you can help move your submission to the front of an underwriter’s decision to provide you with a quote by furnishing a complete application.

“Back to Basics”

Improving the Information

As insurers increased rates, the underwriting behavior and tolerance changed. Companies moved forward with a focus on the basics, detailed information, and in-depth risk analysis. As a result, many carriers re-profiled their existing books, identified profitable classes of business, and in some cases, non-renewed other classes. New business also was impacted by the changed tolerance for incomplete information.

Now, more information is required for

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Complete information is important for the following reasons:

Accuracy, completeness, and preciseness are three ways you can improve the information. Improving accuracy means the extent to which the information represents what it is supposed to represent.

Think of completeness as the extent to which the available information is adequate for the underwriter to accept or reject, and preciseness as finesse of detail in the application.

The simplest way to facilitate accuracy, completeness, and preciseness is with a completed Acord application. When you look at an Acord application, it is designed as the basic source to capture the essential information an underwriter needs to accept or reject a submission. In addition, Acord applications are industry accepted and focused on objective information.

While there are company-specific applications for specialty coverages, these applications often request some of the same universal information (name, address, years in business, for example). The Acord application also addresses additional exposures common to the majority of risks.

An Acord property application, for example, captures COPE (construction, occupancy, protection, and external exposures), the four specific areas typically reviewed by underwriters. The General Liability section has similar questions regarding operations, sales, products, foreign exposures, industry-specific exposures, hazards, third-party premises exposures, and additional questions. The same could be said for many of the other lines that Acord supports. Providing additional information, for instance, to “yes” responses on the Acord application is the preciseness that differentiates a fair submission from an excellent submission that produces a quote.

Technology Tools With the host of technology available, providing quality submissions should be a snap. You might be asking yourself, “Why do I need technology?” and “What is available?”

Technological tools can be broken down into three categories: Productivity, Information, and Integration. Productivity tools such as Microsoft Word and Excel, e-mail, the Internet, and agency management systems help increase productivity by: ■

Saving time: Allow single entry of information

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Collaborating: Easier to share and communicate information with small and large groups

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Facilitating changes

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Allowing you to “do-it-yourself”

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Increasing efficiency by reducing paper

Information tools may be paper based, use a proprietary CD-ROM, “freeware,” or subscription services. Often these will not have integration, but will require separate look-ups, which is inefficient. In addition, there is no integrated client file info for faster renewals or changes.

Integrated tools offer the best solution to generating quality submissions that produce results, because integrated tools offer a host of benefits not available with stand-alone information or productivity tools. Many companies that have developed integrated tools are Web-based, application services providers. As such, they offer utility and information tools. Being Web-based saves not only money, but also time. There is no need for separate checkpoints since all tools are incorporated within the application. Some of the other benefits of integration are: ■

Open platform that works with your other systems

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Technology that already has integration with your other systems

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Technology that is “scalable” so system grows with your business

Many of the integrated tools on the market today also contain additional features and benefits such as risk management checklists, premium indications, the ability to complete multiple lines of business simultaneously, electronic submissions, and online payments. In addition, with Web-based services you can stay productive no matter where you are in the world—your client’s office providing a risk analysis, or at home in your pajamas completing the applications and sending them to your underwriters. Since some of these integrated tools assist with completing applications, your applications are accurate, complete, and precise.

Summary Producing quality submissions in a hard market is crucial. While the hard market is forecast to remain here through 2003 or even beyond, the impetus to give your underwriter accurate and precise information also can improve your relationships.

Your accurate information demonstrates your knowledge of your client’s operations, which facilitates the underwriter’s job of providing you with good service.

Providing accurate information is now easier than before, particularly when you

consider the technological tools available, from the basic productivity tools such as e-mail and the Internet, to the more sophisticated integrated tools. In the end, producing an accurate and precise submission that yields the best price terms and conditions is the result you want.

About the Author: Lindsey B. Humphrey Mr. Humphrey currently holds the position of director, Insurance Domain, with nuServe. His 13 years of insurance experience includes commercial lines underwriting and management with the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies and Atlantic Mutual Companies. His responsibilities included staffing, process management, managing small commercial accounts, and training.

Learn More About this Topic from The National Alliance The CISR Agency Operations course discusses the professionalism insurance agencies need to work with insurance companies. The Dynamics of Service course is an excellent training vehicle for improving communications between agency and company personnel. ■

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Decide if CIC In-House is right for your agency or company: Are there certain subjects that you’d prefer to cover with the whole staff at once?

Would you benefit if everyone could meet your state’s CE requirements at one time?

“I

n-house” or “on-site” training has been a popular option for many large companies (and a few large agencies) for decades. The process of educating an entire department—or an entire staff— with the same techniques simultaneously is a proven success formula. And the savings on travel expenses alone can justify the cost of an in-house program. Dynamics of Selling, Dynamics of Service, and CISR courses have been “on the road” with in-house programs since the early ’90s, bringing powerful and practical programs to agencies and companies alike.

In-House Institutes Now CIC institutes can be delivered to agency front doors too. 2002 marked the first time an independent agency sponsored an in-house CIC program at their offices. In fact, the agency chose to sponsor two institutes, Commercial Casualty and Commercial Property. While a set number of participants is not required to hold an institute in-house, 40 is a practi-

cal class size to work with and aim for.

An agency’s needs may be met with just one program, or can be as ambitious as a continuous relationship for ongoing training. That’s the beauty of it. You choose: the best location, the most convenient date, and the optional topics that fit the specific educational needs of your organization.

You have several advantages when CIC travels to you.

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Specific agency-targeted institutes

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Train an entire staff or department together

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Save on travel and lodging expenses

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Minimize time away from work

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Flexible scheduling: choose the dates to fit your workload

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Conducted by the same top faculty who teach institutes across the country

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Comprehensive support materials and the most current, fresh curriculum

important CE news Continuing Education Reciprocity Simplifies Nonresident Compliance Participants at The National Alliance programs may be wondering why there is no longer an option available for requesting nonresident CE Certificates of Completion.

Now that all states have reciprocal agreements in place, The National Alliance no longer issues nonresident CE Certificates of Completion.

Reciprocal licensing statutes is one of the numerous requirements established by the passage of the 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. NAIC’s Uniform Producer Licensing Act defines Continuing Education reciprocity in Section 16.c: “A nonresident producer’s satisfaction of his or her home state’s continuing education requirements for licensed insurance producers shall constitute satisfaction of the (nonresident) state’s continuing edu34

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cation requirements if the nonresident producer’s home state recognizes the satisfaction of its continuing education requirements imposed upon producers from the (nonresident) state on the same basis.”

In other words, the producer’s (licensed agent’s) nonresident state agrees to accept an insurance producer’s satisfaction of his/ her home state’s continuing education requirement for the satisfaction of the nonresident CE requirement. Reciprocity exists because the resident state also recognizes the satisfaction of CE requirements from other states.

If producers are in compliance with their resident state’s CE requirements, they simply request a Letter of Certification from the state Department of Insurance where

Does it seem like your education budget doesn’t stretch as far as it used to?

Could your agency use an overall boost in professionalism?

Are travel expenses limiting the number of personnel gaining advanced education?

Did you check off any of the above? For training where and when you want it— the way you want it done—contact us now to bring in-house CIC institutes to your agency in 2003:

800-633-2165 www.scic.com These popular National Alliance programs are also available in-house: CISR courses • CRM courses • Dynamics of Service • Dynamics of Selling • Producer School

they reside. To assure compliance, producers must submit the home-state certification letter to states where they hold nonresident licenses. It is no longer necessary to pay state reporting fees to The National Alliance for nonresident state licensee requirements.

Below are the answers to the crossword puzzle on page 29.

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r a t 5 d e 6b r 10 m o a 12 13 i n d a m e d

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b u r g l a r y a 3 4 v r s 7 a e p r i s 8 c p r o d u c 11 a o s l p n r p i 14 c c i r e c t y i c y n 15 n i m s 16 a g g r e g a t u l r r 17 p r e m i u e n d 18 a g r e e

t

e m d

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s u b r o

sional applications are due December 1, March 1, and September 1. Applications and more information are available at www.naiw-foundation.org. Professionals can seek support to pursue all designations, courses, or degrees, including CIC, CISR, and CRM. In all, more than 210 scholarships totaling in excess of $200,000 have been awarded by the Foundation in nine years. Financial support is just one piece of the overall impact of the scholarship program. Through these industry outreach opportunities, a pipeline to the talented and motivated in the profession is being established.

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he true power of partnerships comes from the knowledge that by working together we can generally accomplish more than any of us can individually.

The ongoing partnership between the National Association of Insurance Women (NAIW) and The National Alliance is a great example of the positive results that can be realized through collaboration and affiliations within our industry. These two organizations are allies in pursuit of a common goal: to advance the insurance professional’s career through education.

Over this past year, NAIW and The National Alliance have expanded their relationship by implementing a wide range of joint efforts, extending our services, and exploring new possibilities for the practicing insurance professional. Our motivation and hope: To encourage the development of future industry leaders.

We’re Linked!

A quick journey on the Internet—specifically www.naiw.org and www.scic.com— reveals a series of helpful links. From The National Alliance Home Page, our “Links” leads to Insurer/Insurance Organizations, where you can select NAIW. From their Home Page, the “Education” link opens access to National Alliance Academy Publications, which downloads our “Get the Facts” brochure, describing all of our publications. From the “Education” link, you can also download the Outstanding CSR of the Year Award nomination form. We are well represented on NAIW’s site index, with CIC and CISR

Scholarship applications, National Alliance Academy Publications, and Outstanding CSR of the Year listings. You will also find a link to the NAIW Education Foundation’s site, www.naiw-foundation.org, on the NAIW site.

Look for CISR Course at NAIW National Convention The 62nd Annual NAIW Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, June 11-14, 2003, will be the venue for this first-time offering of the CISR Agency Operations Course. Two, one-half-day segments will be conducted on June 12 and 13. This special opportunity, available to all NAIW members, is approved for state CE credit.

NAIW conventions are historically dynamic, well-attended events, so mark your calendars!

The NAIW Foundation— Investing in the Future The NAIW Education Foundation is a separate 501(c)3 organization established

by NAIW in 1993 and governed by a separate volunteer board of directors composed of members and industry leaders.

The Foundation’s funding comes from individual, non-profit industry groups and industry-related businesses. Its stated mission is: “Promoting excellence in the insurance industry by underwriting the education of its current and future employees.” The foundation gives college scholarships once a year and professional scholarships three times a year. Profes-

Next deadline for NAIW Foundation Professional Scholarships: March 1, 2003.

A Helping Hand— NAIW CIC/CISR Scholarships National NAIW’s 350 local associations, 50 state councils, and nine regions make a variety of scholarships available to the insurance and risk management industries, in addition to those offered by the NAIW Education Foundation. You can learn more about the scholarships available for the CISR, CRM, and CIC programs by contacting a local NAIW association in your area. To locate a NAIW association near you, visit the NAIW Web site at www.naiw.org.

In 2002 alone, the Societies of CIC and CISR presented 20 scholarships to NAIW members. These scholarships were awarded at a recognition luncheon at NAIW’s annual convention, held this past spring in Anchorage, Alaska. Each scholarship grants full tuition to one program conducted by The National Alliance.

Through our joint efforts, over $5,000 in scholarships were awarded this year, and we hope to exceed that amount in 2003.

The NAIW Foundation also awards CIC and CISR scholarships throughout the year to NAIW and non-NAIW members, giving more opportunities for professionals to seek these designations and fulfill our mutual goal—promoting excellence through education to the entire industry.

Sharing a Common Purpose...

With education as our common bond and bridge to the community of insurance professionals, The National Alliance and NAIW are helping to shape the future of the profession together, providing a network of support for developing career skills and professionalism, and understanding the world (and market!) we work in. ■

Resources 2002–2003 ResourcesWinter Winter 2002–2003 3535

A day on the mountain, a night on the town.

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ith its proximity to the Rocky Mountains, temperate climate, and an abundance of entertainment options, Denver, Colorado is a favorite place to hold major events throughout the year. That’s why we bring the March MEGA here every year, along with a dazzling variety of topic choices and a host of new subjects to sink your teeth into.

It will be a week jam-packed with educational AND recreational opportunities.

Highlights This seminar will include property and casualty coverages, plus life and health and agency management subjects. And this is the first opportunity to debut the timely risk management topics you’ve been requesting.

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Construction Defect & Mold Liability

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Indemnity & Contract Reviews

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Claims Mitigation: advanced/effective techniques to control and reduce claims costs and promote prompt resolutions

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Guidelines & Considerations for Selecting TPAs

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Crisis Mitigation

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Product Liability

So many choices ...

There will be subjects here for every specialization and experience level, with notto-be-missed presentations by the best in the business. Create a custom 20-hour (or more!) package for your personal and professional growth. Look over the MEGAgenda for the topics that specifically speak to your needs from this multitude of options. Too many choices? Can’t decide?

It’s a wonderful dilemma to have.

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Total ticket: $365 One price fits all! You can attend as many sessions beyond 20 hours as you wish, at no extra cost. The time is yours, so schedule it your way.

MEGA participants who just happen to be skiers or snowboarders can be on the slopes of one of Colorado’s famed ski resorts in less than two hours. And there are many other opportunities for entertainment: Denver actively supports the arts with a fullrange of cultural attractions, including the Denver Center for Performing Arts Complex (one of the best in the country). Plus, Colorado is well represented in the professional sports arena—The Broncos! The Avalanche! The Nuggets! The Rockies!

Check ahead to see who’s playing.

Hotel Information The Westin in Westminster is just 15 minutes from both downtown Denver and Boulder, and 30 minutes from Denver International Airport. The Hotel is the centerpiece of the Westminster Promenade, consisting of nine restaurants, three ice skating rinks, 24 cinemas, and the Butterfly Pavilion. With an indoor heated pool, fitness center, jogging and bike trails, and complimentary shuttle to FlatIron Crossing, Westminster Mall, and Interlocken Business Park...everything you need is right here.

For room reservations, call the Westin at 303/410-5000. Room rate: $129 single/ double. Cut-off date: February 13, 2003 .

The Denver MEGAgenda Monday, March 10

Wednesday, March 12

7:30 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.

Registration with coffee and rolls

7:30 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.

Coffee and rolls

8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

8:00 a.m.␣ – 12:00 p.m.

CONCURRENT SESSIONS: 1 Commercial Crime Coverages

CONCURRENT SESSIONS: 11 Business Income Hands-On

R. Bryan Tilden, CIC, CPCU, CLU, ChFC, ARM, ALCM Tilden & Associates Pittsboro, North Carolina

2 Directors and Officers Liability Marjorie L. Segale, CIC, RPLU, CISR, ACSR Insurance Skills Center, Inc. Huntington Beach, California

12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.

Lunch—on your own 1:15 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.

CONCURRENT SESSIONS: 3 Leased Properties Exposures R. Bryan Tilden, CIC, CPCU, CLU, ChFC, ARM, ALCM

4 Products Liability, Recall and More Marjorie L. Segale, CIC, RPLU, CISR, ACSR

5:15 p.m. – 5:45 p.m.

Hospitality—The Westin Westminster

Tuesday, March 11 7:30 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.

Coffee and rolls 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

CONCURRENT SESSIONS: 5 Advanced Inland Marine R. Bryan Tilden, CIC, CPCU, CLU, ChFC, ARM, ALCM

1:15 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.

15 Advanced Internet Selling Techniques

CONCURRENT SESSIONS: 20 Annuities

Stephen C. Anderson, CIC

16 Product Liability

Richard L. Goolsby, CIC

21 Employment Law Exposures and Insurance Case Study

Lance J. Ewing, CRM, ARM

5:15 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Reception

Laurie A. Zangwill-Infantino, CIC, CISR, ACSR Insurance Skills Center, Inc. Huntington Beach, California

Ian R. Greenway, CIC LIG Marine Managers Saint Petersburg, Florida

Thursday, March 13

22 Guidelines & Considerations for Selecting TPAs

7:30 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.

Coffee and rolls

12 Crisis Mitigation Lance J. Ewing, CRM, ARM Park Place Entertainment Las Vegas, Nevada

Don H. Donaldson, CIC, CRM, RPA

8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Friday, March 14

CONCURRENT SESSIONS: 17 Claims Mitigation

13 Innovations in Agency Automation

7:30 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.

Coffee and rolls

Don H. Donaldson, CIC, CRM, RPA L. A. Group, Inc. Lindale, Texas

Stephen C. Anderson, CIC American Insurance Consultants Franklin, Tennessee

8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

18 Medicare, Medicare Supplements, and Long-Term Care

12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.

Lunch—on your own

Richard L. Goolsby, CIC Goolsby Insurance Agency, Inc. Milford, Ohio

1:15 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.

CONCURRENT SESSIONS 14 Ten Most Misunderstood Areas of Property Insurance

19 Workers Compensation Practical Alternatives Patrick A. Deem, Sr., CIC

Laurie A. Zangwill-Infantino, CIC, CISR, ACSR

CONCURRENT SESSIONS: 23 Agency Financial Analysis & Budgeting William C. Toll, CIC The National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research Austin, Texas

24 Navigating the Global Marketplace Ian R. Greenway, CIC

12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.

Lunch—on your own

12:00 p.m.

Adjournment

Denver MEGA Registration Form Please Type or Print SS# __________________________________________________________________________________________ Name ■ Mr. ■ Ms. ___________________________________________ Designation(s) _______________

6 Construction Defect Liability— A Risk Manager’s Perspective

Agency/Company ______________________________________________________________________________

Robert J. Marshburn, CIC, CRM, ARM R. J. Marshburn & Associates Huntington Beach, California

new address.

Address ______________________________________________________________________________________

7 Successful Retirement Planning— Qualified Pension and Profit Sharing Plans Robert J. Rogers, CLU, ChFC MetLife Houston, Texas

12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.

Lunch—on your own 1:15 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.

CONCURRENT SESSIONS: 8 Advanced Life and Disability Insurance Issues Relating to Business Owners—Part 1 Robert J. Rogers, CLU, ChFC

9 Contracts as a Risk Management Tool

Check box if

City/State/Zip _________________________________________________________________________________ Phone ( ________ ) ______________________________ FAX ( _________ ) ____________________________ Payment Method: ■ Check ■ VISA ■ MasterCard ■ AMEX This card is: ■ Corporate ■ Personal Card Number _________________________________________________________

Signature _____________________________________________________________________________________ Please study the seminar agenda on this page and indicate below the section numbers of the topics you plan to attend. Your choices will not be considered final, but this tentative information will greatly assist the Society in the coordination of materials and personnel for this unique seminar. Thank you.

MONDAY, Mar. 10

TUESDAY, Mar. 11

(7:30 a.m. registration)

(7:30 a.m. registration)

(7:30 a.m. registration)

WEDNESDAY, Mar. 12

THURSDAY, Mar. 13

FRIDAY, Mar. 14

A.M.

A.M.

A.M.

A.M.

A.M.

P.M.

P.M.

P.M.

P.M.

12:00 Noon Seminar Ends

Robert J. Marshburn, CIC, CRM, ARM

10 Employment-Related Practices Patrick A. Deem, Sr., CIC PADSR, Inc. Austin, Texas

5:15 p.m. – 5:45 p.m.

Hospitality—The Westin Westminster

The National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses. Complaints regarding sponsors may be addressed to NASBA; 150 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 700; Nashville, TN 37219-2417; 615/880-4200.

Exp. Date ____________

General Information Registration Fee: $365* per person. The fee includes materials and reception for participant. All participants must present photo identification to the on-site registrar at the program.

Cancellation Fee: Cancellations received within 7 calendar days of a program will incur a $75 fee. If you do not cancel and do not attend the program, you will incur a $125 fee. The balance of the registration fee may be refunded or transferred to another course. You may substitute an eligible person for the same event anytime at no charge with notification prior to the course. * You must be a dues-paid member of the Society of CIC or Certified Risk Managers International to attend a Ruble seminar and receive credit for the CIC or CRM continuing education requirement. The annual dues are $70.

In accordance with Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, we invite all registrants to advise us of any disability. Please submit your request as far as possible in advance of the program you wish to attend.

Please make payment to: Society of CIC

•

P. O. Box 27027

•

Austin, TX 78755-2027

•

800/633-2165

Resources Winter 2002–2003

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IIA of Arkansas Conducts CIC & CISR; Roland Julian Heads Up Association

Gage Joins Agency in Greenville

Roland W. Julian, CIC, CLU, ChFC, owner in the Rogers Insurance Agency of Rogers, Arkansas, has been elected president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Arkansas, our new association partner. The IIA of Arkansas conducted its first CIC institute December 4-7, 2002, and the first CISR course will be held January 28, 2003 (both in Little Rock). Executive vice president Kelley Erstine and director of member and industry relations Paula Allen will work closely with Julian to meet the educational needs of the insurance community in Arkansas. News Release

Robert Gage Jr., CIC, has joined The Turner Agency Inc. in Greenville, South Carolina, where he offers services in the areas of property/ liability insurance and employee benefits.

Gage has 24 years experience in the field and will serve as president of the Piedmont Association of Health Underwriters for 2002-03.

The Greenville News, GSA Business Journal

All-State Presents Award to David Evans David M. Evans, CIC, president of Hopmeier-Evans-Gage Agency in Schenectady, received the “Distinguished Agent of New York Award” from the All-State Insurance Company at its annual conference in Bolton Landing. Business Review

Peninsula Insurance Marketing Rep Receives Honors G. Baxter Barger, CIC, marketing representative and commercial engineer of The Peninsula Insurance Company, was named the “Outstanding Company Representative of the Year” during the awards banquet held by the PIA Assoc. of Virginia and the District of Columbia PIA. It is the highest honor PIA can give to an insurance company employee. The News— Virginian, The Daily News Leader

Messer Named President of SAFECO National Advisory Council

PIANJ Honors Industry’s Best Paul Monacelli, CIC, CPIA, of ADP/Statewide Insurance Agencies, Inc., in Morristown, New Jersey, was honored as the “Professional Agent of the Year” at the PIA of New Jersey’s annual conference. More than 1,260 insurance professionals attended the PIANY/PIANJ conference. Another CIC, Coryn Mastowski of Jimcor Agencies, received the “Young Insurance Professional of the Year” award. Professional Insurance Agents-New Jersey Edition

Paul Monacelli

Coryn Mastowski

MAIW Elects Walbridge Glynnis Walbridge, CISR, CPIW, with the Rodman Insurance Agency in Needham, Massachusetts, was named to the post of second vice president of the Massachusetts Assoc. of Insurance Women (MAIW). The Standard 38

Resources Winter 2002–2003

Beverly A. Messer, CIC, CPIW, co-owner of HIA Hammond Insurance in Schererville, Indiana, was elected by her peers to serve as president of SAFECO’s National Advisory Council. The national agent group, representing more than 6,000 independent insurance agencies nationwide, helps SAFECO and agents improve communication, resolve concerns, and create new business opportunities. Messer has been an instructor for the Societies of CIC and CISR. News Release

Indiana Agency Promotes Lisa Kite Gibson Insurance Group of South Bend, Indiana, announced the promotion of Lisa I. Kite, CIC, to client services coordinator of the personal insurance division. She had worked 14 years in the insurance industry in both commercial and personal lines when she joined the company in 1998. Tribune Business Weekly

Election Results: CICs Selected for Top Association Posts Greater Fall River Insurance Agents Association President: Jason M. Rua, CIC, LIA, Giroux-Audet-Rua Ins. Agency Inc.; Secretary: Michelle A. Vezina, CIC, R.A. Dumont Insurance Agency Inc.; Immediate Past President: Paul C. Burke, CIC, Insurit Agency, Inc. Independent Insurance Agents of Mississippi (IIAM) President: Scott Palmer, CIC, Palmer Insurance Agency in Forest; President-Elect: Steve Napier, CIC, Hattiesburg Insurance Agency; Vice President: Ray Dixon, CIC, The Bottrell Agency in Jackson; State National Director: Ronnie Tubertini, CIC, SouthGroup Insurance and Financial Services.

To serve on the IIAM Executive Committee: Chuck Beene, CIC, ARM, SouthGroup/Mississippi Insurance Services of Greenville; Bill Bexley, CIC, Vicksburg Insurance Agency; Debbie Shempert, CIC, The Peoples Insurance Agency in Tupelo.

Professional Insurance Agents of Connecticut President-Elect: Robert Gyle, IV, CIC, commercial account manager for Davidson Insurance Services in Danbury; Vice President: Jeffrey Parmenter, CIC, CPCU, ARM, principal with S.H. Smith & Co., Inc., in West Hartford; Secretary: Michael Krause, CIC, vice president of Anderson-Krause in Branford.

Carolina Agents Honor Doehm At the IIA Young Agents conference, the “Company of the Year” award went to David Doehm, CIC, CPCU, AMIM, AFSB of Travelers Insurance in Charlotte, North Carolina. Carolina Agents Journal

Professional Insurance Agents of New Hampshire Inc. (PIANH) President: Robert Wieczorek, CIC, president of Wieczorek Insurance Inc., in Manchester; Vice President: Scott Brown, CIC, owner of the Paige Insurance Agency in Pittsfield; Secretary/ Treasurer: Linda Rice, CIC, CPIW, AAI, AIS, vice president of McCrillis & Eldredge in New London.

Re-elected to two-year terms: Lynda Cutts, CIC, AAI, CPIW, commercial lines manager of Kapiloff Insurance Agency in Keene, NH; Thomas O’Dowd, CIC, president of J. Clifton Avery Agency in Wolfe-boro.

Elected to serve for first time: Judy George, CIC, vice president of Lakeside Insurance Agency in Windham; Stanley Pollack, CIC, owner of Pollack Insurance Agency in Londonderry.

Professional Insurance Agents of Tennessee President: Doron L. Claiborne, CIC, CPIA, Farmers Brothers Insurance; President-Elect: Roger L. (Lee) Smith, CIC, Roger Smith Insurance Agency; Vice President: M. Britt Linder, CIC, Peterson Insurance Services; Secretary: Linda Thearp, CIC, Valley Insurance Services; Treasurer: George Hilliard, CIC, CPIA, Pete Mitchell & Associates.

Professional Insurance Agents of New Jersey Immediate Past President: Steven A. Reichman, CIC, executive vice president of NIA Group; Re-elected Vice President: John D’Agostino, CIC, vice president of D’Agostino Agency in Hammonton; and Secretary/Treasurer: Louis Beckerman, CIC, CPCU, president of Beckerman & Co., in Colonia.

L.P. McCord Education Award Goes to Alabama—Again!

The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA) presented just two state associations with the L.P. McCord National Education Award, recognizing the commitment of the Alabama IIA in the “More Than 250 Members” category. Victor McCarley, CIC, the a s s o c i a t i o n ’s director of education and technical affairs, accepted the award on behalf of Alabama’s agents. This is their seventh L.P. McCord Award. Congratulations to Victor McCarley and Lauren Mashburn, AIIA’s education coordinator. News Release

PIA of Georgia Bestows Honors James A. Lambert, CIC, of Allen & Lambert, Inc., located in Macon, Georgia, was selected as PIA of Georgia’s 2002 “Agent of the Year.” He currently holds the office of vice president of the PIA of Georgia.

Ellis B. Keefer Jr., CIC, was honored as the 2002 “Company Representative of the Year.” A 35+-year veteran of the insurance industry, Keefer is with the Columbia Insurance Group in Atlanta. Both awards were presented at the association’s annual agents’ convention during the closing banquet. PIA Newslink

James A. Lambert

Ellis B. Keefer, Jr.

Have You Been “In the News” Lately?

To submit items for editorial consideration, send article with picture to: The National Alliance/Resources P.O. Box 27027 Austin, TX 78755-2027

Resources Winter 2002–2003

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SM

Certified Risk Managers

W

ish You

Were Here?

Photo by Larry Bugen

You Can Be‌

Principles of Risk Management San Juan, Puerto Rico March 12-15, 2003 You won’t find a better time or place under the sun to fulfill your update or take the next step toward your CRM designation.

For those in the CIC Program: You may substitute one CRM course for one CIC institute to earn the CIC designation.

Contact us today!

Street Address: 3630 North Hills Drive, Austin, Texas 78731 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 27027, Austin, Texas 78755-2027

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