Risk & Business

Recently, I read an article concerning a woman who fraudulently collected $27K in insurance payments. It seems that between 2007 and 2012, over $ 60K in fake claims were submitted to insurance companies. These incidents are not rare and have presented a problem for the insurance industry for decades. Fraud is one of the leading causes for higher insurance rates and increased scrutiny when it comes to new insurance policies. I'm not sure what the solution may be when it comes to reducing these incidents. One thing is for certain though, as long as insurance fraud continues, insurance rates will climb. Well until next time, be careful out there and know your risk. G. Kevin Nemith President, CNC Insurance Associates Proudly serving Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. www.cncinsurance.com www.bizinsurancetv.com

Insurers Of Crops Seeing Worst Underwriting Year Since 1988 For insurers  2012 was the worst drought in the mid-west in 25 years. For some states, 2012 was record breaking. Extended hot and dry periods that had not been experienced since the mid 1930's. Even now, as we begin 2013 spring and summer, the outlook is still to early to tell. With farmers delaying planting and conditions not improving, insurers are anticipating high claims once again. Claims that will be without a doubt, into the billions of dollars. As for insurers, I'm sure I speak for the majority when I say 2012 was not the best of years when it comes to claims. Well, until next time, be careful out there and know your risks. G. Kevin Nemith President, CNC Insurance Associates Proudly serving Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. www.cncinsurance.com www.bizinsurancetv.com

I just got back from a company meet and greet and had a chance to talk with some of my peer agents and brokers in Delaware. I was amazed to find out in conversations with them , that many of their clients still do not have their flood claims settled after super storm Sandy. Delaware was extremely fortunate as we were spared the wrath of the storm, but some flooding damage did occur. The Federal flood program is obviously not up to par like the rest of the insurance industry I also did some research and found that many of the flood claims in NJ & NY are still open. This is totally against best practices, as policy holders deserve quicker claim pay outs. I am not sure the fate of the Federal Flood program but privatizing it may be the right choice. The rest of the insurance industry responded favorably and has paid out and settled most of the claims. The flood settlements are still problematic and may force a re-evaluation of the whole program in the near future. Until next time be c

What is "Crowd Funding" and what does it mean for small businesses? Crowd funding isn't a new concept by any means but with the development of social media and networking, it has become a very popular way to raise investment funding. Most crowd funding centers around a concept, product, or idea that people feel so strongly about they donate funds or capital. For small businesses, it allows them to kick start their company much faster. Allowing businesses to keep there start up costs and overhead down dramatically. However, there are risks. Growth can happen too quickly, before all of the business infrastructures are in place. In addition there is no regulation on this fund raising concept. Some would say without those regulatory measure in place, the ability to commit fraud is greater. It remains to be seen if the good out weighs the bad when it comes to crowd funding. I guess it will depend on which side of the fence you're on. Until next time, be careful out there a