Risk & Business

NAHRAB II is still sitting on the shelf in Congress. The modern insurance agency licensing bill, that could easily help agents and consumers alike , has yet to be passed. The bill would allow one license for agents and full reciprocity from States, so multistate insurance needs can easily be handled. Currently, agents must individual licenses in each of the states it needs to write coverage in.This creates major  expenses for agents and hassles for consumers. The house did pass the bill and now the Senate needs to bring it to the floor for a vote. However with all the fiscal problems the country has, insurance licensing is not top priority. Multistate licensing has been on the insurance agents wish list for decades. Lets hope 2014 is finally the year that it happens. Keep your fingers crossed ! Until next time be careful out there and know your risks. G. Kevin Nemith President CNC Insurance Associates Inc. and the Small Business Insurance Center Serving DE, MD, PA, NJ, & VA...

I know this blog post may be jumping the gun a little, but the use of drones will cause some real insurance issues. Now we may be some years away but drones are going to be used in commerce and in business. So how will the insurance industry respond.  Are they insured like autos? Are they covered like property, or airplanes ? What about the liability issues when the drones go rogue or the operators make errors. Can you imagine driving to work and being hit by a wayward drone making a delivery?  What about a competitor using a drone to spy on your best customers and collect data on them. Does this sound out of this world?   Get ready insurance industry, here come the drones ! G. Kevin Nemith, President of CNC Insurance Associates Inc. Serving DE, MD, VA, NJ, and PA www.cncinsurance.com www.bizinsurancetv.org

For many who have lived near flood prone areas and have flood insurance, get ready, your costs are going up. Due to the recently passed Biggert-Waters flood reform act, rates are going to be adjusted to more accurately reflect the risk of flood. For many years flood insurance has been under priced. The Federal program has been subsidizing the rates for years which has given people the affordability to build in coastal areas and have coverage. However, as the program struggles financially, congress was forced to pass legislation to make rates more accurate. Unfortunately for many flood policy holders they are having sticker shock as rates have gone up significantly. Will the increase in rates slow down the residential growth in coastal areas? It might. If home owners cannot afford the protection that flood insurance gives them, then they will be less likely to build homes in areas that are prone to flood. Stay tuned to see how this plays out. ...

Well it is a new year and the data theft at Target stores will most likely test the coverage of the commercial general liability policy. To date Target has not announced their insurance coverage but odds are the claims will be sent to the liability policy. Since data theft claims are relatively new in the insurance industry, the history of legal precedents is very thin. The commercial general liability policy has not been tested as might happen in the Target case. Cyber liability policies have been in force to handle data crimes but they too do not have a lot of claims history. So stay tuned to this story as it may completely set the future precedent on how insurance policies respond to data crimes. Until next time be careful out there and know your risks. G. Kevin Nemith  President of CNC Insurance Associates Inc. Serving Delaware, MD, PA, NJ & VA www.cncinsurance.com www.bizinsurancetv.org