Risk & Business

So, you have to submit a claim on your business insurance. You call your insurance agent and or company and go through the process of getting your claim resolved. Depending on the type and the size, this process can be quick or it can be drawn out. Sometimes it is a pleasant experience and sometimes it is not. I do feel that the industry tries to make the claim experience with their policyholders a good one, but the insurance contract is complicated and it can cause tension between you and the insurance company. Most of the time claims are paid and you are able to move on to get back to business as usual. This is where we start the conversation about reserves. What is a reserve?  A reserve is a sum of money that the insurance company adds to the total claim paid out just in case more has to be paid later. These added amounts can increase rates as they are counted when determining the loss ratio of a business. Many times these amounts will be held against policyholders years after t...

Many business owners do not know that their general liability policy will cover for libel, slander, copyright infringement, and defamation. Here are some examples. In the course of business you may have a claim from a competitor that accuses you of libel or slander.  This usually happens in competing for sales or bringing on new customers. Another  company in a similiar industry as you, may feel that your business ad slogan  or marketing campaign, is a violation of their copyright or their "trade dress" and this could initiate a lawsuit.  Now add social media and the ease of posting on the internet, and this risk has gone to a whole new level. The general liability policy covers these claims under Personal Injury and Advertising. This coverage is in Part B of the general liability insurance policy. Limits of insurance for this coverage usually match the bodily injury and property damage coverage of Part A, which is the liability coverage most everyone is familiar wi...

I have been in the insurance business as an agent for over 23 years. As long as I can remember, so called experts have been predicting the demise of the insurance agent. Now in 2017 this cry of extinction is louder than ever. They even have a word for it, "disintermediation", or in layman terms, "replacing the middle man". The thought is that technology will make buying insurance so easy and uncomplicated that insurance companies can go directly to the customer and by-pass the need to use agents as their selling arm. The advancement of this technology will allow customers to buy insurance anytime , anywhere, and for any risk, in real time. Now I think this actually may be happening. Websites that I have seen from some very sophisticated insurance companies, make buying insurance look like buying anything else online. However, when it comes to insurance,    the real issue is after the sale. The insurance contract is just that a "contract", and a complicated...

The Delaware legislature just passed a new bill that would prohibit insurance companies form using certain aspects of credit scoring when pricing auto insurance. For many years the insurance industry has used credit based scoring to determine rates. Many jurisdictions have questioned the validity of this practice and few have even called it discriminatory. Now, in Delaware , insurance companies will no longer be able to apply certain credit scoring parameters to their insurance auto rates. C redit based scoring on income, gender, education, address, race, ethic group, marital status, etc. is now prohibited. In addition the insurance companies cannot cancel or non renew due to lack of credit information or credit worthiness.  Consumer groups are applauding this measure, however, this may be a future problem for the auto insurance marketplace in Delaware.  Insurance companies are reeling with increasing claims in auto and the profits in this line of insurance is dropping na...