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The only call you need to make! At Keating, our professional and experienced staff is equipped with nationwide product knowledge, long-term company relationships and workers' compensation expertise that is second to none in the wholesale market. Our results oriented focus is to find you the best market available for all of your workers' compensation clients while at the same time providing you with a world class level of service. Keating has made it a point to represent carriers that are rated "A" or better by A.M. Best. With these carriers we can provide coverage for hundreds of classes of business including, but not limited to, Auto Service, Contractors, Healthcare, Hospitality, Manufacturing, Trucking and many more. We also have Specialty Programs for Medical Temp-Staffing, Social Services, Non-Emergency Transportation and Visiting Nurses. You and your clients will benefit from Keating's long-term relationships, results-focused staff and unmatched level of service!

Sample Overtime Authorization Policy For Non-Exempt Employees
If you are a non-exempt employee, you may be qualified for overtime. All overtime must be approved of in writing by your supervisor. Please request an overtime authorization form. At certain times the company may require you to work overtime. The company will attempt to give as much notice as possible in this instance. However, advance notice may not always be possible. Failure to work overtime when requested may result in discipline, up to and including discharge. Overtime is defined as [any hours worked over eight hours in one day], more than forty hours in one week, or any hours worked on the seventh day worked in one week. When the previous parameters are met, overtime is paid at one and one-half times the regular hourly rate. If you work more than twelve hours in one day or more than eight hours on the seventh working day then you will be paid two times your regular hourly rate for those additional hours. Holidays, vacations days, and sick leave days do not count as time worked for computing overtime.

E&O Claims: Training/Remediation After The Error Or Omission!
If an error or omission occurs, you can't undo it. You can take action to prevent similar incidents in the future, though. An examination of the incident can reveal areas that need your attention. After an incident takes place, you need to ask these questions: Were agency procedures and policies followed? Was everything about the incident properly documented? Were insurance company underwriting guidelines and binding authority guidelines followed? Did the employee (producer or support person) exceed their authority? Did the insurance company perform its responsibilities properly? If it didn't and the agency was aware of this, did the agency bring it to the company's attention? If it turns out that the agency does have some responsibility for the error or omission, even if to a very small extent, training and remedial action are in order. With that in mind, let's look at each question. Were agency procedures and policies followed? It's part of every employee's job to follow agency procedures and policies; whether they do is part of their performance evaluation. If employee adherence to stated policy isn't being enforced, you need to find out why. And the reason might not be clear-cut. For example, most successful agencies today are automated, and most agency systems are activity driven. This means processing is recorded not only by entering file information in the system, but also by entering an activity that creates a follow-up and allows management to count activity, follow up when needed, and document that something was done. Some agencies use a thousand or more activities. For an agency using hundreds of activities, managing consistency and continuity is a problem. How can you expect your staff to decide which ones to use? Different employees can use different activities to perform the same transaction. Reducing the number of activities your agency uses and making consistency a management priority and a clearly defined performance criteria will do a lot to reduce E&O problems. Evaluate the activities your agency uses and cut down to 100 or fewer. Most CSRs probably use about 25 activities about 95% of the time. As much as you can, you should also use form letters that can be amended. Be sure to have standardized amendments for use in specific circumstances. Communication is another area where you can take steps to prevent errors and omissions. For example, consider having an agency policy of 'once and done' - when a client calls about a service matter, have the CSR bring up the client's computer file and handle the transaction on the system while speaking to the client. The CSR can generate a binder, change form, or other document immediately and fax it to the client and the company at the same time. There are more possibilities. Some companies enable you to go online and handle the transaction immediately. If you use a company service center, find out whether it's possible to arrange to transfer calls directly to the company's 800 number. If you had to go to court today on an E&O matter, it's very unlikely that you'd use a combination of paper files and computer system files. It would be one or the other - so if you still use paper files along with system files, you need to transition to system files only. That's an agency planning agenda item. A dual filing system is an E&O just waiting to happen, because it's almost impossible for a paper file and its computer counterpart to be identical at any given time. An agency that still uses a dual file system probably won't be around much longer. As expenses rise, commissions drop and carriers are forced to cut expenses. You need to use your resources to their utmost and eliminate redundant activity. Scanning, or imaging technology, and computer storage capacity have improved dramatically while costs have dropped, making this technology very practical for an agency. There are long-term benefits in improved productivity and space savings. Scanning lets you finally eliminate paper client files. Even if you do so and go to transactional filing (TF), you'll be able to scan many original documents into your system and put the remainder into transactional files. TF is good for such things as bulky agency copies of policies and legal filing on claims, which are date filed in a file folder for that specific date, with an activity indicated in the computer system client file, indicating where it is located. You'll seldom access most of the documents, but you can retrieve them quickly as needed, along with everything else in the computer client file. Was everything about the incident properly documented? Issuing a binder to a client, which is not within agency binding authority, and noting in the file, 'called John at XYZ Co. and he OK'd binding' isn't sufficient documentation. You need to follow up the call with a written communication to John confirming your understanding and including a copy of the binder. You could also ask John to acknowledge in writing or e-mail that he authorized you to bind and under what circumstances. If a claim is involved, determine whether the agency file is properly documented and whether the agency representative followed company directions in reporting the claim. For example, your client sends you a legal complaint indicating that they're being sued. The company will want the suit papers by fax or overnight courier. If the company doesn't have written guidelines, call the company claim department and request instructions in writing. If the company requires the client to report the claim directly to its claim department, the agency should tell the client how to report it. Proper documentation does not include a handwritten, undated, unsigned note in the file saying the client called to report a claim and that it was reported to the company. An ACORD claim report or a communication to the client instructing them how to report the claim, stored in the system or in a paper file; is proper documentation. The key to documentation is to leave a trail of activity - dated, signed, and clearly stated - to the company, the client, and/or any other involved parties. Were insurance company underwriting guidelines and binding authority guidelines followed? Recognize that insurance companies have many ways of communicating authority: contract language, published underwriting selection guides, bulletins and directives, manuals, or a combination of these. Often there are no similarities between a company's Commercial Lines and Personal Lines because they're separate, autonomous divisions of the company. Some companies have simplified the application process by creating prompts in the automation system that stop the process when the risk doesn't meet the system profile requirements. Normally there are instructions on what step to take to qualify the risk. Many companies use booklets for BOPs that profile each risk category and give guidelines for each. They are especially good if they can be accessed on the system. It's important to communicate company binding and underwriting authority guidelines to staff and producers who have any binding authority. Also, the guidelines need to be readily available. When the company notifies your agency of any changes, inform all staff members of the changes. Did the employee (producer or support person) exceed their authority? For example, suppose an agency has claim draft authority for certain types of claims with a limited dollar amount so it can handle glass, road service, or other small property amounts. A producer gets a call after hours from a client who has a claim and requests that it be paid under agency draft authority. It's an important client, so the producer slightly misrepresents the nature of the claim so it can be paid. A year later the client has a very similar claim but for a much higher amount, so the claim must be reported to the company. The company properly denies the claim, and the insured questions the denial - the company paid one just like it a year earlier, so why is this one being denied? The producer had no authority to take the action. They have placed the agency in a difficult situation and may also have to deal with an ethics violation. This could have been prevented in a number of ways: The producer could have called the company, explained the situation, and asked for an exception, then informed the insured in writing that this was an exception and that a further like claim wouldn't be covered. The agency could have decided to pay the claim and advised the client that this was what they were doing and that a further like claim most likely wouldn't be covered. The agency could have reported the claim to the company or denied it when it was reported. You could apply the same criteria to many different situations within the agency. It's important to remember that your relationship with your insurance carrier is a contractual one and must be treated accordingly. A situation like the example should alert an agency of the need to tighten up controls and emphasize propriety issues with the staff. Did the insurance company perform its responsibilities properly? If it didn't and the agency was aware of this, did the agency bring it to the company's attention? This can be somewhat of a paradox. The agency and the client may perceive that the company didn't meet its responsibilities even though the company has done everything according to the contract or the law. The company may have fulfilled its responsibilities but didn't communicate well with everyone involved. Insurance companies do make mistakes. When they do and the agency knows it, the agency should communicate the facts to the company. The agency should also inform the client so they know they have an advocate. In a claim situation, the adjuster and the client may have a personality conflict. The agency can't get involved in the claim adjustment process, but it can act as a go-between to try to smooth things out between the client and the adjuster. Sometimes there's a fine line between interfering and trying to help. This too can be a matter of perception. Take a well-informed, sensitive approach as you objectively convey the facts to everyone involved. If the person at the company isn't being reasonable, it's appropriate to tell them how you see it and say you'd like to discuss the matter with their supervisor. If it's the client who's being unreasonable, you need to diplomatically explain things to them. If you don't address these predicaments, your agency can be brought into a lawsuit and might have to make a claim to your E&O carrier. Objectively handling the issue may keep you from being painted with the same brush as the insurance company and keep you out of court. Don't procrastinate when a problem arises. Major problems grow because no one does anything productive about them when they're still small and the insured comes to perceive that their agency isn't interested in helping them. Asking yourself these five questions should help you: Be sure agency procedures and policies are clear and concise, and communicate them to agency staff regularly. Not following the directives is a job performance issue meriting training or due-process discipline. If an employee's infraction is serious or a repeat of a minor offense, you may want to put them on probation and document their personnel file accordingly. There's no excuse for improper documentation! Correct documentation is sometimes easier to maintain in a paperless office than in an agency that uses paper or dual files. As with agency policies and procedures, you can correct employee lapses in documentation with training, discipline or probation. Agencies are contractually obliged to adhere to insurance company underwriting guidelines and binding authority. The agency is responsible for informing staff members of these obligations and making them accountable for meeting them. When the process breaks down, training, discipline and or probation may be proper. An employee who places the agency in a difficult position by overstepping their authority is subject to training, discipline and or probation. If the insurance company hasn't performed properly, agency management should contact the company and make them aware of the facts. It may even be necessary for agency management to discuss the situation with company management. This will give the company an opportunity to address the problem and perhaps take steps to prevent similar problems in the future. You have to deal with the situation as it exists in an E&O case, but what you do afterward is very important in future E&O incidents. Remediation actions can have a positive long-range effect on an agency. A good remediation/training effort will make it clear to all concerned that you take E&O loss prevention seriously. Taking responsibility for improper or careless actions in an expeditious, ethical way will speak volumes about the culture of the agency you operate.