Search CompleteMarkets

...you do all the right things. Don't cast your pearls before swine. Save your ef...

... AM by Al Diamond , CompleteMarkets Editor This content has not been rated yet. This solution to the contingencies controversy benefits everybody in sight. In October 2004, New York Attorney-General Elliott Spitzer attacked a few major brokers for garnering significant bonus income outside of their normal revenue stream from contingency commissions, Placement Service Agreements (PSAs), and Market Service Agreements (MSAs) . In the process, he cast suspicion on the incentive compensation model of the entire insurance industry — including independent agency commissions. Attorneys-general and regulators in other states (not to mention the plaintiffs bar) were quick to follow, and file, suit. Contingent arrangements between companies and brokers carry the potential for wrongdoing because brokers work for their clients, not insurance companies. Their job is to shop the markets and to get the ... product and price mix for their clients. Any agreement between a carrier and a broker to provide additional compensation based on volume or placement of broker clients with that carrier might cause the broker to place business with the carrier even if the best interest of the client lay elsewhere. Unfortunately, this holds true even though the broker might have done nothing wrong and placed the coverage in the best place for the client. The anti-contingency campaign has impacted independent P/C agents by expanding the inference of wrongdoing beyond carriers and brokers to the general area of agencies' receiving contingency payments from their carriers in return for placing volume with them. In my opinion, this inference is both incorrect and dangerous! Here's why: Independent agents are agents of the carriers that they represent. Theoretically, they work for ...

...eements (MSAs). In the process, he cast suspicion on the incentive compensati...rs and plaintiff attorneys succeed in casting doubt on the legitimacy of cont...

...ver been offered, selling it might cast suspicion on the producer. Consequentl...agency’s trying to sell them Health coverage the Commercial Lines producer mus...

... that you're good at them. If you're in a nervous state, you might communicate poorly, with little flexibility. It follows that if you could control your state, chances are good that you could control your abilities and outcomes. So how do you control your state? Your physical situation is one factor of your state. Try this — slouch down in your chair, slump your shoulders, cast your eyes down, unfocused, toward your desk. Now quickly, without changing your posture, be overwhelmingly happy! You can't do it! Let's try the opposite approach. Sit up straight in your chair and put a big, goofy smile on your face. Look around. Without changing your posture, be sad. You can't do it, can you? Guess what? This approach ... You have to be so flexible that it's impossible for another person to build up any real resistance. Like an aikido master, you constantly seek to align yourself with the other person's driving force, then use it for better results. WHAT'S YOUR OUTCOME? The first step in becoming flexible is to know your outcome. What do you really want? If you want to sell an executive more Homeowner's coverage, are you prepared to be very flexible in your behavior and communication to achieve that outcome? A common roadblock in this situation is ego. Have you ever thought, That guy was an airhead — he didn't even know what he wanted' or She was so rude she wouldn't even let me ask the necessary questions'? You have to ask yourself, What's my outcome, and how ...

...s in, won’t you?' The die is cast and before long the seasoned player ha...

... your chair, slump your shoulders, cast your eyes down, unfocused, toward your...

... be of much help. However, we know that other agencies in Charlotte were less effective in processing claims than we were, because their principals had not devised efficient emergency procedures. For instance, we assigned specific tasks to individuals, eliminating duplication of effort. Our claims processing people weren't distracted from their work because others were performing tasks that otherwise would have interrupted them. No disaster plan should be cast in stone. It can be-and should be- altered as the situation dictates. The plan may not be finalized until the disaster is history, but it provides a framework to avoid confusion and to get started on the right foot. We feel our agency's disaster plan is loose enough to permit us to function in almost any situation. During the emergency, we maintained strict supervision of agency operations ... up the checklists in flier form and distribute at shopping malls, supermarkets, parking lots, and so on. What to Do Before a Catastrophe 1. Alert police and fire departments to special conditions, such as an invalid who might require emergency evacuation. 2. Prepare an inventory list of personal valuables, household furnishings, and equipment so losses can be authoritatively itemized. 3. Keep your insurance coverage current with rising building replacement costs. Make sure you have enough coverage for the furnishings and other items you've purchased since you first bought insurance. And buy Flood and Earthquake insurance, if you're eligible and vulnerable. 4. Review your insurance policy. Are you sure everything important is covered or did your memory play tricks? Keep it in a safe place where it can be retrieved easily after ...

...ar enough. Women and men should be cast as people, humans- not as beings in op...