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... strategy targets the appropriate company. Although there are some 2,000 P/C carriers nationwide, there are significant differences among them. Licensed companies, non-admitted companies, regional companies, mutuals, stocks, and owner-operators all present opportunities to obtain an appropriate agency-company relationship. Company market knowledge is crucial. Knowing about P/C company purchases benefits a consultant, as does having relationships with top management at the companies. Treaty reinsurance brokers usually aren't good specialty insurance program consultants. Unfortunately, very few consultants have the technical knowledge to market programs. Once the program moves to company technicians, the consultant must negotiate with the underwriters and have the educational qualifications to answer their questions to complete the program with a good market. CASE STUDY Let's consider the placement of a general agency agreement for a hospital malpractice program requiring a $25 million occurrence limit. The first concern is to determine how many companies have the net worth to issue a $25 million gross policy limit before treaty or facultative reinsurance. Understanding this basic marketing strategy could save weeks of market research. Suppose the general agency has already built a favorable relationship with a direct writing reinsurance market. This limits the consultant because the direct writer has determined the terms and conditions of the reinsurance and controls the type of company security required. This could hamper the consultant with excessively stringent reinsurance terms. An effective consultant should have access to markets that use reinsurance intermediaries as their exclusive source of production. The agent is better protected when no one company dominates the reinsurance market. With the continuing vertical integration in the reinsurance business, suppose that a ...

...agency agreement for a hospital malpractice program requiring a $25 million oc...ding of the P/C business: Hospital Malpractice, Agents E&O, Private Pa...

...d of care-that is, constitutes malpractice- that the company receiving bad ad... liability against the lawyer for malpractice. To provide A, B, and C with a ...

... be considered an extra cost under the contract between the Company and the consultant, to be paid for by the Company. More often than not, the Company, the consultant, and the law firm know that the legal services are intended to benefit and be relied upon by the Company. Nevertheless, if there is a written agreement describing the legal services to be rendered, it is often between the consultant and the lawyer. And the Company is not a party to the agreement. If asked, many companies that hire consultants and pay the attorneys recommended by the consultants often express the belief that any legal opinion rendered concerning their company is an opinion on which they can rely. Moreover, these companies frequently believe that if the legal advice given falls below the standard of care-that is, constitutes malpractice- that the company receiving bad advice can sue the lawyer. Many companies are surprised to learn that the legal advice that they paid for will not serve as a basis for a claim, even if the lawyer committed malpractice. To gain an appreciation of how unusual this situation may seem to many companies today, a brief review of how tort law has evolved may be helpful. Prior to the 20th century, virtually all American courts refused to impose liability for negligence unless the injured party had a contractual relationship or was in privity with the party who injured him. Thus, if a manufacturer of widgets' put his product into the stream of commerce, he was only responsible to those with whom he was in privity (those who purchased his product from him directly) . Gradually, ...

... , the insurer generally modifies the language of wrongful acts' to broaden coverage with wording such as customers, clients or other natural persons, other than the employee of the insured entity. In a third-party, or vicarious liability, ' claim, it's very likely that the named insured didn't cause the claim, but might be liable for the damages resulting from it, which is the reasoning for broadening the wrongful acts definition. All things considered, a Third Party Coverage endorsement can be a worthwhile investment for any employer, because the stakes can be very high. Wayne E. Bernstein, CIC of e-perils.com, a division of Worldwide Facilities, Inc., is an independent insurance wholesaler specializing in Cyber insurance, D&O , E&O , Employment Practices Liability, Medical Malpractice, Crime, and Legal malpractice insurance for commercial and financial institutions. He can be reached at (213) 251-2427, fax (213) 380-4265, e-mail [email protected] , or Web site www.e-perils.com. Login or Register (for FREE) to gain access to thousands of other great articles. Need more reasons to join? Need insurance for you, your business or your family? Get quality appointments - Save yourself a whole lot of time & money when you use our directory of carriers, wholesalers and service providers. Negotiate lucrative contracts with carriers and wholesalers. Net result. More revenue for your agency! Clients & Prospects will research you, your co-workers and your agency here. The most comprehensive online insurance industry reference library for - Personal Lines Professionals Commercial Lines Professionals Life/ ...

...r activities that could lead to malpractice suits (Also, you'll want to know whether they carry their own Malpractice insurance.) Inspections Th...

... Risk Management Human Resources Selling Legal and E&O Technology Life/Financial Services Glossaries Management Resources & Links Categories Popular Recent All Back Agency Financial Planning: Today And Tomorrow 4/30/2013 10:35:26 PM by CompleteMarkets Editor , Carol Hammes This content has not been rated yet. AGENCY FINANCIAL PLANNING: TODAY AND TOMORROW by Carol Hammes There can be little doubt that changes are in the wind in the Commercial Property/Casualty marketplace. Some industry observers have referred to this transition period as the beginning of the bottoming out, ' reflecting that all rate decreases are not over with yet but that the percentage decreases are not as great as they were, and in fact some accounts have even seen slight increases in premiums. Certain lines of business such as Workers Compensation and Medical Malpractice seem to be the ones that are firming up more than others. And some of the insurance companies that pronounced their willingness to start walking away from underpriced risks at the beginning of 1999 are actually following through with action to back up those words. Perhaps one of the most subtle signs of a change in the market is the fact that underwriters are starting to ask more questions and want more information about a prospective account. While all of this is heartening news to agents that have experienced 10 years of rampant premium reductions, it does not mean that it is time to start budgeting for across the board 15% -20% rate hikes any time soon - if ever. The chances of returning to the very hard market days of 1986-87 are slim to none. There is still so ...

... Glossaries Management Resources & Links Categories Popular Recent All Back Ask A Licensed Private Investigator, Part 2 4/30/2013 10:40:33 PM by CompleteMarkets Editor This content has not been rated yet. FRAUDBUSTERS: ASK A LICENSED PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR Part 2 Q: I recently heard of a database that keeps track of health practitioners who've been convicted of crimes and/or subjected to adverse licensing actions. Do you know how I can gain access to that database? A: I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that you are correct-there is a database which tracks such information. It's run through the Health and Human Services Division of Quality Insurance. The bad news is that it's only available to hospitals, clinics, surgical centers, and insurers who pay malpractice claims on practitioners' behalf. If you believe you might qualify to use this database, you can get additional information through a help line at (800) 767-6732. Q: Are you familiar with any type of service that documents legal U.S. immigrants? I heard there's a database available through the Immigration Department that lists each legal U.S. immigrant by date of entry, port of entry, ZIP code destination, and last foreign address. If so, how can I get in touch with them and what procedures must be followed to obtain such information? A: I'm not familiar with that database. In fact, I'd never heard of it. When I asked the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) office in Los Angeles, they said there was no such legal database available ...

...y add Professional Liability or Malpractice insurance? ...

... and vehicle schedules, medical malpractice and other types of liability cover...