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... use? Are owned vehicles used for towing special equipment (air compressors, concrete mixers, etc.)? Are operations periodic or seasonal, resulting in the lay-up of any vehicles for 30 consecutive days or more? Are any automobiles equipped with cellular telephones, two-way radios, citizens band radios, or similar devices? How many automobiles are parked in one location overnight? Does the applicant lease/an class='cm-highlight'>rentan> vehicles to others with operators? What is the maximum/average radius of operation? Is there a hired/non-owned exposure? The symbol on the policy indicates what vehicles the coverage includes. The applicable symbols (expressed in numbers), range from "1 " to "9 ," with symbol "1 " being the broadest. This provides coverage for any auto. Thus, if ... On the other hand, symbol "7 " is only for vehicles listed on the policy. There would not be coverage for leased or non-owned vehicles with this symbol. Consequently, getting answers to these questions from your customer will help when requesting that coverage be structured appropriately. Symbol "9 " is only for non-owned vehicles. Other items to consider "Named Insured" status/"Drive Other Car" coverage. It should be standard practice to offer the owners of the business (where the business is the named insured) additional "Named Insured" status or "Drive Other Car" coverage. If a business owner suffered an injury as a pedestrian or as a passenger in another vehicle, he or she would need this coverage to collect uninsured motorist (UM) or underinsured motorist ( ...

...ght? Does the applicant lease/an class='cm-highlight'>rentan> vehicles to others with operators? ...cle, injuring four people in two other cars. The value of the four Bodily Injury claims came to approximately $700,000. The employee’s own Personal Auto policy had a 25/50 limit. The claim against the agent was eventually settled for $447,000. Conclusion Writing commercial Auto Coverage is not as easy as you may think. Effective use of an Exposure Analysis Checklist will help educate your staff and your customers on this coverage – and go a long way toward ensuring that you do the proper job every time. Curtis Pearsall, CPCU, AIAF, ARM, CPIA, is president of Pearsall Associates, Inc. (Whitesboro, NY), a risk-management consulting firm that specializes in helping agents protect themselves against E&O claims. To contact him, call (315) 768-1534; e-mail: curtis@pearsallassociates.com; visit www.pearsallassociates.com; or blog: www.agentseotips.com. Reproduced, with permission, from Rough Notes magazine.

Understanding Diffean class='cm-highlight'>rentan> Cultures Helps Prevent Fraud
UNDERSTANDING DIFFEan class='cm-highlight'>RENTan> CULTURES HELPS PREVENT FRAUD Insuranc... suggests that insurers can encourage an class='cm-highlight'>rentan>al car firms to share information about insured losses. At the same time, when selling products and when investigating claims, insurers need to be sensitive about the body language and hand gestures used within other cultures, Kim says. For instance, certain hand gestures that Americans use routinely can appear offensive to other cultures, and vice versa. 'Companies have to educate employees on how to avoid offending customers or claimants. This is important not just for the insurance industry, but for the medical community and every business,' she says. 'We owe clients and claimants respect.' Yet, many common denominators of insurance cross cultural and geographic boundaries. Rosetti notes the great publicity about a fraud ring caught in Houston in which fraudulent vehicle accidents also involved doctors and attorneys who collected a piece of the millions of dollars in bogus injury claims. Although that ring was stopped, it's just 'one small piece of the puzzle' of all vehicular fraud. According to Kim, another element in the success of fraudulent insurance claims is the criminals' detailed knowledge of the companies they're targeting. People regularly committing fraud 'will know details about how many claims offices a company has and their locations, who the adjusters are, the authority of how much each of them can settle with, and the claims adjusters' personalities, she says. 'The information they have about the industry is amazing. They know which companies are easy marks, which ones have no anti-fraud training, and which ones push their customer service reps to pay out claims.' Similarly, Kim says the industry can benefit by providing customer education and keeping the public aware of the cost of fraud. 'When insurers have fraudulent claims, the cost is passed on to us.' By educating policyholders, insurers can make them their 'best offense,' because they're aware of the 'red flags' - or signals - of fraud. She cites the instance of somebody seeing four people getting out of a vehicle involved in an auto accident holding their necks, that witness can provide valuable information as to whether the claim is valid. 'It doesn't take much to educate people by including fraud alerts with policyholders' bills,' she adds. Drivers' education programs for students, too, can include information on preventing fraud. 'If it saves one claim in a year, it's paid for the service.'

... Curtis Pearsall Recently, I had a personal situation that could have led to an E&O claim. Every year in August, I take my two boys and my oldest son's best friend down to New York for a Mets game and a Yankees game. This year, instead of taking my car, I talked with an auto-dealer friend who allowed me to borrow a customized van. I didn't an class='cm-highlight'>rentan> it, nor was it provided to me as a loaner for my car being under repair. After checking into the hotel the first night, I went to pull into the parking garage. Little did I realize that the van was higher than the height of the parking garage, and I cracked the top of the van. The damage came to $1 ,300. When I got ... Pearsall This content has not been rated yet. DON'T SAY IT'S SO UNLESS YOU'RE SURE IT'S SO by Curtis Pearsall Recently, I had a personal situation that could have led to an E&O claim. Every year in August, I take my two boys and my oldest son's best friend down to New York for a Mets game and a Yankees game. This year, instead of taking my car, I talked with an auto-dealer friend who allowed me to borrow a customized van. I didn't an class='cm-highlight'>rentan> it, nor was it provided to me as a loaner for my car being under repair. After checking into the hotel the first night, I went to pull into the parking garage. Little did I realize that the van was higher than the height of the parking garage, and I ...

...nsurance agents/agencies do you curan class='cm-highlight'>rentan>ly do business with? ___ one ___ two ...______________________

amily: Verda

... borrow a customized van. I didn't an class='cm-highlight'>rentan> it, nor was it provided to me as a loaner for my car being under repair. After checking into the hotel the first night, I went to pull into the parking garage. Little did I realize that the van was higher than the height of the parking garage, and I cracked the top of the van. The damage came to $1,300. When I got back home, I notified the auto dealer of the damage. I also notified my agent, who had me fill out the appropriate claims report. When I asked my agent how my policy would respond, he advised me, 'Don't worry about it, your policy should take care of the damages.' Unfortunately, he provided me with this opinion without checking with the company. In actuality, because of a clause in my policy, my carrier paid the deductible on the auto dealer's coverage, and the rest of the claim has been submitted to the auto dealer's insurer. Obviously, a client calling you to report a claim is not a new situation in your agency. But a few situations more important than the one I just described might develop into an E&O claim. What guidance have you provided to your employees when they are asked, 'Is the claim covered?' Do they pull the file to check what form the coverage has been written on, or what the limit of protection is? Or do they say the claim is covered without checking? If you tell clients that their claim is covered and then it doesn't get paid to their satisfaction, you're going to have an angry client on your hands. This issue can be particularly sensitive with producers who want you to pay off a claim to avoid angering a customer. Here are a few tips that will minimize any potential problems: Make sure your claims staff is trained in how coverages respond. This may sound elementary, but when I first worked at an agency, I handled S-Z for Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and claims-and was never provided any training in claims. Know the authority levels of each of your companies. You don't want to answer questions based on what nonauthorized personnel have told you. Don't say that a claim is covered unless you're absolutely positive. If there's any doubt or anything unique about the claim, contact the company; it can be a true resource. If you don't think it's covered but want to submit it to the company, let the client know your thoughts and make no guarantees about coverage. Document phone conversations with the client and the companies. Include the name of the person, the date and the time of the call, and pertinent details. Take the facts down exactly as they were provided. Don't coach them on how a claim might be paid. Provide guidance on how the claims process works and how long it will take before a decision is made. Clients who are told they will hear about the claim in a week are more patient than those who wait only a day but expected a two-hour turnaround. As far as E&O threats are concerned, the handling of a claim is where the 'rubber meets the road.' Handling a claim promptly and professionally will keep your clients happy-which is a large part of avoiding E&O claims. This article originally appeared in the Utica National Insurance Co. E&O Bulletin and is adapted by permission. Curtis Pearsall is vice president, E&O, of the Utica National Insurance Group....

... and managers often ask, What should we expect to get out of our marketing program? How will our dollar investment translate into increased sales? All Articles by CompleteMarkets Editor Comments (0 ) Equipment an class='cm-highlight'>Rentan>al - "Complete Insurance Protection" This content has not been rated yet. CompleteMarkets Editor 9/15/2014 12:00:00 AM Dear (Customer Name): All year round people an class='cm-highlight'>rentan> home improvement equipment such as saws, drills.. All Articles by CompleteMarkets Editor Comments (0 ) Facebook Expands Advertising Option This content has not been rated yet. CompleteMarkets Editor , Steve Anderson 6/4 /2013 12:00:00 AM FACEBOOK EXPANDS ADVERTISING OPTION by Steve Anderson As a follow-up to a recent TAAR article, Facebook Advertising' (October 2009), the company has expanded ... VALUE BY WINNING THE WAR FOR TALENT by Bobby Reagan The future of your agency depends on attracting and retaining qualified and capable producers. There are plenty of & .. All Articles by CompleteMarkets Editor Comments (0 ) Disability/Auto This content has not been rated yet. CompleteMarkets Editor 4/30/2013 10:37:10 PM DISABILITY/AUTO Dear (Customer Name): If your car is damaged in an accident, you have insurance to pay for the repairs. If your house is burglarized, you have insurance to pay for the stolen items.. All Articles by CompleteMarkets Editor Comments (0 ) Eight Ways To Evaluate A Marketing Program This content has not been rated yet. CompleteMarkets Editor , John Graham 4/30/2013 12:00:00 AM Rarely will you get ...

...maiden name?” “Do you own or an class='cm-highlight'>rentan> your home?” “What is your age?”...or health reasons?” “Are your paan class='cm-highlight'>rentan>s healthy?” “What did you paan class='cm-highlight'>rentan>s die of?” “What is the prognosis for your disease?” “Is your skin condition caused by a disease?” “How do you manage in the bathroom?” “Do you have any physical or mental disability/handicap that will require reasonable accommodation?” “Have you ever abused alcohol?” “Is anyone in your family disabled?”

...sues, as well. Once it becomes appaan class='cm-highlight'>rentan> to you as a potential buyer that the s...ilding? Is the lease transferable? Is an class='cm-highlight'>rentan> likely to be raised post sale? Finally, it’s not all about “price“ anyway. Price certainly matters, but is rarely the key to the sale. A seller will probably have other “hot buttons“ that can make or break the sale. Some potential hot buttons are obvious, such as how key employees will be treated post sale. Other hot buttons can be quite unusual. . We well remember a sale that hinged on providing a parking space out back on company property for the retiring seller’s yet-to-be-purchased RV. The buyer balked, initially which would have killed the sale. It’s been many years now, and the seller never did quite get around to parking his RV in that spot that seemed so crucial to him at the time. Larry Morrison, CLU, ChFC, is president of the Business Transition Network (Arlington, WA), a firm specializing in agency evaluation, purchase, mergers, and business succession planning. You can reach him at (866) 475-9992 (toll free); or e-mail: larry.morrison@comcast.net. Gary E. Jacobson, JD, a partner at Vander Wel, Jacobson, Bishop & Kim, PLLC ( Bellevue, WA), offers expertise in the legal aspects of agency evaluation, purchase, mergers, and business succession planning. You can reach him at (866) 498-0008, toll-free; e-mail: ga[email protected]; or visit www.vjbm.com.

... Later in this section you'll read more about "List Sources." Most lists are not qualified beyond several demographic facts, so you need to decide which traits are most important for you to determine, and limit your criteria to these traits. The more specialized the traits, the harder it is to find a prospect list that will meet your specifications (and the more expensive the list) . an class='cm-highlight'>RENTan>ING VS. OWNING A LIST There are five options for obtaining a prospect list: Compile it yourself Pay a vendor to compile it for you Buy a list that someone else owns Barter or trade for a list that someone else owns an class='cm-highlight'>Rentan> a list that someone else owns If you choose to own a list, you can use it as often as you wish for any purpose, including an class='cm-highlight'>rentan>ing it ... A DATABASE Once you've selected and secured a list, you need to make it easy for your sales staff to use. Here are some of the things you might want to do: ADD INFORMATION: Of course, phone numbers are a must if they're not already included. If you can, also include data about past buying patterns (what policies you already write, what kind of house/car the prospect has, and so on) . RE-SORT NAMES: You may want to group names into diffean class='cm-highlight'>rentan> market segments, so that each can be approach scheduled by diffean class='cm-highlight'>rentan> people at diffean class='cm-highlight'>rentan> times. (Conversely, some agencies call Personal Lines prospects in the same area at the same times, hoping to "create a buzz" about the agency in the neighborhood.) COMPARE AND COMPILE: ...