Latest Chris Burand Headlines
All the headlines from our Chris Burand Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Burand’s Agency E&O Blog: Tip #54
Feb 21 2014 // Fees & Agency’s Standard of Care. An agency’s Standard of Care requirement has many moving parts and variables. Simple answers generally do not exist because the applicable standard is case and fact...
Why Agencies Need to Pay More Attention to Insurer Insolvency
Feb 10 2014 // A myth is sneaking into the industry that insurer insolvency is not as important today. Belief in this myth is important to many entities. A number of companies, agencies and other firms benefit if less attention is paid...
Burand’s Agency E&O Blog: Tip #53
Jan 23 2014 // TPA Activities. Some agencies are unknowingly conducting TPA activities. Others are knowingly offering these services without knowing whether their E&O policy will provide coverage. Many insurance agency E&O...
The Profit Compression
Jan 13 2014 // The bad news is independent agency profits are and will continue to be compressed. The good news is that for independent agencies willing to abandon the traditional model, great opportunity exists. Profits will stay...
Burand’s Agency E&O Blog: Tip #52
Dec 27 2013 // Update Census Forms on AORs/BORs. When an agency takes over a group benefits account by AOR or BOR, it is likely picking up the prior agency’s/broker’s mistakes. Sometimes, for many different reasons ranging...
Burand’s Agency E&O Blog: Tip #51
Nov 27 2013 // State Guaranty Funds. Many agency owners, producers, and CSRs believe state guaranty funds provide blank insolvency protection for any client insured by an admitted carrier. This is not true. Many state’s guaranty...
Burand’s Agency E&O Blog: Tip #50
Nov 21 2013 // Binders Redux. A binder is a temporary insurance contract. This is a fact. The Acord 75 field Description states, “A Binder is a temporary insurance contract which provides coverage in advance of the issuance of an...
Burand’s Agency E&O Blog: Tip #49
Nov 19 2013 // Date Stamping. Could any E&O blog address a simpler subject than date stamping? Maybe not, but date stamping correctly to mitigate E&O exposures is something too few agencies practice. Most agencies I visit have a...
Carrier Disintermediation of Agencies
Nov 18 2013 // A multitude of forces are causing many carriers to think of ways to disintermediate agencies. Healthcare reform is one. Some benefits carriers have cut commissions to 0 percent and agents are still writing with them. This...
Hard Work Is Not the Only Key to Producer Success
Oct 21 2013 // Insurance sales success can be like a game of tennis. Many summers ago I fell in love with the game of tennis. For the next six years, I played every day possible. One of my limitations was that living in Colorado, winter...
Burand’s Agency E&O Blog: Tip #48
Oct 2 2013 // Notifying Umbrella Carriers of Potential Claims. Every reader likely knows the importance of notifying an excess/umbrella carrier of potential claims in a timely manner. When the excess/umbrella carrier is the same carrier...
Burand’s Agency E&O Blog: Tip #47
Sep 25 2013 // Policy Change Requests Can Only Be Made if Requesting Party Has Authority/Insurable Interest. Many years ago when I first entered the industry, I remember an experienced underwriter telling the story of an angry ex-wife...
Burand’s Agency E&O Blog: Tip #46
Sep 18 2013 // The Value of a Name. Applications are called applications and quote sheets are called quote sheets for good reasons. A quote sheet is only supposed to be for quoting and even then, it is a conditional quote. It is...
Burand’s Agency E&O Blog: Tip #45
Sep 11 2013 // Loss Control Results Usually Require Disclosure. An agency that uses non-carrier loss control services, regardless of whether it is a third-party firm or an agency’s in-house loss control service, almost always has...
Quickest Way to Raise Agents’ Ire
Sep 9 2013 // What is the quickest way a consultant can raise the ire of agents everywhere? Write an article stating producers have a responsibility to produce. What is the next best way to raise agents’ ire? Write an article that...
Burand’s Agency E&O Blog: Tip #44
Sep 5 2013 // Producers Not Having Adequate Knowledge of their Clients’ Industry. An agency can have all the right procedures and even follow all the right procedures and still not mitigate one of their biggest E&O exposures:...
Burand’s Agency E&O Blog: Tip #43
Aug 30 2013 // Offering Cyber Liability. Almost without exception all businesses need cyber liability coverage today and yet relatively few have this vital coverage. The exposures can be significant both from an E&O perspective and a...
Burand’s Agency E&O Blog: Tip #42
Aug 28 2013 // Policies Subject to Audit. Audits are one of the few E&O exposures agencies have that do not involve a claim. A good method for protecting the agency from audit related E&O claims is to disclose what policies are...
People Pleasers as Agency Owners: On the Periphery of Extinction?
Aug 5 2013 // The insurance agency distribution system model was built around 1900 and is still amazingly similar to agencies of 100 years ago, albeit the monitors and lack of filing cabinets do create a different ambiance. This model...
Burand’s Agency E&O Blog: Tip #41
Jul 31 2013 // Accepting Payment After Hours. Many agencies continue to accept premium payments even when closed. Customers put their payments through mail slots, under the door, wedged between the door and the door frame, or by some...
