Articles by Bill Wilson

Wilson, CPCU, ARM, AIM is the founder and CEO of InsuranceCommentary.com and the author of the book "When Words Collide: Resolving Insurance Coverage and Claims Disputes." His column, "Is It Covered?", is published in Insurance Journal Magazine.

Is It Auto or CGL … or Both or Neither?

For many people, the outdoor grilling season is about over. Notice that I said “grilling” season and not “BBQing” season. Being a Southerner, we know that outdoor cooking is known as “grilling,” not “BBQing.” BBQing involves smoking meat and slathering …

Wear and Tear Exclusions Worn and Torn

For whatever reason, recently I’ve had a slew of questions involving wear and tear exclusions. Perhaps that’s a product of the hard market where claims are sometimes examined more intently, especially with regard to policy exclusions. To paraphrase – torture …

The Price Is Wrong

If you’re shopping for insurance online, with apologies to Bob Barker and Drew Carey, the price isn’t right. That is, shopping solely on price for any product or service that isn’t truly a commodity is the wrong approach, and insurance …

‘Better Late Than Never?’ Not So Fast.

A general contractor hired a company to place a dumpster at a job site. However, the company put the dumpster in the street and a motorist struck it, damaging his vehicle. Of course, he has no physical damage coverage, the …

Seriously, Insurance Is NOT a Commodity

About three years ago, I published a book of 1,500 of my favorite quotations. As I was working on an updated edition recently, I came across a quote by 19th century British philosopher John Ruskin that I believe has significant …

A Dozen Ways You Can Be TOO Good at Your Job

Most agent errors and omissions (E&O) policies cover claims that arise from “professional services.” This term is usually defined in the E&O policy to be something like “activities as an insurance agent or insurance broker” or “services rendered as a …

What Is a Pedestrian?

The first time I can recall asking this question was in 2010 and it involved a claim denial under personal auto uninsured motorists and medical payments coverages for someone who was hit by a car while sitting on a snowmobile …

Improper Claim Denials

I initiated this column in 2019 with a 12-month series of articles summarizing the key points in my book “When Words Collide: Resolving Insurance Coverage and Claims Disputes.” In my June 2019 column, I wrote about what claim declinations should …

Insurance Advertising and Regulators

Anyone who has read this column for the past four years, or earlier articles of mine, knows that I am passionate about my disdain for the proliferation of price-focused industry advertising. I believe it creates or fuels the perception in …

Insurance Coverage and Television

Last month, insurance educator Chris Kendall, CPCU, ARM, et al., posted some results of a survey of 2,000 U.S. homeowners on LinkedIn. Conducted or commissioned by Goosehead Insurance Inc., one of the most revealing statistics was that 65% of policyholders …