May 4, 2009
Consumer Advocates Focus on How Insurers Treat Insureds in Difficult Economic, Credit Climate With consumers’ credit scores dropping as lenders tighten credit terms, insurance consumer advocates are stepping up their criticism of the use of credit scores by insurance companies. …
May 4, 2009
Employee Background Checks Essential Insurance agents can play a big role in helping states to fight insurance fraud. In fact, because they are on the front lines of insurance transactions, agents might see and hear things before the insurance company, …
May 4, 2009
Stop putting passwords on sticky notes, require passwords for desktops and encrypt all backups. Technology is enabling independent insurance agencies to conduct business faster than ever. With the press of the return button on a computer, agencies can launch a …
April 28, 2009
At a rate hearing on Tuesday, April 28, California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner urged the Workers Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB) to withdraw its request for an increase in the workers’ compensation claims cost benchmark. WCIRB has requested a 23.7 …
April 27, 2009
Data security represents both a new market opportunity to sell insurance coverage and a new risk — especially for independent insurance agencies that may not be compliant with data security laws or have plans in place to protect their own …
April 20, 2009
It’s An Enormous Market That Includes Main Street Businesses Doing Credit Card Transactions Data security represents a new risk for independent insurance agencies that may not be compliant with data security laws or have plans in place to protect their …
April 20, 2009
The California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board has decided to reconsider its earlier en banc decisions in Ogilvie v. City and County of San Francisco, Almaraz v. Environmental Recovery Services and Guzman v. Milpitas Unified School District, which industry experts say …
April 20, 2009
Arsonists’ handiwork has dominated headlines in the past several months. Earlier this year, in southeast Pennsylvania, an alleged group of firebugs torched dozens of buildings in one community before being caught. In rural New Hampshire, a man was charged with …
April 16, 2009
Insurance agents can play a big role in helping states to fight insurance fraud. And with insurance fraud costing California alone $15 billion each year, or $500 per resident, the cost of which is eventually passed onto consumers, they should …
April 14, 2009
Does a bad economy increase crime? Analysts have debated that question for years, according to Mike McKee, senior special agent for the National Insurance Crime Bureau. While it’s too soon for statistics to confirm whether recent events like the mortgage …