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: Producers writing accounts for which they …
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 regulatory perspective. Therefore, consider offering all business …
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 subject to …
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 other means. This is perceived …
Claims Draft Checks. Not many agencies have claims draft authority any longer, which I consider a positive change relative to what it was 20 years ago. However, a few specific insurance companies continue to believe draft authority is an important …
AOR/BOR Procedures for Benefits. For some unknown reason, I continually find Benefits Producers thinking the P&C AOR/BOR procedures are not applicable to them because the risk on the P&C side does not exist on the benefits side. This belief is …
Inflation Factors on Personal Lines Property. Some personal property forms lack automatic inflation adjustments that increase the structural limit annually. Usually these are dwelling forms, but not always. In any given year, the difference is usually so minor that the …
Privacy Compliance. It’s not serious until you get caught, right? The normal individual human reaction to complex laws and laws that defy relatively easy compliance is to acknowledge their existence, give them lip service, and generally ignore them. Complex laws …
Carrier Rating Notifications. What responsibility does an agency have to notify clients of carrier ratings? On new business, it is a good idea to list the carrier’s rating. However, if the carrier has an A.M. Best rating of less than …
Personal Lines Liability Limits. If an agency has only offered a client $100,000 liability and they have a $300,000 claim, what do you think the answer will be when, on the witness stand, their attorney asks them whether they would …
