Columns
Sometimes writers and consultants are too long winded. They take a roundabout way to avoid bitter reality. But for those who prefer brevity, I’ll get to the point: This market sucks. It is the worst insurance market since 1933....
For most people of my generation, today’s technology gadgets, gizmos and thingamabobs are wonderful—and frightening—advances. ...
It’s easy to take talking on the phone for granted. But a telephone prospecting call is something very different. ...
Every so often, someone in Congress decides to go after that tempting but misguided political target: the repeal of the insurance industry’s limited anti-trust exemption. ...
With a Republican Senate win tipping the Congressional balance away from the Democrats (see “Legislative Roundup”), healthcare reform has officially been relegated to the back burner....
In the early 1990s I was scratching out a living as an underwriting manager when my phone rang with one of the most asked questions in our industry: “What does my credit score have to do with my car insurance rates?” ...
A Texas insurance broker admitted he was negligent in failing to procure insurance for his client and still avoided liability because the damages incurred by the putative insured would not have been covered even if the policy was acquired as ordered....
Welcome to March, when we once again join the CPCU Society and many other fine insurance organizations in celebrating National Ethics Month!
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Departments
Pet peeves
I seldom respond to articles, but Matthew Marrone’s article, “When client dissatisfaction moves to E&O claims” (AA&B 10/09)...
The two markets with the nation’s top scores for small-business vitality sit 140 miles apart in North Carolina....
Mobile phone users will spend $6.2 billion downloading applications this year, up from $4.2 billion last year, according to a report from Gartner. ...
As job cuts continue, U.S. productivity has risen 2.5 percent an hour in 2009, according to The Conference Board Inc....
Insurance brokerage fee income at banks hit $3.05 billion for the third quarter of 2009, the highest level in the last 5 quarters, according to the data compiled by Michael White Associates LLC. ...
The magnitude 7.0 January earthquake that caused catastrophic death and destruction in Haiti created hundreds of millions in economic damage, but insurance coverage for losses is minimal, according to modeling firms....
Some 90 percent of the nation’s contractors expect no recovery in 2010, according to a construction hiring and business outlook forecast released by the Associated General Contractors of America....
“Breaking Up Is Hard to Do,” Neil Sedaka observed. It’s difficult for an insurance professional to fire a client, just as it is for any other businessperson, especially in an economic downturn, when new clients may be scarce....
What a difference one election can make. ...
Although Rosenfeld Einstein (RE) has ascended into its third-generation of family ownership....
Surrounded by personal lines property and casualty insurance, Main Street insurance agencies see the same type of risks day in and day out. ...