In This Issue:
Additional Items:
Climate experts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) continue to predict active Atlantic hurricane seasons in the coming years. We could experience a number of named storms each year, several of which may have the potential to become major hurricanes. These predictions reinforce the need for boaters in hurricane-prone regions to have preparation plans in place.
Boat owners and the marine community should take proactive measures to minimize the potential for injuries and damage to their boats and other property. ACE Recreational Marine Insurance® is pleased to offer our list of important tips to help recreational boaters protect their vessels as well as other property on board during the hurricane season. Learn what precautions boaters can take to prepare and safeguard their vessels this season by clicking here.
Remember, key factors in protecting your boat from a hurricane or any severe storm are planning, preparation and timely action. Also critical is having the proper insurance coverage in place, and understanding your policy and duties as a boat owner. Most ACE policies offer a Hurricane Haul-out coverage with unique options, included at no additional charge. Read on to learn more about ACE Recreational Marine Insurance® and its industry-leading protection for boats and yachts.
ACE Recreational Marine has been a leading provider of boat and yacht insurance for decades, offering comprehensive policies for both private pleasure and select charter usage. The Yachtsman®/Boatsman® Policy provides all-risk protection for a wide range of pleasure boats and yachts, including select occasional charter opportunities, along with many unique benefits and features. Some eligibility info:
Yachts (27' or greater and up to $5 million in value) - Yachtsman®/Boatsman® Policy
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Length: Minimum 27' - no maximum
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Hull values: No minimum - $5 million maximum
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No high performance vessels (refer to our Performance Policy)
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Available in all states except Alaska and limited availability for permanently moored Florida risks: Florida eligibility is only available for preferred vessels over $1 million in value with a permanent, full time captain employed
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Pleasure use
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Owners/Named insured must be 21
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Vessel owners should be experienced in similar size/type vessels. Refer first time boat owners or those making a jump of 12' or more.
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Condition and Valuation surveys required at 10 years of age for salt water risks. 20 years of age for fresh water risks.
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Lay-ups - afloat or ashore
Small Boats (less than 27') - Yachtsman®/Boatsman® Policy
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Length: no minimum - maximum under 27'
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Hull values: no minimum - no maximum
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No high performance boats (refer to our Performance Policy)
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Bass boats acceptable. Pontoon boats on inland waters acceptable.
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Available in all states except Alaska and Florida
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Pleasure use
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Owners/Named insured must be 21
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Some boating experience is desired - refer first time boat owners
Elite Yacht® Program ($5 million in value and above)
The Elite Yacht® Program is ACE's exclusive program to fulfill the specialty insurance needs of luxury yacht owners with vessels valued at $5 million or greater. Exceptional yachts require specialized insurance protection and the Elite Yacht Program provides significantly increased benefit levels for a broad range of coverage, along with many other valuable and unique policy features. Log into www.bigimarkets.com for full details.
Additional programs available through ACE include:
Personal Watercraft (PWC)
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Owners/Named insured must be 21
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Licensed driver
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Personally Owned
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Pleasure Use only
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No more than 2 unrelated owners
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Speed up to 60 mph
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Seats 2-3 people
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7 ft. up to 16 ft. in length
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No modifications
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Water-jet propulsion
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Owner and Operators must have clean MVR (0-2 points)
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MVRs required if operator under 25 years old
Charter boats up to $5 million in value - Charter Policy
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Maximum of 6 passengers
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No USCG inspected vessels
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Owners/Named insured must be 21
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Length: Minimum 27' - no maximum
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Hull values: No minimum - $5 million maximum
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No high performance vessels (refer to our Performance Policy)
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Copy of owner's or hired Captain's license required
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Available in all states except Alaska and Florida
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Condition and Valuation surveys required at 10 years of age for salt water risks. 20 years of age for fresh water risks.
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Lay-ups - afloat or ashore
Performance boats 55 mph up to 100 mph - High Performance Policy
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Maximum speed: 55 mph up to 100 mph
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Not available in Florida
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Pleasure use
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Owners/Named insured must be 21.
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Clean MVRs required
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Surveys required when vessel is 10 years or older.
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Racing excluded
Log into Big "I" Markets and choose any of these products from the personal products menu to look at full coverage details or to submit a quote.
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Learn to Avoid Onboarding Mistakes with a FREE Caliper Webinar
By Elif Wisecup, Director of Marketing of Big I Advantage®
Caliper is hosting a FREE webinar this Thursday about getting your new hires up to speed and maximizing their value to your organization as quickly as possible.
During this Webinar entitled How to Avoid the 3 Biggest Onboarding Mistakes, Caliper's VP of Client Services, Dr. David Solot, will talk about the most common mistakes many companies make in onboarding new employees. He will also provide insights into speeding up the onboarding process and offer recommendations for developing a robust onboarding program.
The benefits of following Dr. Solot's onboarding advice include quicker and higher return on investment, increased employee engagement, and reduced turnover. Not bad!
If you want in, head on over to your calendar and block off Thursday, June 11, 2015 at 12:00 p.m. EDT (9 a.m. PDT). Then click here to register. Remember, it's free, but space is limited so don't delay!
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When Alexander Lerner, owner of Ideal Insurance Agency became an agent 23 years ago he jumped in with both feet by starting his own agency rather than joining an existing one. Alexander had heard of the Commercial Lessors Risk product from Fireman's Fund, but prior to joining the New Jersey association he had to use brokers to write his business which is all from referrals. Once he joined he had access through Big "I" Markets. While not his first successful LRO binding with BIM, in April he bound one worth over $27,000 and also landed the highly-coveted Sale of the Week profile.
Alexander said the process was "extremely easy" as he has "a pretty good handle on what they're looking for". He called the underwriter and service "unbelievable". His client had a prior loss of over $1 million. Alexander explained to the Fireman's Fund underwriter that it was a shock loss, not really the fault of the client; they understood, bringing the risk back from the E&S markets. He has already submitted additional LRO risks, so maybe we'll see him again in the TFT.
Fireman's Fund American Business Coverage offers three (3) classes of Property Owners, also known as LRO (Lessor's Risk Only). All three are high target classes.
Eligibility:
Single tenant and multi-tenant buildings with various tenants including retail tenants, restaurants, service, shopping centers, and office buildings.
Appetite
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Per location Total Insured Value $30 million
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Per account Total Insured Value $50 million
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No limit on # of stories
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No limit on # of locations
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Available in Protection Class 1-7 only
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Vacancy rate cannot exceed 25% of a building's total square footage
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100% ITV required
For full coverage details and availability log into www.bigimarkets.com and click on Commercial Lessors Risk - Firemans Fund.
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Social Media and Disaster Recovery - Agility Webinar
During an emergency, it's imperative that those within your organization know how to communicate effectively. This need to communicate has led to increasing use of social media platforms during recent disasters across the globe. Join Agility Recovery as we dive into the steps and best practices for developing your organization's strategy for crisis communications utilizing social media.
Join Agility for a free "Social Media and Disaster Recovery" webinar on Wednesday, June 10th, 2015 from 2:00 PM to 2:30 PM EDT.
Discussion will focus on best practices and simple steps any organization can take to build their presence in these channels, and ways to bolster your crisis communications plan by integrating social media as a central element.
REGISTER
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ACT presents "The Customer Experience Journey"
June 22, 2015; 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time
$59 - Click here to register
On Monday, June 22nd Claudia McClain and Judy DeLaRosa, the co-chairs for Agents Council for Technology ('ACT') 'Customer Experience' Work Group will present a webinar to walk through ACT's "CX Recommendations" document and discuss the top implementations within each phase that can help agents plan and elevate their technology strategy and explain the critical role Customer Experience plays in every consumer and client interaction. Don't miss a chance to review and refine your customer service experience journey and learn more about resources for your agency.
Other upcoming VU webinars include the free webinar on the Biggest Homeowners Insurance Change in 40 Years Explained, Data Breach, The New Wild West? Cyber Risk Exposures and Insurance and Beyond the Basics: Emerging Issues Personal Lines Issues. VU webinar questions can be sent to bestpractices@iiaba.net.
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Remember that you can view the following webinars 24/7 by checking out the BIM Webinar Library. To do that log onto Big "I" Markets and click on "Publications".
- Personal Liability Trends - Fireman's Fund
- TravPay
- Commercial Lessor's Risk
- Affluent Homeowners
- Travelers Select Products (series)
- Travel Insurance
- Community Banks
- XS Flood
- Real Estate E&O
- RLI Personal Umbrella
- Affluent Homeowner
- "Oh, by the way...Flood Sale"
- Habitational
- Non-standard Homeowner
- Student Housing
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BIM WEBSITE TRAINING WEBINAR
For all you folks who recently registered for Big "I" Markets, remember you can participate in a webinar from the comfort of your office to help you learn how to navigate around the system. Every Thursday at 2:00 p.m. EDT we'll show you how to navigate the Big "I" Markets platform, including how to submit a quote! A recording of this webinar can be found under "Publications" after logging into Big "I" Markets.
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Know Your Competition: Costco Insurance Agency, Inc.
By Paul Buse, President of Big I Advantage
Recently I was given a mailing from Costco Insurance Agency, Inc. sent to a person in Virginia. On reviewing it, what leaps out to me is the "Eligibility for Average Savings of $513.13" (highlighted below). This is an example of sample bias. If you sell on price, everyone that comes to you will have saved money in their estimation and will report that in a survey. The student of the industry will ask, "But where is the data from the people that didn't switch?" And what about the referenced "Eligibility?" The recipients of this mailing are also "eligible" to breathe air and drink water. I see no evidence of exclusivity or anything unique. With insurance, to truly discriminate for your members, you need something which is legally exclusive... like your E&O insurance provided via a member-only, risk purchasing group.
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What else can be learned beyond the marketing tactics? First, Costco has an independent insurance agency and one can see an affiliation with Ameriprise Auto & Home Insurance Agency, Inc. of De Pere, Wisconsin…both of these are probably licensed agents in all states. How does one know that? By going to the Wyoming Insurance Department website and looking them up. That technique is my "go to" license check. As Wyoming is the smallest population state, an agent's license there is usually a license that goes with 50 other ones. Other information that is publicly available tells me that of the writing insurers being used one stands out as a low-cost provider: IDS Property & Casualty Insurance Company. Below are the numbers you are accustomed to seeing in this Student of the Industry Section. You can see they are very much low expense insurer compared to the average for personal lines but not a very profitable one. Any thoughts on how to sell against this? I'm always interested and happy to pass along to your colleagues via these pages. Drop me a line at paul.buse@iiaba.net.
Click Graph for larger version
Source: A.M. Best 2014 Aggregates and Averages, "By Line Underwriting Experience - Industry by Groups", pp. 389-432
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Here are the top three items that got BIM agents clicking from our last edition... see what you missed!
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Top 5 Reasons for Needing Real Estate E&O Coverage
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Real Estate Agents Coverage Checklist
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Real Estate Professional Liability Coverage Highlights
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TECHNICAL CORNER
