Virtual University | Miscellaneous

4 Key Personal & Commercial Lines Exposures

This report explains some new exposures, policy issues, and options available to agents and consumers and puts readers a bit more at ease with so-called disruptors.

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A Real-World Insurance Learning Laboratory

Although May is the National Wildfire Awareness month, June is the month that brings back memories of the two most catastrophic wildfires in Colorado’s history. A hard lesson learned was how poorly coverage was written for many homeowners.

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Back to Basics - What is a Personal Umbrella Policy?

Your insureds usually know they need auto and homeowners insurance policies, or if they have recreational vehicles or a motorcycle, may need a policy on those. But do your insureds understand that the limits of liability coverage they purchase, even if they seem substantial, may not be enough to protect them in the event of a serious accident? The personal umbrella policy can protect your insured against large losses and protect your agency against an errors and omissions claim, as well.

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Back to Basics - What is Coinsurance and How Do I Describe it to My Clients?

Understanding the importance of coinsurance and describing it to your clients is important in both personal and commercial lines coverages. This article will explain what coinsurance is, why insurers rely on it and why, considering escalating property values, it is critical that your insureds understand and embrace this concept.

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Client Jewelry and Personal Articles Floater

The holiday season is a great time to remind your insureds that gifts they give loved ones may not be adequately covered under the unendorsed homeowners policy. Homeowner carriers often have restrictions and capacity limitations for jewelry. Many carriers are not willing to write higher-value jewelry. It can be difficult to find a policy that adequately covers jewelry and offers your client a competitive price. A stand-alone jewelry policy (personal articles floater—PAF) with a carrier that does not report jewelry losses to national databases addresses the jewelry need without impacting the homeowners policy. Now is a great time to highlight in your agency newsletter or social media posts the need for addtional coverage on gift items.

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Condo Laws

Need help finding the condominium laws of each state? This reference gives you the condominium law, the horizontal property law, the common ownership law, or whatever it is called of every state. Useful – and needed - whether you insure the association or the unit owner.

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Costly Coverage Mistakes

Are you losing clients to online insurance carriers? Do you worry that an issue of inadequate limits, coverage gaps, or payment snafus can expose your agency to an errors and omissions claim? This article reviews some of the important issues your clients and your agency face in managing their personal and business risk.

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Credit Freezes and Insurance

Were you affected by the Equifax breach? There is a 1 in 2 chance you were. Even if you weren’t, there are certain steps you can take to fight identity theft, including “freezing” your credit. Yes, there are some downsides to this, but saving your good credit may be worth the aggravation.

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Deleting a Car and Cancelling a Homeowners’ Policy

The client calls and tells you they have sold or traded in their car. Do you delete coverage that day? Be careful. What about if the insureds have sold their home? When is it proper to delete coverage?

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Duty to Defend – In the Words of the Court

Generally, an insurer’s duty to defend flows from the facts alleged in the lawsuit. When the pleadings alleged damage or injury that is covered by the policy, the insurance carrier has a duty to defend, regardless of whether the insured is ultimately liable and/or the insurer has a duty to indemnify. Conversely, when the pleadings allege facts or events not covered by the policy, and the insurer has no knowledge of facts to the contrary, the carrier is not obligated to defend – but this is a question of law.

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Homeowners' Quiz

Test your knowledge of Homeowners' using this 17-question quiz.

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How Does a "Person" Become Legally Liable?

Liability policies, whether the HO, PAP or CGL, respond when the insured is judged to be “legally liable” for the injury or damage. But how is “legal liability” determined? That is the question answered in this short article.

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How Many Different ‘Values’ Can Property Have?

Property can be assigned many “values” depending on the purpose of the valuation and who is valuing it. But insurance is concerned with only four options: actual cash value, replacement cost, functional replacement cost and market value.

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In the Aftermath - An Agent's Perspective on Disaster Preparedness & Recovery

Big 'I' member agent Danny Cook from Lumberton, NC shares his experiences on life after Hurricane Matthew in October 2016 and Hurricane Florence in 2018 and explains how you can better prepare your agency if a natural disaster visits your town and your policy holders.

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Insurance Applications: Ambiguities and Lies

An insured’s offer to purchase insurance is made in the form of the application, supposedly completed by the insured. Acceptance flows from the insurance carrier in the form of a policy. Logically, then, the insurance negotiation begins with the application.

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Insurance History – And Maybe Some Myths and Legend

Insurance (or assurance), as we understand the concept today, is more than 700 years old. But what events shaped our modern world of insurance? Following are some interesting facts, myths, and legends that helped mold the current insurance world in America.

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Mid-Term Cancellations

Once a policy is in effect and has existed beyond the underwriting period, provisions still exist allowing the carrier to cancel the policy during the policy period. These are often referred to as mid-term cancellation laws. All 50 states statutorily mandate the conditions under which a policy can be cancelled prior to the end of the policy term.

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News from the Front Lines: Insurance War Stories That Make You Go, “What?”

What an industry we chose! We get to see the good, the bad, the ugly, the stupid and utterly ridiculous. This is the stuff of legend and it reminds us why we must pay attention. Here are some real-life war stories from insurance professionals from around the country.

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Personal and Advertising Injury: Another Case Where ISO May Be Broader

Proprietary coverage forms are not always better than Insurance Services Office (ISO) forms. Careful comparison is required to confirm the insured is not harmed by non-ISO language. A recent Illinois district court ruling highlights an incidence where ISO’s Personal and Advertising Injury wording may be broader and better for the insured.

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Personal Lines Quiz

Test your knowledge of Personal Lines using this 10-question quiz.

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Read the Policy You’re Selling

This may be the most important coverage article you read this year. It may be the most important coverage article you’ve ever read. Please read it. And please have your colleagues read it. If you work in an agency, send a link to the article to your underwriters, marketing reps, and claims people. RTFA…Read The Article!

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The Pimping Economy

Ownership, or rather the desire to own, is changing. More and more people see less and less the need to own something they don’t use on a regular basis. As the saying goes, “I don’t need a drill, I just need a hole.” The insurance industry needs to prepare for this shift in attitude and desire.

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The Underwriting Period

Every state and the District of Columbia grants insurance carriers an “underwriting period.” Insurance carriers are granted broad authority to cancel a newly-written policy during this statutorily-limited period.

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Understanding ISO’s New ‘Your Belongings’ Form Designed for Millennials

Insurance Services Office (ISO), based on a 2016 survey of millennials, recently introduced the PM 00 43 – Your Belongings Form to allow insureds without a perceived need for a homeowners’ policy to extend coverage to their personal property anywhere in the world. The form indicates a March 2019 effective date.

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When Does the Carrier’s Duty to Defend End?

Although it seems reasonable that the carrier’s duty to defend ends when no insurable allegations remain in the suit – this is not necessarily always true. Some courts have a different opinion as to when an insurance carrier’s duty to defend ends. In some cases, the insurer has been required to defend insureds when NO covered allegations remain in the suit simply because there was the possibility a covered allegation may be brought back on appeal. CRAZY! Or is it?

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Why Ask the Underwriter

When agents have coverage questions, they sometimes ask the underwriter for a coverage interpretation. Interested and concerned members of the VU faculty want to know why in the world you would ask the underwriter anything about coverage. Underwriters don’t make coverage determinations, adjusters do.

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Why You Should Teach Your Client’s Kids About Insurance

Most people, including your clients, are insurance illiterates. Their limited understanding of insurance comes from the commercials they see on TV and the misinformation they “hear on the streets.” Insurance professionals should invest in their client’s kids. Why? Let us count the ways.

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Animal Liability and Umbrella Policies

Since many homeowners policies do not cover animal liability (or in the case of ISO, canine liability), it begs the question of how personal umbrella and excess liability policies respond for dog bites and other animal liability claims. For insureds with an animal exposure, an umbrella policy may be critical.

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