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for the week of February 21, 2025

Education + Analysis for the Independent Agent

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Special Feature * Advantages of Big 'I' Membership * Agency Management * Back to Basics * Commercial Lines * Personal Lines * Insurance Laws & Statutes/Coverage Resources
ISO Micro Businessowners Policy (BOP) Analysis
Have you heard about the Micro-Businessowners Coverage form developed by ISO in 2019? Here is an overview of the form’s coverage and limitations. This form may be a good and inexpensive answer for your smaller entrepreneurs without commercial property exposures.
Bobby Salmon Big "I" Relief Fund
The Bobby Salmon Big "I" Relief Fund is available to provide financial assistance to insurance industry personnel impacted by catastrophic occurrences not covered by their own insurance or other grants and funding sources. Questions may be directed to ReliefFund@iiaba.net.
Insurance CE and “Micro Learning”
According to research the average person has a total of 24 minutes a week to dedicate to learning. Our current insurance education system doesn’t cater to this reality. The industry needs to adopt “micro learning” as an alternative to the current multi-hour sessions. State DOIs tend to have issues with this concept; this article addresses these issues and how they really are non-issues.
Top 3 Ways to Minimize E&O Claims
Recently our faculty was asked to identify the Top 3 ways to minimize E&O claims. In this article, we'll provide their responses, along with an article from our E&O carrier on how the hard market affects agents' exposure to E&O claims and how they can mitigate this exposure.
Mistakes on Certificates Versus Clear Policy Language
Can information inadvertently left on a Certificate of Insurance limit the breadth of protection extended from the policy? The real question is, does a COI alter coverage?
How Thriving Insurance Organizations Manage and Retain Top Intellectual Talent
In honor of Valentine’s Day (but useful year-round), this article explores how to make the most of your workforce to retain them and bolster performance.
Beware the Changing World of CGL Exclusionary Endorsements
ISO endorsements are reasonably well understood due to their familiarity; but proprietary endorsements aren’t standardized or always familiar. This means agents must read all endorsements – ISO and especially proprietary endorsements.
Margin Clauses and Blanket Insurance
Commercial insurers have increasingly incorporated provisions into their coverage forms and/or endorsements that can create significant coverage gaps when property is insured on a blanket basis. The use of a margin clause places a cap on how much an Agreed Value option will pay on a blanket policy. In addition, a margin clause also functions with coinsurance, where applicable. This article explains the danger with real life, tangible examples.
How Much Debris Removal Coverage Do I Need?
In the event of partial losses, the limit of insurance is usually adequate to include the cost of debris removal. However, in some cases, the limit might not be adequate or the commercial property form's debris removal sublimit might restrict coverage. That begs the question, "How much debris removal coverage do I need?" For this article, we polled the VU faculty, some experienced agents, and a group of risk managers to get their thoughts. In light of the 2024 wildfires in California, it's always a good idea to offer more debris removal on commercial policies.
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.
PAP Coverage for Damage Due to “Freezing”
The temperature got so cold that the vinyl flooring in an insured travel trailer cracked. Is this damage excluded by the “freezing” exclusion in the ISO Personal Auto Policy or does “freezing” only refer to the liquids in the vehicle?
Don’t Let Water Damage Claims Drown Your Agency’s Profits
In 2021 according to the Insurance Information Institute (III), almost 24% of losses under homeowners insurance arose from water damage (including freezing-related) claims. From 2017 to 2021, III reports that the average claim severity for water damage claims for homeowners multi-peril policies was $12,514. What if some simple homeowner education could help your insureds prevent or reduce costs arising from water damage claims? Read this article for tips on preventing water damage insurance claims.
Duty to Defend: What the Courts Say – State List
Download this Duty to Defend: What the Courts Say list, organized by state, for easy reference.
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