December 22
The Consequences of Misclassifying Employees as Independent Contractors in New Jersey
By Frank Agostino, Esq. & Eugene Kirman, Agostino & Associates, P.C. Overview The U.S. Department of Labor recently awarded a total of $10.2 million to 19 states for the purpose of improving worker classification compliance. New Jersey received the third-largest total award of $838,621. This sum included the second-largest bonus, $496,399, for its performance in […]
Sad news
Insurance Advocate has received two sad notices, as we go to press. The first was this note and obituary from Diana Sands, daughter of Linda Lamel. “Dear Steve: My mother passed away on Friday, December 5th at her Manhattan home at the age of 71. At her request and with the encouragement of her former colleagues […]
A View From The Far Side
Regulators are people too! I spend a lot of focus in this column on problems with excessive, pointless, redundant and counter-productive insurance laws and regulations. In the process, however, many of those individuals responsible for interpreting and enforcing the rules are often unintentionally caught in the crossfire. So I want to take a moment to […]
Business Income—Purchase Adequate Limits Whether or not Coinsurance Applies; Telephone Toll Fraud
The most frequent question producers ask me concerns how to set the amount of insurance for business income coverage. Here’s one from a NYC producer: “We are insuring a condo association of 50 units… If total annual maintenance fees amount to $250,000 for all units combined, would you suggest that we write the [Business Income] […]
Holiday Wishes
It’s the time for holiday greetings. I received a holiday email from PIA this week featuring the staff at Glenmont headquarters, and it gave me the idea for this article. I was president of PIANY and I am a director on the board of PIA Management Services, which manages the PIA state affiliates of Conn., […]
David J. Walsh Named Chairman of LICONY
At its Annual Meeting, the Life Insurance Council of New York, Inc. (“LICONY”), elected David J. Walsh to serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors for 2015. Mr. Walsh is President & Chief Executive Officer for Amalgamated Life Insurance Company. “Dave is a strategic thinker with deep experience on legislative and regulatory matters affecting […]
Improving Customer Experience with Digital Marketing
Agencies that have relied on traditional channels to build and grow personal relationships face a future in which conversations and in-person meetings have become the equivalent of landline phones and cursive writing. If you never meet the customer, how do you get to know them? Just as you trained staff to ask the right questions […]
Meeting the New Challenges
Marketing insurance protection has changed considerably since I started my independent agent career many years ago. As I sat behind my desk on that first day with my telephone, criss-cross directory and my x-date cards there was no internet. Prior to coming onboard as an agent I had spent many nights on the phone gathering […]
Polluter Must Pay
Pollution Exclusion Applies It is axiomatic that insurance companies have the right to limit coverage in any manner they desire, so long as the limitations do not conflict with statutory pro- visions or public policy. People who are sued have a problem with the concept when the policy wording does not apply to the allegations […]
