June 15
NYIA Annual Conference Attendees Saddle Up for Success
The New York Insurance Association (NYIA) Annual Conference attracted more than 240 insurance industry executives to Saratoga Springs, New York May 27–29. Those in attendance made it known that they were ready to fulfill the theme of this year’s event, Saddle Up for Success, in the spirit of Saratoga’s rich horse racing culture. NYIA prides […]
Amendments to the Stringer Bill
Following our cover story in early May in which we presented – on the cover – the language proposed in a bill that would require agents and brokers to recite a rather ridiculous “disclosure,” we have had a waterfall of response. Here is the language we quoted that agents and brokers would be required to […]
Go Figure “Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are pliable.” Mark Twain
Ever wonder how many state insurance regulators there are nationwide? Or how the state departments compare in size, number of staff, or budgets? Or how the states compare in collection of taxes, fees and assessments, fines and penalties or total revenue? The answers to these and many more questions can be found in Volume 1 […]
Designated Premises Exclusion NYTimes On Homeowners Deductibles & Damage to a Tenant’s Apartment Updates on C of I and TNCs
Designated Premises Exclusion—Score One for the Home Team. I hate the designated premises exclusion endorsement. It links coverage to a specific location rather than providing broad coverage throughout the coverage territory. While it’s probably needed in certain situations (e.g. the insured operates multiple locations and the policy is intended to cover just one), it is […]
Experience or OJT?
It should come as no surprise to anyone that finding, training and retaining quality employees is a huge issue and a top priority in many independent insurance agencies. The effect of the Baby Boomer generation retiring from active participation in agencies is creating a real problem for agency owners and managers to solve. Most of […]
When a Customer is Not a Customer Bankers’ Bond Requires Loss to Bank’s Customer
In an unusually brief, succinct and intelligent decision the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal interpreted an insurance contract, called a financial institution bond, as it was written in First Nat. Bank of Northern California v. St. Paul Mercury Ins. Co., — Fed.Appx. —, 2015 WL 2225044 (C.A.9 (Cal.) 5/11/15). First National Bank of Northern California […]
District Court Finds Lack of Standing for Cyber Data Breach Victims
The United States District Court in Nevada issued an Order on June 1, 2015 dismissing the complaint filed by alleged victims of a data security breach suffered by Amazon.com d/b/a Zappos.com (Zappos) on the ground that the victims lacked standing to sue because they could not identify any specific harm that they had sustained as […]
Feds Want to Spend $20B on AIDS Drugs, Based on 45 Cases
About $6 billion per year is now spent on a cocktail of drugs to treat “HIV disease”—a positive blood test for antibodies for human immunodeficiency virus, the accepted cause for AIDS. Treatment generally starts when the patient’s CD4 white blood cell count drops below 350-500. (Normal is 500 to 1,200 per cubic millimeter.) But if […]
