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AGENCY MANAGEMENT
Agency Valuation and Divorce

Insurance agencies sometimes become a part of marital assets considered within a divorce. The separation of “professional goodwill” from “enterprise goodwill” has significantly altered the permitted agency value in divorce situations in some areas. Agency valuation in divorce situations differs from those for estate planning, partner acquisition and loan substantiation.

SALES
Pitch Properly

What salesperson has not been disappointed to hear he has lost a deal as the result of selling to the wrong person? Despite asking, many salespeople, without knowing it, find themselves pitching to someone other than the decision maker.

CUSTOMER SERVICE
Judy and the Jerk

Judy has noticed that her mood is profoundly contagious. If she allows herself the luxury of slipping into the office in a bad mood, the day goes downhill from there. After years of running a successful firm, she’s learned a few things about making sure the office runs well so the clients have a smooth ride. Her attitude, she’s discovered, is pivotal.

TECHNOLOGY
Electronic Delivery of Policies

It is inarguable that independent agencies own the customer account. But, do they own the declarations pages and other policy documents stored on the insurance company Web-based systems? What kind of access should agents have to account information (documents and data) on a carrier’s automation system? How about terminated agencies?

COVERAGES
Purely Accidental?

An insured was injured in a collision between her vehicle and one driven by another party who intentionally collided with her vehicle. The other party’s insurer denied the claim because it was not accidental. When the insured turned to her carrier for payment for her injuries under UM coverage, the insurer denied the claim on the same basis.

Video

Cover Story
A Full Plate

In recent health insurance renewal cycles, agents have had a full plate of challenges. Independent insurance agents may have felt like they are battling Goliath during the past two renewals, between reduced commissions and lower revenues.

Chairman's Voice
Filtering the Truth

Spring is a perfect time to reflect. Cleaning out your house helps to get rid of the old while also looking to the future. We do the same thing in our professional lives. As independent insurance agents, we wonder what our Big “I” membership will look like and what we will need from the association in order to be successful going forward.

Forms & Substance
Pools and Contents Coverage
Swimming Pools and the Homeowners Policy; Swimming Pools and the CGL Policy; When Residents Have No Contents Coverage (and Worse)

On Branding
Time to Reinvent Your Branding

Call it what you want, but few pop stars and fewer businesses have understood the intricacies of Madonna’s genius of reinvention and the inevitable end of the business cycle. Learn from the branding expert. While Madonna soars, everyone else seems to stumble, bumble and disappear down a deep, dark hole.

On the Hill
Supreme Court Deliberates on Health Care Law

As early as next month, the U.S. Supreme Court may announce its decision regarding several challenges to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Timed just as the presidential election campaign season heats up, it may cause a bigger splash than when President Barack Obama first signed the controversial reform package into law.

Ace Insura
The Case of the Motorcycle Madness

Ace meets an insurance agent at a help group for people with trust issues. Ace is there to cope with his own matter (he still believes in a certain holiday gift-giver), but he helps the agent come to terms with a bad assumption that led him to insure a motorcycle school with mobile equipment coverage.

Insurance Views
The Power to Fail

Why is it that in a lot of agencies across America, the younger generation of producers, brokers, and CSRs are frustrated? Nationwide, agencies do a good job of attracting talent. It’s the challenge of retaining that talent that keeps most principals scratching their heads.

Online Extras
Divorce, Sales Pitches and Electronic Policies
Agency Valuation and Divorce; Pitch Properly; Judy and the Jerk; Electronic Delivery of Policies; Purely Accidental?

State News

Industry News

Association News

InVEST
Unclaimed Auction Items Up for Grabs

The InVEST Silent Auction held during YAC Gives Back two weeks ago was a huge success, but there are still a few unclaimed items. They can now be acquired by just the click of a mouse—all while providing scholarship dollars to InVEST graduates. Read on to view the remaining auction items.

Big “I” Markets
N.Y. Agent Achieves Success with Mobile Food Vendors Market

The rapid growth of mobile food vendors is providing people with an increasing number of options that transcend the typical fast-food establishments. Just ask agent Rose Aiello of the William & Williams agency in Smithtown, N.Y.

IA Magazine
Read the May Issue of Independent Agent Magazine

The May issue of Independent Agent magazine is now available. This month’s cover story (“A Full Plate”) makes the case for why agencies can look to life insurance for recouping revenue lost to the economic downturn and reduced commissions under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Education
Understand 27 Major Changes to the New ISO HO 2011

In 2010, ISO filed its first major revision to its homeowners program in a decade with 27 major changes to the HO forms and endorsements. Agents can learn what they need to know about the updated form during a webinar on July 31, hosted by Big “I” Virtual University experts Bill Wilson of IIABA and David Thompson of the Florida Association of Insurance Agents.

Big “I” Markets
Dig into the Excavation Market

Big “I” Markets recently announced the availability of an excavation market via The Hartford. This program is targeted at accounts with $75,000 or less in premium. With average premiums of about $30,000, this can be a good money-maker for an agency.

Best Practices
Learn How to Create Producer Contracts

As an agency formulates a plan for the competitive future, increasing sales through effective marketing is crucial. Hiring a new producer provides an avenue by which the agency can market its products and services.

Big “I” Employee Benefits
Crump Presents Life Solutions Webinar

Please join Crump’s Anne Rockwell, supervisor of sales support, and Lisa Robinson, life solutions production coordinator, on May 17 at 2 p.m. EST for an online demonstration of Life Solutions, a quick, online submission processing solution for term business. Life Solutions is easy: Submit basic information about a client using an online form and Crump will take it from there.

On the Hill
Big “I” Testifies Before Congress on National Flood Insurance Program

The Big “I” testified yesterday in a U.S. Senate hearing on the National Flood Insurance Program, which, without congressional action, will expire May 31. The association continues to fight for a long-term extension and reforms to the program.

Insurance Views
What Plays in Peoria Doesn’t Shine in Hollywood

My husband and I recently saw the new movie “Thin Ice” with Greg Kinnear (the “unwilling accomplice”), Billy Crudup (the “paranoid ex-con”) and Alan Arkin (the “unsuspecting target”). Entering the theater, we knew the movie was a comedy and that the main character was an insurance agent. I thought: “Maybe, finally, a movie that will show some of the true, humorous stories that happen in the offices and lives of agents.”

L-H Leads
Retirement Options Emerge with New IRS Rules

Increasing life expectancies, the downturn and increasing volatility of the stock market and low-interest rates have all presented unique challenges for Americans planning for retirement. Due to these and other concerns, many people are so cautious regarding their retirement withdrawals that they reduce their standard of living—especially in their 60s and 70s—so they have adequate funds should they live beyond their life expectancy.

On the Hill
Proposed Tax Increase on Small Business Voted Down in Senate

This week the U.S. Senate put the brakes on a bill containing a provision that would have raised taxes on small businesses by $9 billion. In a procedural vote on Tuesday, senators concerned about this provision voted against moving forward with the underlying student loan bill, S. 2343 by Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), sending Senate Democrats back to the drawing board in search of a method to offset the cost of the legislation.

Forms & Substance
When Residents Have No Contents Coverage—and Worse

An agency insures a couple who has two HO-3 policies in Maryland. One property is occupied by the couple’s daughter as her primary residence, but she is not a named insured. The daughter filed a claim for loss of her personal property because the residence was burglarized, but the insurance company denied the claim. Is this correct?

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