williamjones

Big “I” President Alex Soto takes his talent for communicating to the top.

As a parent, do you ever transport high school (or other) kids to athletic or other school events? Do you use your own vehicle or a nonowned vehicle like a private passenger auto or van? Do you have a liability exposure? Do you have coverage under a PAP?

Imagine my surprise as I opened my e-mail and saw a National Underwriter story titled “Analyst Sees Safeco Distribution Blunder.” Knowing Safeco to be a prudent insurance company that has garnered much success with its independent agent-driven distributio

On Aug. 24, 2002, Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida with a devastating force. That morning my agency at the time, Pennekamp and Soto, received thousands of serious and complicated claims. Among them were 17 insureds who were unfortunate enough to be part

As the curtain came down on the 109th Congress, the Big “I” was there, fighting for regulatory reform, new natural disaster legislation and a terrorism risk insurance backstop. Big “I” President Alex Soto testified before a subcommittee of the House Ju

I stood before the MP3 players at Best Buy, staring blankly at the store display like a kindergartner trying to solve a Sudoku puzzle. After blocking the aisle for an hour, a store clerk with a junior mohawk approached. “Dude, can I, like, help ya or s

By: Volume 103, No. 10

The For many agencies, it’s the difference between red ink and black ink on the balance sheet. Producer compensation will be the most important issue during my presidency. I did a calculation two years ago when New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer anno

The Virtual University “Ask an Expert” service recently fielded the following inquiry: “My question has to do with additional insureds. I have had discussions with agents who believe that the wording in the ISO CGL policy pertaining to an ‘insured contrac

In high school physics, I learned Newton’s third law of motion: “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” I didn’t think it would be relevant to the insurance industry, but I was wrong…