UAIIA Newsletter

Below is an electronic copy of our state association newsletter. It is being sent via blind copy for your privacy.

For a flyer on the benefits of membership, please click on the following link: www.uaiia.org/benefits.pdf

Thanks to our 2008 Associate Members: Acuity, Advanced Restoration, AIG, American Mining, Amtrust North America, Austin Mutual Insurance Co., Auto Owners Insurance Co., Bear River Mutual Insurance, Burns & Wilcox LTD, Capital Premium Finance, Chubb Group of Insurance Companies, CSE Insurance Company, Colonial General Insurance, Colorado Casualty Ins. Co., Continental Western Group, Cresta Insurance, LLC, Dairyland Insurance Co., EMC Insurance Companies, Encompass/Allstate/Deerbrook, Germantown Mutual, Great American Insurance Co., Kemper, Legacy Insurance Services, MetLife Auto & Home, Mountain States Insurance Group, Multico Rating Systems Inc., Mutual of Enumclaw Ins. Co., National American Insurance Co., Networked Insurance Agents, PLUS Insurance, Premium Financing Specialists, Progressive Insurance, Republic Indemnity Company, Risk Placement Services – Salt Lake, Risk Placement Services – Scottsdale, Service Master by Restoration Xperts, Sequoia Ins. Co., State Auto Insurance, Statewide Insurance Corp., Surplus Line Assoc. of UT, Swett & Crawford, Inc., Transwestern General Agency, Travelers, UAIG, UCA General Insurance, Unitrin Specialty, Utah Disaster Kleenup, Victoria Insurance, WCF.

1. Don’t Miss The Entertainer
2. Agent and Company Person of the Year
3. New Designation for CSRs
4. Utah Legislature Changes Auto Liability Limits
5. Homeowner Bomb Insurance
6. There’s Always Room For Jell-O
7. Flooding In Utah
8. Loss Control Corner
9. New Revenue Stream For Agents
10. Pet Health Insurance
11. Construction Risk and Insurance Specialist (CRIS)
12. Help our Insurance Legislators

1. Don’t Miss The Entertainer Jason Hewlett is a great entertainer who impersonates many popular singers. His performance is one you won’t want to miss. He has played all over the country and we feel fortunate to have him at our convention. He will be performing on Thursday evening, June 5th at UAIIA’s annual convention following a buffet dinner and a full day’s golf. This year’s convention promises to be a great one. For complete details and downloadable registration forms, please go to: www.uaiia.org/_private/zermattconvention.htm

2. Agent and Company Person of the Year Included with the printed newsletter is a nomination form for agent, young agent and company person of the year. These prestigious awards will be presented at our annual convention during the banquet on June 6th at the Zermatt Resort.
Why don’t you take a minute to nominate someone for an award today? To download an electronic copy of the nomination form, please go to: www.uaiia.org/_private/2008nominationform.pdf

3. New Designation for CSRs We now have a new designation for customer service representatives (CSRs). The Accredited Customer Service Representative (ACSR) designation is available using online classes through the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America’s (IIABA’s) Virtual University website. You can earn your designation from anywhere. To check out this new education opportunity, please go to: www.independentagent.com and click onto Virtual University Online Education.

4. Utah Legislature Changes Auto Liability Limits The 2008 legislative session ended with a nail biter finish for some insurance insiders. SB 149, a bill that would have raised liability rates across the board, ended up being passed on the final evening of the legislature with a compromise amendment added by the sponsor on the House Floor. The new limits will be $25,000/$65,000/$15,000 instead of the old limits of $25,000/$50,000/$15,000. The new combined limit of liability will be $80,000 instead of the old limit of $65,000. Industry lobbyists put up a good fight and nearly killed the bill. The argument was successfully made that “since most cars have single drivers, it shouldn’t put a financial burden on Utah consumers, but provide more access to coverage.” Since an accident would need to involve more than two drivers and many people choose to buy higher limits, the bill shouldn’t have a significant impact on Utah auto rates. This will be effective January 1, 2009.

5. Homeowner Bomb Insurance It seems that insurance companies aren’t too excited about insuring homes that were built over unexploded bombs. That’s why hundreds of people who unwittingly bought homes in Orlando, Florida near a World War II era bombing range, are suing after learning they could lose their insurance. Attorneys for the residents said that homebuilders committed fraud by concealing that the homes were built on the bombing range. Since July, live bombs and bomb debris have been found at a nearby school, under the yards of some homes and on land behind the school.
Citizens Property Insurance Corp., created by the legislature as the insurer of last resort, said it would not consider writing a policy if there were unexploded bombs.
Real estate broker John Jennings said it’s almost impossible to sell houses near the former bombing range. “There’s not a lot of ways to sugarcoat a bombing range or contaminated area,” he said.
Christina Quintana, division president for Mercedes Homes, which built 218 homes in the area, said the company was not told about the potential bombs. “How could we have told our customers when nobody told us? She asked. “We’re victims in this too.”

6. There’s Always Room For Jell-O There’s always room for Jell-O except for when Jell-O wrestling. A Manhattan judge has thrown out a $1 million suit against New York University by a former student who claimed he broke his hip at a Jell-O wrestling dorm party.
Avram Wisnia was a NYU junior in 2004 when he and his dorm mates organized a party called “Beach Bash.” While horsing around a kiddie pool filled with gelatin, Wisnia was pushed and shattered his hip, his lawsuit said.
Wisnia’s 2005 lawsuit blamed NYU for allowing the event and for having the school’s food service provide the gelatin. But Manhattan Justice Carol Robinson Edmead ruled that Wisnia knew what he was doing. NYU spokesman John Beckman said, “This case broke the mold but in the end justice was served sweetly.”

7. Flooding in Utah With all of the snow we’ve received in Utah this year, are your clients protected against floods? If not, protect them now with two excellent flood products accessible to UAIIA members. For IIABA national members there is the Big “I” Flood program through Selective Insurance company. Go to www.independentagent.com for details. For PIA national members, there is the PIA Flood program through The Hartford. Check it out at www.pianet.com. Talk to your clients and save them a headache. It might save you an E&O claim as well.

8. Loss Control Corner The Value of Signed Applications: While it may be quicker and easier to submit an application to a carrier without the client’s signature, don’t be surprised if your client’s story changes after a loss. When money is at stake, friendships and loyalties can go out the window. Always obtain the client’s personal signature on an application. This will protect you and the agency from claims by carriers or clients when the nature of a risk is in question.
For a review and proposal on your E&O coverage, please contact Steve Woods at UAIIA, (801) 269-1200.

9. New Revenue Stream for Agents Independent insurance agencies now can offer their clients access to four banking products through a product referral program that can help maximize agency revenues and leverage client relationships, announced InsurBanc, the bank founded by agents for agents.
The new product referral program offers products suited for both business and personal needs: a business Visa card, an equipment lease-financing program, a personal Visa card, and student loans.
The InsurBanc program is open to all independent insurance agencies that qualify for the program. Once qualified, agents can market the products via turnkey marketing programs provided by InsurBanc. Agents can promote the products best suited to their client base. Agencies do not process applications, but simply refer the client to InsurBanc to handle all processing, applications, and fulfillment. Qualified agencies earn a fee for each referral that results in a sale.
For more information on the InsurBanc Product Referral Program, contact Susan Smith, VP Product Manager, at 1(866) 467-2262, productreferral@insurbanc.com or log onto www.insurbanc.com. Member FDIC

10. Pet Health Insurance EnsurApet, Inc., a leading provider of pet health insurance, is poised to become a leader in the largely untapped, yet rapidly growing US market for pet health insurance, through a network of veterinary hospitals and other pet related programs. EnsurApet is among the few companies in an industry where the total market revenue growth, for insurance premiums, in five years rose 159%.
Market revenues for pet health insurance sales in the United States are among the fastest growing of any in the insurance industry.

11. Construction Risk and Insurance Specialist (CRIS) The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, Inc. is hosting an essential seminar on Friday, April 4, 2008 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C. during their annual Big “I” Legislative Conference & Convention. This seminar, The Contractual Risk Transfer in Construction Course (CRTC Course) is a fundamental section of a CE course curriculum to gain the CRIS designation.
The cost of registration for the course is $295.00 or an additional $50.00 to the Big “I” Legislative Conference & Convention full attendee fee. Visit www.independentagent.com for up-to-the minute details and registration.

12. Help Our Insurance Legislators It’s election year and we have three very effective insurance legislators: Curt Oda, Todd Kiser and Jim Dunnigan. Representatives Kiser and Dunnigan do not have Republican opponents this year, but Curt Oda does. If you live in Clearfield’s District 14, Representative Oda would appreciate any help in the way of delegates. On March 25th at 7:00 p.m. at North Davis Junior High School there will be a caucus meeting. You could become a county delegate or support anyone who is running as a Curt Oda delegate.
Representative Kiser is in District 41 and Representative Dunnigan is in District 39. All three representatives would also appreciate receiving donations to their reelection campaign.