UAIIA Newsletter

Thanks to our 2009 Associate Members: Acuity, Advanced Restoration, LLC, Allied Insurance, American Mining Insurance Co., Austin Mutual Insurance Co., Auto-Owners Insurance Co., Bear River Mutual Insurance Co., BELFOR, Burns & Wilcox, LTD, Capital Premium Financing, Inc., CNA Insurance, CSE (Civil Service Employees) Insurance Co., Colonial General Insurance Co., Colorado Casualty, Continental Western Group, Cresta Insurance, LLC, Dairyland Auto, EMC Insurance Companies, Encompass/Allstate, Employers, Germantown Mutual Insurance Co., HCC Surety Group, Kemper, Legacy Insurance Services, Inc., Magna Carta Companies, MetLife Auto & Home, Mountain States Insurance Group, MULTICO Rating Systems, Inc., Mutual of Enumclaw, National American Insurance Company, Networked Insurance Agents, Pennsylvania Lumbermens Mutual Insurance Co., Philadelphia Insurance, Premium Financing Specialists, Professional Lines Underwriting Specialists, Inc., Progressive Insurance, Risk Placement Services, Safeco Insurance Co., Sagamore Insurance Company, Santa Fe Auto Insurance Co., Servpro of Holladay/Cottonwood, Service Master by Restoration Xperts, State Auto Insurance, Statewide Insurance Corp., Surplus Lines Association of Utah, Swett & Crawford, Total Restoration, Inc., Transwestern General Agency, Travelers, UCA General Insurance, Utah Business Insurance Company, Utah Disaster Kleenup, Victoria Insurance, Western National Insurance Group and Workers Compensation Fund

1. See You At The Top
2. Avoid Pitfalls in E&S Business
3. Did You Know….
4. Twitter Mania
5. Prison Laundry is a Hit!
6. Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid
7. Triathlete Outrun by Fraud Unit
8. New Utah Insurance Department Rule
9. Insurance Management Consultants
10. Want To Be Listed in New Directory?
11. Newsletter Inserts
12. Credit Scoring Hearing
13. Fire Safe Cigarettes
14. Contractors & Builders Conference

1. See You At The Top The top two leaders of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (IIABA) will be at UAIIA’s Annual Convention June 11 – 13 at the Zermatt Resort in Midway, Utah. They are coming just in the nick of time with congress poised to take on President Obama’s Universal Health Care Program. Brett Nilsson, Chairman, and Bob Rusbuldt, President and CEO of IIABA, will present us with the latest information on this issue from a national perspective. Couple this with golf, a trade show, awards banquet, keynote speaker, entertainment and great food at a fantastic resort. You won’t want to miss it!

For further information, go to: www.uaiia.org/_private/zermattconvention.htm or call the association office at: 801-269-1200.

2. Avoid Pitfalls in E&S Business Swiss Re Academy and the Big “I” Professional Liability Program presents a FREE risk management webinar for all agency staff about the E&O issues of placing insurance in the Excess and Surplus Lines market and working with E&S brokers. It will be held on Friday, May 15th from 2:00 to 3:00 Eastern Time. For further information, contact Pam.Andrews@iiaba.net (800-221-7917).

3. Did You Know….that the number of U.S. bank failures in 2009 has already matched the total number that failed throughout all of 2008? Last year, officials seized 25 U.S. banks, up sharply from only three in 2007.

4. Twitter Mania Okay, I admit it. I am a Twitter junkie. For those who don’t know, twitter is a social networking phenomenon, which allows for communications called “tweets” in 140 characters or less. Short and sweet! You can follow someone by book marking their twitter site on your browser, by text messages on your cell phone or better yet, log onto www.twitter.com, start your own site, follow several twitterers and send out your own tweets.

I have two twitter sites. One at: www.twitter.com/UAIIA which I use for insurance news, views and commentary, a good way for you to keep up with our association daily. My personal site at: www.twitter.com/stevebaugh pretty much covers my warped view of the world. You are welcome to visit each site, but caution: If you follow me, I just might follow you back.

5. Prison Laundry is a Hit! Our seminar on certificates of insurance or (How I got my job in the prison laundry) is a hit. It has been approved for 3 hours of C.E. credit and we sold out our first class on May 21st in two days. We’ve since added two more classes on May 27th and June 18th, but both of them are filling fast. Check with cheryllyman@uaiia.org for availability. You can download further information and a registration form at: www.uaiia.org/_private/calendar.html.

6. Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid During our visit to Washington D.C., our agents heard loud and clear that our industry is in the crosshairs of potential government interference like never before, most notably with regards to the sale and delivery of health insurance.

The Obama Administration is actively working with Congress and interested parties to craft a major health care reform proposal. While still being developed this proposal could potentially eliminate or severely curtail the agent/broker role in health insurance sales. The entire debate is on a fast track with draft legislation expected to be circulated in late May.

To put in perspective the danger we face, consider these recent comments by Nancy-Ann Deparle, Counselor to the President and Director of the White House Office of Health Reform: “A public plan is something that’s sponsored by the government, and therefore has very low or almost nonexistent administrative costs, compared to others. It doesn’t have the need to have brokers out selling; it wouldn’t have the need to have a lot of costs and profits, the way private plans would. So it has that advantage.”

News flash: U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, just said “Dismantling the private market….is not something the president supports.”

To counter the efforts that threaten our livelihood, IIABA has assembled a Health Care Reform Kit to educate you on the issue and help you advocate in your community. This will be sent to you under separate cover by our state association.

7. Triathlete Outrun by Fraud Unit A Virginia man claimed he was wheelchair-bound after a car crash aggravated an earlier injury. He made a $1.2 million claim against Amica Insurance, and received rehab and other services from state-funded programs. All the while, he was a competitive triathlete and was taking women on long mountain hikes. The man faced up to 20 years in prison on fraud charges, but was ordered to serve only one year. He also must repay the state over $26,000.

8. New Utah Insurance Dept. Rule There is a new rule being proposed by the Utah Insurance Department. It is R590-244, Individual and Agency Licensing Requirements. The comment period ends June 15, 2009 and your written comments are encouraged. Please direct them to Jilene Whitby by email: jwhitby@utah.gov, by fax: 801-538-3829, or by mail: State Office Building, Room 3110, Salt Lake City, UT 84114-6901. A hearing has been scheduled for June 4, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. in room 3112 of the State Office Building behind the Capitol.

To read a copy of the rule, go to: http://www.insurance.utah.gov/legalresources/rules.html.

9. Insurance Management Consultants The American Association of Insurance Management Consultants (AAIMCo) is an association of consultants to the insurance industry for companies, agents and their consumers.

They claim that the experience of their members and the diversity of their expertise cannot be found elsewhere. Their standards of performance is maintained and sustained via continued education.

For further information, their website is located at: www.aaimco.com.

10. Want To Be Listed In New Directory? A new printed directory will come out in a couple of months listing all agency and associate members of UAIIA. There will be other important information in the directory as well. You must be a member to be included. If you haven’t renewed your membership, please sign up today.

11. Newsletter Inserts Watch for the inserts with our paper newsletter from Risk Placement Services, Inc., (RPS) and Chandler Insurance Managers, Inc. (CIMI). Thanks!

12. Credit Scoring Hearing On April 30th, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) held a public hearing about insurance companies’ use of credit scoring.

The hearing—co-hosted by the Property and Casualty Insurance Committee and the Market Regulation and Consumer Affairs Committee—focused on the impact of credit-based insurance score on consumers.

“Credit scoring is one of the most significant developments in the pricing of auto and homeowners insurance in the past 20 years,” said NAIC President and New Hampshire Insurance Commissioner Roger Sevigny. “Our goal is to protect consumers by ensuring that any use of credit scoring does not have unfair or unintended consequences.”

13. Fire Safe Cigarettes Since 2006, the Coalition for Fire Safe Cigarettes has been pursuing state laws requiring self-extinguishing cigarettes. Missouri became the 46th state to approve that type of legislation. The only states that have not are Alabama, Michigan, Nebraska and Wyoming.

So-called fire safe cigarettes have a special paper that causes the lighted end to go out when the burning tobacco reaches the treated section. The cigarettes essentially are designed to burn out when someone stops puffing on them. They are intended to reduce the chances for house fires caused by people falling asleep while smoking.

In Missouri, retailers could be fined up to $100 per pack for knowingly selling cigarettes that do not meet self-extinguishing requirements.

14. Contractors & Builders Conference This conference is the home of the Certified Insurance Specialist in Construction (CISC) designation. For further information, go to: www.ContractorsConference.com