• Buffalo – May 6 |
• Long Island – May 20 |
• Westchester County – May 22 |
• Syracuse – May 7 |
• New York City – May 21 |
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On June 11, we will telecast a live videoconference seminar to 14 locations across New York state.
Since the publication of last month’s issue of The E&O Report, some agents and brokers have contacted us seeking additional information about the various topics we’ll cover during this year’s seminars. In this issue of The E&O Report, we will provide additional details concerning the topics and other aspects of the seminars.
Initially, we’ll review New York State Law affecting property/casualty and life and health insurance agents and brokers. We will discuss several recent New York court cases, as well as insurance laws and regulations that affect New York insurance agents and brokers in the daily operation of their business. And, we’ll review the mandates of several important sections of state Insurance Law and Insurance Regulations.
Next, we will cover statistics and exposures related to trends in New York E&O claims. We will review statistics that relate to the types of transactions that most often result in E&O claims and lawsuits against New York agents and brokers. We will also look at who most often makes claims against agents and brokers as well as the agency or brokerage staff usually involved in those claims.
The third topic covers the duty of care for insurance agents and brokers in New York and various other states. We will review the definition of duty of care and key New York court cases that define the duties and obligations of insurance agents and brokers. In addition to New York law, we will also discuss the duties and obligations for insurance agents and brokers as they exist in other states where New York producers frequently conduct business. In connection with this topic, we will review the types of conduct that can result in a court finding a special relationship exists. In such cases, the agent or broker can be held to a higher standard of care. In connection with this topic, we’ll present a video to help illustrate the issues under discussion.
The fourth area will cover the importance of understanding the legal relationship that exists between the agency or brokerage and the insurance companies it represents. We will review the types of legal authority that exist in an agency relationship. And, the duties an agent or broker owes to an insurer relating to fiduciary duty, loyalty, accounting, disclosure and indemnification will also be discussed.
For the fifth topic, we will cover the most important loss control practices that every insurance agency and brokerage should have in effect. We will review such items as the importance of having established practices and procedures, the benefits of using coverage checklists and exposure questionnaires and how to conduct internal file audits.
The sixth topic relates to catastrophic events. We will spend time reviewing the best practices and procedures for handling claims, along with other customer issues concerning catastrophic events. We will discuss some of the specific practices that insurance agencies and brokerages should follow in order to protect against E&O claims and lawsuits related to catastrophic events. And, we will examine the steps an agency or brokerage should take before and after a catastrophic event in order to assist its customers and minimize potential E&O claims and lawsuits.
The seventh area we will review covers the various stages of the customer lifecycle. We will start by reviewing marketing and advertising and then continue by working our way through the application process, binding of coverage, servicing of policies, issuing certificates of insurance and handling customer claims. Throughout this review of the lifecycle, we will highlight some of the best practices and procedures that should be followed to help protect an agency or brokerage from E&O claims and improve customer service. During the discussion oncertificates of insurance, we’ll play a video that illustrates how certificates have been a problem for many years.
The eighth topic will cover some facts your customers may not have told you. In our experience, insureds will often either intentionally or unintentionally fail to tell you the whole story about what they need insured or omit important information relative to their insurance needs. We will present a video to help drive home some of the issues under discussion.
Elements of the Affordable Care Act will be the subject of the ninth area we will cover. We will review highlights of the ACA and those provisions you should keep in mind.
The final topic will encompass some of the most common defenses we use in connection with the defense of E&O claims and lawsuits. We will discuss such defenses as the agent or broker having satisfied its legal obligations to the customer, the customer’s duty to read the insurance policy, types or limits of coverage complained about but were not available and how we often work to find coverage does exist under the subject insurance policy.
As with all our seminars, we will use real-life examples of claims and lawsuits handled by our law firm in order to help illustrate the topics under discussion. We will also review practices and procedures agencies and brokerages can follow in order to help minimize E&O claims and lawsuit, provide better customer service and possibly sell more insurance.
We encourage everyone to register and attend one of the upcoming E&O seminars. You can register for either the live or telecast presentations of the 2012 annual IIABNY E&O seminar by visiting the Education section of the IIABNY website or calling IIABNY’s Education Department at (800) 851-8853. We look forward to seeing you at this year’s E&O Loss Control seminars.
Submitted by:
James C. Keidel, Esq.
Keidel, Weldon & Cunningham, LLP