SM

SM

We appreciate your business and our partnership! We look forward to providing your

clients the opportunity to put their business with a New Mexico company. If you have

any questions, please feel free to contact your sales representative.

Bring your business home to New Mexico Mutual and celebrate

with a 5% increase in commission on NEW BUSINESS* bound with effective dates through August 31, 2012.

3900 Singer Blvd. NE • Albuquerque, NM 87109 • 505.345.7260 or 800.788.8851 • www.NewMexicoMutual.com*Excludes accounts that were insured with New Mexico Mutual in the previous 6 months, short-term policies, rewritten policies, and renewal policies.

New Mexico’s Experts in Workers’ Compensation Insurance.

To celebrate we are extending our5% new business commission program.

WE LOVEYOUR BUSINESS!

IIANM Staff

2011-2012 Officers

ChairScott JonesVice-ChairPJ WolffSecretary/TreasurerDiana HobbsNational DirectorSam ConleeImmediate Past ChairKathy Yeager

FeaturesThis publication is intended to provide accurate and authoritative information on the subject matter covered, but is distributed with the understanding that neither IIANM, nor any contributing author, publisher, contributor or advertiser is rendering legal, accounting or any other professional service and assume no liability whatsoever in connection with its use. Further, the electronic links to our advertisers and/or contributors found in this publication are provided as a courtesy to our readers and do not necessarily indicate an endorsement by IIANM.

News items from members of Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico and the general insurance industry are encouraged. The advertising deadline is the fifteenth day of the month, preceding publication.

Advertising rates are available upon request.

Please contact Rachel Sheffield at rachel@iianm.org for details

RLI - Announces New Underwriting Guidelines for New Mexico Risks 05

NMM & IIANM Scholarship GOLF TOURNAMENT 06

Does the Time of Day Influence Decision Making? 09

10 Surefire Ways to Improve Your Sales Calls 10

Deductibility of IIANM Dues 13

Comm Insurance Prices Continued to Increase in 4th Qtr of 2011 15

US Supreme Court Schedules Three Days of Arguments over

Diminution of Value in the ISO Personal Auto Policy 19

Don't Overlook the Next Jeremy Lin for Your Agency 21

New Mexico's U-Turn on Uninsured Motorist 23

2012 IIANM Company Partners 04

Rio Grande Rift is Still Alive and Expanding Slowly 26

Insuring Movie Star Moves 28

Tech Talk 12

ABEN - The Next Big Thing in Continuing Education 29

April's Clickable Calendar 30

Odds n Ends 31

In Every Issue

Advertiser Index

"The Voice" of Independent Agents since 1934

President/CEOThom Turbett

Vice PresidentLorri Gaffney

Communications DirectorRachel Sheffield

Insurance Programs AdministratorJulie A. Franchini

Member Services Associate Renee Trujillo

“La Voz” is the official monthly e-publication of the

Independent Insurance Agents of NM 1511 University Blvd. NE Albuquerque, NM 87102.

(505) 843-7231. Fax (505) 243-3367. Web site www.iianm.org.

La

oVZ

Acuity 22

Burns & Wilcox 04

Hallmark Insurance Company 08

Litchfield Special Risks 18

Market Finders, Inc. 20

MexiPass 29

Mountain States Insurance Group 14

New Mexico Health Insurance Alliance (NMHIA) 17

New Mexico Mutual 02

Healthcare Reform Legislation 16

Bridge the gap between your clients’ exposures and their protection.

• Commercial• Personal • Professional • Brokerage • Binding • Risk Management Services

Albuquerque, New Mexico | 505.822.0018toll free 866.643.8538 | fax 505.822.0092scottsdale.burnsandwilcox.com

It starts with the breadth of our product knowledge. And extends to our unparalleled access to markets. At Burns & Wilcox, our experts possess the resources to protect your clients against any risk. From Property to Excess, Professional to Environmental, we can handle your clients’ exposures no matter what industry they are in. Plus, our quick quoting capabilities can grant them protection in no time. That way, if a mistake does happen, it will be water under the bridge.

30044_BURNS_NM1-LaVoz_Environmental.indd 1 1/5/12 2:01 PM

RLI’s decision is based on recent rulings made by the New Mexico Supreme Court which broaden the scope of Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage in our state. RLI introduced its Excess UM/UIM endorsement for PUPs in 2011, but the company is now concerned that court rulings regarding auto coverage could seep into umbrella policies. RLI will continue to offer the Excess UM/UIM en-dorsement at $1,000,000 but will no longer write umbrella limits above $1,000,000 on New Mexico risks, regardless of whether or not the Excess UM/UIM endorsement is attached.

What to Expect on New Business:

Application PUP 276NM (04/12) is mandatory for all new PUPs in New Mexico with effective dates of 4-1-12 and later. Please discard any old applications in your office. The new app can be accessed through the IIANM website, the RLI portal, or by clicking here. If we receive other ver-sions, they will be returned with a request to complete the updated application.

What to Expect on Renewals with Limits of $1,000,000:

Policies with limits of $1,000,000 will be handled routinely at renewal. A renewal questionnaire will be mailed to the insured 70 days prior to expiration, with a due date 45 days prior to expiration. If RLI does not receive the completed questionnaire by 35 days prior to expiration, a non-renewal

notice will be mailed, along with a copy of the renewal questionnaire that was originally sent. If the insured submits an acceptable questionnaire prior to expiration, the policy will be renewed. The only change will be the absence of higher limit options on the renewal billing that RLI sends to the insured after receipt of the completed questionnaire.

What to Expect on Renewals with Limits over $1,000,000:

RLI will directly communicate this change to policyholders with limits over $1,000,000 by mailing the NM Renewal Cover Letter 70 days prior to expiration. We recommend that you notify your insureds of the limit change before they receive RLI’s notice. Along with RLI’s explanatory letter, the insured will receive the required non-renewal notice and a renewal questionnaire, which the insured can complete if they choose to renew the policy at the $1,000,000 limit. If they do not return the completed renewal questionnaire, coverage will lapse on the expiration date.

Alternative Market - Anderson & Murison

As IIANM members, you have access to the Anderson & Murison Personal Excess Policy. The PEP is a stand-alone personal excess policy in the admitted market with limits in most cases to $5,000,000 and, in some cases, to $10,000,000. A&M offers broad acceptability and competi-tive pricing. Applications, rates and underwriting guidelines are available in Big I Markets by selecting Personal Umbrel-la Alternative Market. Or you can go directly to A&M’s site for details and a quick rater. Laura Long, the New Mexico underwriter, can be reached at 800-234-6977 x 264.

EFFECTIVE 4-1-12 FOR NEW BUSINESS AND 6-1-12 FOR RENEWALS,

RLI WILL NO LONGER OFFER LIMITS HIGHER THAN $1,000,000 ON

PERSONAL UMBRELLA POLICIES IN THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO.

New Underwriting Guidelines for New Mexico Risks

IIANM’s Market for Stand-alone

Personal Umbrellas Announces

Bridge the gap between your clients’ exposures and their protection.

• Commercial• Personal • Professional • Brokerage • Binding • Risk Management Services

Albuquerque, New Mexico | 505.822.0018toll free 866.643.8538 | fax 505.822.0092scottsdale.burnsandwilcox.com

It starts with the breadth of our product knowledge. And extends to our unparalleled access to markets. At Burns & Wilcox, our experts possess the resources to protect your clients against any risk. From Property to Excess, Professional to Environmental, we can handle your clients’ exposures no matter what industry they are in. Plus, our quick quoting capabilities can grant them protection in no time. That way, if a mistake does happen, it will be water under the bridge.

30044_BURNS_NM1-LaVoz_Environmental.indd 1 1/5/12 2:01 PM

Questions? Contact Julie Franchini at IIANM at Julie@iianm.org or 505-999-5802.

Registration Deadline:

May 2nd, 2012

Includes: Golf, Lunch & Dinner/

Award Presentation

$100/per person

Plan to attend the New Mexico Mutual and Independent Insurance Agents of New

Mexico’s 18th Annual Scholarship Golf Tournament which will be held on

May 7th, 2012 at the beautiful Four Hills Country Club.

This event is designed to fund college scholarships for deserving candidates. Since

we are set up as a ‘C-3’ charitable organization, your contributions are entirely tax

deductible. We are asking that you contribute to this very worthwhile cause by way

of monetary donations, gifts, sponsorships or participation to help us make a dream

come true for a worthy nominee.

NMM & IIANM are also soliciting nominations for this years recipient. If you are in-

terested in nominating an individual, please contact Cecil Rudd at (505) 343-2823.

The scholarship will be awarded at the reception immediately following the

tournament. Your participation is vital to the success of our scholarship program.

Your contributions and registrations should be mailed to the address listed on the

right. Registrations may be faxed to (505) 243-3367. Should you require

additional information, please contact Lorri Gaffney at (505) 999-5805 or

800-621-3978 or email lorri@iianm.org.

18th Annual Scholarship

Golf Tournament

Company / Agency Contact:Company / Agency Name:Address:City, State & Zip:Phone: Fax: E-mail:

Sponsorship Level Selections:Play as one team Willing to play on various teams

(4 players to include)Name Name Name Name

Hole-in-One Sponsor Double Eagle Sponsor Eagle Sponsor

Birdie Sponsor (2 players to include)Name Name

Par Sponsor

Individual Registration Form: $100 per person

Golfer: Company / Agency Name:Address:City, State & Zip:Phone: Fax: E-mail:

Your Desired Team:This is for team assignments only! A separate registration form is required for each player. We will try our best to honor your requests. Questions may be directed to Lorri Gaffney at 999-5805.

YourselfNameNameName

Eagle Sponsor $1,000 - $2,500

• Full Registration for Four Players• Hole Sponsorship and Recognition Sign• Recognition in Event Program• Listing an Appreciation Sign at Event

Birdie Sponsor $500 - $999

• Full Registration for Two Players• Hole Sponsorship and Recognition Sign• Recognition in Event Program• Listing an Appreciation Sign at Event

Par Sponsor up to $499

• Recognition in Event Program• Listing an Appreciation Sign at Event

• 1/2 Page Ad in La Voz• Recognition Plaque• Full Registration for Four Players• Hole Sponsorship and Recognition Sign• Recognition in Event Program• Listing an Appreciation Sign at Event

• Full Page Ad in La Voz• Recognition Plaque• Full Registration for Four Players• Hole Sponsorship and Recognition Sign• Recognition in Event Program• Listing an Appreciation Sign at Event

Bill Agency (for Members Only)Check Enclosed (payable to IIANM)

Credit CardName:#:Exp. Date:

Method of Payment:

Please fax this form back to:

(505) 243-3367Attn: Lorrior mail to:

IIANM1511 University Blvd. NEAlbuquerque, NM 87102

Double Eagle Sponsor $2,500 - $5,000Hole-in-One Sponsor $5,000 or more...

Registration deadline is May 2, 2012.

Golf Tournament18th Annual Scholarship May 7th, 2012

Service is our Hallmark.Hallmark Personal Lines is dedicated to providing New Mexico independent agents innovative insurance products at competitive rates combined with personalized, responsive client service. Your success is essential to our success, which is why ”Service is our Hallmark.”

Generous CommissionsContingency Bonus

Competitive RatesDedicated Agent SpecialistsContingency Bonus Dedicated Agent Specialists

Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2012 Page 9

he profile of the “morning person” - one who likes to get an early start to the day - is common for many. Mean-while, there’s the so-called night owl, who prefers doing their work later in the day and evening. And for anyone who has attended or spoken at a confer-ence, it’s typically best to avoid being the first speaker after lunch when the attendee energy level sinks, yawns are in full swing and the audience nods off. But is there any reason to believe this conventional wis-dom? Yes, according to research performed in this area. The effect on mental energy can be referred to as decision fatigue and can be attributed to a phenomenon called ego depletion, a term coined by social psycholo-gist Roy Baumeister in homage to a Freudian hypothesis. Freud speculated that the self, or ego, depended on mental activities involving the transfer of energy. In one study, researchers Jonathan Levav of Stanford University and Shai Danziger of Ben-Gurion University examined decisions made by an Israeli parole board. They discovered a pattern to the parole board’s decisions, but it wasn’t related to the men’s ethnic backgrounds, crimes or sentences. It was all about timing, the research-ers learned when analyzing more than 1,100 decisions over the course of a year. Judges, who would hear the prisoners’ appeals and then get advice from the other members of the board, ap-proved parole in about one-third of the cases, but the probability of being paroled fluctuated wildly throughout the day. Prisoners who appeared early in the morning received parole about 70% of the time, while those who appeared late in the day were paroled less than 10% of the time.

Of course, this generalization will vary by individual and other factors, such as the amount of mental energy expend-ed during the day on other matters. Still, Baumeister’s work is compelling enough that independent agents may want to consider understanding the implications and scheduling important appointments at the beginning of the day. From a management standpoint, if significant decisions are going to be made at a meeting that involves digesting a lot of data or difficult personnel issues, a better outcome may be achieved by having the meeting earlier in the day. The issue of mental stamina also relates to the concept of willpower. Baumeister has co-authored an intriguing book that delves into this to understand how it works and what people can do to better deal with temptations and desires that may be detrimental to productivity, healthy eating habits and other lifestyle choices. It’s important to understand how people may be wired to accomplish important objectives. It may provide a window into why a chief financial officer defers on an important decision, or why an audience fails to respond to an important message. Spending time examining these external factors may be more productive than putting effort into an approach that’s least effective for the audience.

Does the Time of Day Influence Decision Making?

It may be best to schedule important meetings early in the day.

Tby Dave Evans

Page 10 Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2012

The purpose of the sales call is for both seller and buyer to deter-mine whether or not there is sufficient overlap between the buyer’s needs and seller’s capabilities to merit considering doing business together. If this critical overlap is present, there are a number of questions, issues and challenges that both parties need to discuss and work out to achieve a mutually-beneficial business arrangement. The ten tips in this article are for sellers endeavoring to conduct more effective sales calls with their prospective buyers. (That said, prospective buyers, these tips are also relevant to you and your purchases.)

Follow a communications and discovery process and share the process with your prospect

Enlighten your prospect as to how you suggest going about deter-mining whether or not it makes sense to work together. Outline the steps in the process and solicit their input and concurrence. “Typi-cally when I first meet with the owner of a firm like yours, it makes sense to discuss Item A, Item B, and Item C. Are there any addi-tional items for today’s meeting and do you agree with this list?”

As adults, surprises do not generally lead to positive outcomes. When both parties know what is going to happen next, it reduces anxiety and increases ability to focus resulting in enhanced commu-nication.

Know what you want to accomplish in each meeting

Specifically what do you need to determine and communicate in your next meeting with a prospect? Just keeping the dialogue going is probably not a sufficiently specific goal for the upcoming call. You may need to determine delivery timeframes, budgetary constraints, and approval process.

There are usually two facets of communication and discovery that are going on here: first, substantive discussion of needs and poten-tial solutions and second, based on this interaction, do we believe we can work together effectively? Most sales calls focus on the sub-stance of the discussion and often minimize the significance of as-sessing ability to work together. If after several meetings you have misgivings about your ability to work together, it probably makes sense to address this concern in one of several ways.

Surefire Ways to Improve Your Sales Calls10

In pursuing and successfully closing business with prospective clients or customers, it is often necessary to conduct one or more sales calls in the Insurance Industry. Depending on the nature of your business (and location of your prospect), these calls can be conducted in person or by phone. The experience and information

shared in this article are applicable to either type of sales call.

Meeting Monthly and Quarterly Goals in the Insurance Industry

by Rob Hupp, Roth|Hupp Growth Partners, Inc.

Rob Hupp is co-founder of Roth|Hupp Growth Partners, Inc., a business development and training firm specializing in help-ing organizations and individuals increase their revenues through more effective sales and management practices. Rob can be reached at 310.890.3704 or via e-mail at rhupp@rhgp.com

If you would like additional information on this topic or others, please contact your Human Resources department or Light-house Consulting Services LLC, 3130 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 550, Santa Monica, CA 90403, (310) 453-6556, dana@light-houseconsulting.com & our website: www.lighthouseconsult-ing.com

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Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2012 Page 11 Page 10 Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2012

Set an Up-front Contract for each meeting with the prospect

An Up-front Contract is more than a meeting agenda, but an agenda is a good start. In addition, it is worthwhile to explicitly identify beforehand the purpose of the meeting, how much time is set aside, attendees and acceptable out-comes of the meeting. The Up-front Contract is reviewed with the prospect and agreed to in advance of the meeting. It helps to eliminate those pesky surprises such as walking into a boardroom full of people when you expected to meet only with your prospect and the firm’s marketing director.

Prepare your list of questions and discussion paths beforehand

It is advantageous to formulate your list of key questions and discussion items prior to the meeting. By being pre-pared, you are less likely to forget raising a very key item. More importantly, you are better able to focus your energy, intellect and attention on really listening to and absorbing what the prospect is saying. If you are less worried about what you are going to say or ask next, your listening and bonding and rapport are heightened.

Dial in to the prospect’s communication style and cues

As we are reminded, communication is more than merely words exchanged. Tonality and non-verbal cues such as body language can convey critical feedback. If you sense your buyer is being increasingly uncomfortable, take the heat yourself and offer up “I may be reading the situation incorrectly, but I am sensing you are uncomfortable with this discussion. Do I have this right, and what can we do to alleviate your discomfort?”

Follow the 70/30 rule

The rule is simple to state and more challenging to imple-ment consistently: listen 70% of the time and talk 30% of the time. Use your 30% ‘talk time’ to ask the questions you prepared as well as to pose additional clarifying questions based on the prospect’s responses.

Sales calls are not the place to inundate the prospect with features, benefits, history of your company, etc. Sales calls are for you and your prospect to discover his problems/is-sues, constraints, etc. and agree on an approach to solve. By asking great questions, really listening, and seeking further clarification, you are facilitating more effective dis-covery and agreement. (Your prospect will not feel like he is being ‘sold.’)

Resist the urge to dispense free advice

As a professional in your field, you possess a wealth of knowledge and experience you are anxious to share with the world. STOP! At this preliminary stage of discussion, you may not yet know enough to accurately diagnose the prospect’s problem(s). You may be doing your prospective client and yourself a disservice.

Complete your discovery discussion with the prospect prior to proposing a solution, even if this means holding multiple sales call meetings. If the prospect pushes you for informa-tion prior to completing discovery, indicate you will summa-rize key findings at the end of each sales call.

Validate your assumptions and question what does not make sense

Pattern recognition that comes with experience is a power-ful tool in solving problems and offering solutions. That said, validate your key assumptions with this prospect. For example, if your prospect is going to have to undergo an extensive financial review to get approval for financing, determine your approach and timing for discussing this with him. Don’t assume everyone already understands such requirements and associated processes.

If in the course of discussion, you hear statements or as-sertions from the prospect that do not make sense based on your experience or industry practice, respectfully ask for clarification. Don’t provoke an argument but be brave and seek to achieve clarity.

Recap and summarize the results of the sales call with the prospect

At the end of the sales call meeting, compare notes with the prospect. Did you both hear the same things and reach the same conclusions? Are there specific issues or differ-ences of opinion or perspective that need to be further ana-lyzed and discussed? What will probably happen next in the discovery process? Can we set an Up-Front Contract for our next meeting or agree to a process and timeframe to set the next Up-front Contract?

Debrief the sales call just completed

Congratulations. Together we have made it to Number Ten. After each sales call, sit down with a colleague, an accountability partner, or just yourself and objectively de-brief the call. From the list of nine, identify 2 areas where you performed well and 2 areas for improvement. Be spe-cific as possible. Additionally, review and handle follow-up items from the sales call meeting with your prospect.

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Page 12 Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2012

by Matthew Marko Currently, Evernote Hello is available as an iPhone app. Given Evernote’s history, you can expect other platform apps to be available soon. Evernote has clearly positioned this app as a next-generation networking tool for business professionals to make it easier to remember the people you meet by creating a rich browsable history of individuals, encounters, and shared experiences.

SteveANdErsoN.com

by, Steve Anderson

HELLORemember People

EVERNOTE

Evernote recently released a new specialized tool in their growing arsenal of apps called Evernote Hello.

As a reminder, Evernote is my "remember-everything," multi-platform, digital filing cabinet.

Evernote Hello is designed to change how you think about your contact information. It is based around the three fun-damental ways that our brains actually remember people:

1. Faces: What do you look like? 2. Time: When did we meet? 3. Context: Why did we meet and who else was there?

The phone app is designed to easily help you capture this information about the people you want to remember. And it does away with the alphabetized Rolodex method of storing contact information.

While you can add someone's information yourself, another option is to pass your phone to the person you just met and let them add their own contact information, including taking their own picture using a front-facing camera.

Once you add someone to your contact list, you can update their information at any time with additional information, such as different places you have met that person.

Whether you’re at a big conference, catching up with people at a coffee shop or joining a meeting in your office conference room, these concepts hold true. It’s a tool that helps you quickly capture a name, a photo, and any other details the person whom you just met may provide to you. It then tracks that meet-up as an “encounter,” providing context to your meeting to help you remember who that person is later.

Skitch is a free mobile app, which Evernote purchased, that is available on iOS and An-droid platforms that allows you to draw attention to anything

and share it with a colleague or a friend. It is designed to help you communicate complex ideas using quick annotations, screenshots, and basic shapes.

For example, say you’re a producer at a cli-ent’s factory taking pictures of a new piece of equipment they just purchased. Using Skitch, you can load the picture and then add annotations on top of the picture to explain certain features or highlight different parts of the machine. The annotated picture can then be saved into an Evernote shared notebook so anyone with permission can access it.

Some key features include:

• Screenshot anything: Click the Snap button to cap-ture a shot of a document, a webpage, something that inspires you, or just about anything else.

• Drag files into other apps: Hold down the Drag Me tab and pull the file into Evernote, email, a presentation, document, your desktop, a folder, or any ‘Choose your file’ window that pops up.

• Save files in different formats: Select your preferred file format from a pull-down menu next to the Drag Me tab.

• Resize an image: Find the edge of the image and pull it inward or outward. Or, click on ‘Resize’ in the lower left-hand corner and enter in your preferred dimensions.

• Share: There are a few ways to share your creations. You can drag the annotated image into email or shared Evernote notebooks. Or, you can sign into Skitch with your Evernote ID and share via the Skitch site.

EVERNOTE

Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2012 Page 13 Page 12 Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2012

Deductibility of IIANM Dues / Lobbying Percent By federal law, we are required to provide each of our members with the following disclosure regarding their dues.

Dues to the Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico (IIANM) are not deduct-ible as a charitable contribution but may be deductible as an ordinary and neces-sary business expense. To the extent that IIANM engages in lobbying, the portion of the dues that relate to lobbying expenses is not deductible as an ordinary and necessary business expense. This law was enacted in 1993, effective January 1, 1994 [Section 13222 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (OBRA 1993)].

The non-deductible portion of dues for 2010-2011 is 22.19%. The following is a recap of the non-deductible portion of dues for the past six years: FY 2005-06 Estimated 18.51% Actual 18.88%FY 2006-07 Estimated 22.98% Actual 24.93%FY 2007-08 Estimated 25.16% Actual 17.99%FY 2008-09 Estimated 18.23% Actual 17.35%FY 2009-10 Estimated 17.72% Actual 21.37%FY 2010-11 Estimated 21.92% Actual 22.19%FY 2011-12 Estimated 22.83%

Effective Prospecting Voicemail Tips

There is something different about hearing a real person with a real voice asking for your business that is hard to ignore. The reality, however, is that you will often be sent to voicemail. Should you leave a voicemail message?

I believe you should. A properly crafted voicemail mes-sage is another part of building a connection with a poten-tial prospect. Here are a few ideas on how to create the most effective voicemail message possible.

• Only leave a message every three days. Anymore and you are a pest, any less and they may forget that you have already tried to reach out to them. And, if you have other contact information be sure to make other contacts -- like email or a handwritten note.

• Plan what you want to say in advance. Assume you will be sent to voicemail. Create a script if it will help make sure to say what you want.

• While a script will help you, don't sound too "canned" or "salesy" while trying to catch your prospect's attention.

• The message should contain information that matters to the prospect. Don't talk about your products and services.

• Don't leave a message that is too short. Give the prospect a compelling reason to want to call you back. But don't drone on and on. This is an art. Experiment with what works best for you.

• Show that you have done your research and under-stand their situation. This will help them see that you are not just calling down a list of numbers, but have taken the time to begin to understand their business.

• Speak clearly and slowly so you will be heard and understood. And don't mumble your words. Practice by leaving a message on your own voicemail so you can hear how you sound.

• Also, don't use verbal pauses like "ums" and "ahs." They will make you sound less confident, and less credible.

• While it may sound obvious, leave your name and contact information at the end of the message. Make sure to speak slowly and repeat the information so they can make sure they wrote it down correctly. You also might try leaving it at the beginning of the message when the prospect is poised to take notes.

• Leave your agency website address (or preferably a marketing website) so they can find out more information about you and the agency.

• Mention another company you have helped with a simi-lar problem that the prospect is likely to have. And make sure to mention another client of yours within their indus-try, a common colleague, or someone who has referred you to them.

• Don't give up too soon. In this busy world many pros-pects might not return your call until you have tried them multiple times.

It is easier today than ever for prospects to hide behind voicemail, yet it is an important part of your prospecting toolkit. My hope is that these suggestions will help you maximize your use of voicemail to get that first appointment.

Page 12 Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2012Page 10 Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2012

MOUNTAIN STATES INSURANCE GROUP

A NEW MEXICO TRADITION 75 YEARS AND GOING STRONG

Stable. Secure. Permanent.

With the ongoing support of our loyal agents, we continue to do what we do best. Our Marketing Reps are here to help you find the right fit for your clients.

RETAIL/WHOLESALE Furniture Stores Hardware Stores Building Materials Dealers Grocery Stores Auto Accessories MANUFACTURING Sign Manufacture Machine Shops Metal Goods Manufacture Concrete Products CONSTRUCTION Electrical Contractors HVAC Contractors Glaziers Metal Building Construction

Garage Door Installers Landscapers

HOSPITALITY Luxury Hotels Franchised Hotels/Motels Bed and Breakfasts Conference Hotels Inns SERVICE Packaging Auto Body and Repair Shops Janitorial Tire Sales and Service Water Companies RESTAURANTS Cafés & Bakeries Delicatessens High-end Dining Family Style Restaurants Franchised Restaurants

MOUNTAIN STATES Insurance Group®

Troy Baldwin 800.274.1051 tbaldwin@msig-nm.com

Pam Kaufmann 877.558.8719

pkaufmann@msig-nm.com

Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2012 Page 15 Page 12 Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2012Page 10 Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2012

ommercial insurance prices increased an aggregate 3% during the fourth quarter of 2011 — the fourth consecutive quarter during which prices for all standard commercial lines rose. Additionally, earned price increas-es are beginning to offset portions of reported claim cost inflation levels, according to the most recent Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey (CLIPS) released by global professional services company Towers Watson.

CLIPS data reveal that, once again, prices for workers compensation and commercial property showed the larg-est quarterly increases - in the mid- to high-single digits - followed closely by general/products liability. During the fourth quarter of 2011, workers compensation pricing continued to exhibit the increasing trend observed earlier in the year, after flat pricing during all of 2010. Prices for commercial property increased for the third consecutive quarter.

“While modest, aggregate increases in prices continued, and more importantly, these increases accelerated in each quarter of 2011,” said Thomas Hettinger, Property & Casualty sales and practice leader for the Americas at Towers Watson. “We are now at a point where we can ‘call the pricing turn’ in the market.”

CLIPS data also show that specialty lines as a whole were relatively flat, as directors and officers (D&O) liability pricing finally showed signs of stabilizing. The D&O liabil-ity line had been the last remaining holdout with respect to soft market conditions, with significant price reductions reported in each of the prior seven quarters.

Price increases were observed across all account sizes for the standard commercial lines, with the largest in-creases observed in mid-market accounts.

Historical loss cost information reported by participat-ing carriers points to a 3% deterioration in loss ratios in accident-year 2011 relative to 2010. This indication is more favorable than the estimated level of 5% deteriora-tion for the accident-year 2010 loss ratio over 2009, as earned price increases are beginning to offset portions of reported claim cost inflation.

“We will have a more complete picture of companies’ overall 2011 performance as we analyze year-end re-serve adequacy and releases,” continued Hettinger. “We have seen signs of insurers reacting to the deteriorating loss ratios by raising prices, and we are still getting an

understanding of how strong pricing discipline will need to be to overcome the trends in losses.”

ABOUT CLIPS

CLIPS data are based on both new and renewal business figures obtained directly from carriers underwriting the business. This particular survey compared prices charged on policies underwritten during the fourth quarter of 2011 to the prices charged for the same coverage during the same quarter in 2010. For the most recent survey, data were contributed by 41 participating insurers representing approximately 20% of the commercial insurance market (excluding state workers compensation funds).

CLIPS participants represent a cross section of U.S. prop-erty & casualty insurers that includes many of both the top 10 commercial lines companies and the top 25 insurance groups in the U.S. Measurement of both pricing changes and loss ratio changes also sets CLIPS apart from other studies. Participation in CLIPS has been strong, as car-riers believe it provides a more accurate picture of price changes, and find it useful in setting assumptions for product pricing and estimating claim liabilities.

The survey results track the differing trends in pricing across various regions, lines of business and account sizes on a quarterly basis. Historically, price-level and loss ratio change results vary considerably by line of business and market segment.

Companies interested in participating should contact their local Towers Watson representative or Jacob Roe.

Commercial Insurance Prices Continued to Increase During

Fourth Quarter of 2011

Source: Towers Watson

C

Page 16 Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2012

The U.S. Supreme Court has sched-uled three days of historic arguments over President Barack Obama's sweeping healthcare overhaul law. Each day features a different legal issue:

MARCH 26At issue: Whether the legal challenge to the law's centerpiece requirement that Americans obtain health insurance or pay a penalty must wait until after that provi-sion, known as the "individual mandate," has taken effect in 2014.

At the core of the oral argument will be the Anti-Injunction Act, which dates back to 1867, and whether taxpayers must actually begin paying the penalty for not purchasing insurance before objections to the mandate can be raised in court.

The Anti-Injunction Act generally bars any challenges to a tax law until it has taken effect because such lawsuits can stop the federal government's Internal Revenue Service from collecting tax revenues.

Before Congress approved the legislation, Obama insisted the penalty for failing to obtain insurance was not a tax. The legislation used the word "penalty" rather than "tax." The law requires that the penalty is due when Americans pay their annual taxes.

But a U.S. appeals court based in Virginia and a dissent-ing judge on a U.S. appeals court in Washington, D.C., have held it would amount to a tax and the lawsuits there-fore were barred until the money was paid, not expected until after 2014.

The Obama administration, which is defending the health-care law, and the 26 states and the independent business group that are challenging the law, have agreed the chal-lenges to the insurance mandate can be decided now.But the Supreme Court accepted the administration's recommendation that it consider the tax issue. To obtain another point of view, it appointed a private-practicing at-torney, Robert Long, to argue the challenges were barred because of the tax law.

He argued in a written brief the Anti-Injunction Act ap-plied because Congress specified the penalty shall be

assessed and collected in the same manner as taxes by the IRS. The penalties are estimated to bring in at least $4 billion a year.

MARCH 27At issue: Whether Congress overstepped its powers under the Constitution in adopting the individual mandate, the issue at the heart of the legal battle over the law that aims to provide health coverage to more than 30 million uninsured Americans.

The administration argued in its written briefs that Con-gress had the authority under the Constitution's Com-merce Clause to enact the mandate under its power to regulate interstate commerce or under its power to tax.The administration said the insurance requirement was part of a comprehensive effort by Congress to address a crisis in the U.S. healthcare market, which accounts for nearly 18 percent of the nation's economy.

The states and the independent business group said the power of Congress to regulate commerce does not include the authority to force individuals to enter into com-merce and buy insurance.

They argued the federal government essentially will be regulating inactivity by American consumers who choose not to buy health insurance.

If Congress can take the unprecedented step in history of requiring that individuals buy insurance, then it can mandate the purchase of American-made cars or any other product, whether people want it or not, the challeng-ers argued.

U.S. Supreme Court Schedules Three Days of ArgumentsOver Healthcare Reform Legislation

Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2012 Page 17 Page 16 Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2012

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Over Healthcare Reform Legislation

MARCH 28First issue: Whether the entire law must fall if the insur-ance mandate was found to be unconstitutional or if other parts can survive.

When Congress adopts legislation, sometimes it includes what is known as a severability clause that allows other provisions to stand in case the courts strike down another part. No such clause was included in the healthcare law.Those challenging the law argued in written briefs that the mandate was at the heart of the law and so critical to its operation that the entire law must be invalidated without the requirement to buy health insurance.

The Obama administration disagreed. It said Congress wanted the bulk of the law's provisions to operate in-dependently of the mandate and many provisions are already in effect, including the requirement that insurers provide family coverage for adult children until age 26.The administration said only two provisions would have to fall if the mandate were struck down. Those provisions bar insurers from refusing to cover a person because of a pre-existing medical condition or from charging higher premiums due to a person's medical history.

Second issue: Whether Congress had the authority under its power to spend money to require that states expand the number of people eligible for assistance from the states for the Medicaid healthcare program for the poor and disabled.

The law will extend eligibility to certain individuals with income up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, beginning in 2014. Previously, states did not have to ob-serve a baseline income level for eligibility.

The expansion could assure coverage for an estimated 17 million uninsured Americans by 2021, according to the Obama administration.

The states argued that Congress unconstitutionally coerced them into expanding their Medicaid programs by threatening a loss of federal funds. They said the expan-sion was unprecedented and will impose a significant financial burden on the states.

The administration defended that part of the law, argu-ing that Congress clearly has the power to set the terms under which it will disburse funds to the states.

It said the federal government in the first two years will pay all of the costs associated with the expanded eligibil-ity, with the amount paid declining to 90 percent in 2020 and staying at that level in future years.

The states say they have no alternative but to keep par-ticipating in the Medicaid program, but the administration said the states were free to turn down the federal funds if they viewed the program conditions as too burdensome or contrary to their interest.

Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2012 Page 19

he expression, "having your cake and eating it too," may be all to fitting when discussing the issue of diminution of value claims under the Personal Auto Policy (PAP). That is particularly true when you contrast how the policy treats diminution offsets (or lack thereof) vs. better-ment deductions.

When a car is damaged in an accident, then repaired, the resale value may be less than that for a comparable car that has not been damaged. In other words, the dam-age results in a reduction—or “diminution”—in the resale value of the auto.

An insured's claim for this reduction in value may be made against a third party that negligently caused the damage to the insured's auto, or it may arise from a first-party claim against the insured's own physical damage coverage.

With regard to first-party claims, while it is perhaps argu-able, the ISO PAP contract language—specifically the Limit of Liability condition—appears to cover only the ACV of the damage or the actual cost to repair the damage. It does not appear to contractually cover any reduction in market value even if the insured was able to prove such.That's unfortunate since the policy clearly allows the insurer to deduct for “betterment,” although the burden of proof, according to a body of case law, would legally be upon the insurer to demonstrate such betterment. For a discussion of the “betterment” issue, refer to the following Research Library article: Betterment in the ISO Personal Auto Policy.

It is interesting that, in physical damage claims, the policy would allow the carrier to deduct for an “improvement” in value (i.e., betterment) due to repairs with newer parts, but will not compensate the insured for a reduction in value due to the same accident.

Third-party claims for “diminution of value,” on the other hand, have generally been found by the courts to be covered by auto insurance. The Part A—Liability Cover-age section of the PAP pays for any property damage for which the insured is legally responsible. Such legal liabil-ity may be established by case law or it may be statutory.

According to our research, most courts have recognized diminution of value as being legally compensable to the extent that the plaintiff can demonstrate such reduction in

market value. Also, most case law seems to have held

that, in first-party claims, the contract governs.For example, several Texas court cases have found that legal liability for third-party damages includes

diminution of value. In Ludt v. McCollum, 762 S.W.2d 575 (Tex. 1988); Terminix International, Inc. v. Lucci, 670 S.W.2d 657 (Tex. App. 1984):

“An aggrieved consumer may be able to plead, prove and obtain favorable jury findings establishing both costs to repair and permanent reduction in market value notwithstanding such repairs, as cumulative rather than mutually exclusive measures of damages."An award of diminished value is recoverable in addition to the costs of repair, assuming that the permanent reduction in value refers to that reduction occurring even after repairs are made.”

In Northwestern Nat. Ins. Co. v. Cope, 48 S.W.2d 717 (Tex. Civ. App. 1969), the court stated:

“Three months after purchase of new car, in-sured Cope was involved in accident. Cope contended that after repairs to her auto, its value would be $1,440 less than prior to the accident."Thus, she argued that the measure of her recovery should be the difference in the reasonable cash market value of the auto immediately before and after accident, and should not be tested by reasonable cost of repair."Held, such measure of damages is proper.”

In summary, there appears to be nothing in the ISO standard Personal Auto Policy (PAP) that requires the carrier to compensate the insured for diminution of value in physical damage claims—in fact, the contract seems to support the position that such consequential loss is not covered.

What is interesting is that the PAP expressly permits the carrier to deduct for any demonstrable improvement in value as a result of repairs, permitting the insurer to “have its cake and eat it too.”

In contrast, there is ample case law to demonstrate that such diminution of value is legally recoverable from a third party and, thus, covered under the liability section of the auto policy.

For an excellent state by state comparison of case law and statutes on diminished value, CLICK HERE to view a study from the National Association of Independent Insurers (NAII). This document is normally available only to NAII members...IIABA extends its appreciation to NAII for permission to republish this study.

Diminution of Value in the ISO Personal Auto Policy

T

Page 20 Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2012

Page 20 Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2012 Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2012 Page 21

y now, unless you are living in a cave or avoiding any exposure to professional sports, you are probably fa-miliar with the Jeremy Lin story.

To recap, Jeremy Lin plays for the NBA’s New York Knicks, which signed him to the team in December 2011. Undraft-ed out of Harvard University, he joined the Golden State Warriors as a free agent in July 2010, according to his NBA biography. He had played sparingly for the Warriors and Knicks, which both had sent him to the NBA’s Develop-ment League (D-League) to play.

But since the Knicks inserted him in its starting lineup out of necessity, he has turned around the team’s season and has posted impressive statistics.

Lin is also one of the few Asian-Americans in NBA his-tory, and the first American player in the league to be of Chinese or Taiwanese descent. Most endearing to fans is his sense of humility, boyish charm and enthusiasm, de-flecting praise to his teammates for the wins and accepting blame for the losses.

But aside from the all the publicity, is Lin really a Cinderella story?

Lin’s honors at Harvard include being named to the All-Ivy League Second Team in his sophomore year and the All-Ivy League First Team in both his junior and senior years. In his junior year (2008-09), Lin was the only player in the country to rank among the top 10 in eight categories in his conference, according to ESPN.

In 2009 against No. 12-ranked University of Connecticut, Lin scored a career-high 30 points and had nine rebounds in the game, which Harvard lost by six points, according to ESPN. Prior to the loss, Harvard had upset Boston Col-lege, and Lin had 25 points in the victory.

So if Lin has this type of talent, how did he not surface before the Knicks were forced to play him out of necessity?

Some pundits have said the reason is stereotyping. Lin has a Harvard intellect—his high school GPA was 4.2, according to his NBA biography—and his alma mater has only ever produced two professional NBA players. Perhaps scouts as-sumed he wouldn’t be up to par athletically.

While it’s easy to second-guess the NBA scouts, the ques-tion is, do employers have stereotypes of certain back-grounds or profiles that have led them to overlook talent for their agencies?

For many years, it was accepted that when it came to a sales position, hiring an unmarried person—particularly a male—was not a good business practice because he wouldn't have the support—or perhaps discipline provided by a wife—and the financial necessity of having to gener-ate meaningful commissions. While this stereotype is less prevalent, it still exists in some quarters.

A person can have a slightly less conventional appear-ance. Remember the IBM blue suit, starched white shirt and conservative tie? A person’s hair might be fussy, or he has a visible tattoo. Or, her educational background or employment history is less linear than preferred by the em-ployer. In that case, consider that Lin had been cut twice before the Knicks got him.

With the difficult economic times, many people have had to zig and zag to support themselves to find their true calling. One way to focus on a candidate’s potential is to use per-sonality assessment tools like Caliper, which can provide insight into a person’s ability to work as a team and wheth-er he has empathy toward colleagues and customers.

Agency principals share how difficult it is to find and hire successful producers. But is their approach to hiring any different than it was 10, 20 or even 30 years ago?

The next time an agency principal mentions that it’s dif-ficult to find talent, ask him if he is approaching recruiting differently. Ask her if she is investing in her agency’s online presence, digital marketing and social media resources to generate awareness of and interest in the agency by a dif-ferent demographic.

While most people would love to play in the NBA, not all think of an independent agency as an interesting work en-vironment. The front end of the agency recruiting process should be focused on positioning the independent agent channel and agency as a rewarding place to work. The back end is to throw out the conventional thinking and really learn about what makes a person tick.

That’s because the next Jeremy Lin is out there waiting to work for your agency.

Don’t Overlook the Next Jeremy Lin for Your

Consider a person’s potential when hiring.

Agency

B by Dave Evans

Page 20 Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2012

WE’VE GOTYOUR BACK.

www.acuity.com

facebook.com/acuitywowIntroducing Eva & Ella, the ACUITY Cuties

Page 20 Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2012 Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2012 Page 23

Kelly Campbell from PCI

Carole Walker from RMIIA

New Mexico's U-Turn on U/M

ew Mexico has the 2nd highest number of uninsured drivers in the country and drivers here pay substantially more for UM/UIM than drivers in surrounding states. The state's growing UM crisis took center stage at the Indepen-dent Insurance Agents of NM's Spring Education Semi-nar in Albuquerque. At a luncheon attended by over 100 agents, company and Insurance Division representatives, a panel of industry experts reviewed the major events that have contributed to the current predicament.

IIANM CEO Thom Turbett led the discussion panel which included: Kelly Campbell from PCI; Brent Moore from the Law Firm of Montgomery Andrews (representing AIA); and Carole Walker, Executive Director of the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association and the New Mexico Insurance Council.

The dialogue concluded with the unveiling of a plan to edu-cate New Mexico consumers and policy makers about the reasons for their rapidly rising auto insurance premiums. Developed by IIANM and our coalition partners at the New Mexico Insurance Council, the centerpiece of the plan is a recently launched educational website. www.makeauturn-nm.org is designed to be the springboard for the industry campaign to provide informational tools to help New Mexi-cans understand the underlying factors driving UM/UIM costs and the state's high uninsured motorist population.

We are encouraging our agencies to send their auto in-sureds to the site so that they can begin to understand that our courts, and not the insurance industry, are primarily responsible for the rapidly rising cost of U/M. Feel free to link to the site from your own website.

You will be hearing more about what you can do to help us “Make a u-turn on U/M in New Mexico” in the coming months. In the mean time, please don’t hesitate to call with any questions you may have about this campaign and thanks to our partners at PCI , and the New Mexico Insurance Council for all their help in setting up this timely website.

N

Check it out at www.makeauturn.org

THANK YOU

P a r t n e r s P r o g r a mINDEPENDENT INSURANCE AGENTS OF NEW MExICO

2 0 1 2

Page 26 Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2012

he U.S. Southwest isn't particularly known for its seismic activity, but the Rio Grande Rift, a series of faults and basins that runs from central Colorado south through New Mexico, is alive and stretching, new research shows. Scientists had suspected the rift might be dead, but measurements of its movement varied widely and were riddled with uncertain-ties. Now, thanks to state-of-the-art GPS technology, geophysicists have found the rift is indeed extending — just very slowly.

And of course, anytime a large chunk of the Earth's crust moves, the issue of earthquakes arises. "There's certainly potential for earthquakes in this region," said Anne Sheehan, a seismologist at the University of Colorado at Boulder who co-authored the new study. "They would be very low-probability events but, like all earthquakes, they could have large consequences if they do happen."

Not dead, but not thriving

Sheehan began studying the region after noticing something odd in the mantle underlying the Rio Grande Rift. Studies had shown that seismic waves move through this part of the mantle very slowly, hinting that it could be quite hot. It could also mean that the overly-ing continental crust is spreading apart, Sheehan thought.

Using a large network of GPS stations — nearly 300 sites — her team monitored the rift's movement over four years. They found that the rift is in fact spreading very slowly, at a rate of about 0.1 millime-ters per year.

"That's really pretty small," Sheehan told OurAmazingPlanet. "The rift is not dead, but it's not really thriving, either."

More surprisingly, the team found that the spreading isn't focused at the rift itself, but is spread across a span of more than 370 miles (600 kilometers). "That wasn't what we expected, because the deformation at the surface has been along faults that are relatively narrow," said Henry Berglund, a geophysicist at UNAVCO who led the study. "Instead, we ob-served the deformation is likely much broader than that — at least the width of the state of New Mexico."

A real earthquake risk?

As for earthquake risks, Berglund explained, "It's not a predictive tool, but it does tell us that, if the deformation is broader, maybe we're more likely to have earthquakes in more places than we previously expected.” There was a magnitude-5.3 quake near Trinidad, Colo., last August, and a larger earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 6.6 in north-central Colorado in 1882. A magnitude-5.5 quake shook Dulce, N.M., in 1966. Future quakes in the region could also fall in the magnitude-5 or -6 range, but likely not much higher, Sheehan said.

"We can't use this to say we expect to see a big earthquake anywhere in the region," Sheehan cautioned. "But a more worrisome aspect is that we don't really expect earthquakes here, so our building codes aren't as strict as they are in, say, California."

The team's findings appear in the January issue of the journal Geology.

New Research Shows Rio Grande Rift is Still Alive andRio Grande Rift is Still Alive and

E x p a n d i n g V e r y S l o w l yE x p a n d i n g V e r y S l o w l y By Crystal Gammon OurAmazingPlanet

T

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Page 26 Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2012 Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2012 Page 25

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Page 28 Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2012

f tuning in to the Academy Awards every year has always been a fun escape from reality, watch Sunday night’s program a little more closely this time around. A-lister stunt scenes? Risky. Foreign filming locations? A liability waiting to happen.

And what about the difficult-to-watch torture scenes from David Fincher’s recent thriller “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”? All of these reasons added up to Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company naming the movie 2011’s riskiest film. And since the company insures 80% of all U.S. films, it would know.

But what does insuring Hollywood film production have anything to do with Main Street independent agents across the country? More than you might think. Aaron Ma, vice president, operations at L.A.xcess Insurance Brokers, Inc., based in Los Angeles, says he has film producers all over the United States.

“When technology brings the cost of high-definition cam-eras below $10,000, you have a lot more people producing a lot more content,” Ma says. “The barrier to entry for film productions has just fallen through the floor.”

Ma says he was recently working on a production company in Bozeman, Mont.—population: 37,000. And the client is only one of five that he insures in this small town.

And it’s not just falling technology prices that are carv-ing out a niche for filmmaking across the country; states smaller and less film-oriented than California are making it easier for shooting to occur, both with cheaper attached costs and fewer insurance regulations.

“The costs are so much less in doing a film in Texas than in L.A.,” says James Chippendale, an Austin-based indepen-dent agent with Doodson Brokerage of Texas. “Filmmakers are getting more creative, or they’re building sets, or they’re limiting the shooting in these big cities.”

The government in New Orleans got behind an initiative to try to bring filmmakers there, Chippendale says, including giving them tax breaks and more relaxed guidelines than they would face in California. In Texas, thousands of small films are shot every year via the Texas Film Commission. “It’s a huge state, but it’s become a little hotbed for low-budget features,” he says.

But independent agents looking to dip their toe in the local film production waters who don’t yet have any experience in the industry might have a problem, says Wendy Diaz, director of UW entertainment at Fireman’s Fund Insur-ance Company. She says that sometimes FFIC-appointed agents understand the TV commercial business but have never done a film.

“The most advice I can give is become educated on what the risk is,” Diaz says. “A lot of the ownership of the ac-count and the policy falls in the hands of the agent on this

Insuring Movie Stars Moves

from Studios to Main StreetDecreasing technology costs are making

film production less Hollywood and more small-town.

I

by Diane Rusignola

Page 28 Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2012 Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2012 page 29 Page 25

type of business because there’s so much that they have to do to make sure that it gets done right.”

Chippendale agrees that independent agents must make educating themselves on film-specific coverages a prior-ity, but notes there are many opportunities for getting a foot in the door.

“Almost every state in the country has some sort of film association—big or small. Five people or 50,000. That is the first place to start as far as finding clients,” he says. “Then you really need to educate yourself on the cover-ages because they are very specific. There’s a lot of claim potential, and you definitely want to be sure you’re providing your client with the best service and coverage you can.”

In addition to an expanding geography, coverages for films are changing too. When movie studios used to shoot on film, there were different exposures than today, Diaz says. If the actual film negative was scratched during the developing process, the insurer would have to pay to shoot what piece was unusable.

“Today they use digital cameras mostly,” Diaz says. “Digital cameras on the surface look like they would be easier, but in fact the cameramen are used to film-ing with the regular camera are now going to digital cameras, so it’s a new technology for them.” The new risk, she says, has now become cameraman error.

FFIC protects studios, casts, crews and the overall production process through coverage options like: cast coverage; props, sets and wardrobe coverage; extra expense coverage; third party property damage coverage; miscellaneous equipment coverage; faulty stock coverage; and negative coverage.

Past FFIC-named riskiest movies include “Salt” (2010), “2012” (2009), “The Wrestler” (2008) and “Into the Wild” (2007).

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P&CPre-licensing

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Looking to fill a position within your agency? Trying to find a job but don’t know where to look?Whether you are looking for somewhere new to share your special skills or an employer looking for quality, professional employees, we are there to lend a helping hand. Click here to take advantage of IIANM’s Job Bank.Do you have an agency you’re trying to sell, or in the market to buy one? Check out our Classifieds!

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Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2012 page 31 Page

A bowl of hot soup before a meal may encourage you to eat less, according to research. The idea: Hot soup forces you to slow down if you don’t want to scald your tongue. This gives your stomach more time to process the sensation of filling up, and when your meal arrives, you won’t feel as hungry as you would otherwise. For best results, choose a soup that’s low-fat and not cream-based.

Get a better open rate for email attachments

Horror stories involving computer viruses have made a lot of us afraid of opening any attach-ment that comes in an email, and that can be a problem when you’ve got to send an attachment to a customer or a co-worker.

The solution: Don’t simply call it an attachment. Instead, specify the type of file you’re sending and explain why it’s important: “Please take a look at this Word document to review the latest information,” or, “The enclosed spreadsheet should answer your ques-tions.” Recipients will click on your attachment more reliably if they know what’s in it and why they should open it

Finally, science is working on something really useful: curing hangovers. In rats, at least. Researchers at UCLA experi-mented with herbal compounds reputed to minimize the effects of alcohol consumption.

Scientists isolated an extract from the seeds of Hovenia dulcis, long considered a very effective remedy for hangovers. Then they took some rats to a bar—well, actu-ally, they gave the rats the equivalent of 15–20 beers in under two hours. Not sur-prisingly, the rats passed out in a drunken stupor. They took about an hour to regain the ability to move.

However, when the rats received a dose of dihyromyricetin (DHM) along with their alcohol, they stayed sober longer and recovered from the effects in about 15 minutes. They also displayed less of a tendency to increase their alcohol con-sumption the more they drank, suggesting that DHM may be effective as a treatment for alcohol addiction. Whether the scientists hit the nearest saloon to celebrate their results isn’t known, but further studies are planned.

7 Tips if You’re Chronically LateFeeling as though you’re always running 20 minutes behind schedule? Having to rush, forgetting things in your haste, dealing with annoyed people when you arrive … it’s no fun.

If you find yourself chronically late, what steps can you take to be more prompt?

Why there’s no personal, societal, or governmental solution for what

to do about elderly drivers.

Maybe it’s not a question of age, but a question of impairment.

OddsEnds

We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance. ~Japanese Proverb

Give Me the Keys, Dad

Herbal remedy for hangovers? No joke - it’s science