The Tennessee Insuror Mar/Apr 14

8INSURORTHE TENNESSEE

March/April 2014 Vol. 25 No. 2 10

Building Engagement

and Reach on Facebook

12Mike Qualls’s

Legacy at INSBANK

No Such Thing As A Stupid

Question

www.insurors.org

Agency Growth Conference

Attend This Inaugural Event to Learn Ways to Grow Your Agency 25

INSURORTHE TENNESSEE

years1989 - 2014

2 The Tennessee Insuror

Applied UnderwritersTennessee Insuror Back Page Ad

Live 8” x 10.5”Trim 8.5” x 11”

Bleed 8.75”x 11.25”

AU N Cape Cod TI C4

Contact: Sheila Gallagher P: 707-395-0645 Email: [email protected]

Applied Underwriters

©2014 Applied Underwriters, Inc. A Berkshire Hathaway company. Rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best.Insurance plans protected under U.S. Patent No. 7,908,157.

Expect big things in workers’ compensation. Expect to save a third of your clients 30% or more. Most classes approved, nationwide.

For information call (877) 234-4450 or visit auw.com/us.

contents

INSURORS OF TENNESSEE2500 21st Avenue South, Suite 200

Nashville, TN 37212-0539www.insurors.org

THE TENNESSEE

INSURORVol. XXV, Number 2

March/April 2014

Phone (615) 385-1898Toll Free: 1-800-264-1898Email: [email protected]

Editor: Charles T. Bidek, CPCUPublisher: Daniel D. Smith, Jr.

INSURORS OFFICERSPresident ................................................................. Lou Moran IIIImmediate Past President .................................. Eddie Miller IIIState National Director .................................................. Brad SmithVice President, Region II ...... Christie Reeves, CIC, CPCU, CPIW Vice President, Region I and Pres. Elect ....... Cindi Gresham, CIC Vice President, Region III ................................. John McInturff IIITreasurer .............................................. Battle Bagley III, CIC, CPASecretary ...................................................................... Rush PowersDirector, Region I .............................. Sharon Simmons, CIC, CISRDirector, Region I ...................................................... Edward KaiserDirector, Region I ........................................................... Tim RobertsDirector, Region II ............................................. George AndersonDirector, Region II ................................................... Joe Lester, CICDirector, Region II ................................................. Steve CopelandDirector, Region III ..................................................... Kevin OwnbyDirector, Region III ............................................ Josh Gibbons, AAIDirector, Region III ............................................. Mike Langley, CICYoung Agents Chairperson ....................... Paul Steele, CIC, CRM

ADVERTISINGDisplay advertising rates, deadlines and specifi-cations may be obtained by writing to Insurors of Tennessee, 2500 21st Avenue South, Suite 200, Nashville, TN 37212, calling 615.515.2601, e-mailing [email protected] or online at

www.insurors.org

The Tennessee Insuror is provided to all Insurors of Tennessee members and associate members

as a member service.

3

features

departments

8 Building Engagement and Reach on Facebook

10 Lessons in Leadership: Mike Qualls’s Legacy at INSBANK

12 No Such Thing As A Stupid Question

14 Daniel Learns About Insurance: Are Treehouses Covered? Are These Risks Literally Too High?

21 From Your President Supporting Our PAC Supports Us All

23 From Your State National Director What is Trusted Choice? It’s What’s Right For You

25 From Your CEO Changing “Shall” to “May” on Sinkholes

29 Education Calendar

31 Government and Legal Affairs

37 Broker Spotlight Southern Cross Underwriters

39 Company Spotlight Berkley Fire & Marine Underwriters

41 Company Briefs

51 Meetings

53 Member Tips Project CAP Online Rating Activated in Tennessee

4 Agency Growth Conference Attend This Inaugural Event to Learn Ways to Grow Your Agency

Applied UnderwritersTennessee Insuror Back Page Ad

Live 8” x 10.5”Trim 8.5” x 11”

Bleed 8.75”x 11.25”

AU N Cape Cod TI C4

Contact: Sheila Gallagher P: 707-395-0645 Email: [email protected]

Applied Underwriters

©2014 Applied Underwriters, Inc. A Berkshire Hathaway company. Rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best.Insurance plans protected under U.S. Patent No. 7,908,157.

Expect big things in workers’ compensation. Expect to save a third of your clients 30% or more. Most classes approved, nationwide.

For information call (877) 234-4450 or visit auw.com/us.


The inaugural Insurors of Tennessee Agency Growth Confer-ence will be held April 29-30 at the Embassy Suites Confer-ence Center in Murfreesboro. The event is just what it sounds like, an opportunity for agents and agencies to grow! Wheth-er you are a Young Agent, Small Agency, Rural Agency, New Agency are just an agency that is looking to grow your book of business, this event is for you. With sessions, speakers, CE and exhibits tailored to help you increase business, this event is worth your time.

Our schedule and sessions will be as follows:

Tuesday, april 29th (all times CsT)

1:00 - 3:00 pm Registration2:00 - 5:00 pm General Session “Best Practices and Your Agency’s Growth” presented by Shirley Lukens of Reagan Consulting5:00 - 6:00 pm Agents “Meet Your Next Company” recep-tion on-site5:00 - 7:00 pm Young Agents Reception at Mayday Brew-ery in Murfreesboro

Wednesday, april 30th

8:00 - 11:20 am Breakout Sessions (see following info)11:30 - 1:00 pm General Session Lunch “The Business School of the Future” presented by MTSU College of Business Dean Dr. David Urban1:00 - 3:00 pm Trade Show

“Best Practices and Your Agency’s Growth” presented by Shirley Lukens, AAI This session will cover the key factors that contribute to an agency’s long-term success and value: organic growth and profitability. The session will also feature a panel discussion.

Shirley is the Senior Vice President of Rea-gan Consulting Inc. Shirley has been a member of the Reagan team since 1998. An authority on Best Practices, she coun-sels clients on adopting and implementing policies and procedures designed to help them achieve continual improvement of their business processes and performance.

Agency Growth ConferenceAttend this Inaugural Event to Learn Ways to Build Your Agency

5The Tennessee Insuror

She develops industry initiatives including the Big “I” Best Practices Study.

Shirley’s session will feature a panel discussion including the following agent representatives:

J. Alan Johnson, CPCU, ARM, AIS, AINS - The Johnson Agency - MadisonvilleAlan has served the greater Monroe County area for over 30 years. A major proponent of industry education, Alan has served on the Insurors and the IIABA Education Com-mittees and is a lifelong “student” of insur-ance.

Bill Kantlehner - Garrett Stotz Company - Louisville, KYBill joined the Garrett-Stotz Company in 1982 after graduating from the University of Dayton. Presently, he serves as the com-pany’s President while continuing to pro-duce new business. Currently Bill serves on several public and private Board of Direc-tors throughout the community.

Ross Richey, AAI, CWCA - Lawton Insur-ance - Central City, KYRoss is president and owner of Lawton Insurance. His passion for providing in-surance solutions for clients began while working at Lawton during the summers of his college career. He graduated from Western Kentucky University in 2006 with

a Business Management Degree. He was named Young Entre-preneur of the Year in 2008 by his Chamber of Commerce.

Cam Winterburn - Winterburn & Associates - PulaskiCam is the president of Winterburn & As-sociates Insurance, which was formerly the Speer-Horn Agency. He sits on the Safeco Agent’s Council for the Southeast and has been noted in industry publications for his use of digital marketing in sales.

“Competing With Direct Writers” (filed for 2 CE)presented by Bill Wilson, CPCU, ARM, AIM, AAMThis session will take a look at the future of personal lines as a commodity, competing with direct sales insurance marketers, and how to position your agency in today’s marketplace.

Bill is the Director of Big “I” Virtual Univer-sity and was the former Director of Educa-tion & Technical Affairs for Insurors. Prior to that he was employed by Insurance Servic-es Office, Inc. as the manager of their field operations in Tennessee and Kentucky. Bill is a graduate of the Illinois Institute of

Technology with a B.S. degree in Fire Protection & Safety En-gineering. He has served as a trainer and speaker for various organizations, including the Independent Insurance Agents of America (IIABA national conventions and state convention programs and seminars), the CPCU Society national conven-tion, National Leadership Conference and chapter programs, the National Association of Insurance Women (NAIW), the Southern Agents Conference, and the Risk & Insurance Man-agers Society (RIMS).

“Developing Clients for Life” presented by Diana Brooks, CIC, CPCUThis session will focus on gaining clients for life, from imple-mentation and follow-up to building the relationship and de-veloping client loyalty. And remember, acquiring a new client costs far more in expense and effort than investing in an exist-ing relationship.

Diana conducts independent agent train-ing for Safeco Insurance Company and works with around 2,000 agents per year. She has worked in the industry since 1971, holding positions as a broker, underwriter, marketing representative, territory man-ager, sales coach and trainer for both per-sonal and commercial lines.

“Data Privacy and Cyber Risks” (filed for 1 CE)presented by Janet SmithThis session will provide an overview while providing an in-depth discussion regarding cyber and internet liability, the cyber liability policy, exposures (common and not so com-mon), sources of claims and then privacy laws.

Janet is President of Bailey Special Risks, a wholesale insurance broker and MGA specializing in the placement of EPLI, D&O Liability, E&O Liability, and Product Liabil-ity Insurance. She is an industry expert on liability coverages and regularly presents seminars on those topics throughout the Southeast.

“Protecting Your Business Interests” (filed for 1 CE)presented by Howard KastrinskyThis course will focus on two key topics that can leave agency business unprotected. First, having an Employee Handbook, what should be in it and how do you get one. And second, non-piracy/non-compete agreements, how should they be formed to best protect your interests.

Howard is a Partner in King & Ballow and is the head of the firm’s Employment and Dis-crimination Section. He received his under-graduate degree from Cornell University and his law degree from the University of North Carolina, where he graduated with honors. He regularly speaks on subjects in-

Agency Growth ConferenceAttend this Inaugural Event to Learn Ways to Build Your Agency


12511

New President of the Insurors of Tennessee

Lou Moran IIICONGRATULATIONS

AccidentFund.com

12511 Ad for Insurors of TN mag.indd 1 02/14/2014 9:50:51 AM

cluding discrimination laws, the Family & Medical Leave Act, Wage and Hour Law, sexual harassment and more.

“Social Networking Liabilities” (filed for 1 CE)presented by Richard S. PittsThis session will discuss the liabilities that have been created in our modern world of social networking, social media and “instant” communication. How these liabilities can affect your agency and your clients may surprise you.

Rick is Vice-President and General Counsel to Arlington/Roe & Co. and also serves as General Counsel to the Independent Insur-ance Agents of Indiana. He speaks annually at the association’s New Laws Seminars and teaches various seminars on insurance and employment related matters. He is a 1983 graduate of Wabash College and a 1986

graduate of Indiana University School of Law – Indianapolis.

“The Business School of the Future” presented by Dr. David UrbanThis session will discuss how colleges and universities need to be more “cutting edge” in preparing their graduates for the workforce, through interactive learning, constant perfor-mance feedback, and professional development initiatives.

David is the Dean of the Jennings A. Jones College of Business at Middle Tennessee State University. He joined MTSU in 2013 af-ter serving in various roles at Virginia Com-monwealth University’s School of Business, including interim business dean and chair of the Department of Marketing. He has a Bachelor of Science in Commerce from the

University of Virginia, as well as a Master of Arts in Psychology and a Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration from the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor.

ReceptionsMeet your next company or vendor at our agents reception on Tuesday night at the Embassy Suites. Our sponsors and exhibitors will be on hand to talk about your agency. Our Young Agents group will head off-site for a reception at the local Mayday Brewery in Murfreesboro, sponsored by Berkley Southeast Insurance Group.

Exhibit HallExhibitors will include AmTrust North America, Applied Un-derwriters, Arlington/Roe & Co., Bailey Special Risks, Guard Insurance, Haulers Insurance, Heartland Ovation Payroll, Im-perial PFS, Meadowbrook/Preferred Comp, MetLife Auto & Home, National Security Fire & Casualty, Safeco Insurance, Selective Insurance and more.

Registration cost for the event will be only $49 per member and $39 per Young Agent. Exhibit and sponsor info is also available. Get more info now at http://www.insurors.org. u


“Whether you choose Arlington/Roe for our breadth of knowledge, product line diversity, market access or industry know-how, you may be assured we are in business primarily to serve you. We will do our best to earn and keep your trust. You have our word on it.”

– James A. Roe, CPCU, ASLI, President

IT’S THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

800.878.9891 ArlingtonRoe.com

Arlington/Roe. You have our word on it.

Managing General Agents andWholesale Insurance Brokers

Aviation | Bonds | Brokerage | Commercial Lines | Farm | Medical Professional | Personal Lines | Professional Liability | Transportation | Workers’ Compensation


Facebook offers “ad buying” options to boost posts and your page

Building Engagement and Reach on Facebook

by Kevin Ament, Agency Marketing Manager at Progressive Insurance

About this article: Facebook uses an algorithm called EdgeRank to choose which status updates to display in your fans’ news feeds. As a result, 84 percent of business page fans do not see the page’s posts in their Facebook news feeds! Kevin Ament provides the reader with three easy-to-implement tips that will increase the number of the agency’s fans that see its posts. These tips are essential for agencies to employ to build their reach and engage-ment on Facebook. The article also provides some great tools for agencies to use to monitor the reach of their posts and to keep up with changes in Facebook’s algorithm. At Facebook’s first-ever Marketing Conference in February 2012, the company released a startling number that quickly found its way into social media consultants’ Twitter streams and new business pitch decks: 84 percent of business page fans do not see the page’s posts in their Facebook news feeds. For agencies that are exploring social media’s potential (and asking tough questions about ROI), this number is alarming. Why should resource-strapped agents put energy into creat-ing Facebook content when so few of their hard-earned fans are seeing the final product? It’s a fair question, but before you shutter your Facebook page, you should understand what’s behind this number, and what you can do about it. With a few simple changes to your posts, you’ll be reaching more fans and building more engagement with minimal effort.

Why it Happens

Just as Google uses an algorithm to pull the most relevant web content to the top of your search results list, Facebook uses an algorithm called EdgeRank to choose which status updates to display in your fans’ news feeds. The more friends they have and business pages they “like,” the more posts are competing for limited space. EdgeRank filters out all but the most relevant, and business page posts often don’t make the cut. So which posts does EdgeRank usher through, and how do you get your posts on the shortlist?

How it Works

To outsmart the algorithm, it helps to understand it. That’s

easier than it sounds. Vendors will often use the following for-mula to send you scrambling for your checkbook:

Σ = Ue x We x De

Don’t let the sigma scare you. Put simply, EdgeRank ranks your post based on three criteria:

The relationship between your page and the individual 1. fan (Affinity)The value of the individual post (Weight),2. The timeliness of the individual post (Decay).3.

1. Affinity - The first criterion is an individual fan’s relationship with your page. Fans who regularly engage with your posts by clicking, liking, sharing, or commenting have a stronger “af-finity” than fans who have stopped engaging (or who never


can drive up engagement, and every like, comment and share increases affinity and post weight. Religion and polarizing po-litical topics remain danger areas, but asking for fan opinions on texting legislation, driving age minimums or limits, car seat age and weight guidelines, or product preferences (Harley or Honda: which has the superior engineering?) can generate strong opinions on either side. Even sillier questions that tap into strongly held opinions can have the desired effect.

Use these three tips together to see the greatest gains in en-gagement and post reach, and be sure to track how fans are responding. Your Facebook page administrators can see real-time reach data at the bottom of every post:

Facebook Insights has helpful dashboards so you can track your progress and refine your strategy. If you’re not seeing traction (particularly if you’ve had an idle page for months, have a new strategy and want to give your page a jump start) you can ensure all of your fans have an opportunity to see your post in their feed by using the “pro-mote” tool. For a small fee, Facebook will add the post to a larg-er percentage of your fans’ news feeds, up to 100 percent.

Keeping Up With EdgeRank

Sites like EdgeRank Checker report regularly on any changes in the algorithm and provide additional tips on how and when to post for greatest engagement (Wednesday and weekends are the current leaders. You can even use the post scheduler feature on the bottom left of the status update window to schedule updates to post when you’re out of the office.)

With a little planning and a few best practices, you should see your Facebook engagement and reach rise over time. That’s the first step to achieving your goals, whether they’re acquisi-tion, retention, public relations or a mix. Once you understand how to engage more of the fans you’ve already earned, take another step forward by learning to use the additional Face-book tools, like tagging and question, to extend your reach further, to the hundreds and thousands of prospects in your fans’ social networks.

About the Author

Kevin Ament is Agency Marketing Manager at Progressive Insur-ance. Kevin prepared this article for ACT and he can be reached at [email protected]. To view an educational video on EdgeRank from Progressive, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqvAPIaX7xU&feature=plcp and an On Point podcast with Kevin Ament on EdgeRank and Facebook strategy is avail-able at http://www.insurancejournal.tv/videos/8014/ u

engaged) with your posts. Unfortunately, this penalizes Face-book fans who want to read your agency posts but don’t ac-tively engage with them. I’ll share some tips for moving more of these passive readers into active fans later in this article. 2. Weight - The second criterion, weight, creates a unique value for each post based on how much and what type of en-gagement your fans have with it. As more of your fans click, like, comment and share your post, its weight and reach in-crease. Higher-value engagement includes sharing and com-menting, but even likes and clicks boost post weight. The type of post can significantly influence fan engagement. Third party website EdgeRank Checker evaluates posts from more than 1,000 pages monthly and has found that photos drive more engagement than any other post type, followed by video, links and text-only status updates. 3. Decay - The third factor, decay, is the most straightforward. Fans who are on Facebook during or shortly after you post are more likely to see your content. Fans who log in hours later have more (and more timely) content competing for their news feed, so there’s a lower chance your posts will break through. Together, these three factors determine which posts show up in an individual fan’s news feed. So how can you use this infor-mation to create more impactful posts?

What You Can Do About it

Here are three simple tactics to help you reach more fans with your Facebook posts. 1. Use more photos - The most common problem I see on active agency Facebook pages is an over-reliance on text-only status updates. Posting more photos is an easy* way to increase engagement and post weight. Photos grab audi-ence attention and, given their size in the news feed, block out competing posts on the screen. Consider these two posts that use the same text. Which would you be more likely to read, “like” and share with your friends?

*One important caveat: pulling pictures from Google Images to use with your status updates is easy, but many of the images are copyrighted. To avoid potential legal exposure, consider creat-ing an account with an inexpensive stock photography website like Shutterstock (you can purchase a quality pic for as little as 24 cents), or take your own pics and use a free app like Instagram to create a polished and consistent look for your pictures.

2. Ask for likes and shares - A 2011 study from Momentus Media analyzing nearly 50,000 status updates found that di-rectly asking fans for a “like” increased post engagement by 216 percent! Yet only 1.3 percent of posts include this specific call to action. We’ve seen this best practice dramatically in-crease engagement on our consumer Facebook pages.

3. Be provocative - Posting on topics that people disagree on

The Facebook dashboard offers tips


February 28th was Mike Qualls’s last day as an employee of INS-BANK, ending an era of leadership that started 14 years earlier. As the very first employee of Insurors Bank of Tennessee, Mike served as President, CEO, and Chairman of the bank’s board of directors. His tenure at the bank saw a small, novel banking concept grow and evolve into a well-respected and strong-performing community banking organization. For those of us who know him well, it was no surprise to see a large crowd gather on the evening of February 25th to celebrate Mike’s ac-complishments. Guests included customers, vendors, friends and family, competitors, and employ-ees, past and present. As I looked around the room I could not help but think about the ways Mike had impacted not only the bank’s success, but also the lives of others that were part of that journey. Reflecting on this experience, a few noteworthy management lessons come to mind.

Set Guiding Principles in Stone

While business strategies and tactics must be flexible, orga-nizations can solidify their culture by determining what their core principles are and steadfastly adhering to them. In the case of INSBANK, Mike always believed that asset quality was of paramount importance. He would underscore that philos-ophy with quotes such as “the return OF principal was more important than return ON principal,” or “you can’t charge a rate high enough to make up for extending bad loans.” These are a couple of the many “Mikeisms” that employees have come to know and appreciate. Qualls’s asset quality mandate would prove to be valuable as INSBANK managed to avoid much of the banking industry carnage brought on by one of the worst economic recessions in our country’s history. Dur-ing the bank’s 13-year history, it has had a superior record of asset quality performance as compared to its peers.

Hire the Right People and Empower Them

It is often said that a company is only as good as the people

it employs, and Mike fully subscribed to that philosophy. In his own humble way, he would occasionally joke about hiring people “smarter than him,” but in reality he simply sought to employ the most capable person for a particular job. Equally important, he understood that high performers should not require significant management oversight and that empow-ering them to do their jobs with a prudent dose of autonomy was both motivating and efficient. Along the way, Mike also embraced a “speed of trust” management concept, which is exactly what it sounds like: in an environment where employ-ees have a high level of trust with one another, productivity tends to be high. At INSBANK the manifestations of these practices have been asset growth eclipsing the industry aver-age as well as operational efficiencies that exceed the norm.

Be Open to Change

During Mike’s time at INSBANK, as is often the case for suc-cessful businesses in an ever-changing world, the company’s business model evolved as circumstances warranted. Not to be confused with the aforementioned guiding principles he espoused, Mike was always open to new ideas when it came to serving the needs of customers and shareholders alike. Originally opened as a bank with a very limited focus, under his leadership the bank both diversified its customer base in an effort to gain greater economies of scale and maintained its niche business relationship with independent insurance agents. This has allowed the bank’s shareholders to see more attractive rates of return while at the same time increasing available services for insurance agents.

While Mike will continue to serve on the board of directors, his day-to-day camaraderie will be missed by his fellow em-ployees. On behalf of the bank’s shareholders, employees, and customers, I want to express our gratitude to Mike for his years of service and selfless leadership. As the bank continues to grow and evolve, we will strive to maintain the high stan-dards to which he subscribed.

About the Author

Jim Rieniets serves as President and CEO of INSBANK, which requires him to manage the day to day activi-ties of the bank. He also serves as a director of INS-BANK and on the Loan and Investment Committees, as well as being the Chief Manager of the bank’s

subsidiary, Finworth Mortgage, LLC. Jim has an extensive bank-ing career and leadership background and formerly served on the Credit Committee of the Tennessee Bankers Association. u

Lessons in Leadership: Mike Qualls’s Legacy at INSBANK by Jim Rieniets, INSBANK Pres. & CEO

Mike (C) with Jim and TN Dept. of Financial Institutions Commissioner Greg Gonzales (R)


2106 Crestmoor Road | Nashville, Tennessee 37215615.345.9484 | www.finworth.com

Transparent. Service-oriented. Focused on you.

That’s what sets Finworth Mortgage apart. Whether buying a new home, second home or investment property, we provide clarity in a process laden with details. We’ll set you up with the loan you need — not the one we need you to have.

Visit www.finworth.com or call David Coldiron at 615.345.9484 to learn more.

Erin SchmidtCommunity Bank Manager

David ColdironVice President, Lending

IBT316.13 Finworth IOT AD.indd 1 11/13/13 9:29 AM

For over 10 years, INSBANK has built a reputation on providing superior customer service where you are and when you need it. Now, our free mobile banking app and new website o�er more options for account holders to conveniently bank with us.

Check your balance. Transfer funds.

Pay bills. Securely and safely.

All with your fingertips.

insbank where you are.

www.insbanktn.com615.515.BANK | 866.866.BANK

It’s one more way we show our customers that INSBANK is where genuine matters.

Scan with your smartphone to visit our new website.

IBT278.11_Insbank Mobile Ad.indd 1 11/14/11 4:46 PM


Do I Really Have to Document Every Phone Call WIth My Customers? I Know Which are Important and Which Aren’t. I’ll Remember.

Yes, you should document every phone call, even if it is just a short note. If your customer is calling you, it‘s because they are having an issue that may or will involve their insurance policy. Why else would they be calling? Even if it is something so innocuous as to ask what the limits are on their policy or what their premium is, what is the underlying reason why they are asking? If it is about limits, have they had a claim? Why do they need to ask about that? If it‘s about their pre-mium, do they owe it? Are they trying to reduce it? Are they looking for another quote? If they call about their auto policy and ask who is listed on it, why do they want to know? Little things can mean a lot when it comes to an E&O claim and consistency, especially when it comes to documentation can be the key to making it defensible.

I Heard at an E&O Seminar That I Shouldn’t Call My Customers Who Have Company Direct Bill Policies When Their Premium is Due. But I Know They Won’t Remember to Pay the Bill if I Don’t Call Them. They Just Expect That as Part of My Customer Service. Do I Really Have to Quit Calling Them?

YES, yes, a thousand times yes. If you haven’t stopped calling them, stop immediately. But before you do, send a letter to all of your company direct bill customers, preferably certified mail-return receipt requested, that effective immediately you will no longer be calling them to advise them when their pre-mium is due. The reason is simple, by calling them you have created a duty that you did not otherwise have. And the one time you forget or miss calling them is the one time they don’t pay their premium, their policy is cancelled for non-payment, they then have an uncovered claim, and they blame YOU be-cause they didn’t get your call telling them the premium was due. We recently had a claim where an agency didn’t call any of their direct bill customers, except one. It was a big account and they knew that they would only pay their premium when the agency called them. Of course, the agency person who was responsible for calling the customer was on an extended vacation, and no one called the customer when the premium was due. The customer received the direct bill notice of pay-ment, but ALWAYS waited to pay it until they received the call from the agency. Since they didn’t get the call, they forgot to

“There are naive questions, tedious questions, ill-phrased questions, questions put after inadequate self-criticism. But every question is a cry to understand the world. There is no such thing as a dumb question.” - Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

“There’s no such thing as a stupid question so feel free to ask whatever you want.” That is one of the first things you hear from a teacher, professor or educator when you go into any learning environment once you reach the high school level. As a matter of fact, I say the very same thing when I’m pre-senting at an E&O risk management seminar. How many times have you been in a seminar where you’re afraid to ask a question, because you think it seems so obvious, that you’re afraid other people will think you’re foolish for asking it? Trust me, if you are thinking it there are probably at least 3 other people who are thinking the same thing but THEY ALSO don’t want to ask because THEY don’t want to appear to be foolish. So, let’s forget about the risk of appearing foolish and ask the question! It’s been said before that pride goeth before a fall so if you fail to ask the question, you might just be opening yourself up to an E&O claim.

As the risk management coordinator for the Swiss Re Cor-porate Solutions/Westport Insurance Corporation Insurance Agents Errors and Omissions Professional Liability program, I am asked questions all the time about any number of E&O subjects. While I may have answered the same question many times, I treat each one as if it’s a brand new question. The rea-son is simple: if the person knew the answer, they wouldn’t be asking, and while it may be old hat to me it‘s new to them. They have never run across the subject before because they might be new to the insurance industry, be a new agent, a new E&O insured, or maybe even a more seasoned insurance veteran. My experience has been that they are really asking because something is going on in their business that could ultimately lead to an E&O incident and they don’t know what do to.

So what kind of questions do I get asked? The questions may be simple, complex and anything in between. While some might be general in nature, some may also depend on a spe-cific state law or regulation. But I don’t rely on just my knowl-edge. I’ll ask our claims team and insurance experts I know, for their opinion, before I provide an answer. Why do I do that? Because I’m not afraid to ask a stupid question.

Here are just a few of the most common questions I receive:

No Such Thing As A Stupid QuestionWritten by Richard F. Lund, J.D., Vice President, Senior Underwriter, Swiss Re*


pay the premium, the policy cancelled, they had an uncov-ered loss of $65,000 and made a claim against the agency. The agency is clearly in error but had they not taken on that duty, they would not have been responsible. The agency has now sent a letter to the customer, certified mail, and return receipt requested, that they will no longer be notifying them when their premium is due.

Why Do You Want to Send the Letter Certified Mail with Return to Receipt Requested?

To document in your file that your client received the letter advis-ing them that they would no longer be notified by the agency.

Our Office Has Recently Gone Paperless, i.e. We Scan and Store all Documents Electronically. Do We Still Need to Retain the Paper Files and Documents?

No, once you have scanned the documents and store them electronically, the original documents should be shredded and disposed of. The underlying question from an E&O stand-point here is whether an electronic copy of an original docu-ment can be used as evidence when there is a claim, and the answer is yes. The Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA) was developed by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCSL) in the late 1990’s and has been adopted by all states except Illinois, New York and Washing-ton, which developed their own laws regarding electronic transactions. Among the basic tenants of the law is that any document that is electronic is the same as a paper document and as such, is admissible as the original of the document. In addition, in 2000 the United States Congress enacted the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-SIGN) which established the validity of electronic records and signatures under federal law. The key to remember is that once you create an electronic record, you should immediately destroy the paper document.

Our Agency is Trying to Get Our Arms Around Some Social Media Opportunities to Help Promote Our Agency. When We Started or Website Redesign Last Year, I Recall That We Went Through Some Hoops With Our E&O Carrier About What Was Permissible and What Was Not. This Year we Are Crawling into Facebook and Twitter and Wonder About the E&O Implications, if Any. Do You Have Info About That?

Swiss Re Corporate Solutions and the IIABA have a module that specifically addresses Social Media in the new E&O semi-nar materials, “E&O Risk Management: Meeting the Challenge of Change.” Those materials are available on the E&O Hap-pens website. I also went to the E&O Happens website and entered “social media” in the search tool and got 30 respons-es. I then did the same thing on the IIABA main site and got 150 responses that are throughout the website including E&O

The Atlas General Di�erence

Atlas is a National Full Service Program Manager o�ering a wide range of insurance solutions including workers' compensation, contractors' general liability and BOP, with many other cover-ages available. Now writing trucking-local (no new ventures, $5,000 minimum), new venture contractors, healthcare, assisted living and allowing experience mod's up to 2.00.

Atlas has expertise in developing and underwriting specialty programs with a variety of insurance carrier partners. We are committed to providing exceptional services and unique options for our clients.

For marketing information, please contact: Lowrey Young, Marketing Rep Garland Byrd, VP Marketing901-308-3387 865-588-1986 [email protected] [email protected]

To learn more about our products, call (877) 66-ATLAS or visit www.atlas.us.com

LOOKING FOR MARKETS?We Are Your Solution.

continued on page 48


Daniel Learns About Insurance: Are Treehouses Covered? Are These Risks Literally Too High? written by Daniel Smith

Insurors Director of Communications Daniel Smith is far from an insurance expert, but he is trying to learn! In this new series he will look into insurance and coverage questions he has about popular trends and day-to-day life.

Over the past year, I have become quite a fan of a show called Treehouse Masters, which airs on the Animal Planet cable net-work. If you have seen the show, you know that treehouse master builder Pete Nelson and his team from Nelson Tree-house and Supply aren’t just putting plywood on a branch, they are building fully functional structures with plumbing, electricity and more. These treehouses are being made into offices, extra bedrooms and guest houses. I can’t help but think that as these functional treehouses gain popularity, cov-erage issues will begin to hit close to home. We already have the largest treehouse in the world1 located in our State, built around an 85-foot oak tree in Crossville.

If your client has a simple treehouse, it is most likely covered under Coverage B “other structures” on a standard HO policy. But what if their treehouse is more than a structure? If the treehouse is defined as a “building,” you may be getting into ACV versus Replacement Cost issues. Of those I contacted on the matter, all agreed that coverage could be available un-der “other structures,” pending an inspection. What they also agreed on was that it would be hard to find an insurer actually willing to write the coverage.

Attractive Nuisance?

Some reports have shown insurers de-

nying treehouse coverage and claiming the structures were an “attractive nuisance.” The maintenance, upkeep and inabil-ity to ensure who utilizes the treehouse when unsupervised can all be issues that deter insurers. Some insurers have tree-house exclusion clauses or reject applicants outright if they consider a tree house too high and poorly maintained. Since falls account for about 26 percent of accidental injuries and deaths in a home, having a structure high above the ground is definitely a concern.

But more elaborate treehouses can actually be more likely to be insured. For example, the structures built on Treehouse Masters follow blueprints, often have city ordinance and code approvals, and usually include safety and security features like locks and load-bearing hardware. If you approach an in-surer with these measures in place, you can certainly present a better case for coverage.

However, if the uses for this treehouse are beyond the normal circumstances, other issues may creep up. Is your client using the treehouse as an office? What if they are storing business equipment or inventory in the treehouse? They may have voided their coverage under the HO policy. In this case they may need a BOP or other Commercial Package Policy to cover the liability, the business exposure and the structure. Using the treehouse as a daycare? I shudder to even think about the concerns insurers would have there.

15The Tennessee InsurorA.M. Best rating of “A”

(Excellent) FSC X

Connect with us

I AmTrustedto provide my insureds with the best coverage.

Insurance agents are trusted to provide their customers with the best protection at every turn. That’s why the best agents in the industry recommend the superior small-business insurance coverage available only from AmTrust. Not only is AmTrust the 10th largest workers’ compensation insurance provider in the nation, we’ve also earned an “A” rating from A.M. Best. It’s some of the industry’s best small-business insurance coverage, available only from the industry’s best agents like you.

To learn more about AmTrust, visit us at amtrustnorthamerica.com or call 877.528.7878.

Your Success is Our Policy.®


GUARDBERKSHIRE HATHAWAY

INSURANCE

COMPANIES

A new logo for

a new era.

Upon our acquisition

by National Indemnity

Company/Berkshire Hathaway

in October of 2012, a new and

improved GUARD emerged. A year later,

we are pleased to introduce a new logo that

better reflects our ENHANCED GUARD BRAND. As

you can see, we highlight the immense resources available

to us through our ultimate parent as we continue climbing to the

top of our industry . . . while retaining reminders of the steps behind

us – an assurance that the best of our old values still remain.

Join us as we reach new heights: visit www.guard.com/apply

Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies are rated A+ (“SUPERIOR”) by A.M. Best Company and

specialize in small- to mid-sized accounts – featuring Workers' Compensation coverage in 37 states and

complementary Businessowner's Policy (BOP), Umbrella, and Commercial Auto products in select jurisdictions.

Recently, a homeowner in Wenatchee, Washington (just a couple of hours away from Nelson Treehouse and Supply) built a treehouse in his front yard but was told by the city that he must tear it down.2 The city says the structure hangs too far over sidewalks, thus threatening public safety. They have said the owner can keep the treehouse in place, if he secures a $1 million policy. The city is now planning to hire an engineering firm to evaluate the structural integrity of the tree house, and if necessary, seek a court order to have the structure removed.

So, are treehouses covered? Unfortunately the answer is “it depends.” Coverage may be available under a standard HO policy, but it will depend greatly on the treehouse itself, the intended uses, and will definitely vary by carrier. If you have clients planning to build a treehouse, I recommend you con-sult their carrier and discuss the plans before they begin. If they already have a treehouse in place, be sure they under-stand what is and isn’t covered under there current policy.

1-Per Guinness World Records 2012 2-Per The Wenatchee World www.wenatcheeworld.com

About the Author

Daniel Smith serves as the Director of Communica-tions for Insurors of Tennessee. He has a Bachelors degree in Marketing with a minor in Graphic Design from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He may be contacted at [email protected]. u

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS1989 - 2014

Bailey Special Risks, Inc. Your professional liability partners

for 25 years. We specializeso you don’t have to.

1.800.768.7475www.bsrins.com

[email protected]

Professional Liability-Management LiabilityData Privacy & Security Liability


This time of year, agencies often find themselves searching for insurance coverage for festivals and special

events. Tennessee Underwriters has access to the markets and the experience to provide you and your

client with the coverage they need. Below is a sample of the special events we specialize in writing:

Tennessee Underwriters is a family-owned surplus lines broker committed to providing the

best personal service and support to insurance agencies.

Insurance for Festivals and Special Events

Tennessee Underwriters, Inc.

140 4th Avenue South

Franklin, TN 37064

Phone: 615.791.1400

800.365.0646

Fax: 615.794.7115

Email: [email protected]

www.tnund.com

USL&H

TRUCKING

AGRIBUSINESS

CONSTRUCTION

OIL & GAS

MANUFACTURING

American Interstate Insurance Company Silver Oak Casualty Inc.

Toll Free: 1.866.719.0267 | Fax: 1.800.450.1091 | Amerisafe.com

WORKERS' COMP INSURANCE

Some Agents Have Seen It All.

That's When They Call On Us.


local people finding practical solutions

Aaron Jensen Shafer Insurance Agency, KnoxvilleLeslie Frazier Shafer Insurance Agency, KnoxvilleJustin Baxter Shafer Insurance Agency, KnoxvilleAdam Reeves Union City Insurance Agency, Union CityBrandon Patterson Ownby Insurance Services, SeviervilleChad Snider Westan Insurance Group, MartinDavid Evans The Insurance, Group, Inc., KnoxvilleEmory Martin King & Associates, BrentwoodGarrett Flannery Carroll Insurance Agency McKenzieHank Coppedge Miller Loughry Beach Ins. Svc., MurfreesboroJamie Williams Hardin County Bank Ins. Agcy., SavannahJared Smith TIS Insurance Services, KnoxvilleJohn Fritts TIS Insurance Services, KnoxvilleJosh Witt The Insurance Group, Inc., KnoxvilleKevin Ownby Ownby Insurance Services, SeviervilleMatt Spellings Consolidated Insurance Agency, ParisMelissa Wilder Insurance, Inc., NashvilleMike Thomas Insurance, Inc., NashvilleRobert Harris Tigrett & Pennington, NashvilleTyler King King & Associates, BrentwoodWill Dodson Arthur J Gallagher Risk Mgmt Svc., NashvilleMichael Novarese McDaniel-Whitley, Inc, MemphisJeremy Stiltner Bennett & Edwards Insurance, KingsportJason Stiltner Bennett & Edwards Insurance, KingsportStacy Woodard Inter-Agency Insurance Service, Inc., KnoxvilleJared Garrett Gary Maxwell Insurance Agency, Inc., LivingstonWill Webb Battle Page Insurance, Franklin

introducing exceptional

congratulations exceptional agents

Berkley Southeast Insurance Group is committed to working with young independent agents of Tennessee. They are the future of our business. BSIG recognizes the need to mentor the growth of new talent and to perpetuate the Independent Agency Systemas well as provide young agents a competitive advantage. That’s why we are working together for success with Tennessee’s Young Agents.

commercial lines property and casualty insurance

berkleysig.com

local people finding practical solutions

we havea newnamealong with a new look,and all the same great solutions you’ve come to expect

berkleysig.com

Effective January 1st Union Standard Insurance Group in Tennessee is now Berkley Southeast Insurance GroupBerkley Southeast Insurance Group (BSIG) is a member company of W. R. Berkley Corporation, a Fortune 500 Company, whose insurance company subsidiaries are rated A+ (Superior) by A. M. Best Company.

AM BEST

Our independent agents and policyholders can expect to continue to receive the same outstanding products, services and solutions, as our staff remains unchanged.

Bill Emerick, Regional Vice President, continues to lead our staff at the local branch office at 5301 Virginia Way, Suite 250, Brentwood, TN.

BSIG takes a broad approach to underwriting for ‘best in class’ business primarily in the construction, light manufacturing, hospitality, real estate, mercantile, wholesale and business service industries.

At Berkley Southeast Insurance Group we have local people finding practical solutions…. for our agents and policyholders.

For additional information please contact: Bill Emerick at [email protected] or 615.932.5508


Josh Gibbons is a native of Johnson City and lives there with his wife Lisa and their three children, Marisa, Grant and Corinne. He currently serves on the Insurors Board as a Director of Region III.

The Insuror: Can you tell us a little about your current job title and responsibilities?

Josh: I’m currently the President of Watauga

Insurance, Inc. In our Agency the title ‘President’ requires wearing many hats. Most days I’m part Marketer, Accountant, Salesman, IT Director, Purchaser, Evaluator, Underwriter, Motivator and hopefully Problem Solver. To this end I don’t and can’t do it alone. Our employee team helps accomplish agency and client goals every day and I’m thankful for their leadership and help.

The Insuror: What can you tell us about your educational background?

Josh: I graduated from the University of Kentucky with a Bachelors in Business Administration. From there I moved to Cincinnati, Ohio where I was a Commercial and Personal Underwriter for the Cincinnati Insurance Companies. I have attained my AAI designation from the AICPCUIIA. I’m not sure if this counts but I recently gave a presentation on insurance at career day for my kid’s 3rd grade class. I used a lot of cool pictures and told neat stories about how our career helps others and allows us to learn from our clients every day. Education and perpetuation of our industry starts at an early age!

The Insuror: How and why did you get started in insurance?

Josh: Being from a family-owned agency, my joining the agency was discussed but never pushed. Upon moving to Cincinnati I didn’t go directly into insurance. I wanted to gain business experience so I worked for a local oil company before beginning my insurance career. Insurance is about serving people and their needs. What greater calling do we have than that both professionally and personally? As I’ve always believed, and now can confirm looking back, a lot of timing is

not for us to decide. The people I met and worked with through my start in insurance at Cincinnati are people I still keep in touch with and we have an instant connection whenever we get together. Had I started earlier or immediately returned to Johnson City, I would never had these connections in my life.

The Insuror: Do you have any influences/role models in the industry?

Josh: First and foremost is my father, Ed. His dedication to his clients, this industry and his service to others is a great model to follow. The great people and friends from my time on the Company side in Cincinnati helped solidify the notion that a career in this industry is noble, fun and worthwhile. I believe our Association is a positive influence. The staff, even David Williams, makes a difference. My father found it extremely important for me to get involved. There is no doubt the relationships with people I’ve come to know from across this State have been very positive and helpful in my career.

The Insuror: Is there any advice you could offer Young Agents or others in the industry to achieve success?

Josh: If you serve your clients and treat them they way you’d like to be treated, not only can you sleep at night but you have something other than price. That seems to be a constant battle in this commoditizing industry. Work hard. Show up everyday and be available. Positive word of mouth is the best referral you can get. Never judge a book by it’s cover. Serve others.

The Insuror: As an independent agent, you have many partners in this industry, including carriers, MGAs and many more. How do determine which ones are the right relationships?

Josh: The Carriers and MGAs that consider the independent agent as their customer are the ones that stand out. We understand companies have to properly underwrite a risk, but at times it seems like our industry can make things more complicated than they really are so ease of doing business is another factor to consider. The carriers and MGAs that keep our needs in mind and can ‘keep it simple’ are the ones in which we want to build a relationship.

The Insuror: Thank you for giving us your time Josh, we appreciate it and wish you continued success in your career. Josh: Thank you for having me as part of this series. u

Future Leaders Spotlight presented by

Josh Gibbons, AAI • Watauga Insurance, Inc. - Johnson City

Josh Gibbons of Watauga Insurance


A C U I T Y U N I V E R S I T Y P R E S E N T S

ARE YOU READY FOR ONE?

W W W . A C U I T Y . C O M / UFor All That Matters

ACUITY

THE FIRST IN A NEW SERIESOF CE CREDIT COURSES

EXCLUSIVELY FOR ACUITY AGENTS!

From Your President


Did you know that 87% of all statistics are made up? Well that might have been a slight exag-geration of the number… it is actually closer to 64%. Now that you are scratching your head and wondering what the heck I am talking about and how this relates to the Insurors of Tennessee, let me continue.

Your State Senators and Representative file over 3,000 during each two-year session of the Gen-eral Assembly. Roughly 78% of all bills filed af-fect the insurance industry. Now, the insurance bills do not account for 78% of all bills filed, but it sure feels that way when I receive my e-mail briefing on the bills that Insurors is following for the next week. Most of you who know me, know that I really enjoy politics. Still, I cannot imagine the aver-age person having the time, energy or ability to read through and comprehend the magnitude of the written word and how these potential new bills will affect our clients, us as agents and our carrier partners. The process of reviewing the pending legislation and then cross-refer-encing it against current legislation to see how it will impact current statue is a tedious and time consuming task. We, the members of In-surors, are extremely lucky that we have Chuck Bidek and Ashley Arnold on our team.

If you are not aware, we are the only P&C inde-pendent insurance agents’ group who is active-ly working on pending legislation in the State of Tennessee. And this work on “The Hill” not only benefits us, but it also benefits all agents, be them independent or direct writing agents. Chuck and Ashley are recognized and respect-ed for their knowledge and ability to work with the various parties who will be affected by the pending bills. Those affected may be our inde-pendent agency carriers, the direct writers in the state, or legislators who just want to know, “What will this do to my constituents?”

What kinds of legislation am I referring to? Here is just sampling of the “bills” Insurors has followed in the first three months of this year; Sinkhole Legislation, Loss Runs, Unclaimed Life Insurance Benefits Act, and a bill which requires

health insurance to detail/list all of the percent-age cost increase as a result of ACA. The actual list of bills filed for the 2014 Legislative session is too long to list here, but this will give you an idea of issues which affect our industry.

Now to my point and why this is important to our average members… I believe that less than 20% (this is not a made up statistic) of our agency members contribute to InsurPACTN. What is InsurPACTN? It is the political action committee for Insurors. Why am I writing about it? Because for Chuck and Ashley to be truly effective, we need a PAC that is recognized in Nashville as one of the major players in Tennes-see along with the bankers’ PAC and the vari-ous attorney PACs. For this to happen we need to increase our PAC giving. We don’t need a lot of PAC money from any one agent or member agency. We just need a little from all the agents and member agencies.

As you may or may not be aware, this year’s leg-islative session is scheduled to end in early to mid-April, with the prime campaign season be-ginning shortly after. So current State Senators and State Representatives and the challengers will soon be calling and e-mailing Insurors ask-ing for donations to their campaigns.

I am asking for each member who has not con-tributed to InsurPACTN, after you finish reading this great article, to call Insurors and contribute. I promise we will make it as easy and painless as possible. And your contribution will continue to keep our Association as the premier insurance agent’s lobbying group on “The Hill.”

State legislation can be a friend or foe to the insurance industry. Let’s let our State Senators and Representatives know that we care about our industry and want to work together with them to pass the best bills possible. The best way to do that is with a strong InsurPACTN. Please consider giving today. Call 615.515.2603 or visit http://www.insurors.org/what-we-do/government-affairs/ to donate now.

…and stay tuned, same bat time and same bat channel, we have 4 more episodes to come! u

Supporting Our PAC Supports Us All

“ R o u g h l y 78% of all bills f iled affect the insurance i n d u s t r y . ”

Lou Moran III


9 Great Ideas for Agency Growth

9For more information, contact Kevin Brandt at (800) 221-7917 x5414 or [email protected]

Free to do what’s right for you.SM

ALL THE BRANDING TOOLS YOU NEED TO LET CUSTOMERS KNOW YOU’RE

FREE TO DO WHAT’S RIGHT FOR THEM.

National Print Ads Local Print Ads

Agency Self-Mailer

Agency Letter

Agency Postcard

”

84o/o

78o/o

Local Agency Web Banner National Web Banner

- To access the campaign materials, visit trustedchoice.com/agents -

LET’S TALK ABOUT WHAT FREEDOM OF CHOICE CAN DO FOR YOU.

Jane Sullivan800-123-4567

IS YOURINSURANCE AGENTTRAPPED?


A Trusted Choice®

Find your independent agent. Find a better deal at trustedchoice.com

INDEPENDENT AGENTS HAVE FREEDOM OF CHOICE.

For more information, contact Kevin Brandt at (800) 221-7917 x5414 or [email protected]





Agency Self-Mailer

Agency Letter

Agency Postcard

”

84o/o

78o/o







A Trusted Choice®



For more information, contact Kevin Brandt at (800) 221-7917 x5414 or [email protected]





Agency Self-Mailer

Agency Letter

Agency Postcard

”

84o/o

78o/o







A Trusted Choice®




Recently while attending our association Board of Directors meeting I was asked the question, “What is Trusted Choice?” A week or so later I was attending a board meeting of the Insu-rors of Memphis and again was asked, “What is Trusted Choice?” Even better, I was holding our sales meeting in my office and one of my producers asked “What is Trusted Choice?” Ob-viously our efforts in the recent past to educate our members have not been 100% successful. And when my own office doesn’t understand it then it is time to start from scratch. So let me say this to you who have historical opinions about what Trusted Choice (TC) has been over the past several years – forget all you knew – just wipe it out and let’s start from scratch.

In my opinion, today’s TC is so different from where we started that it is best just to start over. So give me five minutes to offer you a glimpse of what Trusted Choice is today and why every one of you need to know what it is and how it can benefit you. It is not in any way an effort to discontinue the branding of your agency, Insu-rors of Tennessee or the Big “I”. Our Association brands will continue forever and are so strong in our state and national legislatures that we would never want to see those diminished. In June of this year I will have been in the agency business for 36 years, and involved with the In-surors at some level during almost all of those. If I felt Trusted Choice was the least bit harmful to the goals and efforts of the Insurors I would be the first to defend our brand. When I hear agents say they don’t need TC because they have Insurors branding I realize they just don’t yet understand the movement.

The first question is, “Do you believe the inde-pendent agency system is the best delivery sys-tem for your clients?” Assuming that answer is YES, then what is it about our system than you feel is advantageous? Is it that you offer choices to your clients other than a deductible or limits option? Is it that you are free to be an advocate for your client at claim time because you do not work for the insurance company? Is it that clients trust you for advice in making insurance deci-sions? Those are the very basic roots behind the name Trusted Choice. “But Brad they know I am

an independent agent!” Research shows that distinction has become blurred. Many consum-ers cannot distinguish between you as an inde-pendent agent and the local office housing an Allstate, State Farm or Nationwide agent. They are “independent” businesses as well. Big “I” lis-tened to the research and the branding effort was created – Trusted Choice – which has now evolved to a viable took helping us distinguish our brand – the trusted advisor who offers cli-ents choices and advocates for them.

This is not a battle over whether you prefer the “Eagle on the Stick” logo, not a battle over Raymond Burr type advertising, not a battle of branding of your agency or branding of the our beloved Insurors. This is a battle over market share amongst independent agents, captives and direct writers. This is a battle that cannot be won by you independently, it must be fought with the numbers of independent agents that exist all doing their part. That is what the brand-ing effort is about – co-branding your agency with all the other independent agents across the land as being a Trusted Choice independent agent. Not replacing your agency brand – co-branding it with Trusted Choice.

Time to Step Up to the Plate

Trusted Choice is the best vehicle I have seen to promote our brand of being independent agents. I am not suggesting it is the only vehicle, it is just the only one with national exposure. So what should you be doing. Your first steps are simple – adopt the Trusted Choice logo and brand as being part of who you are, not replac-ing your agency brand – again just co-branding. The logo is beginning to be blasted all over the country in so many different venues. Safeco commercials use the TC logo and other com-panies do as well. The dollars are being spent in numbers of ways so why not adopt it and co-brand? Ride the wave so that when they see the logo on TV ads and print ads and radio ads they associate it with you and your agency. In other words, by adopting the logo you get the benefit of thousands of dollars in advertising.

We are in the midst of a huge advertising cam-

From Your State National Director

“ T r u s t e d Choice is the best vehicle I have seen to promote our brand of being independent a g e n t s . ”

What is Trusted Choice? It’s What’s Right for You.

Brad V. Smith


paign by Trusted Choice and we feel it has the chance to move the needle. “Free to do what’s right for you,” is the campaign theme and just think about how that defines you and how you can incorporate that. This campaign is directed at the cap-tive agents and you really should be looking to use some of these ads with your tag line (see page 22). In addition, there is an opportunity to purchase banner ads provided by Trusted Choice, customized with your agency’s information and tar-geted to a specific market. You can choose up to 5 zip codes to target. Trusted Choice will manage all tagging, placement and tracking on your behalf. You can have the digital ads linked to either your website, social media page, or your advanced agency profile on TrustedChoice.com. In addition you can use your agency’s logo or an agent’s photo. During this 3 month campaign you will receive at least 800,000 impressions and ap-proximately 400 click-throughs. TC will provide analytical data so you can see how well your campaign performed. We are participating in this so I can let you know how well it goes.

But hold on - there are 2 other very important parts to Trusted Choice. Once you accept the brand then you have access to not only the marketing and advertising, but also to two very important efforts. First is the new www.TrustedChoice.com. By completing your profile on the website you will be part of the agent directory, available to consumers searching by zip code. I can’t tell you how many “non-believers” have done this and been shocked by the leads being generated – both

personal and commercial – by completing the profile and then being listed on the site. The agent directory is being searched by thousands daily – you want to have a presence there. And if you want even more presence in the digital space, then through Project CAP they offer several digital packages to get you into the digital and social media space. They can take you from begin-ner to advanced in a very short time if you desire to contact them and get started.

The third piece to this effort is the online rating capability for the consumers. This is still being rolled out across the country and will eventually be auto, home and business rating for consumers. The online rating is being built to drive prospects to your digital doorstep which allows you to do what you do best – sell! Please don’t mistake my low volume of words in this space to say this is a small effort. Just the opposite, millions have been invested – mostly by 5 insurance company sponsors who believe in us and believe in the independent agent delivery system and put their money in action to prove it.

So, how do I define Trusted Choice? In my opinion it is a 3 legged stool which is focused in 3 ways to help the consumer under-stand why we are unique in the marketplace. TC then drives pros-pects to our door giving us the opportunity to do what we do best – SELL! Doesn’t that fit with your other efforts? Forget any old negative vibes, this is the new Trusted Choice and I think it works. Give it a try and let me know how it works for you. u

For thirty years, Builders Mutual has been working hard to make your job easier. Agent tools like BOB 2.0 allow you to issue and service policies online with ease. When you’re quoting residential, commercial and trade contractors, the insurance choice is simple.

EXPERTISE YOU CAN

LEVERAGE. IT

,S THAT SIMPLE.

Stay connected. buildersmutual.com

From Your CEO


Chuck Bidek, CPCU

Changing “Shall” to “May“ on Sinkholes?

“T h e n e w bill creates a statewide s t a n d a r d f o r c l a i m s h a n d l i n g applicable to all l icensed c a r r i e r s . ”

In early January of 2013, we were visit by insur-ance company representatives announcing their intention to attempt to change the sink-hole legislation we were involved with in 2006. The company, who was not yet licensed in Ten-nessee, made this change a prerequisite to them selling in our State.

Shall Versus May

As it stood, the law stated that although com-panies were not required to cover sinkhole losses in their homeowners policies they were required (they shall) to make the coverage available. The law stood for seven years with no challenges. Then last year, a short bill was introduced changing the language of the law from “shall” to “may.” Most readers of legislation would normally scoff it off as a “caption” bill that might be amended later to do something else entirely. The bill got no traction, but it did get the attention of many carriers who were already admitted in Tennessee.

Collectively these carriers began a process to review the current law. The basis of the law was modeled after a similar law in Florida. The “shall” to “may” proponents said that the court inter-pretations in the Sunshine State had eroded the law’s intent to the point that a massive rewrite and change was made in Florida. Indeed, over the last several years liberal courts had made claims adjusting more cumbersome and litiga-

tion had increased with each additional court decision. Citing that a law firm from Florida who handled many sinkhole claims has now had an office in Tennessee for the past five years be-came proof sufficient for these proponents that there was an impending crisis.

A company group was gathered with the in-tention of heading off this future “crisis” by changing the law in anticipation of adverse court decisions. The functional corrections or modernization dealt with how claims handling would be done. Specifically, the bill dealt with expertise in sinkhole identification and the terms by which insureds could receive replace-ment cost payments. The new bill creates a statewide standard for claims handling appli-cable to all licensed carriers.

Back for Another Try

In 2014, the bill reemerged as an amendment to the caption bill that I mentioned earlier. It flew through all the committees of jurisdiction and passed the Senate quickly. But it ran into many questions on the House Floor. In fact, the first attempt to pass it ran into too many of these questions and the bill was deferred to the next week.

After the failure to launch on the first try, rum-blings began about the bill. Members had trou-ble understanding the “shall make available”


JGSI N S U R A N C E

A subsidiary of

Umbrella Programs thatGive You More OptionsPreferred Property Program gives you broader,more flexible coverage with a range of limitsOur umbrella liability policies are written by XL Insurance with Chubb InsuranceGroup for the excess layer—two of the industry’s most highly rated carriers.We offer four umbrella limits, with coverage you can rely on.

• $5 to $25 Million in umbrella coverage with up to $50 Million in total limits.

• Hi-Rise apartments up to 35 stories eligible, with higher eligible by referral.

• Excess of D&O, General Liability, Auto, Employers Liability, EmployeeBenefits and more.

• Developer-sponsored boards eligible.

Contact us for a quote:

[email protected]

Service is our specialty; protecting you is our mission ®

960 Holmdel Road, Holmdel, NJ 07733

7.5 x 4.625jgs_umbrella_7.4x4.625v12012

XL Insurance is the global brand used by XL Group pic’s insurance companies.Our XL policies are underwritten by Greenwich Insurance Company.

®

language that had been in the old bill. Many publicly stated that they thought the law mandated sinkhole coverage and the new bill was removing it. Once explained, there was some criticism that agents were failing to make this clear to their policyholders. Suggestions were made that there should be some way for agents to demonstrate they had counseled their insureds and that they properly understood their policy language.

An alternative proposal was put on the table that would have mandated the coverage but would allow for an opt out like the one used in deleting uninsured motorist coverage. The discussion was turning from a prescribed method of handling claims to increasing an agent’s responsibility.

The next time the bill was called to the floor was about ten days after the original attempt. The House sponsor was well prepared to address concerns about the bill, but this time rebellion came from a minority party member who opened with the question, “Will you please tell us, what does this bill do?” In spite of assurances that all interested parties were “OK” with the bill, and that it had been deemed “not consumer un-friendly” by the Department of Commerce and Insurance, it still garnered only 53 votes in favor. Many members chose not to vote at all, either due to confusion or out of respect for some of the proponents. Regardless, the bill passed and was sent to the Speakers and Governor for signatures. The bill did pass without any House amendments and will be a new law effective July 1, 2014.

The new language, as added into the law, will now read like this:

(1) The insurer may limit its total claims payment to the actual cash value of the sinkhole loss to the covered property, which does not include underpinning or grouting or any other repair technique performed below the existing foundation of the build-ing, until the policyholder enters into a contract for the perfor-mance of building stabilization or foundation repairs in accor-dance with the recommendations of the engineer retained or approved by the insurer;

(2) To be eligible to receive payment for underpinning, grouting, any other repair technique performed below the existing foun-dation of the building, or any other loss in excess of the actual cash value of the sinkhole loss to the covered property, the in-sured must repair such damage or loss in accordance with the repair recommendations of the engineer or engineers retained or approved by the insurer. The insurer may engage a professional structural engineer to make recommendations as to the repair of the structure. The respective findings, opinions, and recommen-dations of the insurer’s engineer or professional geologist as to the cause of distress to the property and the findings, opinions, and recommendations of the insurer’s engineer as to land and building stabilization and foundation repair shall be presumed correct;

So what happened to just changing “shall” to “may?” Nothing, but the wording was “modernized.” u


Education CalendarThe Insurors of Tennessee offers education opportunities to member agents across a wide range of insurance specialities that satisfy individuals at many different experience levels. If you are looking to further your career, seeking a professional designation, or need to satisfy continuing education requirements, check out the variety of courses available.

Registration is fast and easy at www.insurors.org. More information about each class can also be found online.

Indicates course is presented by The National Alliance. Register for these courses at www.thenationalalliance.comRegister Online at www.insurors.org

4/16 NFIP: Basic Flood Course + Updates CE: 3 $724/23 Professional Ethics in Insurance Ind. CE: 3 $60

Cyber Risk Fee: $420

12/3-4 Cyber Risk Seminar Nashville

Ruble Fee: $430

9/16-19 Control of Risk Nashville

Online Courses (www.iiaba.net/vu) Available from IIABA Virtual University. Member pricing shown.Ethics for Insurance Professionals CE: 3 $75How to Calc. Business Income in 5 Min. CE: 3 $50National Flood Insurance Program CE: 6 $80New Employee Training Course CE: 9 $100 *check VU site for current information on CE and pricing

Available from The National Alliance (www.scic.com) Legal & Ethical Requirments of Insurance CE: 4 $75Insuring Flood Exposures - NFIP Review CE: 4 $75

Available from The Institutes (insurors.ceu.com) Insurance Principles and Policies CE: 7 $49Long Term Care CE: 24 $99Workers’ Compensation CE: 10 $59Employee Benefits for Small Companies CE: 4 $39Healthcare Reform and Affordable Care CE: 5 $49e-Coverage CE: 15 $79Fundamentals of Personal Auto Insurance CE: 3 $29Management Process for Ins. Professionals CE: 21 $89Intro to Flexible Spending Accounts CE: 4 $39

CISR Fee: $173 CE: 8 4/22 Agency Operations Johnson City4/23 Agency Operations Knoxville6/18 Personal Residential Memphis8/13 Commercial Casualty II Nashville8/14 Commercial Casualty II Chattanooga9/15 Elements of Risk Management Nashville9/17 Personal Auto Johnson City9/18 Personal Auto Knoxville11/12 Personal Lines Miscellaneous Nashville 11/13 Personal Lines Miscellaneous Memphis

CIC Fee: $385 (Ruble $420) CE: 24

4/9-11 Life & Health Institute Nashville5/7-9 Agency Management Nashville6/11-13 Personal Lines Knoxville7/24-25 Ruble Graduate Seminar Nashville8/20-22 Commercial Casualty Nashville11/12-14 Commercial Property NashvilleThe National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be addressed to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors, 150 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 700, Nashville, TN, 37219-2417. Website: www.nasba.org. Advanced Curriculum Rating = 20 CPE Credits. For more information regarding administrative policies such as complaint and refund, please contact our offices at 800-633-2165.

ABEN Webcasts (insurors.aben.tv) 4/2 E&O - An E&O Claim 360 View CE: 2 $304/9 E&O - Agency/Carrier Relationships CE: 2 $484/9 E&O - Considerations of Agent Ops CE: 2 $484/10 E&O - Understanding Agent Duties CE: 2 $484/11 Data Privacy Insurance CE: 2 $484/15 Ethics & Business Webcast CE: 3 $60

NASHVILLE

4/9-11 : CIC : LIFE & HEALTH5/7-9 : CIC : AGENCY MANAGEMENT

7/24-25 : RUBLE : GRADUATE SEMINARS8/13 : CISR : COMMERCIAL CASUALTY II8/20-22 : CIC : COMMERCIAL CASUALTY

9/15 : CISR : ELEMENTS OF RISK MANAGEMENT9/16-19 : CRM : CONTROL OF RISK*

11/12-14 : CIC : COMMERCIAL PROPERTY11/12 : CISR : PERSONAL LINES12/3-4 : CYBER RISK SEMINAR

�� :

TRI-CITIES/JOHNSON CITY

4/22 : CISR : AGENCY OPERATIONS9/17 : CISR : PERSONAL AUTO

MEMPHIS

3/5-7 : CIC : COMMERCIAL CASUALTY*3/20 : CISR : COMMERCIAL CASUALTY I6/18 : CISR : PERSONAL RESIDENTIAL

11/13 : CISR : PERSONAL LINES

KNOXVILLE

4/23 : CISR : AGENCY OPERATIONS6/11-13 : CIC : PERSONAL LINES*

9/18 : CISR : PERSONAL AUTO

CHATTANOOGA

8/14 : CISR : COMMERCIAL CASUALTY II

ONLINE

WEBCASTS (REGISTER AND VIEW DATES AT INSURORS.ABEN.TV)

: DATA PRIVACY INSURANCE :: ETHICS & BUSINESS :

: WILLIAM T. HOLD - D&O LIABILITY :: NFIP FLOOD BASICS :

: E&O RISK MANAGEMENT SERIES :: COMMERCIAL PROPERTY ENDORSEMENTS :

: PROFESSIONAL ETHICS IN THE INS. INDUSTRY :: HOT TOPICS IN PERSONAL LINES :

AND MANY MORE!

WEBINARS

(REGISTER ANYTIME AT INSURORS.CEU.COM)

: INSURANCE PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES :: LONG TERM CARE :

: EMPLOYEE BENEFITS FOR SMALL COMPANIES :AND MANY MORE!

CONTACT

REGISTER AT WWW.INSURORS.ORG OR *WWW.SCIC.COM

CALL LAURA THROWER AT 615.515.2607 FOR MORE INFORMATION OR E-MAIL HER AT

[email protected]

TAKE YOUR INSURANCE CAREER TO

THE NEXT LEVEL::::INSURORS 2014 CE::::



The Transamerica Executive Advantage Program® enables you to provide TransCare® II Long Term Care Insurance to your employees as well as:

Help prevent the loss of a key team member due to becoming a full-time caregiver by offering coverage and discounts to eligible family members.Reduce the impact of long-term care’s potential to deplete assets and/or a crucial team member’s time.Take advantage of current law which provides incentives to use corporate funds to purchase Long Term Care insurance.

Disruption and absenteeism due to employees’ care giving duties costs U.S. employers up to $33.6 billion per year.1

ICC11 TLC CHF

Don’t be faced with an Empty Chair Transamerica Executive Advantage Program®

Call Jim Laughlin at (800)434-1992 for details about all your choices and for information on how TransCare® II Long Term Care insurance can help protect you �om the high cost of long term care.

1“Working Caregivers & Employer Health Costs” National Alliance for Caregiving, February 2010. Note: Employee LTCi contributions are currently not eligible for pre-tax consideration under IRS sec.125 plans. Neither Transamerica Life Insurance Company nor any of its agents give legal, tax, or accounting advice. Please consult your tax advisor.This is an individual Long Term Care insurance policy underwritten by Transamerica Life Insur-

Cedar Rapids, IA

ICC11 TLC CHF_PRINT.indd 1 9/24/2012 1:17:20 PM


Government and Legal AffairsThe ACA and America’s Pastime: More in Common Than You Might ThinkWritten by Brian Haile, SVP of Health Policy for Jackson Hewitt

Baseball is now officially underway, which naturally causes us to ask, “What does the ACA and America’s pastime have in common?” A few things, actually. First, baseball and health care appear to be two of the few industries exempt from federal antitrust laws. Second, both have a shorthand of acronyms and techni-cal euphemisms that are impossibly difficult for the uniniti-ated to follow. Third, the cheerleaders for the Massachusetts health reform implementation back in ’06 were none other than Boston’s beloved Red Sox. But it goes beyond that... Like the uninsured, baseball players are younger – and less obese. While the Red Sox have the highest average age (28.6) of all MLB teams, the Seattle Mariners are distinguished by having the lowest average age (25.8), the second tallest aver-age height (6’2”), and second heaviest average weight (214). Not surprisingly, MLB players are a youthful, tall, and athletic

bunch. Turns out, the uninsured are also disproportionately young – and the rates of obesity among adults age 18-64 is lower among the uninsured relative to folks with coverage. There are health differences to be sure: compared to the general population, MLB players are much more likely to use smokeless tobacco, and they also live an average of about five years longer than the general population. Still, some of the age and health status similarities between MLB players and the uninsured are (forgive the term) striking. Running the numbers, MLB and the ACA aren’t that far apart in a different way. Fortunately, the 750 players in MLB have comprehensive health care coverage – so they won’t face a federal tax penalty for being uninsured. But the 22.8 million adults of comparable age (and who are predominantly male) are not so lucky – and many will be liable for the penalty un-less they enroll in coverage (or obtain an exemption). And if these folks remain uninsured and have to pay the penalty, the aggregate amount may approximate MLB’s total payroll of $2.94 billion. No joke.

Slightly more than 28% of players in the Majors were born outside of the United States. As a fascinating coincidence,

Building Success

www.midsouthmutual.comContact Wendy Cox-Vetitoe at [email protected] or 615-263-1763

Mid South Mutual provides Workers’ Compensation to Home Building, Commercial Trade Contractors and related industries in Tennessee.

Examples of clients we serve include: HVAC Contractors Bricklayers Carpenters Building Suppliers Electricians Framers Siding Installers Plumbers Flooring Dry Wallers Painters Cabinetry

Administered by Brentwood Services Administrators, Inc. Proudly serving the members of the Home Builders Association of Tennessee since 1995.


roughly the same proportion of uninsured adults age 20 to 40 (the age range of MLB players) is foreign-born. To be clear, many of these individuals may be U.S. citizens (as children of citizens or by naturalization) – but we thought that this it may be worth a moment to look at the ACA issues specific to non-citizens. Unlike MLB players, many noncitizens don’t earn the League average of $3.39 million per year. Indeed, noncitizens in gen-eral are more than twice as likely to live in poverty as either their native-born or naturalized citizen counterparts. Partly for income reasons, noncitizens age 20 to 40 are also more than twice as likely to be uninsured; indeed, about one-half of noncitizens in this age group may not have coverage. So, can the ACA help? In many instances, yes. Noncitizens who lawfully reside in the U.S. may qualify for the tax credits pro-vided that they meet the income and other criteria. They may also be eligible for Medicaid and CHIP, depending on whether they also satisfy the definition of a “qualified alien” and have been in the U.S. for a requisite amount of time – though the rules here vary by state. Moreover, any children born in the U.S. would be eligible for the ACA’s insurance affordabil-ity programs as citizens. Just to keep it interesting, pregnant women (regardless of citizenship status) may be eligible for CHIP coverage depending on their state of residence – and otherwise-eligible immigrants needing emergency services may get limited benefit Medicaid even if they are not “quali-fied aliens” within the meaning of the rules. But what about the penalty? Both lawfully present noncitizens and citizens may qualify for certain exemptions to the penalty if they do not obtain minimum essential coverage. Here’s an interesting additional point: noncitizens may also qualify for a special exemption if they are not lawfully present in the U.S. They will simply claim this exemption on their tax form. The IRS will be issuing guidance later this year about how this will work; stay tuned! Got all of that? It’s entirely understandable if you didn’t it fol-low completely. The ACA can be quite complex. The key point is that uninsured noncitizens may well be eligible for the ACA’s insurance affordability programs. And if they are not eligible for such help, they may certainly qualify for an exemption to the penalty for being uninsured. Either way, Jackson Hewitt® can help citizens and noncitizens alike sort out the ACA. While baseball may be your pastime, taxes and the ACA are ours. Play ball!

About the Author

Brian Haile serves as the Senior Vice President of Health Policy for Jackson Hewitt Tax Service, Inc. He formerly served as Director for the Insurance Ex-change Planning Initiative in the Tennessee Depart-ment of Finance and Administration. He may be

contacted at [email protected] or by following him on Twit-ter @haile_brian. u

PERSONAL SERVICE.EXCEPTIONAL PARTNERSHIP.

800-226-3224

www.fcci-group.com

“At FCCI, we are here for our agents and our insureds for the long term, and we live by our values: loyalty, integrity, vision, excellence and service. I’m proud to work for a company that believes in ‘doing what we say we’ll do’ and I strive to do that for my agents and their clients.”

Babs Fowler Underwriting Specialist FCCI Insurance Group Gulf Coast Region Ridgeland, Miss.

Now, let’s talk about your business.

General liability Auto Property

Crime Workers’ compensation Umbrella Inland marine

Agribusiness Surety

Coverage available in 18 states. © 2014 FCCI

TI14_Fowler_3.625x10.indd 1 2/14/14 1:49 PM


The South & Western philosophy is

straight forward...doing business should

never be complicated! When you use any

of our “Rate Retrievers” for Farm & Ranch,

Specialty Commercial or Specialty Personal

Lines, you’ll quickly discover why South &

Western is the successful agency’s best friend.

ONLINE RATER

s o u t h a n d w e s t e r n . c o m

Delivering An Unrivaled Online Destination

34 The Tennessee Insuror © 2014 Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company, Novato, CA.

OFFER YOUR CLIENTS AN INNOVATIVE PROTECTION PLAN FOR THEIR LUXURY HOMELET MARTIN & ZERFOSS, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH FIREMAN’S FUND, HELP YOU GROW YOUR BUSINESS

A standard homeowner’s policy won’t adequately protect a high-value home. But with a Prestige® Home Premier policy from Fireman’s Fund, your clients with complex property portfolios can enjoy a specialized insurance solution, coupled with superior claims and risk management services.

Martin & Zerfoss can provide you, the agent, with this premium option for those clients with sophisticated insurance needs. We work with more than 130 agencies in the Southeast, helping them access high-quality coverages for their most successful clients.

To find out how we can help you recommend Fireman’s Fund to your clients, please call us toll free at 888.297.8557 or visit our website at martinzerfoss.com.


Association UpdateLongtime Big “I” Staffer and ACT Director Yates Retires; Successor Berg Appointed

The Big “I” has announced that Jeff Yates, a 39-year veteran of the association who most recently served as Agents Council for Technology (ACT) executive director, has retired. Since 1975, Yates has served in numerous capacities within the association. Yates served in the general counsel’s office from 1975 to 1982 (as executive vice

president and general counsel for most of that period). In 1989, he spearheaded the association’s move from New York to its current headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. In 1998 he was promoted to CEO and first retired in 2000. In 2001 he returned to the Big “I” to lead the ACT program as executive director.

He has received numerous awards and accolades throughout his 39-year career. The Big “I” has created a lifetime service award named in his honor that was presented at the Big “I” Legislative Conference last April. Yates and his wife, Lauran, are retiring in Bozeman, Mont. A more detailed timeline of his service is available at www.iiaba.net.

The new ACT executive director will be Ron Berg, who previously worked with MetLife Auto & Home for almost 20 years, advising on technology strategies and advocating for effective Real Time agent workflows. He has long been involved with industry work groups and associations such as ACT, AUGIE, the Real Time/Download Campaign and numerous other user group conferences. Berg earned a degree in computer science at Alexandria College in Alexandria, Minnesota.

Harris, Madden & Powell Wins Berkley SE Agency of the Year Award; Patterson Named Young Agents Champion

Berkley Southeast Insurance Group recently announced its 2013 award winners for agency and Young Agent of the year.

First, Berkley Southeast recognized Harris Madden & Powell, Inc. of Memphis as its 2013 Agency of the Year. The award recognizes the top Tennessee Independent Agency in the areas of profitability and growth. Berkley Southeast is a proud supporter of the Insurors of

Tennessee and its members.

Berkley Southeast also awarded their 2013 Young Agent of the Year Championship Belt to Brandon Patterson of Ownby Insurance Service, Inc. located in Sevierville. The award recognizes the top Tennessee Young Agent in profit and production. Berkley Southeast is a proud supporter of both the Insurors and the Young Agents of Tennessee.

TIS Announces Two Promotions

TIS Insurance Services, Inc. (TIS) has announced the promotions of Robert McMillin and John Sims to the position of vice president within the HealthCare Services Division. Their new roles became effective on February 13, 2014.

McMillin has been with TIS since 2001 as a broker and further trained at The National Alliance/Chubb Insurance Group Broker Training School in Somerset, NJ. Within the HealthCare Services Division, McMillin held the role of sales producer and new account developer across the Southeast. He holds a Business Administration degree in Finance

from The University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

Sims joined TIS HealthCare Services Division in 2007 in the role of sales producer acquiring new healthcare business throughout the country. He has prior experience with workers’ compensation self-insured business development, and holds a Business Administration degree in Finance from The University of Tennessee

at Knoxville.

Carson Vying For Mayoral Seat in Dyer County

Former Insurors Board member Paul T. Carson has announced that he will run for the position of Dyer County Mayor in the 2014 election. Carson, an agent and vice president of Tigrett & Pennington in Dyersburg, is in the process of completing his petition to run in the August 7th election. He served as a Director of Region

I on the Insurors Board from 2010-2013 and has served on the Dyer County Chamber Development Executive Board. u

Mark Harris and Ric Stall-ings receive the award

Brandon Patterson receives his belt


There When It Matters Most for 125 Years

there when it matters most

For 125 years Donegal has been there when it matters most when it comes to our policyholders and our support of the independent agent system. Today, Donegal continues to remain a better value for insureds and independent agents.

Price - Personal and commercial lines rates consistently among the most competitive in the state.

Product – Superior products with enhanced coverages.

And Donegal agencies benefit from a total compensation package that’s one of the best in the industry.

Remaining competitive in price, product and agency compensation… another way Donegal is “There When It Matters Most.”

www.donegalgroup.com

TH

ER

E WHEN I T M AT TERS M

OS

T

TH

To learn more visit www.donegalgroup.com or call Bill Anderson at 770 232-2272 x1370.


Broker Spotlight

SCU Underwriters (SCU) is dedicated to providing retail agents with quality insurance products as well as superior service. As a leading Managing General Agency, SCU offers a full range of placement services, including in-house authority with a number of top rated carriers for numerous classes and lines of coverage. The brokers and underwriters at SCU have spent years working closely with markets and independent retailers to gain the knowledge and experience necessary to handle nearly any small-to-medium size risk.

Dedication to customers’ needs, quick turnaround policy, and commitment to quality are the standards for SCU. Their success is based on strong experience, relationships, and ex-pertise. A combination of these resources, and an assortment of nationwide office territories, is what sets them apart from competitors and makes the company a top Managing Gen-eral Agent in the nation.

Years of working closely with markets and independent retail-ers has delivered the knowledge and experience necessary to anticipate market trends and handle virtually any problem ac-

count. Strong influence and reputation in the industry allows SCU to represent agents clients’ needs well.

SCU has built and maintained key relationships with contacts across the insurance industry. This allows their underwriters the ability to place or write the correct coverage with the right carrier. SCU has developed expertise in various specialty coverages through in-house binding authorities. Agents and their clients will benefit from the extensive knowledge of the marketplace and specialty accounts. These programs en-compass Property, Casualty, Personal Lines, Professional and Transportation – including coverages such as coastal hom-eowners, high value homeowners, and marine insurance.

The SCU Jackson office has over 100 years of experience and can meet virtually all E&S needs through contract markets and several brokerage facilities. The Jackson office’s level of service is ranked among the highest in the industry, writing Commercial Lines, Personal Lines, and Transportation. Call 1.800.682.5293 or visit them online at www.scui.com/jackson for more information today! u

Southern Cross Underwriters

Southern Cross Underwriters is dedicated to providing retail agents with quality insurance products and superior service. We are

JACKSON | | | WWW.SCUI.COM/JACKSON

General Liability

Garage

Errors & OmissionsUmbrellas

SOUTHERN CROSS UNDERWRITERSEXPERIENCE | RELATIONSHIPS | EXPERTISE

Quick quote turnaround and years of experience — Call an Underwriter today!


Large national payroll companies are competing for your clients. Protect your book of business by referring your clients to Ovation Payroll.

• Insulate your book of business • Reduce administrative work with real-time communication of hires and terminations • Receive referrals back from Ovation • Your agency maintains ownership of expirations on clients referred to Ovation • Gain a competitive advantage by offering Ovation’s full suite of payroll and HR services to your prospects and clients

Ovation Payroll, Insurors of Tennessee's endorsed provider for payroll services, will not compete against you!

• Seamless integration between payroll and workers compensation insurance premium collection • Quarterly state and federal tax filing and payments included • Free HR Support Center– Ovation’s online resource for all things HR • Direct deposit or Visa payroll cards included with basic service

Call today to find out why agencies nationwide are applauding Ovation Payroll

Nikki Hinton Ovation Payroll

901.598.4829 [email protected]


In early 2013, W. R. Berkley Corporation launched a new underwriting unit, Berk-ley Fire & Marine Underwriters, to focus on inland marine and related property risks regionally and nationwide. Recent-ly John Geary, President of Berkley Fire & Marine, and Alex Chapman, Regional Underwriting Manager for the Southeast talked with The Tennessee Insuror about what it means for agents in Tennessee.

Tell us a little about why W. R. Berkley Cor-poration established Berkley Fire & Marine.

W. R. Berkley Corporation created a new underwriting unit focused on inland marine and related property risks that will underwrite products on an admit-ted basis on behalf of Berkley Insur-ance Company and other W. R. Berkley Corporation member insurance com-panies to offer greater expertise to its clients. There is significant opportunity for the new underwriting unit to work with Berkley Southeast Group, other W. R. Berkley companies such as American Mining, and independent agents, bro-kers and wholesalers.

Demonstrating its commitment to main-taining a local presence in the Southeast, we have situated underwriters in Atlanta and Nashville with a focus on the Tennes-see, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina markets.

How important is it that the W. R. Berkley name be a large part of your brand?

Extremely important. The W. R. Berkley name has strong market awareness, the companies have A+ paper and the enter-prise has a great track record of financial success. Their success in building new companies is unparalleled in the industry.

What does the new company mean for the Tennessee market, and how important is our State to the success of the brand?

Tennessee is certainly an important state

Company SpotlightBerkley Fire & Marine Underwriters

to us, and we feel with the agents and the opportunities it is a great place for us to build our business and expand. Alex has significant and long-term relation-ships in the Tennessee marketplace. She is a talented underwriter who enables us to differentiate ourselves by delivering on service, being flexible and by bring-ing solutions to complex inland marine risks.

What classes of business will you write in Tennessee?

We are interested in writing all classes and size of inland marine business and related property risks. The big two areas will be primarily construction and trans-portation – logistics. We have significant underwriting and claims expertise with-in these areas.

Another key area of focus for us will be on program business. Within the last year we have already successfully writ-ten 3 major programs and expect addi-tional opportunities in the Southeast.

As Berkley Fire & Marine Underwriters con-tinues to grow, what changes do you fore-see in the next 5 years?

We are certainly looking to profitably grow in Tennessee and the Southeast overall. We intend to increase our agen-cy plant to satisfy our goals, and to sup-port and continue to grow our under-writing staff in the state. Within the next 12 months we expect to have an on-line rating, quoting, and issuance platform available to our distributors for multiple classes of business making it easier to do business with us. We also plan to intro-duce to the market place cutting edge products. Our focus however will always be on developing deep relationships based upon the highest level of service and an ease of doing business with us.

We look forward to working with our dis-tribution partners for years to come. u

Tennessee Contacts

Alex ChapmanRegional Underwriting [email protected]

John T. [email protected]

About Berkley Fire & Marine

Berkley Fire & Marine Underwriters long-term strategy is built around rela-tionships and service. Every level of the company responds promptly and fairly with quality service. Their key to suc-cess is the highly qualified, experienced professionals who work together to provide claims, loss control, underwrit-ing and policy services. Their expertise, experience and responsiveness provides a competitive advantage.

One of the unique advantages of W. R. Berkley Corporation is the ability to access other W. R. Berkley member companies to collaborate on special-ized Berkley Solutions for agents and their customers. These partnerships allow customized coverages to provide complete solutions within W. R. Berk-ley Corporation.

Berkley Fire & Marine Underwriters writes on behalf of W. R. Berkley Cor-poration member companies, which carry the following ratings:

A.M. Best Rating A+ (Superior) •Financial Size Category XV •Standard & Poor’s Rating A+ •(Strong)

40 The Tennessee Insuror©2013 Keystone Insurers Group®. All Rights Reserved. This does not constitute an o� er to sell a franchise in any state in which the Keystone Insurers Group franchise is not registered.

Partners in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia.

• Increasing Agency Value for Over 240 Partners in 8 States• Perpetuating & Strengthening the Independent Agency System• Individually Owned & Operated

Call Michele Bicknell at [email protected]

888.892.5904Or visit www.keystoneinsgrp.com

Dave PorchPorch-Stribling-Webb

Waverly, TN

Busch ThomaE.B. Thoma & Son Agency

Tullahoma, TN

Jack SpannSpann Insurance

Nashville, TN

Richard HollisHollis & BurnsMemphis, TN

Roger SmithThompson & Smith Insurance

Jackson, TN

Tom StrateStrate Insurance Group

Morristown, TN

Presidents of Insurors of TennesseeCommanding Strength and Leadership

by Partnering with Keystone Insurers Group


Looking Back a past president spotlight presented by

Dave is a principal agent and owner of Porch-Stribling-Webb, a sixty year old agency in Waverly.

The Insuror: It’s been sixteen years since you were President of Insurors, any reflections on your time in office you could share with us?

Dave: Without a doubt, the most important facet of being

a volunteer leader in Insurors is the people. The staff and the other volunteers are unparalleled. My term was during the beginning stages of the process to start INSBANK, and I asked Bill Wallace to head the committee to research the bank. The information they gathered really led to the formation of our great member benefit at INSBANK. Bill should be commended, and is a fine example of the type of people I got to work with as President.

The Insuror: How has the Association, and to a greater extent the industry, changed over your career?

Dave: I don’t really think the Association has changed. How it communicates has changed, but what the Association does for its members and its role in lobbying has not changed. Some of the revenue streams have changed, but the Association still protects agents interests as it always has. As for the industry, technology and the speed of change continues to increase. This can be hard for us “veterans,” but this is still a people business, and I think the industry, especially for independent agents, will always remain that way.

The Insuror: You have several family members also involved in this industry, including your sons Taylor and Andy. How has the insurance business become such a “family affair” for the Porchs?

Dave: I can’t say it was by luck, but I don’t think either Taylor or Andy grew up wanting to be an insurance agent. When Andy decided during college this is what he wanted he to do, Taylor kind of determined his path as well. I know it has

been good for them, but I also know it has been good for me and the agency. They are so studious and are so good at the “people” aspect of the business. Andy has been here about 12 years and Taylor about 8 years. I wasn’t considering succession when they started, but what a blessing it has become as they are now both partners. I like to think it was meant to be.

The Insuror: What role do you feel is most important for Insurors to play in supporting independent agents?

Dave: To me, the protection of our business interests is of paramount importance. On the State and Federal level, we need to have such an impact. In Nashville, having Chuck and Ashley building relationships with 132 legislators is much more effective for us as Insurors members than having an impact in D.C. with 535 members of Congress. Luckily the Big “I” is there

to handle our national interests.

The Insuror: Is there a goal that independent agents as a community should be focused on for the future?

Dave: Although I think we need to focus on survival, I feel we have proven we are not just survivors but thrivers. We have to position ourselves to react to the changes in the industry. We must invest in our agencies and technology to be ready to face these changes. One of the things I think is important going forward is the ability of agents to band together. Keystone has been a great example of this to me, as it is such a great fit for our agency. This isn’t competition for Insurors, but more of a complimentary fit

because they protect our interests with the companies as Insurors does with the legislation.

The Insuror: And finally, what advice would you give other agents about building a successful insurance career such as your own?

Dave: I don’t know if that is a standard you want to set. When I started, my Dad made sure I had a good place to start from. But, from there on out, I knew whatever I built was up to me. My Dad passed away only nine months after I joined the agency, and I became an owner. I had to take responsibility right away, and because of great support from family and staff, we have prospered. More importantly, I think the Good Lord above rewards hard work with good fortune, and I have had more than my share of good fortune. u

Davis Porch, III • Principal at Porch-Stribling-Webb • Insurors President in ‘98

Davis Porch, III of Porch-Stribling-Webb

Dave on the cover of The

Tennessee Insuror


Allied products underwritten by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, AMCO Insurance Company, Allied Property & Casualty Insurance Company, Depositors Insurance Company, Nationwide Insurance Company of America, Nationwide Affinity Insurance Company of America, Nationwide Property and Casualty Insurance Company, Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Company, Nationwide Agribusiness Insurance Company, Home Office: Des Moines, IA. Harleysville products underwritten by Harleysville Lake States Insurance Company, Harleysville Preferred Insurance Company, Harleysville Worcester Insurance Company and Harleysville Insurance Company. Home Office: Harleysville, PA. Customers will be placed with one of the above companies based on your location and the product requested. Subject to underwriting guidelines, review and approval. Products and discounts not available to all persons in all states. Nationwide Insurance, the framemark and Harleysville are service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. © 2014 Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. ALO-0239AO (01/14)

We get you.We understand what agents want and we’re committed to giving you the tools you need to grow your agency.

Look into a partnership with usby calling today.

Amy [email protected]

AUTO • HOME • BUSINESS • POWERSPORTS


Company BriefsBuilders Mutual Distributing $1.45 Million Dividend

Builders Mutual Insurance Company is distributing a $1.45 million dividend to eligible policyholders in Georgia, Mary-land, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Ten-nessee and Washington, DC.

This year, as Builders Mutual celebrates their 30th anniver-sary, they are returning a dividend to more than 7,100 eligible workers’ compensation policyholders. Throughout their his-tory, Builders Mutual has consistently returned more than $50 million dollars in dividends in 25 out of 29 eligible years. Builders Mutual has grown in both financial size and geog-raphy to position itself as a leading carrier of workers’ com-pensation in the Southeast. This dividend return is one way to recognize the strong results of both policyholders and the company. “We are glad to return $1.45 million in dividends to policy-holders. As the economy continues to improve and as our policyholders have more opportunity in the construction in-dustry, we encourage our policyholders, and all employers to keep their job sites safe,” stated John Boggs, President/CEO. “The increase in the dividend from $1.2 million in 2012 is re-flective of Builders Mutual’s growth. Our management team is proud to return a dividend distribution to our safety con-scious policyholders.”

The availability of a dividend is based on Builders Mutual’s operating results during a particular period; Builders Mutual cannot predict or guarantee a dividend distribution in any year.

The Hartford, Swiss Re Named Among “Most Ethical” Companies

Insurors Associate Members The Hartford and Swiss Re, along with member brokerage Arthur J. Gallaher & Co., were listed among the world’s 144 “Most Ethical Companies” in a list de-veloped by Ethisphere, a New York-based think tank.

The Most Ethical Company designation “recognizes compa-nies that truly go beyond making statements about doing business ethically and translate those words into action,” according to a statement posted on Ethisphere’s website. “World’s Most Ethical Company honorees not only promote ethical business standards and practices internally, they em-bed the theory of ‘conscious capitalism’ into everything they do, every employee they hire, and every partner they bring into their network to ensure they deliver long-term value to key stakeholders including customers, suppliers, regulators and investors.”


Accident Fund Announces Three Promotions

Accident Fund Holdings, Inc., has announced the promo-tion of several key executives who have been instrumental in building the company’s ongoing success and growth in the workers’ compensation insurance market. The promotions in-clude Frank Freund of East Lansing, Michigan, Lisa Corless of Lansing, Michigan, and Becky Holnagel of Okemos, Michigan.

Frank Freund has been promoted to executive vice president of Corporate Performance and chief financial officer. Freund most recently served as chief financial officer for Accident Fund Holdings. In his new role, Freund will be responsible for the management of the company’s Claims, Underwriting, Finance and Marketing departments. He will provide strate-gic direction and management oversight to all corporate and regulatory finance functions, including accounting, financial reporting, budgeting and planning, and will play a significant role in risk management.

Lisa Corless has been promoted to chief administrative officer and chief of staff. She was hired in August 2013 to serve as director of Strategic Planning & Innovation and chief of staff.In her new role, Corless will be responsible for the manage-ment of the company’s Board & Community Relations, Com-munity Relations, Corporate Communications, Facilities, Gen-eral Counsel, Government Affairs, Information Technology, Procurement, Project Management, Public Relations, Records Management, Security, and Strategic Planning & Innovation departments.

Becky Holnagel has been promoted to vice president of Actu-arial Services. Holnagel began her career with Accident Fund in 2006 as an actuary and was promoted to director of Actuar-ial Services in 2009. In her new role, Holnagel will be respon-sible for providing insight, knowledge and strategic direction to the actuarial functions for Accident Fund Holdings through pricing, reserving, reinsurance, rate structure and statistical reporting activities.

Staff One Celebrates 25th Anniversary

Staff One, Inc. recently marked 25 years in the Human Re-sources Outsourcing industry, celebrating this milestone with clients, employees and partners and producing a video high-lighting the company’s culture.

An ESAC-accredited Professional Employer Organization (PEO), Staff One has been serving the HR needs of companies across the U.S. since 1988. Founded in Durant, Oklahoma, the com-pany has grown into an HR industry leader with its corporate headquarters now in Dallas.

The company hosted receptions in two of its major markets to honor its clients and referral partners. One event was held at LARK on the Park in Dallas, and another at Gaillardia Country Club in Oklahoma City. The company has experienced 51 per-cent growth over the past year.

Central Ins. Honored with Quantam Award

The Central Insurance Companies was recently awarded the prestigious Quantum Award at the Network of Vertafore Us-ers (NetVU) Conference in Nashville. The Quantum Award recognizes insurance carriers that have made a definitive commitment to NetVU member agencies to offer superior workflow productivity and profitability on both the regional and national level. Many carriers were nominated, but only three carriers were named finalists. From these finalists Cen-tral was selected the regional winner for their commitment to continual automation improvements. The company has invested in and adopted a full range of Real Time technology and participates in NetVU, AUGIE (ACORD User Groups Infor-mation Exchange), and ACT (Agents Council for Technology). Central is also one of the founding partners for Project CAP, is a Salutatorian Partner for the IIABA’s project InVEST, and has been a Trusted Choice® company partner since 2003.

From online train-ing to a team of qualified service personnel ready to help in any way, Central provides training and sup-port so agents can utilize Workflow


With customized coverages, local industry knowledge and the strength and stability of an “A” rating by A.M. Best, when you’re looking for a carrier that can help you play an instrumental role in your customers’ business success … we can show you more.®

For more information about our coverages, products and services, contact our local Nashville Branch at 615-886-3300, or visit www.cna.com.

CNA is a registered trademark of CNA Financial Corporation. Copyright © 2014 CNA. All rights reserved.

CNA IS PROUD TO SUPPORT THE INDEPENDENT INSURANCE AGENTS AND BROKERS OF TENNESSEE.

Construction • Education • Financial Institutions • Healthcare • Manufacturing Professional Services • Real Estate • Retail • Technology • Wholesale Distribution

CNA-FM-221_TNInsurorAd_8-5x11_FINAL.indd 1 2/11/14 4:13 PM


The refreshed logo strongly displays the company’s existing logo in dark blue, but now it also incorporates the UFG mar-keting name in a vibrant red. “We didn’t want to lose our existing logo because it has recognition among our agents and policyholders,” said Sova. “We wanted to maintain this recognition, but at the same time, strengthen it, which is why we chose to include UFG as an integral part of it.” The logo will be used for all United Fire Group subsidiaries, including its life insurance company, United Life Insurance Company.

UFG also announced a renewed empha-sis in the use of its long-standing corpo-rate tagline, simple solutions for complex times. “Our tagline, adopted in 2007,” stated Randy Ramlo, President and Chief Executive Officer, “is a reminder that the umbrella of UFG companies, in partner-ship with independent agents, can help design a simple and cost-effective solu-tion to complex insurance needs.”

Atlas Adds Norris to Team

Atlas General Insurance Services, LLC, a

Solutions to their highest potential. The company puts a high value on agency feedback, and has several advisory coun-cils in place to generate and encourage agency input including the Inner Circle, CSR Advisory Council, Blue Streak Pro-gram, and Premier Agency Program, as well as Online Agency Forums.

United Fire Group Announces New Branding

United Fire Group has simplified its mar-keting name to UFG and has refreshed its logo to incorporate this change. This is the first significant marketing change the company has made in its more than 60-year history. “We decided that an important way to strengthen our com-

pany’s brand, and simplify our message, was to link all of our companies

under the United Fire Group umbrella to a common name—UFG,” said Vice Presi-dent and Director of Corporate Market-ing Colleen Sova.

national multi-line program manager, welcomes James Norris to the team as its chief actuary. In his position, Norris will be responsible for Atlas’ actuarial and analytic areas while helping to identify and research profitable growth oppor-tunities nationwide. Norris will be based in Dallas, Texas.

Norris joins Atlas with over 20 years of actuarial experience. He is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society and a Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst. Prior to joining Atlas, Norris was the president of Lapis Resources, where he performed actuarial consulting for a variety of insur-ance and reinsurance companies as well as Atlas.

ACUITY Earns Creative Excellence Awards ACUITY earned a 2014 Platinum AVA Dig-ital Award from the Association of Mar-keting and Communication Profession-als for the insurer’s Anatomy of a Super Claim continuing education video and a Gold American Advertising Award from

OUR DWELLING INSURANCE

REWARDS OUR AGENTS.National Security strives to provide competitive, affordable insurance for policyholders, but we also reward our agents with some of the highest commissions in the industry, a partnership profit sharing program and an award-winning web site that provides fast online quotes, policies, and endorsements. Find out more by calling 1-800-239-2358 x213 or visit us on the web at www.nationalsecuritygroup.com. Elba, Alabama • 800-239-2358


Specialist carriers ACE Private Risk Services and Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange (PURE), as well as numer-ous independent agents and brokers across the country, are among PRMA’s Founding Members and Sponsors.

The Private Risk Management Association (PRMA) is a mem-ber-owned independent non-profit association that is the recognized forum and voice of the high net worth private risk and insurance management niche. It provides specialized education and information and establishes standards and credentials while raising the awareness of and advocating for the niche and consumers served. Visit privateriskmanage-ment.org to learn more.

Travelers Wins Honors for Best Performing Mobile Site

Travelers has earned top honors in Compuware’s annual “Best of the Web” awards, which recognize companies that offer the top-performing web and mobile sites.

Travelers received the gold medal for its mobile website, lead-ing the auto and property insurance industry in the 2013 rank-ings. Winners are chosen based on performance excellence in average response time, availability, and consistency of the sites throughout the entire year. Compuware recognized companies across five major industries – banking, brokerage, insurance, retail and travel. u

“I am passionate about underwriting Personal Lines. That enthusiasm

gives me the ability to brighten a customer’s day and let the agent

know that I really do care about the account they are sending me.

They know I will get the job done for them.”

Calvin McNamara Personal Lines Manager

ENTHUSIASMIT’S CONTAGIOUS

800.666.5692 jmwilson.comManaging General Agency Since 1920

Property/Casualty • Professional Liability • Commercial Transportation • Surety • Personal Lines • Premium Finance

the Fox River Chapter of the American Advertising Federation (AAF) for its 2012 annual report, Word of Mouth.

The AVA Digital Awards program is an international compe-tition that recognizes excellence by creative professionals responsible for the planning, concept, direction, design, and production of digital communication. The American Adver-tising Awards program is the advertising industry’s largest and most representative competition, attracting over 40,000 entries every year.

Anatomy of a Super Claim, introduced in late 2013, is the first in a series of videos designed to provide continuing educa-tion to independent agents on a variety of insurance-related topics. ACUITY has continued to produce new videos, with the goal of providing a half-dozen online courses for agents each year. No other insurance company has made a compa-rable commitment to providing continuing education to in-dependent agents.

New Private Risk Management Association Formed

Private Risk Management Association (PRMA) today an-nounced its formation as a non-profit, independent, mem-ber-owned organization committed to lifting the specialist high net worth (HNW) insurance category through enhanced education, practice management, awareness and advocacy.


So remember, there’s no such thing as a stupid question. The only stupid question is the one left unasked.

This article is intended to be used for general informational purposes only and is not to be relied upon or used for any particular purpose. Swiss Re shall not be held responsible in any way for, and specifically disclaims any liability arising out of or in any way connected to, reliance on or use of any of the information contained or referenced in this article. The information contained or referenced in this article is not intended to constitute and should not be considered legal, accounting or professional advice, nor shall it serve as a substitute for the recipi-ent obtaining such advice. The views expressed in this article do not necessar-ily represent the views of the Swiss Re Group (“Swiss Re”) and/or its subsidiaries and/or management and/or shareholders.

About the Author

Richard F. Lund, JD, is a Vice President and Senior Underwriter of Swiss Re/Westport, underwriting insurance agents errors and omissions coverage. He has also been an insurance agents E&O claims counsel and has written and presented numerous

E&O risk management/ loss control seminars, mock trials and articles nationwide since 1992. u

No Such Thing As A Stupid Question ...continued from page 13

Placing insurance for different contractors can be a daunting project. At Burns & Wilcox, our network of domestic and international carriers opens doors to the broadest range of markets. Since time is of the essence, we deliver quotes and binders fast. When it comes to finding solutions for every stage of construction, contact the wholesale broker with the tools to make the hard-to-place easy – Burns & Wilcox.

CONTRACTORS SOLUTIONS

Your gateway to contractors markets.

Nashville, Tennessee | 615.251.1297 | fax 615.248.4348nashville.burnsandwilcox.com

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

34654_BW Cont TN1 Insuror_APPROVED.indd 1 2/12/14 2:37 PM

Acquisition Strategy #5BUSINESS OWNERS PROGRAM

Birmingham Branch: 800.239.2005 | Home Office: Des Moines, IA www.emcins.com© Copyright Employers Mutual Casualty Company 2013. All rights reserved.

“We’re big on BOP.”

EMC’s Businessowners Program (BOP) is bigger than ever. With more classes. More value added loss control services. More online resources to make writing BOP easier for you. Give your small- to medium-sized businesses a big value with EMC’s Businessowners Program, it’s just one of the many reasons why agents Count on EMC®.

Riley Tonkin, Omaha Branch Marketing Representative

Happens, ACT, and Virtual University, some of which specifi-cally reference Facebook and Twitter. I recommend you go to the websites and do the same and take a look at those that are of particular interest to you.

These are just a few of the questions that have come to me in the last year. The first three I have been asked several times before and the answers are readily available on several differ-ent IIABA resources, including the E&O Happens Website, the Virtual University, and the Agents Council for Technology. As you can see from the last question, many times I’ll take the subject that is being asked about, enter it in the Search fea-ture on the main page of the IIABA website or on the E&O Happens page, and I’ll get numerous results pointing to dif-ferent places in all three of those locations where the answers can be found. The reason I do this is not necessarily because I don’t know the answer, but because I want to know if there is a place for you as an agent and member of the IIABA and a Swiss Re Corporate Solutions policyholder to locate that information in the quickest manner possible and then to be able to pass that on to you.


Placing insurance for different contractors can be a daunting project. At Burns & Wilcox, our network of domestic and international carriers opens doors to the broadest range of markets. Since time is of the essence, we deliver quotes and binders fast. When it comes to finding solutions for every stage of construction, contact the wholesale broker with the tools to make the hard-to-place easy – Burns & Wilcox.

CONTRACTORS SOLUTIONS

Your gateway to contractors markets.

Nashville, Tennessee | 615.251.1297 | fax 615.248.4348nashville.burnsandwilcox.com

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

34654_BW Cont TN1 Insuror_APPROVED.indd 1 2/12/14 2:37 PM


We push ourselves for you.Because you push yourself for them.

grangeinsurance.com

For more about how Grange can help you help your cus-tomers contact: Donya Wilson at 800-422-0550 ext. 3137 or [email protected].


MeetingsTwo Seasons Now Upon Us: Spring & GolfBig “I” Legislative Conference April 9-11

Join the Big “I” April 9-11, 2014 in Washington D.C. for the premier legislative event in our industry, the 2014 Legislative Conference. Attend a one-of-a-kind legislative event for the independent agency system and educate members of Congress on issues important to you and your clients. Registration includes an in-depth issues briefing, legislative breakfast with high-profile Congressional speakers, a general session and networking opportunities. Get more info or register now at http://www.independentagent.com/Events/LegislativeConference/home.aspx

MTSU Chair of Insurance Golf Tourney 4/22

It is time again to start planning for the annual MTSU Chair of Insurance Golf Tournament. This is the 30th consecutive year for the event which will be held at Champions Run Golf Course in Rockvale on April 22, 2014. MTSU would love to have you and/or your company be a part of the experience. A brochure will be sent out early in 2014. If you would like to register early for hole sponsorship, player participation or if you just want to help in any way, please contact Dr. Ken Hollman via e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at 615.898.2673 or by completing the appropriate registration form(s) (along with remittance) and returning them by mail to Kenneth Hollman, MTSU, Chair of Insurance, PO Box 165, MTSU, Murfreesboro, TN 37132.

Insurors of Nashville Golf Tourney May 8th

The Nashville local board will host their annual golf tournament and social on Thursday, May 8th at the beautiful Vanderbilt Legends Club in Franklin. All players will be treated to an arrival gift, boxed lunch, 18 holes of championship golf, on-course beverages and snacks and a dinner and social. Register online at www.premiergolfservices.com/ION.

Insurors of Memphis Picnic & Golf May 13th

The Memphis local board will host their 2014 Picnic and Golf Outing on Tuesday, May13th at Windyke Country Club. The event will feature golf, volleyball, horseshoes, casino night and dinner. This year’s event will also help benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Mid-South. Get more information or register now by contacting Sally Baker at [email protected]. u

Preferred Comp of Tennessee is endorsed by

the Insurors of Tennessee (IOT) to provide member

agencies competitive workers’ compensation options.

Meadowbrook Insurance Group, Inc.

Low to Moderate Hazard Workers’ Compensation

Artisan Contractors

Auto Repair & Service

Goods & Services

Hospitality

Light Contracting

Light Manufacturing

Office/Clerical

Physicians

Restaurants

Wholesale/Retail

www.preferredcomp.com

YOUR FIT FOR WORKERS’ COMP AND MORE!

For more information or to get started, please contact:

Laurie Zdanis at (800) 755-8090 Ext. 4362or email a submission to:

[email protected]

Heidi Langella at (800) 755-8090 x4363

Bruce Hunzicker 615.417.6377 • [email protected]

Visit us on the web @ WWW.CIUSA.COM

NEW LOOK!Same dedication to our TENNESSEE agents!

Our mission is to provide you withexcellent SERVICE from EXPERIENCEDstaff you can TRUST in your time of need.

The new TrustedChoice.com comparative rating capability went live in Tennessee on Tuesday, April 1, 2014. TrustedChoice.com was built to connect insurance professionals like you with online consumers seeking a new agent or policy. The addition of rating makes it possible for online consumers to receive multiple quotes, select a carrier, AND choose the independent agent they wish to work with. The site was designed specifically to help YOU generate quality prospects and compete online with the direct writers.

The launch of online rating is a big deal, especially for agencies that have subscribed to a Project CAP Advantage Plan, which are the only agencies that will show up when prospects request an online quote. Basic Plan subscribers (free to all members) will continue to show up below Advantage Plan subscribers in ZIP code searches based on their proximity to the area being searched.

The time to jump in is now.

An Advantage Profile helps members to be found by online shoppers by raising their prominence in search results. Reasons to subscribe to an Advantage Plan now:

More traffic: Up over 600 percent since TrustedChoice.com • launched last July.New business: Participating agencies are seeing leads with • a closing rate of about 50 percentIdeal leads: Site visitors are mostly married, 35+, with homes • and multiple cars (few minimum limits)Momentum: More than 1,500 agencies have an Advantage • monthly subscription; early adopters get a leg upROI: For $1.28/day ($39/month), the odds of being found • and chosen by consumers on TrustedChoice.com are significantly increased

Your TrustedChoice.com profile set up is easy and takes just a few minutes. Visit https://iw.trustedchoice.com/programs-consumer-portals/ to Subscribe now or call Project CAP at 855.372.0070 for more information about the Advantage Subscription to TrustedChoice.com. They will help you get started with the program.

Don’t let your agency be left out. Sign up for the Advantage program on TrustedChoice.com today. u

Project CAP Online Rating Activated in Tennessee TrustedChoice.com Feature Now Available

Member Tips

Specialty insurance for bicycles

Cycling means different things to different people. That is why, Markel

Bicycle Insurance offers bicycle coverage customized for each individual

cycle, and doesn’t provide one-size-fits-all coverage.

Policies are as low as $100 per year.

Coverage Highlights:

Bicycle Physical Damage: primary coverage for the cost to repair or

replace the cycle (including fixed accessories and components) up to the

policy limit, due to sudden, accidental direct physical loss or damage to the

cycle. This coverage would apply if insured bicycle were to be involved in a

collision, fire, theft, vandalism, or in the hitting of another object.

Coverage also includes protection while the bicycle is in transit (land or air)

to & from any location in the United States or Canada, and protection when

competing in triathlon or bicycle races.

INCLUDED COVERAGES AT NO EXTRA COST:

Bicycle Liability: primary coverage for the injuries or property damage

(caused by the insured bicycle) for which the insured is held legally

responsible. Coverage is offered at combined single limits of: $25,000,

$50,000 and $100,000.

Medical Payments: covers medical expenses of the insured cyclist if they

are injured while on the insured bicycle, regardless of fault. The following

per person limits are available: $1,000, $2,500, $5,000, $7,500, $10,000.

Vehicle Contact Protection: covers injuries if, while on the insured bicycle,

combined single limits of $10,000 or $25,000.

Roadside Assistance:

Service will be provided (up to 35 miles per tow, 5 tows per year).

See how an average Homeowner’s Policy measures up to Markel

Date of the event** Date of purchase thru event date

* Homeowner’s coverage is typically limited Actual Cash Value (ACV) of the bike, not replacement value.

Reduce the device shape to the required size, then make a new clipping mask

We know bicycles.

Policy CoverageAverage

Homeowner’s PolicyMarkel

Bicycle Policy

Not Likely Yes

Crash Damage No Yes

Theft Coverage Limited Yes

Limited Yes

No Yes

Yes Yes

No Yes

No Yes

Not Likely Yes

Not Likely Yes

No Yes

Not Likely Yes

Covered in Transit Not Likely Yes

Not Likely Yes

Not Likely Yes



















$50,000 and $100,000.












We know bicycles.



Bicycle Policy

Not Likely Yes

Crash Damage No Yes


Limited Yes

No Yes

Yes Yes

No Yes

No Yes

Not Likely Yes

Not Likely Yes

No Yes

Not Likely Yes


Not Likely Yes

Not Likely Yes



















$50,000 and $100,000.












We know bicycles.



Bicycle Policy

Not Likely Yes

Crash Damage No Yes


Limited Yes

No Yes

Yes Yes

No Yes

No Yes

Not Likely Yes

Not Likely Yes

No Yes

Not Likely Yes


Not Likely Yes

Not Likely Yes

Visit www.BigIMarkets.com for more information on Markel Bicycle Coverage

Accident Fund Insurance Co. (866) 206 - 5851 www.accidentfund.com 6ACUITY (800) 242 - 7666 www.acuity.com 20Allied Insurance/Harleysville (352) 384 - 4186 alliedinsurance.com harleysvillegroup.com 42Amerisafe (866) 719 - 0267 www.amerisafe.com 17AmTrust North America (877) 528 - 7878 www.amtrustnorthamerica.com 15Applied Underwriters (877) 234 - 4450 www.auw.com/us 2Arlington/Roe & Co. (800) 878 - 9891 www.arlingtonroe.com 7Atlas General Insurance Services (877) 662 - 8527 www.atlas.us.com 13Auto-Owners Insurance (615) 373 - 5200 www.auto-owners.com 55Bailey Special Risks, Inc. (800) 768 - 7475 www.bsrins.com 16Berkley Southeast Insurance Group (615) 932 - 5508 www.berkleysig.com 18Bituminous Insurance (615) 871 - 9042 www.bituminousinsurance.com 22Brentwood Services Administrators (800) 524 - 0604 www.bwood.com 31Builders Mutual (800) 809 - 4859 www.buildersmutual.com 24Burns & Wilcox (800) 341 - 4844 www.burnsandwilcox.com 49CNA Insurance (800) 251 - 5852 www.cna.com 45Consumers Insurance (615) 896 - 6133 www.ciusa.com 52Donegal Insurance Group (770) 232 - 2272 x1370 www.donegalgroup.com 36EMC Insurance (800) 239 - 2005 www.emcins.com 48FCCI Insurance Group (800) 226 - 3224 www.fcci-group.com 32Grange Insurance Companies (800) 422 – 0550 www.grangeinsurance.com 50Guard Insurance Group (800) 673 - 2465 x4567 www.guard.com/apply 16Heartland Ovation Payroll (901) 598 - 4829 www.ovationpayroll.com 38INSBANK (866) 866 - 4268 www.insbanktn.com 11J.M. Wilson (800) 595 - 0063 www.jmwilson.com 47Johnson & Johnson (931) 704 - 0810 www.jjins.com 28-29Keystone Insurers Group (800) 416 - 5498 www.keystoneinsgrp.com 40Lemic Insurance Company (225) 201 - 0107 www.lemicins.com 32Martin & Zerfoss (888) 297- 8557 www.martinzerfoss.com 34Millennium Brokerage Group (800) 434 - 1992 www.mbgnow.com 30National Security Group (800) 239 - 2358 x267 www.nationalsecuritygroup.com 46North Alabama Insurance (800) 824 - 1740 www.nai1982.com 44Penn National Insurance (800) 395 - 0518 www.pennnationalinsurance.com 56Preferred Comp/Meadowbrook (800) 755 - 8090 www.meadowbrook.com 51 Preferred Property Programs (888) 549 - 2465 www.umbrellaprogram.com 26South & Western (800) 492 - 5351 www.southandwestern.com 33Southern Cross Underwriters (800) 682 - 5263 www.scui.com 37Summit Holdings (800) 971 - 2667 www.summitholdings.com 43Tennessee Underwriters, Inc. (615) 791 - 1400 www.tnund.com 17

Directory of Advertisers Advertiser Phone Website Page

Thank you, agents.

Auto-Owners has always been

dedicated to the independent agency

system and proudly standing behind

the agents who represent us. We

would like to thank you for your

continued loyalty, which has helped

us achieve tremendous growth and

accomplishments over the years.

2500 21st Avenue South Suite 200Nashville, TN 37212

We look for the best independent

agents and build relationships

that last the duration. We are

committed to the independent

agency system as the only means

to deliver our products. Because

of that, we work hand-in-hand to

help our agencies grow profitably.

Our agents set us apart.

www.PennNationalInsurance.com

Business Surety Auto Home

PRSRT STDU.S. Postage

PAIDNashville, TN

Permit No. 380

Date post:	15-Mar-2016
Category:	Documents
Upload:	insurors-of-tennessee
View:	228 times
Download:	5 times