Who Built What

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Regarding President Barack Obama's statement about smallbusinesses quoted in Laura Mazzuca Toops' blog article, “Did You Really 'Build That By Yourself?'”(propertycasualty360.com, July 20): I grew up in a lower thanmiddle class family, never finished college and started in theinsurance business in 1972. It has been a great business for me asI started my agency in 1976 with no mentor or help from anyone, buta lot of calls to insurance companies asking for a contract and alot of calls to area businesses asking for a chance to win theirconfidence. The first few years were very tough. There wasn't muchmoney coming in the door and I was trying to support myself, butthe hard work, 7 days a week, paid off.

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Some of our younger peers still do not have it as hard as we didback in the '70s trying to start a new insurance agency. Now theycan get assistance from carriers or borrow money to buy an agency.In the '70s, there was no firm to loan you money to buy an agencyor any monetary assistance from carriers. Thanks for jumping onthis and getting various viewpoints!

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Pam Slovak-Howard
Pagosa Springs, Colo.

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I am sharing Laura Mazzuca Toops' blog article with my husband.I know he'll love it. When I heard what Obama said, I thought of agreat quote, “Looks like the clowns are running the circus!”

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PattiAbbott-Bozzo
Westfield, N.J.

I would appreciate reading Laura's thoughts on the followingstatements made by Romney: “I know that you recognize that a lot ofpeople help you in a business,” “Your school teachers” and “Thereare a lot of people in government who help us, and allow us to havean economy that works.”

I have been an agent for more than 30 years, and the discourseon politics in our business is so blindly one-sided. Yourpublication could help but you have become an advocate for theanti-Obama crowd. Please don't paint me a liberal—I have voted forReagan twice, the Bush family three times and worked for Bob Dolefor a year. But my Republican party has left and I hardly recognizewhat is left.

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ChuckCandler
Southlake, Texas

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I agree with Laura Mazzuca Toops' conclusion in her blogarticle. The U.S. can be so polarized it amazes and often dismaysme, but our genius is focusing that energy to build a successfulnation. 

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Chip Colburn
SacCity, Iowa

I read with interest the blog article about Obama's statementregarding small businesses. Okay, so let's talk about roads andbridges. Did government employees build them, or did small to largeprivate or public companies who some private citizen(s) startedactually build the roads and bridges with, for the most part, taxdollars? I started a small wholesale insurance company with no helpfrom anyone. How can anyone trust someone like Obama who lies,changes stories and accomplishes nothing just for political gain?If he's re-elected, I'm retiring and moving to Costa Rica.

Terry Ferrell
SanAntonio, Texas

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I was expecting a “Damn Obama” article but did not get it. Thankyou. All of the venomous responses are from thoughtless egotistswho won't admit that they did have help from government some way,somehow.

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I have a good business and am very thankful for it. I pay mytaxes and do resent them being wasted. Wasted in my eyes meansexpenses for war and corporate welfare (money received but notgiven back). What is their definition of wasted?

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Robert Black
WesleyChapel, Fla.

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Retailer Role

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I read with interest Lawrence T. Bowman's blog article “Broker E&O Risk in Surplus-LinesAgreements” (propertycasualty360.com, July 9). 

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As a retail independent agent located in coastal Georgia, we seemore and more of our property risks going to surplus lines brokers.The article did not mention any action that Graham might haveundertaken toward the retailer who apparently submitted theapplication online and perhaps answered underwriting questions forthe insureds. Was the retailer omitted from all the litigation inthis case?

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Thanks for the time. We will use this case to stress to ourstaff the importance of reviewing the underwriting guidelinessubmitted to us, if any, by the brokers.

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Walter Corish,Jr.
Savannah, Ga.

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Bowman response: The Fifth Circuit just decideda case involving liability coverage for the contractor's work andfound the claim excluded under the contractual exclusion. Earlier,the Texas Supreme Court found coverage under the CGL policy for abuilder by virtue of the acts of subcontractors exception to the“your work” exclusion of coverage; The Texas Supreme Court lookedat the basic grant of coverage in the policy and found coverage anaccident causing property damage even though the damaged propertyconstituted the work performed by the contractor (Lamar v.Midcontinent). Later in Gilbert Construction v. CertainUnderwriters at Lloyds, the Texas Supreme Court retreated fromthe broad holding in Lamar.

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Now it appears that we are back to square one if the industryopts to go with the Fifth Circuit's analysis—which would mean nocoverage for damage to the subject matter of the contract, i.e.,the work performed by the contractor. 

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So, the contractor wants liability coverage for damage to anyproperty, including the work he has performed, and the carriers maybe faced with demand for a product that isn't written in the formsgenerally available until the industry provides a form insuring thework as well as other property damages due to errors or omissionsof the contractor. 

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