American Agent & Broker August 2004
Features
An overview of the intellectual-property insurance market
We are pleased to present our fifth evaluation of the market for intellectual-property insurance, in which we review products from nine leading sources. As before, our focus is on the two most prominent forms of coverage: enforcement, also called
Features
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What lies ahead for the E&S marketplace?
Excess & surplus lines companies have been a valuable resource for agents and brokers during the hard market. Even as market conditions soften, E&S insurers are likely to continue playing an important role for producers, as admitted carriers
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Cleared for take-off
ONE OF my favorite photographs is a picture of my father and me, after my first airplane ride, sitting on the tire of his Cessna 170 on a turf landing strip in Alaska's Kenai Peninsula. I was 1-1/2 years old at the time. My father has owned and flown
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E&S: More than a market of last resort
THE SURPLUS-LINES market, once thought of primarily as the home of unwanted insurance risks, has prospered in the current hard phase of the insurance cycle. If one compares the $2.2 billion in direct written premium placed in the E&S market in 1981
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Using purchasing groups to insure program business
(This article was derived from a presentation at the Third Annual Target Markets Program Administrators Summit, which was held in October in Tempe, Arizona.) PROGRAM administrators have a number of options for obtaining insurance for their programs.
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How to remain competitive in a changing industry
(The following article was derived from Ms. Cunningham's presentation at the AMS Users' Group 28th National Conference, which was held in April in Indianapolis .) SINCE I started consulting with insurance agencies just over 20 years ago, change has
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Regulatory reform: where do we go from here?
(This article was derived from a panel discussion at the 78th Annual AAMGA Meeting, which was held in May in Phoenix.) UNDER pressure from the federal government, state insurance departments are moving toward a more uniform and streamlined approach
Columns
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Automation: How we stopped processing premium payments--Part II
LAST month I described how, following our acquisition of another agency, we found that a few of the acquired clients continued to make multiple walk-in premium payments at our office for their direct-bill policies. We were prepared to lose their
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For The Manager: What's so bad about loss-ration-based contingencies?
Recently, a number of articles have appeared in the press concerning lawsuits brought against brokers, alleging a conflict of interest when they accept fees from their clients as well as contingency bonuses from insurance companies. While the nature
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Policy Issues: An acronym whose time (unfortunately) has come
Ah, the wonders of the acronym! How dull or inconvenient our world would be if we had to forsake our fondness for (and the sheer practicality of) those little shortcuts of meaning. From those gracing all office conversation (FYI, ASAP, CYA) to those
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Strictly Sales: As markets start to soften, review the sales basics
Strictly Sales" is written by the faculty of the Dynamics of Selling Program. This month's column is from Edwin L. Lamont. THE HARD market is history. If you kept your book of business intact, congratulations! I hope you enjoyed your raise. You
Departments
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Down To Cases
Insurer's conduct warranted punishment but not to the tune of $145 millionA man in this Utah case was involved in an auto accident that disabled one person and killed another. The man's auto liability insurance limit was $25,000. His insurer chose
