IIABA Attendees Urged To Walk The Walk On Capitol Hill

The first day's events will be devoted to young agents with a reception, luncheon at the start of the day and a hospitality reception that evening.

Politics will also be the focus of the day with a state lobbyist meeting and issues briefing.

Another key player, Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Ill., is scheduled to address agent members during the Young Agents/InsurPac luncheon on Wednesday, April 2. Rep. Roskam is a member of the House Financial Services Committee and sits on the subcommittees for Capital Markets, Insurance and Government-Sponsored Enterprises: Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade and Technology, as well as Oversight and Investigations.

On Thursday, April 3, politics gets personal, as agents are encouraged to spend the day meeting with their congressional representatives to discuss the issues that most concern them and their fellow producers.

The association said the top issues this year include agent licensing reform, insurance regulatory reform, flood insurance and natural disasters.

The IIABA will provide a bus from the hotel to Capitol Hill, but agents will have to provide their own transportation back to the hotel. Agents also have to set up appointments in advance with their representatives.

Before going off to the Hill, agents will meet for a legislative conference breakfast, featuring an address by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. IIABA President and Chief Executive Officer Robert A. Rusbuldt called Sen. Collins "a pragmatist" and someone who is widely regarded for her knowledge and leadership on insurance issues.

The evening will be capped off with the tradeshow's opening party and InVest silent auction. (InVest's goal is to develop interest among students in a career in the industry.)

On Friday, April 4, young agents will have the opportunity to hear a panel of insurance company presidents discuss the state of the industry with IIABA leadership during the annual breakfast.

The IIABA conference will offer two seminars on Friday–a full day on "Contractual Risk Transfer in Construction" and an afternoon workshop on "Best Practices in Business Perpetuation."

Jack P. Gibson, president of the International Risk Management Institute Inc., a Dallas-based research, publication and educational company focusing on risk management and insurance, will conduct the full-day session on "Contractual Risk Transfer in Construction" seminar.

He said the course is designed to help agents advise their construction clients on what they should and should not do in their contracts. With general contractors, subcontractors and other strata of responsibilities, the focus will be on risk management and allocation of risk as it is delegated under a contractor's contract.

The agent, he pointed out, needs to be able to direct the subcontractor on how to avoid "to the extent possible, accepting risk that they can't insure or otherwise manage."

The course also serves as one of the five agents need to take to obtain their Construction Risk and Insurance Specialist (CRIS) certification, held today by approximately 1,600 individuals.

The certification is a professional designation used by the Construction Financial Management Association to refer its contractor members to agents and brokers who have the specialized knowledge to make informed insurance placements.

He said after completing this course, an agent can take the final exam online, completing the first of the five sections. The remaining courses are available online or through classroom seminars that will be offered through state associations.

This is an intermediate-level course, said Mr. Gibson, noting that agents with years of experience and education in construction will find much of the course basic, although with some challenges. However, an agent with only a general understanding of construction liability will find the course extremely helpful, he added.

Anyone with a CRIS will receive continuing education credit and re-certification taking this class, said Mr. Gibson. Half of the states have approved the class for CE credit, and all states are expected to eventually approve the program, he added.

"My goal is that when they walk out of there, they are going to have the knowledge and confidence to structure a very solid insurance program for contractors, and to also give their contractors value-added advice in how to manage risk using their construction contracts," said Mr. Gibson.

Lisa H. Harrington, vice president of education for the Florida Association of Insurance Agents, will assist agents with an afternoon seminar on "Best Practices in Business Perpetuation."

She said this is the leading issue among agents and brokers nationally, with many often asking when they should begin planning to transfer ownership to keep the agency going, whether internally or externally.

"If there is one problem we need to solve in the area of insurance agency management, it's that generally speaking, people are starting too late [in setting up their perpetuation plans]," she said.

Ms. Harrington said this seminar should be attended by anyone who is or wants to be an owner of an agency or brokerage.

Among some of the issues agents will be asked to think about is whether they plan to sell their book of business and no longer be involved, or if they plan to sell the business but remain active.

"There is a difference," she noted, adding that in some cases, leaving means the purchaser is doing nothing but buying expiration dates.

"It's a complicated and emotional process with lots of questions about legalities, taxes and agreements," said Ms. Harrington. "There are a lot of steps that need to be taken."

"This is a different time in our history and a different process," she added. "Things have changed in the last 20 years or so."

The conference will close with a general session featuring an election-year debate between Democratic strategist Paul Begala and conservative commentator Tucker Carlson of MSNBC, moderated by Mr. Rusbuldt.