E&O Insurance For Insurance Agents P&C

E&O Insurance For Insurance Agents Selling P&C Coverage What would you do if you could no longer sell insurance? Fact: Inadequate E&O insurance coverage for insurance agents and brokers selling P&C policies is the one thing that can come back to haunt you years after an eror or omission occursed. When you are a new P&C agent, just starting to build your book of business, you may not have much choice. The cold hard reality is what coverage can you pay for and still eat. Face with the options of feeding the family, paying the mortgage or increasing your errors and omissions insurance coverage there is little choice. Got to provide for the family. Buy what you can afford and if you are determined to succeed in the insurance industry maybe go a little bit past what you can comfortably afford. It may end up being the best investment you ever made. Remember: While new your volume may be low, reducing your exposure to risk, but the flip side is you are still learning the ropes, which increases the possibility of an error or omissions you would not make with more experience. What about after a few years and your business is taking off? Can You Really Afford Inadequate E&O Insurance For Insurance Agents Selling P&C? Especially after you break into the big time and have built up a big book of business with large accounts, your risk exposure has gone up exponentially. What about that incompetent employee you fired years ago who misfiled that policy payment in the paper work or lost the check resulting the client never receiving the coverage? Or the client who refused the correct covearge and takes a big hit and files a lawsuite against you. do you have the evidence on file that protects you? Or a client files a frivolous claim out of rustration or anger. How much will you have to spend in court fighting it in court? Will $1mil coverage be enough? What about $2mil or even $5mil of coverage? What is the largest policy limits you have sold? Property and Casualty Insurance Agents Risk May Be Greater Than Realized “We’re in an increasingly litigious environment,” says Claire Wilkinson, vice president-global issues, at the Insurance Information Institute, in New York. “There’s definitely an uptick in the number of agents buying insurance, in part because of the litigious environment. It’s essential for them to have adequate coverage.” “Even if you could get away with it,” warns Mann of Fireman’s Fund, “it’s not worth it because you would at the very least lose your company appointment. But beyond that, you could lose everything including your house and your business if you get sued and have no E&O protection.” “Agents need to understand their exposures might be much higher than they think they are. So they should buy as high a limit as they can afford. A $1 million limit isn’t adequate for agents in these litigious times.” Henderson’s statement is particularly true for California Property and Casualty insurance agents and brokers, California is the litigation capital of the USA. Considering the increased likelyhood of a lawsuit plus the high cost of residential and commercial properties, carrying $1mil in limits is shortsighted. Defense costs alone could run from $100,000 to $500,000 depending on the complexity of a case. “At this agency, we wouldn’t think of operating without suitable coverage,” says Jim Armitage, vice president of multi-lines agency Arroyo Insurance Services, in suburban Los Angeles. “In this litigious climate, people sue at the drop of a hat, and you need to have insurance protection.” Agents without errors and omissions insurance stand to lose their homes, their businesses and their collectible personal assets. How Many Under Insured Clients Do You Have? OR The Perfect Storm For Errors And Omissions Claims Lets face it all business owners resent having to spend so much money on insurance. After all it eats into the bottom line of the business and there is no ROI. Maybe you have run into this before. If not, ask a Doctor what he thinks about malpractice insurance. Heck you may feel the same yourself. Then there are the sales that feel more like mortal combat than a close. These are the clients that fight you every step of the way when buying insurance. Not only are they a pain in the you know what, they are also the ones most likely to take you to court when something goes wrong. All because they won’t buy the coverage they need. You probably should have fired that client a long time ago but hey, you got bills to pay and payroll to make. Its pretty hard to turn away paying clients no matter how hard it is to make them pay. It just seems wrong to turn away business even when it costs more than the commissions earned in the long run. Hopefully they will not sue, when they find out the hard way they are under insured. God forbid you make a real error or omission on servicing this account. What Risk Exposure Do You Have And Is Your Errors And Omissions Insurance Adequate? Statistics show that 1 out of 7 insurance agents will report an Errors and Omissions claim at some point during their career. Today insurance agents rank 4th among professions in lawsuits filed against them. Only physicians, attorneys and accountants have more (Tillinghast Survey) If you have generic E&O insurance coverage you have gneric protection. Like all generic label products you will save money but run the risk of incomplete coverage if your errors and omissions (E&O) insurance for property and casualty (P&C) insurance agents and brokers is not tailor made to your exact circumstances. Find Out What Coverage You Need As A Property And Casualty (P&C) Insurance Agent/Broker Property and casualty insurance agents have very specific risk exposures that increase with the volume of business they write. We know errors and omissions insurance coverage for property and casualty insurance agents and analyze your specific situation to ensure there are no gaps in your professional liability insurance coverage. Get a free review to determine what E&O insurance for insurance agents and brokers you really need to be fully protected. Download: Free E&O Insurance For Insurance Agents Quote Form Download: E&O Insurance For Insurance Agents And Brokers Application Form Complete the above forms and fax or email to: Fax: 323-661-5597 Email: niccom@sbcglobal.net Completing the above will provide enough information to give a rough estimate of EO coverage costs but further questions from the underwriter may be needed to determine the exact coverage, limits and quote for the EO policy tailor made to you and your agency requirements. Working Out The Correct Errors and Omissions Liability Insurance Coverage When working out the right insurance agent Errors and Omissions (E&O) insurance coverage work with your agent or broker and the underwriter to cover all factors, including: What Professionals are Performing Services on Behalf of you or your agency? Does your business use employees, independent contractors, outside firms or other combinations of professionals to fulfill services? Many policies do not cover services provided by independent contractors or others outside the corporate entity. Some policies will cover the services of independent contractors, but will not cover the independent contractors. Are your sales staff are independent contractors? An errors and omissions insurance policy that excludes coverage for independent contractors would leave the business at risk. What Professional Services do you provide? An E&O insurance policy should cover the specific Professional Services you provide. For example, are you a residential or commercial insurance agent, a life or property and casualty insurance agent, do you provide other financial services? It makes a difference in the policy you need. Your errors and omissions insurance policy should spell out specifically the Professional Services you provide. What is the legal structure of the business offering the Insurance Service? Depending upon whether you are a Sole Proprietor, Corporation, Partnership, Limited Liability Company or other entity will determine who is covered under your errors and omissions insurance policy. For example, corporations have shareholders whereas LLC’s have members. Not all E&O policies address such issues correctly. Get A Free Quote And Review NOW! Download: Free E&O Insurance For Insurance Agents Quote Form Download: E&O Insurance For Insurance Agents And Brokers Application Form Complete the above forms and fax or email to: Fax: 323-661-5597 Email: niccom@sbcglobal.net