If there’s one thing that 18 years in the errors & omissions business has made clear, it’s that—as much as they hate to be reminded of their own mistakes—insurance professionals love to hear about the miscues of their competitors. The more painful the better! And who can blame them? You get all the benefits of the lesson learned with none of the pain.

The proportion of the nation’s 65-and-older population has grown by over a third since 2010 and by 3.2% between 2018 and 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This is being felt within the insurance industry’s workforce. The average age of an independent insurance agency principal is 54 years old, according to the 2022 Agency Universe Study, which also found that 17% of all independent agency principals are age 66 or older.

It’s official: 2023 has been designated “the year of the customer.”

It’s often said that every cloud has a silver lining. In the case of the admittedly very dark cloud that was COVID-19, one such positive in the insurance world was the drop in auto insurance claims and premiums.

With great power comes great responsibility. And with great responsibility comes great risk to personal assets. Directors & officers insurance is primarily intended to protect the personal assets of a company or nonprofit organization’s directors and officers should they be sued by vendors, suppliers, customers, employees, investors, competitors or government regulators for alleged wrongful acts made while managing the organization.

Over the last few years, insurance agencies have been acquired at an accelerating rate. Whether you are thinking about expanding your agency by purchasing an existing book of business from another agency or retiring and selling your insurance agency, you can become the target of an errors & omissions claim. To avoid or minimize the risk, there are several considerations to keep in mind that can minimize the risk.

For many brokers, working with policyholders to recover a business interruption loss arising from property damage is familiar territory. Historically, cyber business interruption loss coverage arises from physical damage while cyber policies provide coverage for cyber business interruption losses that do not arise from physical damage.

On March 23, 2020, we sent notification that some carriers have asked agents to deny claims on the insurance company’s behalf. We recommended that agents not deny claims for several reasons enumerated within that notice.

Recently we were made aware that insurance carriers are directing their agencies to deny certain claims related to the COVID-19/coronavirus; most specifically business income claims. Reports are some carriers have even put this directive in writing.

Every insurance agent or agency feels some degree of pressure to grow their business. In fact, that pressure is felt in the broader world. We hear comments all the time like, “In this league, if you’re not improving, you’re getting worse,” from the pundit on ESPN. Or, “What’s your five-year plan to grow your business?” from the speaker at the seminar. And, of course, in the movie “The Graduate,” the character giving Dustin Hoffman advice: “Plastics!”

Catastrophic events like flooding, severe storms and wildfires are becoming increasingly commonplace. Since 1980, there have been 308 weather and climate disasters in which damages were $1 billion or more, at a total cost of $2.085 trillion, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In 2021 alone, there were 18 such events.

It’s not the kind of note you want to receive from a secret admirer: “Dear Business, we have decrypted all your data and blocked access to your computer systems. Unless you pay us millions of dollars, you will remain locked out and we will start posting your and your clients’ sensitive data online. Can’t wait to hear from you! The 24-hour clock has started! Love, Cybercriminal.”

It’s true, we spend a lot of webinar time and magazine ink repeating what we hope is a familiar refrain: Do not carelessly take on a higher duty to your customers than exists under your jurisdiction, most notably via website promises and marketing puffery. Why? A court may conclude, in one fell swoop, that you’ve both taken on a higher duty to your customer and failed to carry that burden to a successful conclusion.

Employment practices liability insurance is a coverage that most small businesses think they don’t need. Like the driver who realizes they should have buckled their seatbelt after an accident, the first clue that they’re mistaken often comes in the form of an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) complaint. Worse yet, the next thing a business will probably learn when they show up on their agent’s doorstep is that it is too late to get EPLI coverage to cover a lawsuit that started as an EEOC matter.

As sure as Shark Week arrives each summer, private companies and their directors and officers get sued. Having the right liability insurance in place could be like holding a running chainsaw when a shark falls on you from the sky during a tornado, allowing you to escape the belly of the beast safely.