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Employee Procedures Manuals

The Rural Health Care Impacts on Workers’ Compensation Losses

In the past two decades, nearly 200 rural hospitals across the United States shuttered their doors, leaving millions of residents without local access to essential healthcare services. Hospital closures not only impact injured workers, but they also place additional pressure on rural industries. Farms, ranches, factories and energy producers rely on a healthy and stable workforce to attract talent and maintain productivity.

The Conflict and Burden of Insurer Appointments for Brokers and the Need for Regulatory Reform

Brokers are supposed to be independent to represent the insured, rather than the insurer; yet, the law in many states still requires insurers to appoint a broker as an agent actually to transact insurance with the insurer. This dual agency creates well-known conflicts and burdens. We contend that the requirement that insurers appoint agents in…

Follow Up: Dressing Professionally

Last year I wrote a commentary, “To Dress or Not—Is Professional Attire Outdated?,” on whether or not students should be expected to dress professionally for interviews and career fairs. I asked for feedback and encouraged responses. I’m pleased to say I got a lot of thoughtful responses from a wide range of readers. Executives, claims adjusters, independent agents, corporate trainers, and many others chimed in.

Joan Deimling

Joan Deimling has over thirty years’ experience in the insurance industry in policy rating, customer service and claims. She has been responsible for the supervision of policy issuance, commercial rating both liability and property as well as worker’s compensation and customer service. Joan’s customer service knowledge and skill set benefits clients in managing customer accounts…

A Review of the Modern Claims Made Form

“Since its creation, “claims made” wording’s use has expanded outside of the “profession” and professional liability realm, finding use in diverse liability coverages. But the roots of “claims made” wording, and its most common use still, is found in covering the exposures created by a “professional’s” activities. As seen by the list of true “professions,” professionals are individuals who provide a service to society which, if done poorly, could cause extreme or irreparable personal or financial harm. …

The expansion of claims made policy forms beyond “professions” caused the basic “claims made” concept to diverge and evolve into two distinct forms. One evolutionary branch commenced in professional liability coverages (known also as “errors and omissions” coverages in this series) and the second branch grew out of the financial services industry and the need for directors and officers liability protection, fiduciary liability and employment practices liability (referred throughout this series as “executive liability” coverages).

Although both branches attach to the tree at the same point; greatly different “claims made triggers” have resulted. Additionally, coverage terms, conditions and definitions differ between the two branches.”

Keys to Making your Agency More Productive & Efficient

Mary LaPorte was interviewed for this article which was included in Erie Insurance’s June 7, 2017 publication of The Bulletin which is distributed to their agency force. In this interview, Mary disucsses the key reasons many agencies fail to reach optimum productivity and the benefits gained by making necessary improvements.

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Stanley Lipshultz

I began my insurance career in 1968 working in the claims department for the Insurance Company of North America (INA) both as a staff claims adjuster and then as a liability supervisor.  After finishing law school I specialized in insurance defense for agents and brokers and for insurance companies in  direct suits against them as…

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