IRMI Update—Issue #142
An E-mail Newsletter for Risk and Insurance Professionals
ISSN: 1530-7948
August 9, 2006
In This Issue
Colleague,
Of all the property casualty insurance that organizations purchase, which
policy do you think is most important? In other words, on which policy can you
least afford to make an error? Or, if a company could only buy one type of insurance,
what would be your choice?
For most organizations I think it is the umbrella/excess liability program.
Properly arranged, it covers the catastrophic losses that could cripple or bankrupt
an organization. Because it covers such a wide spectrum of exposures—premises,
products, completed ops, auto, employers liability—it is a complex form with
much potential for error or omission.
Depending on the nature of the insured’s operations, you may feel some other
policy is more important. Perhaps it is the D&O policy for a publicly held company,
a professional liability policy for a healthcare institution or professional
firm, or a property policy for an organization with concentrations of values
in a limited number of locations.
While these would be legitimate considerations, I believe that the umbrella/excess
liability program is of such importance that it deserves special attention by
risk professionals. And sometimes I wonder if it gets this special attention.
What do you think? Is the umbrella/excess liability program the most important
coverage for most organizations? Are the terms of these policies subjected to
the degree of analysis and negotiation that they deserve? What process do you
use to review umbrella/excess liability coverage terms and conditions? [See reader responses.]
I hope you are planning to attend the 26th IRMI Construction Risk
Conference. Early bird registration ends next Friday (8/18). You'll pay
$125 less by registering online before then. Review all the details or register here.
Thank you for choosing to be part of the IRMI subscriber family. We truly
appreciate your trust and confidence.
Have a great day.
Jack
Jack P. Gibson, CPCU, CRIS, ARM
President
IRMI
Don't Forget Post-Injury Management Training—The
concept is so fundamental that we many times forget to even consider how important
it is to train management, supervisors, and staff on proper post-injury management.
However, it is the single most important and cost-effective technique that can
be done to manage claims, return the injured worker to his or her pre-injury
condition and reduce the overall cost of claims. Proper and timely responses
to incidents can make certain that the injured worker gets the appropriate care
and information needed to allow that person to rehabilitate and recover from
their loss.
The training should include an emphasis on immediately reporting the claim
to the insurer or third-party administrator. This allows the adjuster and other
ancillary resources to be most effective in getting the injured worker comfortable
with an unfamiliar process of making a claim, the follow-up care needed, and,
if lost time is involved, the required payment of indemnity wages. This will
many times help the injured worker know that he or she is being treated fairly,
improves morale for the injured worker and other employees close to the situation,
and reduce the anxiety that might drive the injured worker to an attorney when
one may not be needed.
If you do not believe that you are qualified or capable of providing this
training, most insurers, brokers, and consultants have some form of training
for post-injury management. Review a few of the options and make modification
suggestions to best fit your organization's needs.
By: Randy McKnight
Director of Corporate Risk Management, Belz Enterprises
Memphis
rmcknight@belz.com
Suggest a Risk Tip. Send us a practical tip (less than 300 words) for identifying and managing risks,
buying insurance, managing claims, or filling gaps in insurance coverages. Submit your tips. We'll
acknowledge your contribution as we did for Randy.
We have recently updated a number of the reference manuals in the IRMI library
and published new issues of
The Risk Report and
Captive Insurance Company
Reports. To make sure you don't miss any of this new information
take 30 seconds to scan the "What's New" summary page.
For IRMI
Online and Print Subscribers.
For SilverPlume
Sage subscribers.
There are now over 800 risk management and insurance articles on IRMI.com.
Below you'll find summaries of some recent additions with links to the articles.
More than 1,300 of your peers have secured their registration to the 26th
IRMI Construction Risk Conference, October 9–12 in San Diego. Last year's Conference
was a sellout, and based on the rate that registrations are coming in, another
sellout is likely in the next week. The $125 early bird savings for online registration also ends August 18, so please act now if you plan to attend.
"Ethics for Property and Casualty Insurance Professionals" is one of our
many online insurance CE courses. Passing the course will not only give you
4–6 hours CE credit, depending on your state, but also meet your state's ethics
course requirement. And you won't believe how reasonable the cost of these courses
is. Check all the
courses out.
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