Our contacts confirm that the events of September 11 have caused the insurance marketplace to harden even faster than expected. This means risk managers and their agents/brokers must take a very proactive approach to insurance renewals.

A common problem in hard markets is not receiving your renewal indication until the very last minute—after it's too late to react to unacceptable terms. This can be due to underwriters' workloads increasing so dramatically that they cannot keep up or simply be a way of taking advantage of the hardening market. Regardless the reason, it's important to be prepared for this possibility.

One strategy to handle this problem is to meet with your underwriter long before policy expiration to discuss your account and the upcoming renewal. If you want to stick with your current insurer, consider making a deal: if they agree to provide renewal terms 90 days before expiration, you agree not shop your program. Get it in writing with the condition that if the underwriter doesn't keep the commitment, an automatic 90-day extension will be provided for the current program at its current terms.

If your underwriter won't commit to this, it might be time to seek competitive proposals from other markets in case your renewal terms are unacceptable. Push hard to get competitive quotes 15 to 30 days before renewal.

Have you experienced an 11th hour renewal proposal? What do you think of this approach to avoiding them? Have you seen this or something similar work (or fail)? Do you have another strategy? [See reader comments].

Lastly, please go to the IRMI.com home page and register your opinion on whether the government should become involved in a terrorism reinsurance pool. We'll leave the poll up until Friday. [See reader comments].

I hope to see you at the IRMI Construction Risk Conference in New Orleans in 2 weeks. Have a great day.

Jack

Jack P. Gibson
President
IRMI

Risk Tip

Use EAPs To Restore Productivity After Disasters. Disaster response plans should include a list, with addresses and phone numbers, of reliable Employee Assistance Professionals that can be used to provide grief counseling following disasters or tragedies. Consider offering them whenever a major tragedy occurs. Even workers who are not involved in the event can suffer debilitating psychological effects from learning about coworkers' or business contacts' injuries or deaths.

By: Lynn B. White
Corporate Insurance & Safety Administrator
Air Conditioning Co. Inc.
Glendale, CA
E-mail:

Suggest a Risk Tip. Future issues of IRMI Update will include more risk tips from our readers. Send us a practical tip (less than 300 words) for identifying and managing risks, buying insurance, managing claims, or filling gaps in insurance coverages. We'll acknowledge your contribution as we did for Lynn.

New Expert Commentary

We add new Expert Commentary to IRMI.com every week. There are now 212 articles on IRMI.com, and many more are in production. Below you'll find summaries of some recent additions with links to the articles.

Mold: An Introduction to the Newest Environmental Hazard—Obtaining insurance coverage for mold-related problems is difficult, with most insurers relying on pollution exclusions and/or newly added mold exclusions to deny coverage. Kevin Shane and Alan Bressler explain the basics of the problem and offer coverage solutions.
You Just Stood There? The Design Professional's Responsibility for Job Site Injuries—What should the design professional do after witnessing unsafe job site practices by the contractor? Ken Slavens explains how different jurisdictions answer that question and what can be done to both prevent injury and protect liability.
Is an Unbundled Workers Compensation Program Right for Your Company?—Most employers assume they must choose between traditional insurance or self-insurance for workers comp. Martin McGavin examines the "unbundling" option, how it works, and its advantages and disadvantages.
Site Assessments: An Informal Process of Questioning—In this, the first in a series of articles defining the models used in conducting periodic site safety audits to assess the performance of construction project management teams, Ron Prichard examines the general concepts behind the model and its structure.
RMIS Applications: Guidelines for Selection and Implementation—Tillinghast-Towers Perin consultants David Whitesell and Anita Schoenfeld provide key points an organization should consider to ensure that a new information system is properly selected and smoothly implemented.

New IRMI Insights

In the Aftermath of September 11, 2001—Workers Compensation—This article expands on the one above, highlighting some online resources that might be useful in addressing WC claims resulting from the events of September 11, 2001, reviewing the current state of the WC market, and presenting some thoughts about renewal strategies.

IRMI Construction Risk Conference

An Incredible Educational Value! We are still taking registrations for the 21st IRMI Construction Risk Conference (October 29-November 1 in New Orleans). The Sheraton Hotel has substantially reduced the room rates, from $215 per night to $189 for a single room or $199 for a double. If you arrange to stay over a Saturday night (tough duty in New Orleans!), there are also some great airfares available.

At no other symposium does your dollar buy more!

20 hours of focused learning
Breakfast and lunch daily
Workbook of speakers' handouts
Free audiotape of the workshop of your choice
Networking opportunities at several receptions
CE, CLE, or CPE credit in practically any state

While we're experiencing a slight enrollment reduction compared to last year, we do have more than 900 risk and insurance professionals enrolled. Why don't you join us in New Orleans for this unparalleled educational and networking event?

Follow the link to the Conference agenda for details about all the sessions and the presenters. To register, just complete the registration form or call (800) 827-4242.

IRMI Products & Services

Manual Helps Shore-Up Risk Transfer Programs. Risk transfer through indemnity clauses and insurance requirements remains one of the least understood and most controversial risk management techniques. The award-winning IRMI Contractual Risk Transfer reference service clears the fog around this important topic with summaries of state anti-indemnity laws and analyses of subrogation waiver, additional insured, and limitation of liability tactics. It even includes boilerplate insurance provisions you can use in contracts. For more information, check out the table of contents.

How To Subscribe or Unsubscribe

A subscription to IRMI Update is absolutely free. Use the e-mail registration form to initiate or terminate your subscription.

IRMI Update—Issue #27

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