IRMI Update—Issue #181

An E-mail Newsletter for Risk and Insurance Professionals
ISSN: 1530-7948
April 9, 2008

In This Issue

• Message from the Editor
• Crane Safety Manual Available
• What's New in Your IRMI Library
• New Expert Commentary
• Last Chance for IRMI Construction Seminars
• Professional Liability Market Directory Update
• Your View—Soft Market Strategies
• Please Share This Issue with Your Colleagues
• How To Get IRMI Update E-mails

Message from the Editor

Colleague,

It is a great pleasure to announce that we have added the Glossary of Insurance and Risk Management to IRMI.com. IRMI first published this Glossary in 1978, and it is only fitting that we open it up to the world on its 30th birthday. With definitions of more than 3,000 terms, it is one of the most comprehensive and up to date insurance and risk glossaries available. Previously it was only available to those who purchase it or subscribe to it on SilverPlume Sage or IRMI Online. Now the insurance Glossary is available to anyone.

Our goal is to involve the risk and insurance community in growing and improving the glossary in the future. You can do this by suggesting improvements in existing definitions or suggesting new terms and definitions to include. If we accept your definition, you will be listed in a special contributors section of the online Glossary, and this listing will include a valuable link to your Web site. We are also making the index to the glossary available for you to put on your web site. This will allow you to easily add a glossary feature for your visitors to use and also include more than 3,000 key terms on your site that may help its search engine rankings. Add a Glossary link to your Web site.

I am very excited about this expansion of IRMI.com and hope you and your colleagues find it helpful. Please tell your colleagues and industry friends about it, and let me know what you think.

All the best,

Jack

Jack P. Gibson, CPCU, CRIS, ARM
President
IRMI

Crane Safety Manual Available

The tragic crane accidents that recently occurred in Miami and New York are terrible reminders of just how dangerous construction cranes can be. Any contractor employing cranes must take every possible precaution to minimize the possibility of such a calamity. Additionally a superior crisis management plan must be in place to deal with them if they do occur in spite of such precautions. The winners of the very first Gary E. Bird Horizon Award (in 1999—before the award was named for Gary) were Gayle Jones and George Bragg. They were recognized for developing an excellent crane safety program, and that crane safety program can be downloaded from the Construction Risk Conference section of www.IRMI.com. Take a look at it for ideas to help with your (or your clients') crane safety program.

What's New in Your IRMI Library

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

New Expert Commentary

There are over 1,000 risk management and insurance articles on IRMI.com. Below you'll find summaries of some recent additions with links to the articles.

• Pollution Events—An Insured Peril in Property Insurance?—William Austin illustrates why risk management professionals must continually test insurance coverage prior to a loss event.
• "Damages" under a 1973 CGL Insurance Policy—ISO did not define "damages," so courts were divided, particularly in pollution cleanup cases. Rich Scislowki explains.
• Why Insurance Companies Should Bear—Not Manage—Risk—Tim Ryles shows why insurers may best serve their customers by not proffering risk management services to their insureds.
• Reducing the Opportunity To Commit Fraud—Scott Langlinais says while checks and balances are important, they cannot prevent fraud—segregated processes compliment ethical behavior.
• Construction Risk Management: Recognizing Incompetent Workers—Keeping an incompetent person on your construction project is a major mistake. TJ Lyons explains ways to avoid it.

Last Chance for IRMI Construction Seminars

One more location remains for this seminar series on wrap-ups, construction defect, and two new programs on construction contract risk management. See the detailed agendas, speaker bios, and reserve your spot today for Dallas, April 22-24, for these important construction seminars.

Professional Liability Market Directory Update

We are in the process of updating our annual Professional Liability Market Directory. The directory listing is provided as a service to our readers and at absolutely no cost to you. If you are a direct source for professional liability coverage (e.g., insurer, managing general agent) you and your firm can have a free listing in the Professional Liability Insurance Market Directory. Simply go to the Insurance Market Listings page and complete the appropriate information.

Your View—Soft Market Strategies

IRMI Update 180 discussed the softening insurance marketplace and asked readers whether they thought insurance buyers focused too much on cost rather than coverage terms and service.

• Soft Market Blues: I agree with Jack's thesis about the error of focusing only on cost, but it's difficult for buyers not to do exactly that. The tough part for brokers is creating value as the prices level the playing field. Soft markets are generally a bad time to change brokers since conditions create an artificial moment of parity that can disappear quickly when the market turns.

  —David Thayer, Consultant, David Thayer Consulting, Washington

• In my 35-year insurance career, I have been a "national accounts" branch underwriting manager for a top 10 insurance company; a marketing manager for a large agency; a principle and president of a large multi-office agency, and producer of personal book of business. In all my years of experience from all angles, it is about price approximately 80 percent of the time. Yes, there is the 20 percent where coverage or relationship or customer loyalty play into the purchase decision. But if I am 20 percent less expensive, I will close the deal most of the time.

  —Jim A. Sammons, Producer, Watkins Insurance Group, Austin, TX

• As Yogi Berra would say, "It's déjà vu all over again!" And it has nothing to do with a hard or soft market. Buyers complain about service, but very seldom change. Buyers want the lowest price until there is a claim and then blame the broker/insurer for not giving them the proper policy wording. What's new?

  —Henry Good, Risk Management Consultant, ABD/Wells Fargo, Florida

• Broader coverage is available. However, I am concerned at the low premiums being charged by the wrap-up carriers now. The premiums appear to be way to low since they are covering everyone who works on the job site now and not just one company (i.e., developer or contractor). I fear that they will go out of business eventually when claims come in. We went through this before, and carriers went out of business. Is history going to repeat itself?

  —Dorna M. Brown, President, Development Solutions and Services, Inc., Calabasas, CA

• I think buyer and provider can assure service levels remain high through better (savvy) exploitation of technology—a buyer with access to quality and reliable information will be empowered to demand and negotiate a better service. The provider who can offer the optimum solution based on an intimate understanding of "buyer" needs and circumstances will raise confidence in its service offered.

  —Christopher Riordan, Director, eCom90, Crawley, West Sussex, United Kingdom

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