Due to the economy, we decided not to hold any live seminars in the spring as we have done for the past 7 years (but, of course, the annual Construction Risk Conference will go on as always this fall). Instead of spring seminars, IRMI is about to launch a new continuing education program using webinars.

Following an intensive review of the options, we have contracted to use the best webinar technology available. Our goal is to provide high quality educational programming at a very low cost.

In our first webinar, Jeff Woodward, CPCU, CRIS, and I will discuss nonstandard additional insured endorsements. The webinar, designed for an intermediate to advanced audience, will look in detail at endorsements that broaden the coverage provided on a standard basis and those that may narrow coverage, sometimes to a level which exposes insureds to breach of contract claims. It will take place on May 28, and I hope you will join us. You can learn more or sign up in the webinar section of IRMI.com.

I was heartened by the flood of responses to my last message concerning the injustices suffered by the employees of the AIG property and casualty operations, now AIU Holdings. We couldn't include them all, but you'll find some of the most thoughtful views reproduced below.

Thank you for subscribing to IRMI Update. Please encourage your friends and colleagues to join our subscriber family.

All the best,

Jack

Jack P. Gibson, CPCU, CRIS, ARM
President
International Risk Management Institute, Inc.

Risk Tip

Improve Safety in the Workplace

Having survived 30+ years in claims, I was asked to be a member of the Workplace Safety committee. This was a new experience and I would like to share what I learned.

Signage for exits, alarms, and fire extinguishers needs to be checked to ensure they are in the appropriate location, in working order (tested and inspected regularly), and in locations easily identifiable by staff and visitors.
Floor coverings should be inspected to make sure there are no trip or fall hazards, such as spills on tile, loose or warped tiles, loose or bubbled carpet, open carpet seams.
Inspect the wiring for computers, equipment, etc., to ensure there's no fraying or overloaded or problem outlets. Install surge protectors where necessary.
Make sure wires or other trip and fall hazards are not in walkways.

These are just a few items, but the biggest impact can be communications with your employees who can help notice and report small problems before a loss may occur.

By: Donna L. Sofinowski, Vice President, Claims
FinSecure, LLC
Towson, MD

GET PUBLISHED IN IRMI UPDATE: 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 Donna.
Submit an IRMI Update risk tip.

What's New in Your IRMI Library

Is Auto Liability Self-Insurance in Your Future?

Everybody is talking about a hard insurance market, but no one is actually seeing it yet. Nevertheless, it will happen sooner or later. When it does, companies will be looking for ways to control their costs, and one option is self-insurance. To aid with this, we recently updated the discussion of risk retention in Risk Financing as well as the summaries of state statutes governing automobile liability self-insurance.

If you subscribe to Risk Financing, review the new discussion of risk retention here:

See the updated auto liability self-insurance state regulation summaries here:

Read about self-insurance as a risk finance technique here:

For summaries of other new and updated information in your IRMI library, go to What's New on IRMI Online or What's New in SilverPlume Sage.

New Expert Commentary

There are over 1,100 risk management and insurance articles on IRMI.com. Below you'll find summaries of some recent additions with links to the articles.

Hurricane Ike and First-Party Litigation—Brent Cooper looks at the effect on insurance rating, underwriting, legislation, and litigation in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike.
Loss Payable in the Time of Foreclosures—Elise Farnham discusses how an insured foreclosure loss will be payable and what is required of the adjuster.
Crime Insurance—The Other Property Policy—William Austin examines how ISO crime policies provide theft coverage to replace what's excluded in commercial property policies.
Other Insurance and the CGL Policy—Craig Stanovich provides a basic understanding of the "other insurance" clause of the commercial general liability policy.
Property Insurance Suit Limitations Provisions—Jay Levin illustrates the importance of paying close attention to claim progress and how courts enforce suit filing limits.

IRMI Featured Publication

Ace Your Next Renewal

101 Ways To Cut Business Insurance Costs provides cost-cutting strategies for every major line of coverage. This "how-to" guide, organized by line of coverage, is designed to help insurance buyers, agents, and brokers do a better and faster job of auditing their insurance programs. You'll find a goldmine of 101 tried-and-true strategies to reduce insurance costs without giving up necessary protection. Get more details and see the table of contents.

Your View

Innocent AIG Employees

IRMI Update 203 asked readers for their views of the impact of the AIG "meltdown" on innocent AIG employees. Below are some of the responses.

As a long-time customer of the AIG (now AIU) P&C businesses (3 decades), I have to agree that it is sad that such a talented group of companies and their staff (and many years of talented staff) have to take so much heat for decisions and results not of their making. To add insult to injury, competitors then rushed to allege that they were buying renewals and new business. As an American, I understand that negative news sells, and this country does that job better than anyone in the world; but it's still disappointing to see the "feeding frenzy" at a time that we need to work together to get out of this economic quandary. If I'm AIU now, my statement to the staff that remains is similar to the legendary leaders of the past, and that is "Aspire to greatness despite the furor," and you'll be better for it. As for me as a consumer, one quote, one renewal at a time, do it with pride and knowledge, and if that's what I see, I'm still your customer at the end of the day.

—Wayne L. Salen, Director of Risk Management,
Labor Finders International, Inc., Palm Beach Gardens, FL
Thanks Jack for your comments. Everyone including those in our industry should read your comments and be reminded of the many hardworking AIG employees on the property & casualty insurance company side of AIG as well as Lexington that had absolutely nothing to do with the financial meltdown. Our hats are off to these well-deserving employees; we have a lot of respect for each one of you!

—Brenda B. Watson, President/Managing Partner,
TIP National, Inc., Oklahoma City
Jack, you are a wise man to offer such encouragement and belief in those with whom you work, at a time when morale is low and people are being attacked from all sides. We have the privilege of knowing, quite well, an AIG employee (Jeff H.) He is a man of integrity and I am confident that had he been a member of that group, he would have spoken out against it. His retirement fund has vanished. Payment for two college tuitions will be in the mail in August. He could easily look for employment elsewhere, but he believes in AIG and is loyal to the company and his fellow employees who have also suffered. We would all be wise to remember there are names and faces associated with AIG, most of them left as victims of the irresponsibility of a select few. They are still struggling to provide for their families and hold their heads high, while the media has a field day with their attention-grabbing headlines and political cartoons. Imagine how a high school student (whose parent works at AIG) responds to a class discussion about the situation based on a teacher's opinion of something presented in the media. Imagine how a wife struggles to find ways to uphold her husband's good name in a discussion in the stands of a softball game? Remember that everything we read or see/hear from the media is not always accurate, and don't be so quick to make judgments on any company the next time they are negatively portrayed. And if you meet an AIG employee, give them a word of encouragement!

—Cheryl Bendix
I think this Update is great!! So many innocent people with loads of integrity who work very long hours every day, and yes sometimes on weekends too, have been punished. I was on vacation recently and when people asked me where I work, I was embarrassed to tell them. A few that I did tell looked at me funny after that and sort of avoided me. I don't deserve that type of treatment! I think my company is a very well-run organization, and I love working for them. I am proud of what I and my team members do as well. How can we make top officials of this country understand that by their words they are "punishing the innocent for the sins of the guilty?"

—Kirby Kanarek, Project Manager for Disaster Recovery,
AIU Holdings, Livingston, NJ
I agree completely with Jack's views and have already been advising my friends of the financial piece of AIG. So many good people have been hurt by the greediness of a few. I was not a proponent of the overturn of the separation of financial institutions and the insurance companies in the recent past. There are very good reasons why these components operate best when they are not to do both insurance and banking. They should stick with what they do best. The editorials and news reporters know just enough about insurance to be dangerous when they write their articles. I welcome the opportunity when friends ask what I thought about the article that was just published. Invariably there is clarification that is in order. Thank you.

—Anne M. Crabbs, Commercial Specialist II,
State Auto Insurance Companies, Columbus, OH
Every time the subject of AIG comes up, I defend the insurance division. They are a fine organization, a good competitor. They provide a means for coverage that many other companies would not consider.

—Jeanne McFarland, Key Renewal Underwriter, The Hartford
Jack Gibson of IRMI said it far better than I when he complimented the 40,000 or so AIG P&C employees for their dedication to their company and industry in the wake of so much outrage. I simply want to echo what Jack said and tell you AIG employees that as someone who has dealt with your company for over 40 years, you should be proud of what you helped in building. Those who wish to paint the ENTIRE AIG organization as a Pariah are casting much too wide a net and are doing a disservice to both the organization and its people. Hang tough! This too shall pass.

—Barney Mercer, CPCU, ARM, Principal,
Mercer & Associates, Dallas
Our office works with the AIG Berkeley Heights, NJ, office that provides program insurance for not-for-profit organization for which Marsh is the program manager. We cannot say enough about the professionalism, expertise, technical knowledge, and flexibility of this group in providing insurance products for our nonprofit clients. They could not be more caring and accommodating to the needs of our clients, as well as providing responsive and accurate information and service. We truly appreciate their excellent partnership with us in providing the best in service and insurance coverage for our client programs. You go, AIG

—Kathryn L. Froehlich, Commercial Account Manager,
Marsh Consumer Connexions, Oak Brook, IL
Three cheers for the AIG employees in the insurance lines who have endured the trials and tribulations due to the parent company's bad choices. I for one have a great person who handles our claims - Alan Wells (Sr. Claims Analyst in the San Francisco CA office). None of us would want to endure the disdain for that which we have no control over. Again, THREE CHEERS!

—Luci Thompson, Director Risk Mgmt.,
InSight Health Corp., Lake Forest, CA
Thank you for your commentary on the AIG P&C companies, and their people—I couldn't agree more. And I would like to single out Linda Taylor, Foreign Claims Manager in AIG's San Francisco office for recognition. She has provided me with unfailing guidance and help with some unusual claims in remote corners of the world, one example: an explosion in Bangladesh that shut down trade in the NE quadrant of the country! She is the "best of the best"—an outstanding example of the experience and expertise required to deal with the unique claims arising out of coverage placements only AIG has been willing and able to make world-wide. Thanks for the opportunity to comment.

—Carol J. Rose, Vice President—Claim Manager,
Kessler Risk & Insurance Services, Santa Monica
Bill Fahrner out of the San Francisco AIG office is without question the best WC underwriter I have ever worked with over the years, and I have worked with several. Our previous large deductible carrier/underwriter kept everything in a fog. Bill and his AIG group have been transparent in LOC calculations, rates and audits—we don't always agree, of course, but the reasoning is always clear and up front. Customer service has been excellent as well.

—Sue Smith, VP Risk Management,
SOS Staffing Services, Inc., Salt Lake City
The employees of AIG are not the culprits. They are innocent bystanders that are suffering from the power decisions made by the controlling management of AIG. I find it amazing that AIG senior executives and board members could let a company get in such dire shape before they started to make changes to fix it. That alone seems almost criminal to me. I also find it very disturbing that Congress and our federal government would get involved in managing private industry. My economy classes at all levels taught me that supply demand and performance dictate your survival in a free market. I am totally against bailout or stimulus. I think executives and Congress should be held accountable for their decision and performance. I wish no bad luck on the innocent bystanders in this horrible bailout but feel we have already turned down the wrong road. Strong, well-managed companies will figure out how to survive in tough times, but spending our tax dollars to artificially stand them up is not the answer!

—Mark D. Eger, CTR USAF AFMC 537 ACSS/GFEB
I agree with you. There are times when I am watching Meet the Press and the host is speaking with someone about the bailout to AIG, I want to shake the host because when he says AIG, anyone who is not in the insurance industry thinks of AIG only for insurance. I too support the employees of the AIG Insurance Group because they work hard and don't deserve to be going through what others have done. It's not their fault.

—Diane McCullough, Account Executive,
Lambent Risk Management Services
Simply, thank you! One of the "40,000 or so"…

—Vangelis Drossos, Distribution Manager, AIG Greece

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