New IRMI Information in Your SilverPlume Library:

June 2006

Six reference manual updates as well as new issues of The Risk Report,Captive Insurance Company Reports (CICR), and Employment Practices Liability Consultant (EPLic) have been added to the IRMI infobases.

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Newsletters & Journals

In response to requests from subscribers, we are now making an Adobe Acrobat version (PDF file) of the current issue of each of our newsletters available each month. This will allow you to quickly and easily print an attractive copy to toss in your briefcase and read at your leisure.

Having a range of mutually exclusive risk financing options is good, but is it possible to have your cake and eat it too? Is there a way to achieve the potential benefits of insurance accounting (tax-deductible premiums and off-balance sheet transfer) while retaining some of the benefits of self-insurance? The answer is “perhaps,” through a structured insurance program—converting a large sum of money into an insurance premium. In the June issue of The Risk Report, Don Riggin of Albert Risk Management Consults in Needham, Massachusetts, explains what is meant by “structured insurance,” how finite and structured insurance differ, and how it can be an efficient risk management tool for some uses.

The June issue of Captive Insurance Company Reports (CICR) begins with a review of CICA's Fronting Survey, including data on fees paid to fronting companies as a percentage of premiums, which lines are mostly fronted, what insurers provide the most fronting, the reasons for using a front, the importance of the front's support services, price/value of front services, types and amount of collateral used, and the level of collateral as a percentage of loss reserves. This year's survey also asked questions about reinsurance, including the percentage of premium spent on reinsurance, year-to-year changes in reinsurance costs, and how much reinsurance captives buy. Hugh Rosenbaum, CICR's editor emeritus, was given CICA's Distinguished Service award, and we include Hugh's acceptance speech which provides some of his sage thoughts—worth reading. In "Elusive Counting of Captives," Roger Gillett of ACE in Bermuda parses out various statistics used in captive data, particularly as it relates to Bermuda. He then makes a few deductions from the data he has reviewed about the captive market in general. We provide a brief overview of portions of the more comprehensive Tillinghast Tort Cost study, with specific charts on the growth of tort cost and GDP over different time sequences, the percentage of tort costs as a percent of GDP comparing 11 industrialized countries, total commercial tort costs in the United States, and medical malpractice tort costs compared over different time periods. The last article covers the Cayman Captive Forumum, written by John Lochner of Towers Perrin, and includes medical malpractice issues; fronting issues including fees, collateral, and claims management; practitioners' comments on physician's coverage in captives; and practitioners' comments on the need to align corporate goals with captive strategies.

The spring issue of Employment Practices Liability Consultant (EPLiC) contains the following articles: "Selling Employment Practices Liability Risk Management," "An EPLI Quiz," and "What If They Let Me Underwrite Employment Practices Liability Coverage?"

Reference Manuals

CGL Reporter is expanded with over 100 new annotations of recent insurance-related cases from appellate courts around the nation. Two new articles are also included, one written by Christopher Yetka, "Multiple Policyholders and the Insurer’s Obligation of Good Faith," and the other by Elizabeth Sackett, "Multiple Claims with Insufficient Policy Limits."

Canadian Coverage Caselaw contains 22 new case summaries, coming from the courts of seven provinces. Topics include property insurance exclusions, the pollution exclusion in the commercial general liability (CGL) insurance policy, the duty to defend, and how to apply an exclusion provision relating to intentional acts in a plain language policy—the result is quite surprising. There are new summaries on cases dealing with the auto policy and more on the CGL as well. In addition, a new article, "Insurance Law in Quebec," is also included. Canadian Coverage Caselaw is provided to CGL Reporter online subscribers at no additional cost.

Contractual Risk Transfer features a new discussion on drafting indemnity clauses. Also included are expanded discussions of the CGL's insured contract definition, the consequences of interpreting additional insured endorsements in conjunction with the underlying indemnity provisions, and third-party-over actions.

D&O MAPS has been expanded to include the following policies and analyses: RLI Nonprofit Health Care Organization D&O policy and analysis, RLI Private Company D&O policies—Private Company and Financial Products—and the analysis, RLI Private Equity D&O policies—Private Equity and Financial Products—and the analysis.

Levine on California Workers Compensation provides its annual supplement along with the spring issue of its quarterly newsletter, California Workers Compensation Premium Reporter. Some of the major topics covered in the supplement include the continuing impact of legislative reforms on the workers compensation marketplace, new appellate caselaw affecting workers compensation premium and insurance, regulatory decisions by the insurance commissioner, regulatory revisions impacting workers compensation policies, and statutory law changes related to premium/insurance issues. The newsletter reports on the claims adjuster regulations adopted by the insurance commissioner that took effect on February 22, 2006 and the issues surrounding the need for coordination when a workers compensation claimant is also eligible for Medicare benefits.

Professional Liability Insurance contains a revision of the allied health care professional liability exposure and coverage discussions found in section XVI. The discussions address changes within the medical field that have required the professional liability industry to develop new and expanded coverage for emerging allied health care professions and facilities. This supplement also contains an article on medical professional liability claims management, found in section IV, that replaces the previous article on this topic. The article provides a blueprint for managing complex litigation involving medical professionals and addresses key elements of the process, including investigation, reserving, internal reporting, handling of expert witnesses, damages evaluation, and trial strategy.

New Edition Added

The Wrap-Up Guide (4th edition) provides a basic understanding of controlled insurance programs (both OCIPs and CCIPs) commonly referred to as wrap-ups. It discusses feasibility, contracts, insurance program design, administration and safety management issues from the perspective of sponsors and participating contractors. This "how to" book provides a general guide to the implementation of wrap-ups and tools that may be useful to someone who must evaluate or administer a wrap-up program.

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