Category Archives: Insurance

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Recap of the Inaugural CLM Women’s Forum

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I may have been a bit reluctant to leave a looming deadline to spend an afternoon at an industry conference, but that reluctance soon gave way to amazement as I listened to professional women, one after another, describe their undying motivation, their history of hard work and their successful attempts at breaking the glass ceiling. Here are a few excerpts from many of the panelists:

LoriAnn Lowery

At the first annual Council on Litigation Management’s National Women’s Forum, one of the first speakers was LoriAnn Lowery, president of field operations for Naviators and former president of Lloyd’s North America. Using her 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, Lowery talked about her seven principles to live by as a female in the male-dominated world of insurance.

  1. Don’t let the past dictate the future — forget your past shortcomings
  2. Be aware of the power of perception — take control of your perception, be self-aware, ask others frankly about their perception of you
  3. Evaluate where you are — perform your own personal 360
  4. Identify your constraints — this touched on the psychologically-based theory of constraints
  5. Evaluate where you want to go, both inside and outside of your current organization — make your career happen for you and don’t be seen as a commodity
  6. Assess your leadership quotient — this is determined by both emotional and intellectual intelligence
  7. Brand yourself for career success — make a personal mission statement, perfect your 2-minute personal elevator speech, network and form a personal advisory board

Paula R. Watson

Watson’s background proved impressive to the 250+ crowd. She is a graduate of the United States Army War College. After that, she served more than 23 years in the United States’ Army Judge Advocate Gerneral’s Corps and retired as a decorated Colonel. She currently serves as vice president and senior counsel for TD Bank.

Watson made it clear that those in the room, along with successful people in general, are successful because:

“You know how to change missteps into opportunities. You have learned to sell a misstep to be something positive — it’s a growth opportunity.”

Dorien Smithson

Smithson proved to be no-nonsense, straight shooter. She has more than 30 years of experience in the risk management and insurance industry and currently oversees all Willis, North America claim, risk control and data analytics. Smithson told the audience that there is a difference between aggressive and assertive. She is sometimes seen as aggressive, while her male coworkers are seen as assertive — representing the classic double standard. She encouraged, to a certain extent, aggressiveness/assertiveness in the workplace — however you want to refer to it. A few of other favorite quotes from Smithson:

“If I sleep through the night, it’s probably time for me to go.” — In response to a question asking how the panelists knew it was time to move in a new direction within the company, or to a new job altogether.

“I don’t really have that gene.” — In response to LoriAnn Lowery’s claim that sometimes women can be too nurturing in the work environment because it’s in their DNA.

More Quotable Quotes:

“A great leader is able to get more out of their team that the sum of the parts.” — Kate Bertini, assistant general counsel, United Technologies Corporation

“Ask yourself: Can you articulate your client’s desires and concerns?” — Julie Fortune, senior vice president and chief claims officer, Arrowpoint Capital

“Don’t be high-maintenance. Take control instead of asking permission. Don’t be too nurturing.” –LoriAnn Lowery, president of field operations, Navigators

“Once [professional women] climb the corporate ladder, they reach not only a glass ceiling, but sometimes a glass cliff.” — Deborah Masucci, vice president, Chartis

“When I started 28 years ago in the litigation business, I walked into the courtroom and the judge said to me, ‘Are you here to drop something off, sweetie?'” — Ricki Roer, partner, Goehring, Rutter & Boehm

“Women that have succeeded need to get real and help their brethren.” — Deborah Masucci, speaking about the importance of mentoring

“Expand your pool of suppliers. Don’t just pick up the phone and call who you always call. Support women, minorities and the GLBT community.” — Robin Sangston, vice president of legal affairs, Cox Communications

Altogether, the afternoon conference was a great learning experience from women who have become pioneers in their field. Not only was it exciting to learn from these women within the industry, it was, maybe most importantly, extremely inspiring.

The Evolving Impact of Self-Insured Retentions and Deductibles

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As a growing numbers of insureds elect to control more of their insurance costs by increasing self-insured retentions (SIRs) and deductibles, a variety of issues have begun to emerge. In a Risk Management magazine online exclusive, attorneys Michael A. Hamilton and Michael Murphy of Nelson Levine de Luca & Horst, LLP discuss the impact of this decision and its evolving legal implications.

The duties and obligations of insurers and policyholders in relation to SIRs or deductibles have their genesis in two sources: the common law and the insurance contract. Principles of equity and good faith govern the relationship between the parties. However, as in most insurance coverage disputes, rights set forth in the insurance contract will control. Thus, courts will enforce clear policy language setting forth items such as an insured’s duties concerning the handling claims within the SIR, who must satisfy the SIR before an insurer’s obligations will be triggered, and an insurer’s duties when an insured is insolvent. The interplay between common law rights and contractual undertakings will help shape courts’ future decisions in this emerging area of insurance law.

For more, read the rest of this informative article, only on RMmagazine.com.

Workers Comp Turns 100

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100th birthday

2010 marks the 100th anniversary of workers compensation. That’s right — that little program that ensures that a worker will be paid if he or she is injured on the job now officially dates back a century.

These days, everyone is familiar with workers comp and we may even take it for granted sometimes.

Nancy Hamlet, senior vice president of Healthcare Solutions, wrote a feature for the November issue of Risk Management magazine (available online November 1st) that explores the long history and evolving future of workers comp. She notes that the first statewide workers comp law was adopted in Wisconsin in 1911, but “scholars have found evidence that the concept of formalizing payments to injured workers existed as early 2050 BCE.” Hamlet added:

The early Greeks, Romans, Arabs and Chinese all had compensation schedules for certain losses as well. For example, an Arab who lost a finger received more than someone who lost a thumb; the value of a lost ear was calculated based on its surface area.

Workers comp has (thankfully) evolved into a system that delivers value to both employers and employees by striving for fair compensation for workplace injuries. Workers comp systems vary from state to state, however. The Insurance Information Institute (III) has penned a lengthy article on the current state of workers comp in America (available online). The article examines some recent state activities, including:

Oklahoma: In an effort to make the state more attractive to new business, Oklahoma legislators passed a number of workers compensation bills in May, including HB 2652, which would modify the workers compensation court, effective November 2010. Oklahoma is one of a handful of states where the courts administer the workers compensation system.

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Among other things, it will reduce the number of judges on the court, require them to have at least five years of workers compensation experience prior to appointment and require Senate confirmation for new judges appointed by the Governor to fill vacancies.

In addition, it would extend their terms from six to eight years.

Texas: A pilot return-to-work program, adopted as part of comprehensive workers compensation reforms that took place in 2005, has now been made permanent. The program, which was designed to promote early and sustained return to the workplace after a work-related injury, reimburses an employer with less than 50 employees for expenses incurred in making workplace modifications so that the injured employee can return to the work. Maximum reimbursements, which under the pilot program were $2,500, have been raised to $5,000. Insurers are required to inform policyholders of the existence of the program.

New York: In accordance with the provisions of the 2007 workers compensation reform bill, employers who establish a safety incentive program, a return-to-work program and a drug and alcohol prevention program will be eligible to receive premium credits. Employers setting up safety programs that conform to the regulations issued by the Commissioner of Labor or a return-to-work program will receive a 4% credit in the first full year and a 2% credit each consecutive year. Drug and alcohol prevention programs are eligible for 2% premium credits.

Florida: In May 2009 lawmakers passed HB 903 in response to a state Supreme Court decision that reinstated hourly attorneys’ fees. Hourly fees had been the largest cost driver in the state’s workers compensation system. Under the new law, attorney fees in workers compensation cases will now return to the sliding scale set out in reform legislation passed in 2003. As a result, the 6.4% workers compensation rate increase imposed in April after the ruling was rescinded, and the 18.6% rate decrease that would have taken effect before the ruling was reinstated in July 2009. Rates declined again effective July 2010, the eighth consecutive drop, bringing the overall rate decrease since the reforms were passed to 64.7%, according to the insurance commissioner.

California: The Workers Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau is calling for a 29.6% rate increase to take effect in January 2011. A hearing will be held at the end of September. The insurance commissioner rejected the last request for an increase.
The bureau’s recommendations are advisory only. The bureau noted that even with the proposed increase, rates would still be 53% lower than those in effect on July  1, 2003, the year reforms were adopted that have stabilized the system.

Hamlet notices a few more trends, which she includes in her article on the topic. Those are the upward pressure on medical care costs* due to the increasing obesity of Americans and an aging workforce; the growing digitization of medical care records, which will speed the review process and help the injured worker return to worker faster; and the impact of personalized prescription drugs.

*The III notes that spending on medical care for workers comp claims climbed a cumulative 200% between 1993 and 2007.

Groundbreaking Flood Models for Latin America

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Willis Re has introduced long-awaited flood models for Latin America through their research arm Willis Research Network (WRN). The models focused on large event scenarios for key cities such as Sao Paulo, Santiago and Bogota.

“The flood models provide South American insurance and reinsurance firms, as well as local governmental organizations, with new information that helps to identify and manage their exposure to flash floods caused by heavy rains and riverine overflow. Related results will be available for individual companies as well as the market as a whole and will have implications on planning, reinsurance and risk mitigation.”

The news was presented during the Geneva Association‘s 2nd Climate Change and Insurance meeting held in Sao Paulo last month by Dr. Juan Enlgand of Willis Re, who stated that these models might be used to consider the potential impact of climate change.

These models are greatly needed to say the least. Last year, floods and mudslides in Brazil caused 44 deaths and an estimated $1 billion in damages. In April, more than 250 died in Rio de Janeiro after torrential rains caused massive flooding and landslides. In June, more flooding in Brazil killed at least 41 and left more than 120,000 homeless. As Margo Black, CEO of Willis Re Brazil commented:

“Urban flood risk is an acute concern for Latin American re/insurers who have been challenged by growing losses and the lack of models to guide risk management.”

With Willis Re’s new models, it is hoped that future losses from almost-certain floods will be lessened in the ever-growing, major cities of South America.