Category Archives: Insurance

Игроки всегда ценят удобный и стабильный доступ к играм. Для этого идеально подходит зеркало Вавады, которое позволяет обходить любые ограничения, обеспечивая доступ ко всем бонусам и слотам.

5 Property/Casualty Insurer Goals for 2012

Posted on by

Ernst & Young offers its advice to insurers that want to succeed in the year ahead.

Execute flexible approaches to manage uncertain conditions. To implement fluid strategies in an environment of multiple uncertainties, an insurer’s operational capabilities, infrastructure and corporate culture must support flexible, rapid and well-governed decision-making, thereby assuring agile performance with accountability. Diligent monitoring of changes in loss exposures and loss development drivers will guide flexible adjustments to risk management and risk pricing.

Anticipate, understand and address the impact of prospective regulations. Insurers must assess the impact of new regulations and accounting changes prior to implementation. They should consider enhancing the sophistication, articulation and deployment of their risk management standards and related systems, as compared to their current regulatory and reporting environments.  E&Y states that those insurers who fail to understand the full impact of regulations and new accounting standards may lose competitive advantage.

Comprehend and act upon changing insurance buying behaviors. Gaining a clear understanding of the customer will improve the chances of marketing success, notes E&Y. The buying behaviors and risk profiles of tomorrow’s customers will likely bear little resemblance to those today. Identifying, assessing and capitalizing on the characteristics of tomorrow’s customers underscores the need to tailor products, services and distribution channels to their specialized needs, notes the report.

Increase investments in core systems to bolster growth and profitability.  Insurers face mounting pressures to modernize core insurance systems such as claims, policy administration, underwriting and billing. Competitors have set the stage for this need for improvement, along with heightened customer expectations and, above all, increasing costs to maintain and upgrade systems. “Faced with limited investment alternatives yielding an attractive return, insurers are investing in themselves to position their operations for growth and improved profitability,” notes the firm.

Apply business analytics to address difficult top-line growth conditions. E&Y states that an uncertain economic environment will force insurers to apply business analytics across the value chain can glean deeper information on customer markets, underwriting segment profitability and claims management. Insights gained from analytics can then guide both strategy development and improved decision making, notes the firm.

Extreme Risks of Reality TV Shows — Are They Insurable?

Posted on by

Fear Factor, Wipe Out, Survivor and even The Biggest Loser are all shows that put contestants at risk. And in order to gain viewers’ attention (and ratings to keep advertisers happy), reality shows are constantly trying to one-up each other while in turn increasing their risk. So how do these shows get away with it? Who would insure such insane acts? How do producers make sure they’re covered in case of an injury or death? To answer these questions, I turned to Lorrie McNaught, reality TV expert with Aon/Albert G. Ruben.

What types of reality shows spur the most insurance claims?
LM: Many times it’s more of the “walk and talk” shows as opposed to those with stunts that spur the most claims. Audience members are often hurt while being moved in and out of the auditorium.

online pharmacy rifadin with best prices today in the USA

With stunt-laden productions, producers and networks are extremely cautious, and often will hire outside loss control professionals to ensure safety protocol is at its best.

online pharmacy champix with best prices today in the USA

Every precaution is taken to make sure the stunts are dangerous looking, but not TOO dangerous to perform. As walk-and-talk programming seems so simple, sometimes safety hazards are overlooked.

Are any stunts or activities uninsurable?
LM: The quick answer is no, with the exception of intentional acts; the right broker can find a quote for anything a producer wants to do.

online pharmacy tadalista with best prices today in the USA

Usually it comes down to pricing, and how much they have in the budget for insurance. The right broker doesn’t hear the word “no” from insurers. They find a way to get coverage.

How are contestants insured? Or are they?
LM: There are many ways that producers look at mitigating their risks when it comes to contestant injuries. Many times, it will depend on requirements from the networks, and how much they are allocated for insurance. But most, if not all, production companies have participants/contestants sign liability releases, which hold them harmless in the event of injury to the participant while they are filming the show. Production companies have a general liability policy, which would protect them from bodily injury claims, in the event a contestant decided to file a suit. There are other ways that production companies can provide coverage, including accident medical policies and short-term disability. These might be an option for production companies who wish to offer some type of coverage for the participants if they are hurt, while helping to keep their GL policies claims free.

What keeps show producers and risk experts up at night?
LM: Concerns that they might not be able to film the production the way they want to. And, if insurance is the reason that things are held up, that is a huge problem. As an experienced broker, you get to the point where you can almost proactively imagine what the production companies may want to do on a certain show, and you can go to the marketplace and request quotes for various options to present to the producer. That way, they have some options up front, and can create a budget that will allow them to do the shoot they want to, since they’ve been able to plan for it.

What is the biggest mistake producers can make when choosing their insurance programs?
LM: Picking a broker who has little experience and is unable to get the producers the coverage and pricing they need to get their production made.

What should producers be aware of in their agreements with the networks?
LM: The networks all require indemnification from the producers. Sometimes the networks will require the producers to also use the networks’ own insurance program. At the point an uncovered or under-covered claim happens, it could leave a producer bare of coverage, but still forced to indemnify the network. A producer should always carry their own insurance as well, to protect themselves at all times.

Insurance Modernization and Improvement

Posted on by

The Federal Insurance Office hosted a conference this morning to discuss modernizing and improving the insurance regulations system. The conference brought together state insurance regulators, federal government officials, consumer organizations, representatives of the insurance industry and insurance experts to exchange ideas on potential areas for insurance regulatory reform.

Here are the opening comments from Deputy Secretary Neal Wolin:

FIO has begun carrying out the responsibilities laid out for it in the Dodd-Frank Act.  As you all know, the office is responsible for, among other things:

  • Monitoring the insurance industry, identifying gaps in regulation, and participating in the Financial Stability Oversight Council (“the Council”) – all to help ensure stability in the insurance industry and the broader financial system
  • Developing and coordinating federal policy on prudential aspects of international insurance matters
  • Evaluating the accessibility and affordability of insurance products for low- and middle-income Americans
  • Advising the Secretary of the Treasury on insurance issues

To be clear: regulating the insurance industry is not one of FIO’s responsibilities.  Nothing in the Dodd-Frank Act alters the fact that insurance is fundamentally regulated by the states.
State regulators are important partners in our work.  As FIO moves forward, we understand that maintaining a strong relationship with the states will be critical for fulfilling the responsibilities Congress assigned to the new office.

In recent months, FIO has made important progress.  Through its work with the Council, FIO has already lent its expertise to Dodd-Frank Act studies and rulemakings that are central to financial regulatory reform.

Both in this work, and in its advisory role helping the Council monitor risks to U.S. financial stability, FIO works closely with two other Council members who provide perspectives on insurance:  Former Kentucky Insurance Commissioner Roy Woodall, who serves as the Council’s independent insurance expert, and the Director of Missouri’s Department of Insurance John Huff, who was selected by state insurance regulators.
FIO’s advisory body, the Federal Advisory Committee on Insurance, has also been established. Last month, FIO announced the appointment of 15 insurance experts, approximately half of whom are state insurance regulators, to serve as its first members.

On the international side, FIO recently became a full member of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), which is currently working to designate globally significant insurers and develop a framework for supervising of internationally active insurance groups.  FIO will continue to work closely with state regulators as it develops and advances a U.S. perspective on these and other international insurance regulatory matters.

Finally, as you all know, FIO will report to Congress in January on how to improve and modernize the United States’ system of insurance regulation.  We want the views of a wide range of stakeholders to inform our work.

To that end, we are reaching out in a variety of ways.  In October, we put out a request for public comments in the Federal Register.  The comment period closes on December 16, and we encourage all interested parties to submit their thoughts on the issues we’ll cover in the report.

The January/February issue of Risk Management will include an article on the timely topic of insurance modernization. Make sure to check it out online or in print February 1st. And check back here for more updates on the conference currently taking place.

 

Women to Watch

Posted on by

The risk management and insurance industry was, and still is, a male-dominated field. This is a fact. But what’s also true is that more and more executive-level positions within the industry are being filled by women. They moved from secretary to the risk manager, to CFOs of major corporations, directors of risk management for Fortune 500 companies and heads of insurance recovery for major law firms.

They’re making moves.

In Risk Management‘s January/February 2011 issue, I highlighted some of the female pioneers within the risk management and insurance industry, letting them share their story of how they squashed sterotypes and landed leading roles in the field. I profiled successful women such as:

  • Kathie Maley, Vice President, Risk  Management, Special Risk Services, IMA Financial Group
  • Stacey Nielsen, Senior Risk Analyst, Dollar Tree Stores
  • Tamika Puckett, Risk Manager, Public Schools of Alexandria City, Virginia
  • Trish Henry, Executive Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, ACE
  • Lori Seidenberg, Vice President of Enterprise Risk Management, Centerline Capital Group
  • Dorien Smithson, Executive Vice President of Strategic Outcomes Practices, Willis

    University of California Chief Risk Officer Grace Crickette.

And we get a glimpse of the achivements of even more women in Business Insurance‘s annual “Women to Watch.” In it, the publication recognizes women doing outstanding work in insurance, risk and benefits management, and related fields. One of the 25 honorees, Grace Crickette, spoke at last month’s RIMS ERM Conference in San Diego. As the chief risk officer for the University of California, she also serves on the RIMS ERM Committee. In her interview with Business Insurance, she gives some great advice to future (and even current) generations of risk managers:

I had a great boss, who’s since passed away, and one day he said to me, “Grace, your desk is a dangerous place to do your job.” And I said, “Well, Bill, what do you mean by that?” And he said, “You’re not going to make the best decisions on implementing policies and procedures and programs if you don’t get out in the field and really understand the business.” So I think that would be one bit of advice: Don’t spend too much time at your desk. There’s not a lot of risk at your desk; and if you want to be of value to the organization and really progress in the organization, you really need to get out and really understand the business in a holistic way. The other one is also then to learn the language or the taxonomy of the other people you’re working with. I think in risk management, you can tend to become insular and just focus from an educational or professional standpoint on being with other risk managers and studying just risk management.

Great advice for any profession.