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Firm Insurance Market Expected to Last into Next Year

Denise GillinBusiness Insurance, Personal Lines

By Gavin Souter for BusinessInsurance.com Introduction by Jeffrey Gelburd, Vice President, Murray: As we head into the busy year end property / casualty renewal season, it is important to get a head start and have your best foot forward when negotiating renewal terms. With the exception of cyber liability, which is still very much in flux, rate increases on some lines have slowed down, and underwriters are interested in writing new business. After over two years of rate increases and takeaways, it’s in the best interest of insureds to market their program. Progress can now be obtained in negotiating improvements so anyone with good loss experience should use that to their advantage in renewal negotiations. Click to read Firm Insurance …

To Pay or Not to Pay: Is That the Question?

Denise GillinBusiness Insurance, News, Risk Management

By Scott Sinder for LeadersEdge We are on the heels of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, and many of us lived the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act debates that followed. The widely shared expectation at the time was that 9/11 was just the first of what we thought would be a long litany of terrorist events on U.S. soil. But those never materialized, and, to date, not one claim has been paid through the TRIA program. The recent exponential growth in “ransomware” claims, however, seems to have bucked that trend. There is a spate of more well publicized cases—Colonial Pipeline and CNA?—but as Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, recently noted, the overall “rate of ransomware attacks …

Does Your Insurance Program Cover All Insurance Requirements in the Contracts You’re Signing?

Denise GillinConstruction, Insurance, Risk Management

By Gary Semmer for AssuredPartners A great question to stop and ask yourself – how certain are you that in the event of a claim your insurance program will trigger coverage? Often, contracts get signed, excited to have that piece completed and ready to get moving with the next part. But, if you aren’t checking your insurance program’s fine print ahead of signing a contract you may be signing something that could be the beginning of a major problem later on. Let’s examine 3 problematic areas: Indemnification Additional Insured Requirements Coverage Restrictions or Exclusions Click to read more>>>

Is a Group Captive Right for Your Business?

Denise GillinBusiness Insurance, Risk Management

If your organization has a strong business culture that prioritizes employee health and safety and a history of low claims, you can: Have greater control over claim management. Know every penny spent on insurance is accounted for. Take the surprises out of renewal time. In less than four minutes, this video can help you determine if a captive is a good fit for your company. To further discuss the captive options we have available, contact Lori Harris, AAI, CPIA, Captive Director / Account Executive at 717.381.3477 or email her at lharris@murrayins.com. Murray is proud to be a part of AssuredPartners, committed to providing Power Through Partnership.

AssuredPartners: 10 Years of Growth Based on Relationships

Denise GillinInsurance, News

By Jim Henderson, Chairman and CEO, AssuredPartners for Business Insurance Consolidation has been an ongoing part of insurance distribution for many years. At AssuredPartners, we’re celebrating the 10th anniversary of our founding. In that time, we have become one of the largest and fast­est-growing brokerages in the United States. But our story is more than just achieving a high level of growth. AssuredPartners is all about building lasting relationships – with our clients, our asso­ciates, our agency partners, and the insurance companies with which we do business to solve our clients’ risk management needs. A lot has changed in a decade, and as we look back since our founding in 2011, we have seen some of those changes. Certainly many …

DOT: Red Flag Violations and the Worst 1%

Denise GillinInsurance, News, Risk Management

By Andy Engardio for AssuredPartners.com The DOT Auditor is on the lookout for any potential violations. They will build your carrier profile before they even arrive at your office for audit. In that profile, they will compile all public and non-public federal data available regarding your company. There are several reports that they will pull and review to build this profile. Two of the reports the DOT will review: Red Flag Violations Worst 1%ers Both reports are federal programs, which means they are non-public, and they are based on road-side inspections. Also, since they aren’t public, there is no real way to prepare for the results of these. The Red Flag Violations report highlights 16 violations that are considered to …

Seven Critical Risks Facing the Agriculture Industry

Denise GillinAgribusiness, Insurance, News, Risk Management

By Autumn Demberger for RiskAndInsurance.com Everyone needs to eat — it’s right there at level one on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, after all. But how often do we take the time to think about where our food comes from? What needs to happen to bring us together around the table each night to share our stories and connect with our loved ones? Those in the agriculture sector know a thing or two about the process behind stocking the grocery store shelves. There’s sowing and weeding and watering and raising livestock, for one thing. And then there’s managing the risks. Click here to find out more about the key critical risks facing the agriculture industry, from a hardening property insurance market …

U.S. Construction Insurance Market: Expect Higher Prices, Increased Security

Denise GillinConstruction, Insurance, News

By Sedat Kunt for ConstructionExec.com From a shortage of skilled workers to supply chain disruptions to the spiraling cost of essential materials, construction companies face substantial pressures. These risks come at the same time as insurance prices are rising and securing coverage is more challenging, threatening the profitability, and even the viability, of certain projects. Insurance pricing in the U.S. and globally, on average, has been increasing for several quarters. As insurers increase scrutiny on all applications—including extensions—companies in the construction industry are experiencing longer placement and renewal timelines and requests from underwriters for additional information. Read three actions you can take for more effective insurance renewals>>>  

Seven Key Trends Affecting 2021’s Hard Insurance Market

Denise GillinInsurance, News

By James C. Drinkwater for PropertyCasualty360.com Around the one-year mark since the start of the pandemic, markets began to experience the lasting effects of the challenges presented to them in 2020. While I’m hopeful that there is light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel, we’ll likely see hardening market conditions persist throughout 2021. Some of the key trends and factors that marked the insurance industry over the past year or so include: Unpredictable natural disasters lead to a choppy property market in 2021 Lifestyle changes and emerging threats lead to dramatic shifts in cyber The ever-evolving cannabis / CBD industry means growing risks Excessive fee litigation is changing the fiduciary insurance market Opportunity in offshore wind infrastructure spurs a …

Trucking Companies: Insurance Renewal Questions

Denise GillinBusiness Insurance, Risk Management

By Tyson Keith for AssuredPartners.com The year of 2021 has already proven to be a record-breaking year for the trucking industry, as there are more active trucking companies now than ever before. According to the Trucking Register’s May 2021 report, there are 13,200 more active authorities than there were in April, which is nearly ten times the average monthly growth of the industry! This creates an issue for truck insurance carriers, as the industry is not equipped to handle the rapid growth. Underwriting companies rely heavily on retail agencies to vet each trucking company and give them the insight they need to properly underwrite each risk. With over 431,000 active trucking companies all renewing their insurance on an annual basis, …