A View from the Press Box

All things considered, Harry and Louise–that folksy, fictional, middle-class couple that helped kill First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton’s healthcare reform proposals back in the mid-90s–might very well vote for Sen. Hillary Clinton this time around in her quest for the White House.

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When I suggested during a recent speech on how to improve the industry’s lousy image that insurers make use of their army of employees as good-will ambassadors, I was pigeonholed afterwards by a few very nervous executives who complained that their legal departments would never allow such an initiative to be launched. If that’s true, the industry is cutting off its nose to spite its face.

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There was some grumbling during the recent meeting I attended of the Society Of Insurance Financial Management about whether or not the industry is making too much, or too little money! It depends on your point of view, I suppose…or does it? Read on and tell me what you think.

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It’s easy to sell risk management in a hard market. But when premiums start to plummet and capacity is plentiful, it takes a truly dedicated, disciplined and even courageous independent agency to walk away from prospects who only want quotes for the lowest price, and don’t share a commitment to loss control, safety and lowering the overall cost of risk. Such fortitude is largely what set this year’s finalists apart from the pack in the sixth annual National Underwriter Commercial Insurance Agency of the Year award program.

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There I was, being driven in a plush limo from the airport to the exclusive Boca Raton Resort & Club, invited to make a speech on the industry’s image and its impact on the bottom line before a group of insurance company financial types, when the driver, after asking why I was in town, went on to pour his heart out about how the cost of insurance is ruining his life.

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Just when you think Marsh might be getting its act together in its quest to overcome the fallout from bid-rigging and contingency fee abuse scandals, its CEO, Brian Storms, suddenly takes a hike or is kicked out the door. For the embattled behemoth, it’s back to square one.

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Litigation and policy debates among state and federal lawmakers have exploded over the controversial anti-concurrent-causation clauses in homeowners policies–which deny coverage for most, if not all windstorm losses when excluded flood-related damage is also involved. Consumer advocates call the clause confusing at best, and at worst a “trap door” to deny insureds their legitimate coverage. Click on to see some of the ethical questions we raise for readers, and feel free to respond–either directly to this blog, or to our ethics columnist.

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NU Assistant Managing Editor Caroline McDonald is in Monte Carlo this week, gathering the latest news from the annual Reinsurance Rendezvous. You can check out her news coverage online on Friday. However, she also posted a side note about how SCOR is creating buzz with some unusual billboard advertising (one sample shown here). Click on to read more.

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In response to our latest “Question of Ethics,” readers weighed in on the ethical implications of doing business in states where claimants seem to be able to “profit” from their losses–getting more cash from their insurer than they actually suffered in monetary damages. Read on to find out what your fellow NU readers had to say on the subject, as culled by our ethics columnist, Peter R. Kensicki, and feel free to add more comments on this blog!

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Here on Sept. 11, the sixth anniversary of the terrorist attack that supposedly altered America forever, some things never change. Washington remains shortsighted, as well as penny wise and pound foolish, as the latest developments in the debate over whether to extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act demonstrates.

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