I admit it. I'm a fan of reality tv. Not only that, I don't understand the disdain people hold for that genre. I don't see a bright line between "scripted" and "unscripted" shows. Plenty of so-called scripted shows feature ad libs or at least input by actors. Reality shows are plotted, just by people whose job title is producer rather than writer. I liken the process to eliciting testimony at trial. You can prep your witnesses,...
Michigan Health Plan Tax Lawsuit Tests Business Community Priorities
A lawsuit filed last week in Federal Court seeking a declaration that Michigan’s Health Insurance Claims Assessment Act is preempted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) will certainly test existing legal precedent, but perhaps the more interesting test will be how the business community responds.This blog previously reported that officials from one prominent business organization in the state had no intention...
A Tale of Two Domiciles...Revisted
We suggested a narrative earlier this year that two southern captive insurance domiciles would be worth watching to compare and contrast based on insurance commissioner appointments in each state. Let’s review.The captive industry in South Carolina fell on hard times during the regime of Insurance Commissioner Scott Richardson who left office at the end of 2010. When newly-elected Governor Nikki Haley named David Black as his...
Happy New Years, Everyone.
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jokes
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I wanted to post some funny insurance jokes today, but after wasting a lot of time searching the web I couldn't find any that were actually funny. So I asked my ten year old daughter for the best joke she knows. This is what she said:An alien comes down from Mars. He changes into the form of a human except he doesn't give himself any ears because he thinks they look weird. He starts a business and puts a "Now Hiring" sign on the...
Appeals court holds judge not required to give jury instruction on presumption of consent to use vehicle if contrary evidence has been offered
McConnico, an employee of Dollar Rent-A-Car, struck and killed Kohlmeyer, a pedestrian, while he was driving one of Dollar's automobiles.McConnico's primary responsibility was to deliver automobiles to hotels. On the evening before the accident McConnico took a Dollar vehicle to run a a personal errand. The accident occurred as he was driving the car back to Dollar the next day.McConnico had signed a written acknowledgement when...
Gap insurance
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Gap insurance
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Here's an interesting article at The Frugal Toad on a type of insurance I'd never heard of. I was hoping that Gap Insurance might cover the jeans my kid spilled tomato sauce on just after I bought them. But it actually covers the difference between the actual value of a new car and what you paid for it, since new cars lose their value the instant you drive them off the lot.Another solution to this problem: Don't buy new ca...
U.S. District Court holds that insurer who wrongfully denied duty to defend must indemnify insured where question of duty to indemnify is in equipoise
A couple of days ago I wrote about Manganella v. Evanston Ins. Co., 2011 WL 5118898 (D. Mass.), in which Evanston Insurance Company denied coverage for a sexual harassment claim because the misconduct began before the policy period.At issue was the MCAD claim of Burgess against her employer, Jasmine Company, alleging that she had been harassed by Luciano Manganella since she began her employment a couple of years before the Evanston...
U.S. District Court holds that continuing violation doctrine does not apply to insurance coverage disputes
Luciano Mangenalla owned and, after selling the company in 2005 to Lerner, managed a women's clothing boutique called Jasmine.In 1998 Jasmine was sued by Sonia Bawa, a former employee, for sexual harassment. In the wake of the lawsuit Manganella caused Jasmine to purchase an Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) policy from Evanston Insurance Company. The insurance application stated that, except for the Bawa matter,...
Cavalcade of Risk #145 is up
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cavalcade of risk
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Take a look here for an excellent compilation of blog posts about ri...
Massachusetts now bans personal auto insurers from using credit scores in setting rates
Property Casualty 360 discusses the development in this artic...
U.S. District Court holds that mortgagee can require flood insurance higher than the amount of the mortgage
In 1994 Susan Lass took out a mortgage on her house, which is an area that is designated under the National Flood Insurance Act as a special flood hazard area. (For older posts on flood insurance legislation, see here and then scroll down.) As a named plaintiff in a class action lawsuit Lass alleged that Bank of America, the mortgagee, breached her mortgage contract by requiring her to have more flood insurance than was required...
How to Choose Fleet Insurance
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Fleet Insurance
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Currently many companies that offer fleet insurance. If you require fleet insurance, you should consider a few things below.When you are running a company that transports items back and forth it can be expensive. However, if you know what to find in fleet insurance it will be easy to locate the plan which can help save you quite a bit of...
How to Choose Fleet Insurance
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Fleet Insurance
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Currently many companies that offer fleet insurance. If you require fleet insurance, you should consider a few things below.When you are running a company that transports items back and forth it can be expensive. However, if you know what to find in fleet insurance it will be easy to locate the plan which can help save you quite a bit of...
Fraud on pet insurance increasing in England
Read all about it here. But only if you want to be outraged and sadden...
Okay -- an insurer should be bound by a mutual mistake over the terms of the policy . . . sometimes
Last week I wrote a somewhat snide post about a Superior Court decision in Caron v. Horace Mann Ins. Co., a decision that was reported in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly but that I have not seen. The judge apparently held that an insurance company is bound by a mutual mistake between an insured and an agent over the terms of the policy.My knee-jerk reaction was that the terms of the policy always trump, and that an insured is presumed...
New Federal Insurance Office to compile financial data on insurers
Here's a detailed article that explains upcoming changes in the public availability of financial data on insure...
Keep your policies forever
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keep your policies
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I can't say it too often: Keep copies of your insurance policies, forever, in a place you can find them. If at the beginning of your policy year your insurer or agent sends you only the coverage selection (or "declarations") page -- the page that summarizes your coverages -- ask for a copy of the entire policy. Do it immediately or you may never get it. And when you get it, make sure that the policy forms and endorsements provided...
Disagreement between First Circuit and Superior Court on whether terms of insurance policy control coverage
Welch Foods was sued by a competitor and by consumers for placing a label on a three juice blend bottle that pictured mainly pomegranates, even though the juice blend consisted primarily of apple and grape juice. A jury in California found that the label had a tendency to deceive a substantial number of customers. (Really? You really think that a three juice blend will consist primarily of pomegranate juice?)Welch requested insurance...
Wedding Insurance?
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Wedding insurance
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This article at Canadian Finance Blog says it a...
Retirement Plan Limits for 2012
by Richard F. O'Boyle, Jr., LUTCF, MBAThe Internal Revenue Service is boosting the maximum contribution that workers can make to their 401(k), 403(b) and most 457 retirement plans without paying upfront taxes. The limit will rise by $500 to $17,000 for 2012. Workers over 50 can add another $5,500 to that. Individuals may still contribute $5,000 to traditional IRAs or Roth IRAs, or $6,000 if older than 50.The deduction for taxpayers...
Should I Replace My Life Insurance or Annuity Policy?
by Richard F. O'Boyle, Jr., LUTCF, MBALife insurance and annuity contracts are intended to be medium- to long-term agreements. Term life insurance policies often have 20-year durations, and many annuity contracts have 8-year surrender periods. But in some cases, it makes sense to cancel or replace a contract with a new one. When should you cancel or replace your life insurance or annuity policy?You may consider making the change...
Book Review: “Buckets of Money: How to Retire in Comfort and Safety,” by Raymond J. Lucia, CFP
Book Review: “Buckets of Money: How to Retire in Comfort and Safety,” by Raymond J. Lucia, CFP (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2004)by Richard F. O’Boyle, Jr., LUTCF, MBA“The Insider’s Guide to Retirement and Insurance Planning”http://www.retirementandinsurance.com We’re taught to save throughout our working years to fund our retirement – diligently socking money into our 401(k)s and paying down our debt. But once we flip the switch...
Fee-based vs. Commission-based Financial Planners: The Pros and Cons
by Richard F. O’Boyle, Jr., LUTCF, MBA“The Insider’s Guide to Retirement and Insurance Planning”http://www.retirementandinsurance.comThroughout this article, I have referred to “financial planner” in the general sense to indicate advisors who work with life insurance, annuities, disability coverage and retirement planning. A “Certified Financial Planner” is a specific professional designation.It’s common knowledge that you have...
NAIC Provides Forum for Ivory Tower Attack on Self-Insurance
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has never been known as an organization where the self-insurance/alternative risk transfer industry is treated fairly, but its penchant for bias became even more visible this past week. Worse yet, this bias is now being fomented by an “ivory tower” expert.Professor Timothy Stoltzfus Jost is the designated “consumer representative” on the NAIC’s ERISA (B) Subgroup , which...
RRG Legislation Snagged by Dodd-Frank Creation
After some initial good progress in moving federal legislation to modernize the Liability Risk Retention Act (LRRA), a new rhetorical roadblock has been raised.The Risk Retention Modernization Act (H.R. 2126) includes a dispute resolution provision whereby RRGs who believe they are being illegally regulated in non-domiciliary states can access the equivalent of a federal arbitration process as an alternative to initiating costly...
Regulatory Overreach Compromises Workplace Safety Initiatives
In case you had any doubt that the current public debate over the scope of federal regulation is more about political ideology rather than practical reality, look no further than OSHA’s ramped up oversight of workplace safety issues.Now on the surface, this may sound like a laudable focus because almost everyone agrees that there is a role for government in making sure that sensible workplace safety standards are established and...
Inside Politics in Michigan Demonstrate That Self-Insurance Priorities Are Too Easiliy Dealt Away
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is poised to sign legislation that would impose a one percent tax on medical claims paid by health plans, including self-insured group health plans. This is big news and is certainly a disturbing development for those concerned about the erosion of ERISA preemption. But there is a more interesting story behind the headlines that is instructive for self-insured employers in other states as well.In...
Understanding Insurance Company Financial Ratings
Understanding Insurance Company Financial Ratingsby Richard F. O’Boyle, Jr., LUTCF, MBATriple A, Gone AwayWell, it’s official: The United States Government no longer has a perfect credit score. On August 5, 2011 its credit rating was lowered by Standard & Poor’s to AA+ from AAA. The rating on the debt of the federal government and some specific agencies such as mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was lowered because...
Three Simple Steps to Avoid Probate
Tricks of the Trade: Three Simple Steps to Avoid Probateby Richard F. O'Boyle, Jr., LUTCF, MBAMuch is said about the value of avoiding probate, the legal process where your will (if you have one) is validated and its provisions carried out. Complicated estates can be tied up for years with legal maneuvering and family wrangling. Most cases are straight-forward and uncomplicated – but they can still be time-consuming and emotionally...
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