Program Business Recap for 2012
Our Lawyers’, Workers’ Comp, RLI and Hospitality Mutual programs continued to provide our members and their clients with stellar service and during 2012.

Our totals for the year were positive and we are happy to report that business placed with Number One was over $9.3 Million in premium! This resulted in sub-agent commissions of $777,302.

We encourage you to get in on the action. We strive to make placing business through our programs as easy as possible. Our goal is, and has always been, to provide MAIA’s member agents with markets they may not be able to access otherwise and to make those transactions smooth for your agency and your clients.

The Number One Agency appreciates your business and we value the trust you place in us to place business for your clients. Cheers to a prosperous 2013!  

Reminder: Commission Payments to go Electronic in 2013

Please make your agency has completed and returned the Authorization for Automatic (Direct) Deposit Form, along with a Voided Check to ensure a swift change-over to direct deposited commissions in 2013. Thank you for your cooperation.

Liquor: The Marketplace is Always Changing

A reminder that you’re never dry when it comes to finding a Liquor Liability market. Remember us if you have a Hospitality Mutual account that you need a market for. Contact Colleen for assistance!

Our liquor liability program with Hospitality Insurance Company offers liquor liability (LL) and general liability (GL) as well as a complete Package (Property & General Liability) policy for many types of Massachusetts businesses including:
Bars, Grills, Taverns, Bowling Alleys, Stores, Clubs, Restaurants, Hotels, Motels, Manufacturers, Wholesale Distributors AND Temporary Event Policies are available, too.

For more information about Liquor Liability Insurance, contact Colleen Lahna at the Number One Insurance Agency, Inc. at 800-742-6363, or email clahna@massagent.com.

E&O: Danger, Will Robinson!   What’s Exposing Your Agency? 

Sometimes agents just have too much on their plate to make E&O risk management a priority. It’s one thing not to be proactive and it is wholly another thing to be unnecessarily increasing liability with dangerous activities. We asked the panel counsel from Swiss Re Corporate Solutions to tell us their opinions on the most dangerous things that agents could do to expose themselves to E&O claims.  Take a moment to look in the mirror – are these you?

• Most Dangerous – Things Exposing Your Agency to an E&O Claim
• Having agency procedures in place that are not strictly followed by all agency staff
• Advocating in writing on behalf of the customer once a claim had been submitted and denied by the carrier 
• Lacking thorough understanding of the products being sold to customers
• Misrepresenting the scope of coverage procured
• Making a coverage determination on behalf of the carrier
• Failing to offer additional coverages and increased limits
• Failing to document the customers declination of coverages and limits
• Issuing binders outside  the scope of the agency’s binding authority
• Making representations about the adequacy of coverage – “fully covered”
• Dabbling in areas outside of the agency’s expertise
• Over-promising in advertising materials, creating a “special relationship” with or reliance by the customer
• Renewing policies “as is” without a review of possible changes in exposures
• Failing to review the policy to make sure it matches the application and proposal
• Having the customer sign a blank application or signing customer’s name on their behalf
• Modifying the language on a Certificate of Insurance or using it as a way to add an Additional Insured endorsement (without actually adding the AI endorsement itself)
• Failing to understand the customer’s business/operation

As always, our E&O Team is available to answer any questions or discuss any concerns you may have.  Contact Ellen Stoppel or Michelle St. Angelo via email at estoppel@massagent.com or mstangelo@massagent.com respectively or by phone at (800) 742-6363.

Visit www.iiaba.net/eohappens for free risk management tools and resources. Article reprinted with permission ©2012 Swiss Re Corporate Solutions and IIAA Agency Administrative Services, Inc.

WC: Other States, Stop Work Orders and Multiple Locations Reminder

Comp. Corner: “Stop Work Orders" An Issue Again ...

Last spring after a rash of “stop work orders“ (SWO) were issued by the Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA) based on not having a secondary location listed on a workers‘ compensation policy, MAIA and the Workers‘ Compensation Rating and Inspection Bureau (WCRIB) worked with the DIA to agree on a procedure to be followed by the DIA when faced with a location issue. The procedure appears below:

Part of the discussions among the DIA, MAIA and the WCRIB was an agreement that each location of an insured does not have to be listed on the policy so long as “Massachusetts“ is listed in 3A of the policy. If “Massachusetts“ is listed, all locations and all employees of the insured are covered under the policy. However, while the DIA agrees with this position, it will “respect the position of the insurer if the insurer denies coverage for an unlisted location.“ As such, the best advice is to remind your workers‘ compensation clients that if they open a new location they should advise you in advance so you can have the location added to the policy.

The current DIA enforcement procedures involving secondary, tertiary or other permanent locations of employers operating in the Commonwealth under the provisions of an active Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation insurance policy are as follows:

1.    The address and location on the policy will always control the decision. This means that the address and location on the policy is the main business premises listed in the policy and therefore employees at that location will be covered. Other locations will be looked at with that basic fact being established. No Stop Work Order would ever be issued without first conducting an investigation.

2.    Temporary work sites away from the insured main business premises are not considered to be a different permanent location for the purpose of determining coverage. The “insured main business premises”, will be the location listed in Item 1 of the policy information page. A temporary work site is any location, not shown to be a permanent place of work, and from which the workers of the insured will return at sometime in the future.

3.    When faced with a potential multiple locations issue the investigator will contact the insurance carrier to de- termine whether the employees at the additional location are covered under the employer’s policy. Contacting the insurance carrier is a crucial part of the investigation and will be done before any Stop Work Order is issued.

In the event the employer at the additional location is a different and distinct legal entity from the employer listed on the policy’s information page the investigator shall employ the same procedure on this other legal entity and shall only issue a stop work order to that other entity in the event he confirms no coverage exists for the employees of the entity at the other location. The different and distinct legal entity will have to show co- verage under a separate policy of its own or provide proof that it is properly covered by the same policy issued to the employer listed on the policy information page.

If you have any questions about this policy, please contact Frank Mancini, President and CEO of MAIA or Dan Foley, VP of Government Affairs & General Counsel at 800.972.9312 or 508.634.2900 or by email at fmancini@massagent.com or dfoley@massagent.com.

Policy Change for Swiss Re’s Lawyers’ Professional Liability Effective March 1st

Please be advised that the Lawyers’ policy is changing effective March 1 Renewals. The new policy form is available at our website. Current insureds will be notified of changes to the policy as they are solicited for renewal.

For further information on this change or to discuss our Lawyers Professional Liability Program please contact
 Michelle St. Angelo at 800-742-6363.

Help us keep you well informed!

Please update our office when there are changes to your email address (or with your agency staff). Also, please remember to include an email contact when sending any new business submissions. Keeping us informed helps us service you faster.