IIABNY's 25th Annual E&O Loss Control Seminars During the past several weeks, Chris Weldon, my partner at Keidel, Weldon & Cunningham, LLP, and I presented IIABNY’s four-hour, live 2012 annual errors and omissions loss control seminars in Buffalo, Syracuse, Hauppauge, New York City and Armonk. More than 500 New York insurance agents and brokers attended the six, live seminar sessions.
This year’s presentations mark the 25th anniversary of the IIABNY annual E&O seminars. Accordingly, we feature video clips from seminars conducted over the past 25 years in order to illustrate the points we discuss this year. During a special video message, retired attorney Herbert J. Lustig, Esq. (who led IIABNY’s first annual E&O loss control seminar in 1987) offers his thoughts regarding the importance of loss control and his perspective on the annual series.
On June 6, Chris and I will present the three-hour telecast seminar, which concludes the 2012 E&O loss control series. The telecast seminar is presented live before attendees in an Albany studio and simulcast live by satellite to 13 other remote locations throughout New York state. Attendance for this year’s telecast seminar is expected to be in excess of 750 insurance agents and brokers.
We encourage anyone unable to attend the live seminars in May to register and attend the three-hour telecast at one of the 14 locations. The three-hour telecast covers the same topics addressed at the previous seminars. In addition, agents and brokers attending the seminar on June 6 will receive three hours of continuing education credit applicable to the following NY licenses: Life (LA), Life Consultants (C1), Life/Accident/Health Broker (LB), Brokers (BR), General Consultant (C3), Property Casualty Agents (PC) and Public Adjuster (PA). In addition to receiving CE credit, insurance agencies and brokerages whose E&O insurance coverage is purchased through IAAC with either Westport or Fireman’s Fund may qualify to receive credit on their premiums for attending one of the annual E&O loss control seminars.
During this year’s seminars, we cover a variety of topics, including:
- A review of the law affecting New York Insurance agents and brokers (this topic includes a review of various cases, statutes and regulations).
- How a state-of-the-art insurance agency or brokerage should handle claims and lawsuits against customer insureds.
- How technology can help protect against E&O claims and lawsuits.
- The duty of care for insurance agents and brokers in New York and various other states.
- The four most common types of E&O claims and lawsuits against New York insurance agents and brokers.
- Issues regarding social networking and social media activity.
As you are aware, New York insurance agents and brokers face many challenges. The following three topics, which are directed at some of those challenges, seemed to be of special interest to attendees and generated a great deal of questions and comments.
The first topic is Insurance Regulation 194, which requires New York insurance producers to disclose to customers both the nature and amount of compensation they receive, along with various other details of the insurance-buying transaction. During the seminar, we spend a great deal of time reviewing the elements of the regulation in conjunction with the various documents that should be used by every agency and brokerage in order to comply with the regulation’s requirements.
The next topic we review is the standard of care for agents selling insurance in New York and other states. In connection with this topic, we review pending court cases that attempt to change the duty of care and legal obligations for New York insurance agents and brokers. We also discuss the standard of care in other states since the legal standard differs greatly state by state.
The ACORD 25 certificate of insurance form was the third topic we cover. Chris and I review the certificate form in detail and cover the best practices every insurance agency and brokerage should follow when issuing certificates of insurance. In our experience, agencies and brokerages that follow these practices are less likely to become involved in a certificate-related E&O claim or lawsuit.
We hope that if you were unable to attend any of the live seminars presented in May, you will attend the three-hour telecast seminar on June 6. We strongly believe that the information we present at the annual E&O seminars can help every agency and brokerage, no matter its size, protect itself against E&O claims and lawsuits. You can register for this year’s annual E&O telecast seminar by visiting the IIABNY website or calling the association at (800) 962-7950, ext. 218.
Keidel, Weldon & Cunningham, LLP concentrates its practice in the defense of insurance agents and broker’s errors and omissions claims and litigation, errors and omissions loss control counsel and education, insurance coverage analysis and litigation and insurance regulatory matters. Please direct any comments or questions to James C. Keidel, Esq. by mail to the main office of Keidel, Weldon & Cunningham, LLP, at 925 Westchester Avenue, Suite 400, White Plains, NY 10604, telephone at (914) 948-7000 or e-mail at jkeidel@kwcllp.com. The law firm also maintains offices in Syracuse, New York; New York City, New York; Wilton, Connecticut; Bayonne, New Jersey; Warwick, Rhode Island and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.