In May and June, the Big I NY Annual Errors & Omissions Loss Control Seminars will once again be presented by the law firm of Keidel, Weldon & Cunningham, LLP. If you are interested in attending the upcoming seminars you should register as soon as possible. As always, the seminars provide important information regarding trends and key issues facing New York insurance agents and brokers. The seminars can be attended in several different ways, including live seminars, a telecast seminar, and webinar formats. In this issue of the E&O Report, we explain what will be covered during this year's seminars and how you can attend.
The annual E&O seminars will again be presented by me, Jim Keidel, along with my partner, Chris Weldon. As we have done for the past few years, Brian Bixby, the President of IAAC, Inc., will join us in presenting the seminars. Kathy Lawler of Big I NY will also be there to provide input on some of the benefits that are available to association members. Agents and brokers being able to attend in three different ways. First, a 4.0 credit hour live seminar will be presented at four locations across New York State during the month of May. This year we will again start the live seminars downstate and then work our way upstate as we go. If you are interested in attending a live seminar the locations and dates are as follows:
May 14th – Hauppauge
May 15th – Rye Brook
May 29th – Buffalo
May 30st – Syracuse
In addition to the four live seminars mentioned above, on June 6th a 4.0 credit hour telecast seminar will be presented live from Utica College in Utica, NY and transmitted to three locations across New York State. The telecast seminar will also be broadcast via the web so that agents and brokers can attend the seminar by watching it in the comfort of their own offices. For the past two years, Big I NY provided agents and brokers with the ability to attend the seminar via the web, and the feedback from those who chose this was great. The June 6th telecast seminar is the same 4.0 credit hour seminar that will be presented live at the four locations listed above in May.
Depending on its size and the number of people who attend either the live or telecast seminars, an agency or brokerage may qualify for a 10.0 percent premium credit if it is insured through IAAC with either Westport Insurance Corporation or Fireman's Fund Insurance Company.
In addition to receiving continuing education credit and premium credits, seminar attendees will learn essential and practical E&O loss control techniques that can help reduce the likelihood of an E&O claim or lawsuit. At the seminars, we will also review “real life" E&O claims and lawsuits to help illustrate the issues that we are discussing. In our experience, discussing actual claims and cases helps the seminar attendees better understand the impact of following the various E&O loss control practices. When used consistently by agencies and brokerages, these E&O loss control practices will not only reduce the likelihood of an E&O claim or lawsuit, but will also help provide better customer service and additionally will frequently enable the agency or brokerage to sell more insurance.
During the past year, we have asked in each monthly issue of The E&O Report for Big I NY members to provide us with issues and topics that they would like us to address at the 2019 annual seminars. We used the tremendous feedback we received from Big I NY members and staff to prepare the outline for the 2019 E&O seminars. Some of the topics that we will cover this year are the following:
- A review of the law affecting property and casualty and life and health insurance agents and brokers
- A review of the key elements of the new NY Cyber Regulation (Regulation 500) and an update on the current status
- NY Regulation 187: Suitability in life insurance and annuity transactions
- Considerations when insuring golf courses
- Insuring businesses involved in the growth, sale, or distribution of marijuana
- Key elements of agency/brokerage contracts that should be considered
- Various coverage problems that have been created by the internet
- Issues that insurance agencies/brokerages should consider in preparation for catastrophic events
- Coverage considerations that can impact insureds when catastrophic events occur
Last year, over 1,000 insurance agents and brokers attended the live and telecast Big I NY annual E&O seminars. We encourage all New York insurance agents and brokers to register as soon as possible for either a live seminar or the telecast seminar. You can register for the 2019 annual Big I NY E&O seminar by visiting the education section of the Big I NY website or calling Big I NY at 800-851-8853.
We are looking forward to this year's annual E & O seminars and we hope that all of you will be able to attend one of the scheduled sessions.
Submitted by:
James C. Keidel, Esq.
Keidel, Weldon & Cunningham, LLP