(Dewitt, New York, Jan. 5, 2016) - In 2015, the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of New York (IIABNY) won major legislative victories for its members; increased independent insurance agents’ presence on the Web; educated thousands of insurance producers; and helped homeowners avoid catastrophic uninsured losses.
IIABNY successfully pushed through a law regulating the use of certificates of insurance. The law, which IIABNY helped craft and which took effect on July 28, forbids abusive certificates practices. It protects insurance producers from having to choose between obeying the law and losing clients. - The year began with a major legislative win resulting from the hard work of IIABNY and the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA).
- The federal government renewed the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program, one of the highest priorities of IIABNY and IIABA. The program guarantees that American businesses will have a viable market for terrorism coverage. The program is vital to New York State, which has been a victim of terrorist acts.
- The terrorism insurance bill also created the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers (NARAB). The IIABA led the charge for this legislation for years. When it begins operating in 2017, NARAB will make it much easier for producers to obtain licenses in multiple states. This will give insurance consumers more choice and make it easier for their agents and brokers to serve them.
- IIABNY played a key role in convincing the Insurance Services Office (ISO) to publish new changes to its Homeowners insurance policies to prevent consumers from suffering catastrophic uninsured losses. The changes address a flaw that could strip a consumer of all coverages if she moves out of the home during the policy term. IIABNY’s representative was one of a small group of individuals who worked with ISO to make the change.
- Trusted Choice, the consumer brand of independent agents and brokers, had more than 3 million visitors to its Web site, www.trustedchoice.com, in 2015. Among those visitors were 184,000 from New York. The site provided more than 70,000 sales leads to producers, including 4,200 to New York producers. In addition, 63 insurance companies are now participating in Trusted Choice.
- More than 7,300 producers attended IIABNY classes, webinars and in-house education programs. The courses covered a wide range of commercial, personal, life and health insurance related topics, including errors and omissions risk management.
- For the fifth consecutive year, the education team received the IIABA’s Excellence in Education Diamond Award. The award celebrates and recognizes important contributions to insurance education.
- InVEST, an organization affiliated with IIABNY, reached hundreds of high school students in 26 schools around the state. InVEST is a school-to-work insurance program that works with high schools and colleges to educate students about insurance and attract new talent to the industry.
- It was a year of honors for IIABNY leaders and staff.
- John Costello, CIC, received the IIABA Chairman’s Award at the association’s Fall Leadership Conference in New Orleans in October. Costello is regional executive vice-president of commercial lines for First Niagara Risk Management, Inc. and New York’s representative on the IIABA’s board of directors.
- IIABNY President and CEO Dick Poppa, CAE, AAI, received the Jeff Yates Lifetime Achievement Award from the IIABA at its Legislative Conference in April.
- Senior Vice-President Lisa Lounsbury, CAE, AAI was honored in June by a downstate New York agents association for commitment to the association and contributions to furthering insurance professionalism.
- In addition to these awards, IIABNY recognized the following individuals at its Annual Business Meeting in Cooperstown in May:
- Jill Muratori of Barrett Associates in Albany received the Vincent Alba Award for outstanding contributions to IIABNY’s political effectiveness
- Mike Crowley of Crowley Insurance Agency in East Syracuse received the Young Agent of the Year Award
- Karen Peters of Rose & Kiernan, Inc. in Albany and Jamie Deapo of IIABNY received Distinguished Service Awards
- Dryden Mutual Insurance Co. CEO Bob Baxter received the Thom McDaniel Exemplar Award for unwavering support of the independent agency system
- Past IIABNY Chair of the Board Steve Zogby, of Scalzo, Zogby & Wittig, Inc. in New Hartford, received IIABNY’s highest honor for contributions to IIABNY, the insurance industry, and his community.
- Shelley Roff of Perry & Carroll, Inc. in Elmira receive the Accredited Customer Service Representative of the Year Award.
The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of New York, Inc. has represented the common business interests of independent insurance professionals since 1882. More than 1,750 agencies and their 13,000 plus employees currently rely on the DeWitt, New York-based not-for-profit trade association for legislative advocacy, continuing education and other means of industry support. In addition, most IIABNY members proudly identify themselves as Trusted Choice® agents and brokers, a national consumer brand uniting more than 21,000 independent agencies across the United States.
|