Declarations

Agent-Broker Duties

“It’s important to understand this bill doesn’t change anything for brokers that want to continue doing business as usual. Yet it really creates an opportunity for producers to have a safe harbor, if you will, to take advantage of the presumption of being a broker. … Our objective was to clarify that agents are agents and brokers are brokers, and there’s no intent to blur the lines on whether an agent or producer is a broker.”

—Mike D’Arelli, executive vice president of the Alliance of Insurance Agents and Brokers, commenting on the passage of AB 2956, which will clarify the duties of an agent versus those of a broker. The bill recently passed both the California Assembly and Senate, and now is awaiting the governor’s signature.

Workers’ Comp Vs. Social Security

“The difference in the trends in workers’ compensation and Social Security disability insurance payments suggest that retrenchment in one program may cause injured workers to turn to the other program for benefits to replace their lost wages.”

—John F. Burton Jr., chair of the panel that oversees a study that tracks trends since 1989 in workers’ compensation benefits and employer costs relative to total wages of workers covered by the program, which was conducted by the National Academy of Social Insurance.

Surplus Lines Still Stellar

“The underwriting and operating performance of surplus lines companies — domestic professional and domestic specialty — continued to outpace that of the total P/C industry in 2007. While direct premiums written (DPW) for surplus lines insurers, overall, decreased due to heightened competition, some of the top companies and groups in terms of DPW that specialize in surplus lines or specialty business still generated excellent underwriting results.”

—A report by A.M. Best on the surplus lines market called, “U.S. Surplus Lines — 2007 Market Review.” The annual special report on the surplus lines market was made possible by a grant provided by the Derek Hughes/NAPSLO Educational Foundation. This is the 15th year the foundation sponsored the report.

Gas Prices Up, Fatalities Down

“It’s really very interesting that with all these efforts that have gone into building safer highways, safer cars, better enforcement … this really dramatic change we’re seeing is due to economics, to the price of gasoline.”

—Paul Fischbeck, director of Center for the Study and Improvement of Regulation at Carnegie Mellon University, on a study that found as gas prices rose, driving and fatalities declined.