1st          Deadline to apply for a NAIW/National Alliance Scholarship

2nd         IIAM Personal Lines Puzzler, Jackson, MS

5th          CISR Commercial Casuality, Lafayette, LA

6th          Cut Off Date to Make Hotel Reservations for the NAIW National Convention
               PIA Personal Auto Risk, Jackson, MS

9th          PIA Umbrellas & Floods, Jackson, MS

11th        IIAM ACSR Mod #5, Jackson, MS

13th         NAIW Inroads Emailed

15th         NAIW Week Begins
                Full Page Ad in the Enterprise Journal

17th         PIA CGL & Business Auto, Hattiesburg, MS

21st         Armed Forces Day

30th         Memorial Day

The insurance industry, already under scrutiny by state and federal authorities for various practices, now faces another questioner. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has launched a probe of the insurance industry that targets some of the accounting mistakes found at American International Group to see how widespread the problems might be.

The FBI review is not confined to insurer accounting but is also looking into agents and brokers who may be diverting premiums for their own use and into the operations of workers' compensation plans sold by professional employer organizations (PEO).

The FBI said its agents are talking to industry executives and regulators as well as looking for patterns in existing complaints and civil records.
"We do not want to be caught napping on this," Chris Swecker, an assistant director at the FBI who oversees the financial crimes unit, told The New York Times. "We are taking a very, very hard look at this to see if it represents a pervasive problem."

The FBI said it would conduct traditional investigations as well as "utilize sophisticated techniques, to include covert undercover investigations, to apprehend the fraudsters."

In a report on corporate fraud, the FBI said insurance fraud involving insurance industry players and not just policyholders is a growing concern.

"Insurance fraud continues to maintain a top investigative priority due in large part to the insurance industry's significant status as one of the largest U.S. industries (more than doubling the Gross Domestic Product contributions of the securities industry)," said the report, which points out that the insurance industry consists of more than 7,000 companies with over $1 trillion in premiums each year.

Among the FBI's concerns is that the "insurance industry is in the midst of technological and regulatory change which will result in foreign insurance entities playing a larger role." The report maintains that regulation of the industry is becoming more difficult as more foreign players enter the market.

The FBI said it is working with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to identify "the top echelon fraudsters defrauding the insurance industry and most prevalent schemes within the insurance industry."

Bea Jones took a Commercial Lines Changes class on May 5, 2005 at the “Big I” in Jackson, MS.  Her grandson, Clark, will be graduating from high school later this month and she is looking forward to the graduation ceremonies.

Virginia Zeigler is registered to take CPCU 530 on May 31, 2005, so she has been busy studying.

Keri is working hard on her educational objectives and is looking forward to attending the National Convention in Reno in June and visiting with her friend Cheryl during the convention.

Ruth Phillips is busy working in her new trailer.  She has caulked, puttied, sanded, and painted.  She hopes that all the renovation work will be completed so that she can move in by the Memorial Day holiday.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency pledged at a conference in Orlando to improve its public education efforts to that in the future hurricane victims will not have unreasonable expectations about how FEMA can help them.

Michael D. Brown, under secretary for Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness said at the meeting that FEMA will continue to aggressively urge all disaster victims to apply for FEMA assistance, regardless of how likely they are to get grants or loans.

"The last thing I want FEMA to be criticized for is not helping people," Brown told the Fort Myers News-Press. He acknowledged that FEMA is asking about 7,000 Florida hurricane victims to give back some of their federal grants.

These are not fraud cases, he said. They are routine recoupment of over-payments, mostly from duplication of insurance benefits. In most disasters, FEMA recoups about 1 percent of the money it grants.

Statewide, hurricane victims share feelings from annoyance to downright anger because they feel FEMA created the expectation of widespread support by encouraging everyone to register.

FEMA should have "told people up front that they would not get any help and not act like everything would be all right," Margo Gladney of Cape Coral, Fla. told the News-Press. She was insured and got nothing from FEMA after going through the registration process.

"It was advertised everywhere, radio, television, and the newspaper. That's the truth," James Nagel of Merritt Island said. He hoped FEMA would help with home repairs he still couldn't afford after his insurance settlement. He got about $800 to cover the cost of a generator and fuel.
"After the fact, I learned they did so much for other people. I felt kind of shorted. That doesn't mean only money wise. I felt that I wasn't fairly heard. I felt more like a number," Nagel said.

Even so, Brown said FEMA will continue to encourage insured disaster victims to apply for FEMA grants.

Brown said he would rather be criticized for having too many people get aid than for having eligible people miss the opportunity for help.

Better education will help people understand that FEMA is not intended to fully replace what disaster victims lose, he said.

"We are trying to do more outreach, more community relations teams," Brown said.

Brown said better education efforts will be used this year, including a video available to county emergency response staff.

Kevin McCarty, Florida Office of Insurance Regulation Commissioner reported to the Florida Cabinet that 186 insurers have reported they still have 57,830 claims open.

"Last month, we were still facing more than 140,000 open storm claims," Tom Gallagher, Florida's CFO explained. "To spur action on settling these claims I brought a rule before the Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet requiring insurance companies to settle all outstanding claims by April 18th with a reporting deadline of April 28th.

"My focus will remain on getting the 57,830 claims resolved, Gallagher said. "It appears many open claims can be closed after contractors can finish repairs and we know that contractors have been in short supply."
 
 

ISO is now providing access to real-time catastrophe loss estimates and critical event information via its ISOnet secure Internet platform, enabling insurers to reportedly make better strategic risk-management decisions as actual events unfold.
The catastrophe information is provided by ISO's AIR Worldwide Corporation subsidiary through its ALERTTM (AIR Loss Estimates in Real Time) Web site.

ALERT provides critical decision-making information to insurers as an event is unfolding to assist in:

· assessment of loss potential; financial management and reinsurance adequacy
· analysis, such as assessing the need for live cat covers
· deployment of claims adjusters and resources to disaster sites
· identifying territories to stop or continue writing business as hurricanes approach land.

Information about U.S. hurricanes is available on ALERT up to 48 hours in advance of the projected landfall. AIR meteorologists simulate hundreds of potential scenarios using a range of possible storm tracks, wind speeds and other intensity variables. A representative subset of scenarios, together with estimates of their corresponding industry losses, is posted on the ALERT Web site.

Insurers who license AIR's catastrophe risk-management system can reportedly further benefit from using the scenarios to estimate losses to their property portfolios.

ISO customers can access scenario maps of wind speeds and losses from the Web site over ISOnet. ALERT also provides a narrative description of event parameters, location and projected course of the hurricane.

Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Robert Wooley has sent his special edition pickup truck to the state's surplus property yard, giving up the luxury perk that provoked sharp criticism of both the state-paid purchase and Wooley's attitude toward the attention it caused, according to the Associated Press.

The truck with only 4,200 miles on it sat locked in a state warehouse Friday, out of plain sight on the gated property.

After years of driving state-owned vehicles, Wooley said he now will drive a vehicle he owns—his spokeswoman said Wooley is driving a late 1990s model Dodge van—and will not ask for any type of reimbursement for the cost.

In a quick Friday morning press conference, Wooley called the truck purchase in March a mistake that he was sorry had taken away so much attention from the work of his department.

"I offer my heartfelt apology. I am sorry for the truck and how I have handled the entire matter,'' he said. "I made a mistake.''

Statewide elected officials are allowed to buy luxury vehicles on the state's expense or receive a car allowance, but Wooley's truck got more attention than any others, partially because it replaced a state-paid designer-edition sport utility vehicle that was only a year old and had only 30,000 miles on it.   The $40,000 special Harley-Davidson edition pickup truck came loaded with a series of special options like heated seats, a camper package and diesel engine. Wooley said he returned both the truck and the SUV to the state Division of Administration.

"With the return of the two vehicles, I hope now we can focus on the true mission of this department, which is to find affordable and available insurance for our citizens, which is what I intend to do,'' he said.

Assertive communication is the art of speaking in a reasonable tone with good eye contact. It’s based on using “I” messages (as opposed to “you” or blaming messages) while clearly stating your needs, feelings and requests.

Assertive communications invite listeners to work toward mutually satisfactory resolution of problems or conflicts, without assigning blame or offense.

Remember: you won’t offend people if you stick to communicating your feelings, as opposed to telling others what they should – or should not – do!

There are four parts to effective assertive communication - Here is the formula:

I feel ___________ when __________ because ________. I need ___________.

Step 1: “I feel” Start by expressing how you feel about the behavior. Stick to one of the five or six basic emotions: “I feel… overwhelmed, angry, hurt,” etc.

Step 2: “When” What specifically bothers you about the behavior or situation? Examples: “When the family expects me to do this every year,” “When it is assumed I will do it,” etc.

Step 3: “Because” How does the behavior affect you? Examples: “I feel pressured to do something I really can’t do this year,” and “It makes me feel taken advantage of.”

Step 4: “I need” This is the tough part for people who feel guilty simply letting others (especially family members) know what their needs are. “I need” has nothing to do with being selfish.
Instead, it means giving listeners a clear signal of what you want them to do differently, so they have an opportunity to change. Examples: “I need for the dinner to be rotated among the family.”

As a leader, you will have to communicate every day.  You have meetings with association members, committee members, chairpersons, and association officers.  And that is just at your local association!!  Moving up the ladder, you have to communicate effectively with your state director, Regional Vice President and sometimes even the National Board.

It is your choice whether these conversations will be high stress or low stress.  Obviously in the insurance field, the less stress is the better!

The first step in a low stress conversation is to ask yourself, “What is the positive intention of the person you are talking to?”  For example, if the person you are talking to is upset, maybe their positive intention is to express their hurt. When you assume the person has a positive message hidden underneath the negative exterior you will have more compassion and patience and you will not feel so stressed dealing with the individual.

The second step in a low stress conversation is to choose your own emotional state. Unless you are in charge of how you feel your ability to communicate effectively will always be limited and dependent on other people. When you are in a potentially stressful situation and everyone around you is losing their cool this does not mean you have to join them! You will be able to contribute a lot more if you remain calm and centered.

The final step in a low stress conversation is to step outside the situation if needed.  Imagine that you are observing the conversation as a total stranger, with no interest in the subject.  This will help you come up with better ideas on how to better handle your situation.

OLDWICK, N.J. (BestWire) - Insurance industry payrolls increased by 1,700 in April to 2.257 million jobs, after a revised 5,700 decline in March. The March decline originally was reported as a 6,700 jobs loss. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the seasonally adjusted data on May 6.

In parallel, total April nonfarm payroll jobs rose by a seasonally adjusted 274,000 to 133.293 million, after March's revised gain of 146,000 (originally 110,000). On a year-to-year basis, the annual rate of growth in April unadjusted nonfarm payrolls held at 1.7%, while April insurance payrolls were down 0.3% year-to-year, the same annual decline as seen in March.

Where total insurance industry payrolls are reported on a seasonally adjusted basis, along with the current month's nonfarm payrolls, data by industry segment are available only on an unadjusted basis for the prior month.

The just-released March detail showed a 0.9% decline in annual insurance carrier employment, which narrowed slightly from February's 1.0% contraction. The overall 0.3% year-to-year decline in March insurance industry payrolls broke out as the drop in carrier employment offset by a 0.7% annual gain in jobs among insurance brokerages, agencies and related services.

The annual rates of change in March insurance carrier payrolls were declines of 2.4% for life insurers, 1.0% for health and medical insurers, 0.4% for property/casualty insurers and 2.0% for reinsurers, and a gain of 3.6% for title insurers. In the noncarrier sectors, annual employment growth in March was 2.0% for agencies and brokerages, with an annual decline of 1.2% for claims adjusting and a deepening 4.4% plunge among third-party administrators.

A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of A (Excellent) and assigned an issuer credit rating of "a" to St. Paul Travelers Insurance Company Limited (St. Paul) (United Kingdom).

Both ratings have a stable outlook.  The ratings reflect the enhancement received from the implicit support of the parent St. Paul Travelers Companies Inc. (SPTC). The ratings also factor St. Paul's excellent financial performance, excellent capitalization and strong niche business position.

St. Paul focuses on specialist lines, such as solicitors' professional indemnity and selective commercial lines with less competition in the U.K. and Irish market.

A.M. Best expects that moderate rate reduction in the United Kingdom and stronger rate decreases in Ireland (of approximately 10%) are likely to lead to a deterioration in St. Paul's combined ratio by 2% to 94%. Overall earnings are likely to remain excellent, with a return on premiums of 30%, as the deterioration in underwriting performance is offset by higher investment income.

A.M. Best expects St. Paul to maintain its excellent risk-adjusted capitalization through retained earnings in 2005 and believes the risk profile will benefit from the run off of discontinued business lines, such as medical malpractice and construction liability. However, the discontinued portfolio experienced adverse reserve development in 2004, and A.M. Best believes there is potential for further reserve strengthening.

St. Paul benefits from the globally recognized St. Paul Travelers brand and has a significant market share in its core commercial business lines including solicitors' professional indemnity, public sector and technology.  A.M. Best expects a decrease of approximately 7% in gross written premiums to GBP 290 million (USD 553 million) in 2005, factoring a softening of rates in the commercial sector in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

First there was the Wendy's case involving a bowl of chili. A woman was arrested last week in Las Vegas after her claims of finding a finger in a bowl of chili went up in smoke.

Then there was the man who found a piece of a finger in his frozen ice cream treat.  An employee of the store had an accident, and the desert was sold through the drive thru, before the manager could close down the store.

Now, a man is reportedly suing an Arby's restaurant in Ohio, claiming he located a portion of skin on his chicken sandwich, according to the Dayton Daily News.

GZK Inc., which owns the Arby's restaurant, reportedly offered the man a settlement, but he declined. The man indicated that the piece of flesh in his chicken sandwich was nearly three-fourths of an inch long.

Health investigators reportedly met with the restaurant manager, who had a bandage on his right thumb and wore a latex glove. The manager reported he sliced skin from the thumb in the process of shredding lettuce, and sanitized the area but didn't toss away the bin of lettuce. The man's sandwich contained lettuce.

Louisiana State Police Investigators recently arrested 30-year-old attorney, Douglas C. Dorhauer and charged him with 4 counts of Forgery and 1 count of Insurance Fraud. Dorhauer is employed by the E. Eric Guirard Law Firm in Baton Rouge.
Acting on information received from Louisiana Farm Bureau Insurance Co., State Police reportedly determined that Dorhauer filed a false insurance claim by using altered medical records to support the claim. In April 2004, Dorhauer's represented a family of four that were injured in an automobile accident. The driver of the vehicle was not at fault in the accident and the case was settled by Imperial Insurance Co.,

During settlement discussions with Imperial, the driver represented by Dorhauer reportedly expressed a desire to collect something for aggravation and mental stress suffered from a previous motor vehicle accident.  Dorhauer reportedly devised a way for the client to receive payment from the previously settled accident. Authorities said he changed the date on the medical records of the driver and two of the occupants in the April 2004 accident to March 2004. He then sent the altered records to Farm Bureau indicating that the claimants' injuries resulted from the March 2004 accident.

The March 2004 accident was settled in July 2004 by Farm Bureau and listed as a property damage claim. Upon receiving a settlement letter from Dorhauer asking for injury compensation, representatives at Farm Bureau questioned the authenticity of the medical records and Dorhauer reportedly withdrew the claim. Farm Bureau then advised State Police Investigators of their suspicion that Dorhauer was trying to file a false claim using altered documentation.

An investigation was conducted and warrant obtained for the arrest of Dorhauer. Dorhauer surrendered to investigators at LSP Headquarters and was charged with LRS 14:72 Forgery (Felony, 4 counts) and LRS 22:1243 Insurance Fraud (Felony). Dorhauer was booked in the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison.