The Big I Virginia Spring 2022

SPRING 2022

THE BIG

VIRGINIA

THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT INSURANCE AGENTS

THE INDEPENDENT INSURANCE AGENTS OF VIRGINIA'S

2022 CONVENTION & TRADE SHOW

RIDING THE WAVES

JUNE 26 - 28, 2022

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Garagekeepers

Workers Comp

Artisan Contractors

Restaurants

Over 70 classes available!

Professional Liability

Architects

Engineers

Cyber

Non-Profit D&O

Corporate D&O

Medical Malpractice

Social Services

Misc E&O

EPLI

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SPRING 2022

The Big I Virginia is a publication of the

Independent Insurance Agents of Virginia

8600 Mayland Drive, Richmond, VA 23294

Phone: 804.747.9300 / Toll-free: 800.288.IIAV (4428)

Fax: 804.747.6557 / E-mail: members@iiav.com / Website: iiav.com

INSIDE

6 Message from the Chairman of the Board Priscilla Hottle

8 Message from the President & CEO Robert N. Bradshaw Jr.

11 Message from the State National Director Michael Funkhouser

12 Join the Virginia Agents PAC

13 Riding the Waves — 2022 Annual Convention & Trade Show

14 Thank You 2022 Partners

15 Cyber Insurance — Does Your Agency Have Sufficient Coverage

16 Eagles Do It … Turkey’s Don’t

22 Young Agents Conference Images

23 Did You Know … ?

24 When Good Things Happen to Good Agents

26 Staff Profile: Getting to Know Nicole McAllister, IIAV Director of

Communications

28 IIAV’s Professional Designation Program

29 What’s in a Name? That Which We Call a Rose by Any Other ….

THANK YOU ADVERTISERS

32 Applied Underwriters

auw.com/MoreTo Love

10 Berkshire Hathaway GUARD

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3 Builders Mutual Insurance

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7 Harford Mutual

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5 Iroquois Group

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2 Jackson Sumner &

Associates

jsausa.com

9 Keystone Insurance

keystoneinsgrp.com

17 Penn National

PennNationalInsurance.com

For more information on advertising, contact Eric Johnson

Blue Water Publishers, LLC / 9406 N. 107th St., Milwaukee, WI 53224

414-708-2059 / fax: 414-354-5317 / eric@bluewaterpublishers.com

31 SIAA

27 Summit Holdings

summitholdings.com

25 TSP Biz Pro

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IIAV IS AN ORGANIZATION DEVOTED TO

PROMOTING, ENHANCING, SERVING AND

ASSISTING INDEPENDENT INSURANCE AGENTS.

The Big “I” is a trademark owned by the Independent

Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, Inc. (“IIABA”), and is

being used with the permission of IIABA.

IIAV Staff

Robert N. Bradshaw, Jr., MAM

President & CEO

rbradshaw@iiav.com

Cell (804) 929-4134

Teri Chester

Executive Secretary/

Receptionist

& Membership Coordinator

tchester@iiav.com

Joe Hudgins, CPCU

Technical Consultant

jhudgins@iiav.com

Cell (804) 929-4138

Bonnie Joyce

Senior Insurance

Administrative Assistant

bjoyce@iiav.com

Linda Loving, CIC, AISM, AIAO

IIAV Chief Operating Officer

& VFSC Executive Vice President

lloving@iiav.com

Cell (804) 929-4133

Susan E. C. Perkins

Membership/Education

Coordinator

sperkins@iiav.com

Bonnie J. Warren,

ACSR, CPIW, DAE, RPLU

Insurance Account Executive

bwarren@iiav.com

Vera Wooden


vwooden@iiav.com

Donald W. Bragg,

CPCU, CIC, CPIA, MBA

Director of Membership

& Marketing

dbragg@iiav.com

Melanie DeCola


mdecola@iiav.com

Debbi Little

Director of Professional

Development and Programs &

Executive Director for VAIA

(804)747-6557

dlittle@iiav.com

Nicole McAllister

Director of Communications

(804)747-6557

nmcallister@iiav.com

The Big I Virginia is a publication of the Independent Insurance Agents

of Virginia and is published quarterly by Blue Water Publishers, LLC. The

Independent Insurance Agents of Virginia, Inc. reserves the right in its sole

discretion to reject advertising that does not meet IIAV qualifications or which

may detract from its business, professional or ethical standards. IIAV and Blue

Water Publishers, LLC do not necessarily endorse any of the companies

advertising in the publication or the views of its writers. The publisher cannot

assume responsibility for claims made by advertisers, content provided by

the editor, or for the opinions expressed by contributing authors.

4 THE BIG I VIRGINIA SPRING 2022

Built To Fit

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For over 40 years Iroquois has

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CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

PRISCILLA HOTTLE

phottle@hottleinsurance.com

2022 BEGINS WITH A BANG

Happy Spring to all. It is so nice to have warmer

days and see everyone getting out and about

again, particularly our Young Agents!

The Independent Insurance Agents of Virginia’s Young

Agents conference was held Feb. 7-9 in Richmond and

it was a great event. From the opening event at Circuit

on Monday to the fantastic speakers and trade show

on Tuesday. Excellent information was shared, and

relationships were formed. Networking was maximized

at each and every event and we all came away with new

information and tools to take back to our offices to operate

at higher levels in our insurance roles … (See photos page

22)

We wrapped up with the Day on the Hill in Richmond and

our Young Agents and our Insurance Carrier partners all

had an opportunity to speak with their representatives

regarding issues important to the Virginia agents and our

industry.

IIAV PROVIDES FIRST-

CLASS INFORMATION

AT EVERY EVENT

REGARDING SALES,

TIME MANAGEMENT,

LEADERSHIP AND

OVERALL INSURANCE

EDUCATION.

As Chairman of IIAV for 2022, I was lucky to be included

in the entire event and even luckier to come along with

Jake Nelson, VP of Sales and Commercial Lines at Hottle

Insurance. Jake is our Young Agent and a previous

Chairman of the Young Agents Committee with IIAV. He

joined us five years ago from a firm in Kansas and we

immediately got Jake involved with IIAV, the Young Agents

committee and the legislative side of insurance. Jake has

represented us well in all facets and developed many key

relationships with Agents and Carriers in his work through

IIAV.

IIAV provides first-class information at every event

regarding sales, time management, leadership and overall

insurance education. We have seen great growth with Jake

in his role at Hottle Insurance as both our Commercial Lines

Manager and a Producer. Jake has clearly understood the

value in taking advantage of all of the IIAV opportunities

and the Young Agents opportunities with a huge emphasis

on the opportunity to learn.

If you haven’t engaged your Young Agent with IIAV, we

strongly suggest it! It’s a very smart move for your business

and you’ll be glad you did!

Best,

Priscilla G. Hottle

Chairman, 2022


PRESIDENT & CEO

ROBERT N.

BRADSHAW, JR., MAM

rbradshaw@iiav.com

YOU JUST HAVE TO BE THERE

I write this following a pretty late night at the legislature

and it’s also late in the session with just a few outstanding

bills. The House has been going in and out of recess and

that is disrupting the committee meeting flow. I look

around the room and see a lot of contract lobbyists and

wonder how many are on retainer and how many are

hourly. A lot of them know but there are certainly some

that I do not. There’s been a good number of retirements

among the lobbyists in the past couple of years so building

these relationships has been an ongoing process.

This year the legislature introduced over 2,800 pieces of

legislation and thus far just over 1,000 have failed and yes,

we have been responsible for some of those. That’s not to

say that all the remaining bills have merit and let’s just say

that it’s not over until it’s over.

THE SECOND THEME WE

FOUND OF IMPORTANCE

THIS YEAR WAS,

“YOU JUST HAVE TO

BE HERE.” THANK

GOODNESS THAT THIS

YEAR WAS AN “IN-

PERSON” SESSION.

LAST YEAR’S VIRTUAL

SESSION WORKED AND

THAT IS ALL YOU COULD

SAY ABOUT IT.

But two themes have come out of this session. The first

is, “You just can’t make this stuff up.” I can’t tell you how

many meetings I’ve been in, heard presentations, spoken

with other lobbyists and thought that you just can’t make


IIAV's President & CEO, Bob Bradshaw (right) and Vice-President

of Technical Research & Government Relations, Joe Hudgins

(left) with Delegate Sam Rasoul (D-11th District) and House Page

Anderson Wagner. Delegate Rasoul agreed to accept IIAV’s

recommended amendment to his House Bill 312 which included

licensed health insurance agents in an annual marketing plan for

the Virginia Health Benefit Exchange during the 2022 session of

the Virginia General Assembly.

this stuff up. And it’s not just about legislation. While

yes, one of my favorites this year was introduced by Sen.

Tommy Norment and was related to bicycle operators —

failure to stop at a stop sign. His bill would have imposed a

fine of $500 for a bicyclist who failed to stop at a stop sign

AND the bicycle would be impounded for a period of six

months. Makes you wonder what he had for breakfast the

morning he introduced that bill. Sort of reminded me of

when a company representative told Sen. Puckett, “Sir, it’s

called credit scoring and there’s nothing you can do about

it.” Following that conversation Sen. Puckett introduced

legislation outlawing credit scoring in Virginia.

The second theme we found of importance this year was,

“You just have to be here.” Thank goodness that this year

was an “in-person” session. Last year’s virtual session

worked and that is all you could say about it. There were

just so very many hiccups last year and while Zoom is a

useful tool, it just didn’t work in a way that allowed direct

contact with legislators.

Continued on page 10 >>

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There are many reasons why independent agencies turn to Keystone, but you might ask

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Keystone is more than just a network, we’re a community. Our goal is to strengthen

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Together, we’re making each other stronger and keeping clients better protected.

That’s how independence works better together!

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

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keystoneinsgrp.com

©2021 Keystone Insurers Group ®. All rights reserved. This does not constitute an offer to sell

a franchise in any state in which the Keystone Insurers Group franchise is not registered.

There were any number of times this year where Joe

Hudgins and I were back to door-to-door visits. There’s

just no better way to gauge the sense of the legislators

than to meet with them one on one. There was a flood bill

introduced this year where we must have stopped by the

delegate’s office about 10 times because the legislator’s

chief of staff indicated that the delegate didn’t like

appointments. We finally met with him and had a great

discussion on the genesis of his bill and that he didn’t

believe the bill had a future.

On another bill — the motorcycle lane filtering bill —

we were waiting to see a delegate when the motorcycle

lobbyist came out of the delegate’s office. That was the

first indication we had that someone was actually working

the bill. Further, when we were told the delegate was

going to strike his bill, just to make sure we showed up in

committee and sure enough they started talking about the

bill and we had to say, “Wait a minute…” The delegate,

following some discussion, did strike the bill, which will

likely be brought up again next year.

Then on another occasion, we spoke with legislators to

get an amendment added to a bill, did all the behindthe-scenes

work — our amendment was agreed to by all

parties. When the bill came up on the senate floor, the

senator presenting the bill forgot about our amendment

in the crush of confusion and before the bill was voted

upon, we reminded the senator of a “minor” amendment

to which she profusely apologized.

Lobbying for the IIAV members is a full contact sport. But

someone has to be there, and we can assure you that IIAV is

at the legislature on your behalf from when the legislature

convenes to the end of the session — Sine Die.

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STATE NATIONAL DIRECTOR

MICHAEL F. FUNKHOUSER

mikehm@shentel.net

A LETTER TO YOU, MY FELLOW IIAV MEMBER

I

hope this issue of the Big I Virginia magazine finds

you, your family and your agency well. There’s a lot

going on with our association and the industry, and

I’m going to touch on a few different topics in my article

for this issue.

First off, we are just around the corner from IIAV’s Annual

Convention and Trade Show, June 26-28, at the beautiful

Marriott Virginia Beach Oceanfront. This is the preeminent

insurance industry event in the Commonwealth of Virginia,

and this year’s event will undoubtedly be one for the ages.

Come see how the IIAV, and our industry, can help your

agency prosper as we move through these uncertain times.

Speaking of our industry, you sell a very unique product.

You can’t see, touch, smell, or hold insurance. It is there

to give you peace of mind that if something disastrous

happens, you will be made whole again. As much as some

insurance companies try to, insurance should not and

cannot be commoditized.

There are a lot of similarities to the products we all sell,

and one of the most important benefits our association

provides. That benefit is ADVOCACY. Like insurance,

advocacy is not a commodity. You can’t put your arms

around it, but you better believe that YOU need it in order

to continue to be successful in our noble profession.

Advocacy is provided on both the state and national level

by a group of extremely talented and dedicated individuals.

They work for YOU to strengthen a profession in which you

can not only assist your customers in mitigating their risks,

but also make a great living for yourself and your family in

doing so. This is a true win-win for all!

If you have the opportunity, say thank you to IIAV President

and CEO, Bob Bradshaw, and Vice President of Technical

Research and Government Relations, Joe Hudgins for the

tireless effort they give on our behalf in Richmond. They

are present every day of the legislative session. It is not

uncommon for them to meet with legislators or be in

committee meetings until well after you are home with

your family for the evening. They are two of the most

respected lobbyists in Richmond, and as an IIAV member,

you are fortunate to have them advocate on your behalf.

On the national level, IIABA President and CEO, Bob

Rusbuldt and Senior Vice President of External and

Government Affairs, Charles Symington and their team

represent you as the top agent and broker lobbying

group on Capitol Hill. The federal landscape is constantly

changing, and it’s often not favorable to the Independent

Agency system. There are many monsters lurking in the

woods. Fortunately, the Government Affairs team is there

to make sure you are represented in the halls of Congress.

I am calling on you to strengthen your industry and help

your association representatives advocate for you.

You can donate to VAPAC here:

You can donate to InsurPac here:

www.istockphoto.com / pixelliebe

SPRING 2022 THE BIG I VIRGINIA 11

PROTECTING THE INTERESTS OF INDEPENDENT INSURANCE

AGENTS AND THE INDEPENDENT AGENCY SYSTEM

Virginia Agents

Political Affairs

Committee

Established in the mid-1970’s

by the Independent Insurance

Agents of Virginia, VAPAC’s

mission is simply stated: To

consolidate contributions from

industry leaders and help

elect or re-elect Virginia

legislators who support the

independent agency system.

VAPAC reviews the voting

records of state legislators

and works to support those

legislators who recognize the

importance of making the

Commonwealth of Virginia a

good place in which to do

business.

Issues of importance to independent agents range from licensing issues, business regulation, and

insurance industry specific such as regulation of certificates of insurance, Workers Compensation,

property/casualty and life health issues. Recent legislative issues have also involved privacy liability, tort

reform and cyber liability.

Virginia now has some of the lowest auto, homeowner, and Workers Compensation premiums in the

nation and that’s due in large part to maintaining a regulatory and legislative climate that’s good for

business. VAPAC supports legislators who support this goal.

2021-2022 PAC Contributors to Virginia Legislators

Trial Lawyers: $1 million

Real Estate Agents: $1.3 million

Hospitals: $1.1 million

General Contractors: $500,000

Insurance Agents…..$0 without your support

YES! I would like to support business friendly legislators.

Name: ___________________________________________________________________________

Agency:__________________________________________________________________________

Address: _________________________________________________________________________

City/State/Zip: _____________________________________________________________________

VAPAC Century Club - $100 VAPAC Founders Club - $250

VAPAC Eagle Club - $500 Other $ ___________

Payment Enclosed Credit Card (select one): Visa MC AMEX Discover

Card #: ___________________________________________________________________________

Exp. Date: ___________ V-code: ___________ Billing St. Address:____________________________

City/State/Zip: ______________________________________________________________________

Issued To: _________________________________________________________________________

Signature: _________________________________________________________________________

VAPAC is a non-partisan, non-profit political committee. VAPAC’s contribution history can be found at www.vpap.org. Contributions to VAPAC

are not deductible on federal or state taxes. Contributions can be made by personal or company check or card.

2022 Convention Agenda

SUNDAY, JUNE 26, 2022

8:00pm - 10:00pm

WELCOME RECEPTION

MONDAY, JUNE 27, 2022

7:45am - 8:45am

BREAKFAST BUFFET

9:00am - 10:30am

10:45am - 11:45am

11:45am - 12:15pm

12:15pm - 1:15pm

KEYNOTE: Peak Performance: How the Best Get Better

Robert Stevenson, Professional Keynote Speaker

The State of the Industry with Commissioner Scott White

Scott White, Commissioner; Virginia Bureau of Insurance

CE: 1 Hour of Ethics

LUNCH: Grab n' Go

BREAKOUT SESSIONS (Choose one)

Transforming an Agency into 100% Remote: A Case Study

Spencer Houldin, Co-President; Ericson Insurance Advisors

1:30pm - 2:30pm

3:00pm - 6:30pm

Should Insurance Agents Feel Like Sharks are After Them?

Doug Palais, Esq., JD, Counsel; Vandeventer Black, LLP

CE: 1 Hour of L&R

BREAKOUT SESSIONS (Choose one)

Is Your Website an E&O Tsunami Waiting to Happen?

Eric Moberg, Founder & CEO; The Moberg Group

CE: 1 Hour of OGI

Commotion in the Ocean: Regulators to the Rescue!

Richard Tozer, Chief; Agent Regulation and Juan Rodriguez; P&C

Investigations Manager, Virginia Bureau of Insurance

CE: 1 Hour of L&R

TRADESHOW

TUESDAY, JUNE 28, 2022

8:00am - 9:15am

BREAKFAST BUFFET

9:30am - 10:30am

10:45am - 11:45am

11:45am - 12:15pm

1:00pm - 2:30pm

6:30pm - 10:00pm

6:30pm - 7:30pm

7:30pm - 10:00pm

KEYNOTE: Treat Your Brand Like a Sports Car

Peter Van Aartrijik, Principal; Aartrijk "Insurance Brand Champions"

Getting Your Financial House in Order

Dave Tralka, President and Chief Executive Officer, InsurBanc,

a division of Connecticut Community Bank, N.A.®

LUNCH: Grab n' Go

1:1's with Dave Tralka | Doug Palais, Esq., JD | Spencer Houldin

Reserve a 10 minute meeting time in advance

MOVIE & PIZZA NIGHT FOR THE KIDS

RECEPTION & VAIA SILENT AUCTION

AWARDS DINNER & DESSERT RECEPTION

THANK YOU 2022 PARTNERS

Platinum

Gold

Silver

Berkshire Hathaway GUARD

Central Insurance

Commonwealth Underwriters, Ltd.

First Benefits Insurance Mutual

Goodville Mutual Casualty

Jencap Insurance Services, Inc

JM Wilson Corp

Bronze

Landin Services, LLC

Leavitt Group

Loudoun Mutual Ins Group

Normandy Insurance

Openly Insurance

Penn National

Peoples Premium Finance

Philadelphia Ins Companies

State Auto Insurance

Sagesure Insurance Managers

The Main Street America Group

West Bend Mutual

Zenith Insurance Co.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

ROBERT

STEVENSON

President, Seeking Excellence, Inc.

EAGLES DO IT … TURKEY’S DON’T

It has been over two decades since I wrote my first book,

How to Soar Like an Eagle in a World Full of Turkeys,

(now in its 3rd edition) which turned out to be a best seller

for me. I wrote the book under the premise to help shorten

the learning curve for success. In other words, I wrote 47

chapters on things I wish someone had told me when I first

started out.

Everyone loved the title because it is something we can all

relate to. Turkeys (the people kind) are in great abundance,

and we must deal with them every day. I even wrote 86

examples of people being TURKEYS. Here are a few

examples:

Bosses who manage by fear.

People who …

start false rumors.

always seem to be complaining.

abuse their position of authority.

demand great service but tip poorly.

write a check in the “Cash Only” line.

Bosses/associates who take credit for your work.

Bosses who would never do what they require you to do.

Neighbors who borrow things and never bring them back.

A person who parks in handicapped parking who isn’t

handicapped.

I like the Eagle/Turkey comparison because people look

upon an Eagle with respect; a bird with power, grace, skill

and cunning, soaring high above all the chaos. Turkeys, on

the other hand, can barely fly, and they are an unintelligent,

pitiful creature, who receive no respect. That being said,

I feel I am safe in saying, most people would rather be

called an Eagle ... than a Turkey.

I decided for this article, that I would go through my four

books and choose some of my favorite concepts, beliefs

and principles and share them with you. I’ll be shifting

gears from point to point, which could tend to be a bit

confusing, so when I SHIFT, I will mark them for you as,

“Next Point.”

So, what does it take to be an Eagle in this highly

competitive, ever-changing business environment?

I think a great place to start this article about success is

to first deal with the misconception of failure. Leadership

expert, John Maxwell once stated: “Without failure,

there is no achievement.” But my favorite quote about

failure is from Henry Ford when he said, “Failure is the

opportunity to begin again more intelligently.”

In all our lives, there will be lots of missteps, mistakes,

and blunders (failures). All of us need to realize we are

going to fail, screw-up, and sometimes even embarrass

ourselves. I heard it stated years ago that, “Failure is not

the opposite of success, it’s part of success.” Each

mistake should teach us something. The problem with that

statement, is that in most cases, we fail to learn. To get

things started, I thought you might enjoy one of my very

own misstep, mistake, and ridiculous blunder.

I had been in the speaking business for about six months

when I received a call from my first booking agent to speak

to about 500 people in a convention hall in central Florida.

I was fired up. It was mid-July, but the air-conditioning was

working in both my car and in the convention center, so

heat and humidity shouldn’t be an issue.

I had inquired when I arrived where the restrooms were,

because I always make a “pit-stop” before I speak. The

meeting planner pointed to a door, and said go down

that hallway, and I nodded, letting her know I understood.

They had dinner first and I was sitting at the head table at

the far-left end. About 15 minutes before I was to speak, I

slipped out from the table unnoticed and went through a

double door that I thought the lady had pointed to when

I asked for directions to the restroom. (This, I soon found

out, was the wrong door).

I kept walking and walking, and had to go through another

door, with more additional walking, until I found a restroom.

Little did I know that the second door I went through locked

behind me. There was no way to get back the way I came,

and no one had a clue where I was. The music was playing,

people were talking, dishes were clanging … and on top

of that, with the distance I had walked, no one could hear

my banging on the door or yelling.

I was on my own to get out of this blunder. I remembered

the bathroom had a big crank window, so in my mind, I

had one alternative and that was to crank open that big

window and jump out, and then walk around the building.


It wasn’t too long of a drop out the window, but there was

no getting back in; at least I was outside. I hadn’t realized

that the area I was dropping into, behind the convention

center, was surrounded by a 9-foot high, chain-linked

fence. I now had to climb the fence to be able to walk

around the building.

You have got to picture this … here I was, in a great

looking suit, perfectly manicured to present my program

before going to the restroom … now, I was sweating

bullets, destroying my suit, getting filthy, and to top it off, I

was wearing a blue shirt that is showing just how bad I was

sweating. (Never wear a blue shirt in the summer)

I fold-up my suit coat and throw it over the fence, climb

the fence, and I’m finally free. I walk all the way around the

convention center and up to the front door and enter the

convention hall. The man who had hired me was at the

podium making small talk ... wondering where in the world

I had gone, when he looked up and said … “Well, here

he is now, Mr. Robert Stevenson.” He pointed towards

the back of the convention hall and there I stood in all my

glory. The gasps and whispers were abundant as I made

my way to the front.

There is an old Chinese saying, “When the tiger enters

the temple, make it part of the ceremony,” and that is

exactly what I did. I couldn’t hide what

had happened, so I made it part of

my program. I told the audience the

complete story and they were howling

with laughter. Somebody handed me

several cloth napkins to wipe off and

then I started. The audience was with

me from the very beginning, and I

hope to this day, they still are. It has

been over 30 years and over 2,500

speeches later, in 16 countries, but

one of my proudest moments of my

career was making it to the front of

that hall and facing that audience.

Sometimes things aren’t going to go

as planned. Sometimes you are going

to stumble, bumble or fall and that’s

okay; it happens to the best. What

makes them the best, is they get up

and carry on. Do yourself a favor and

reflect on life’s lessons and smile; you

made it, you survived, and you will

survive the next time.

For some reason most managers,

bosses, and supervisors forget they

ever made a mistake. Because if

they did remember, they would be a

lot more tolerant of those working

for them when they mess-up. When

someone does something wrong, that should not erase all

the things they did right.

• Have you ever made a mistake?

I have.

• Have you ever made a bad decision?

I have.

• Have you ever made a poor choice?

I have.

• Have you ever said something you regret?

I have.

• Have you ever jumped to the wrong conclusion?

I have.

• Have you ever made the wrong assumption?

I have.

• Have you ever done something foolish?

I have.

• Have you ever done something stupid?

I have.

Would you want someone to forget all the great things

you had done for them, over one mistake? Me neither!

Intelligence is realizing mistakes will happen, learning

from them and moving on. Life isn’t easy, learning isn’t

What do you expect from

your insurance carrier?

✓ An accessible management team that really knows

you and your agency

✓ Consistency in underwriting

✓ A dependable and fair approach to claims handling

✓ Local knowledge and presence in your markets

✓ A carrier that listens and responds


Visit us at www.PennNationalInsurance.com to find out how

you can become an agent with big opportunities for growth.


simple, errors and mistakes will happen. Wisdom is

understanding those missteps, mistakes and blunders

are the foundation for our success. The biggest mistake

you can make from a mistake is not learning from it. I

heard it once said, “There are no mistakes in life … only

lessons.”

I learned a lot that hot July day of my 1st paid speaking

engagement with an agent representing me:

• Even the smallest logistical item can ruin a plan.

• Sometimes it doesn’t have to be perfect or pretty to

work.

• People are more forgiving than we think.

• Honesty is the best policy … Tell it like it is.

• Don’t wear a blue shirt in the summertime:

Never let them see you sweat!

I share this story with you because, at the time of my

BLUNDER, I had owned 5 companies, sold in over 20

countries, and considered myself to be pretty successful,

but I still screwed up and so will YOU. So, don’t be so hard

on yourself. Get over the failure. Every mistake is a lesson

that will make you BETTER, if you will learn from it and

then MOVE ON! Simply said - FORGET THE MISTAKE …

REMEMBER THE LESSON! Eagles do it … Turkeys Don’t

NEXT POINT: Good habits or bad habits aren’t your

destiny. You can ignore your habits, change them, improve

them, or even replace them. But it is critical to understand,

HABITS define people, companies, organizations and

teams; they will make you or break you. Winning is a

by-product of GOOD HABITS. Repetition and practice

are the two key ingredients to developing good habits.

Great athletes, surgeons, magicians, lawyers, salespeople

and musicians (etc.) all DECIDED to perfect their talents

through years and years of practice. Steven Jobs once

said: “You spend the first 30 years of your life defining

your habits. In the last 30 years of your life your habits

define you.”

If you are not the successful person you want to be, then let’s

state the obvious: what you have been doing isn’t totally

working. Reflect on what Ralph Waldo Emerson said: “The

only person you are destined to become, is the person

you DECIDE to be.” One thing that has always driven me

was a statement I heard in college: “Control your own life

… or someone else will control it for you.”

There are certain times in our business and personal lives

that we have to make important decisions that will have

a tremendous impact on our future. These “defining

moments” or “critical choices” are the difference

between clarity or confusion, misery or joy, success or

failure. Deciding is no easy task and it always comes with

consequences. But if you don’t decide, if you do nothing,

there will also be consequences.

I am of the opinion, that one of the most powerful words

in the English language is “DECIDE.” You’ve heard the

saying, “Life is not a matter of chance, it’s a matter of

choice.” If you don’t like the way things are going, if you

want to change your future, then you need to change your

habits. You can either choose to do or not to do anything

… YOU DECIDE. Here is a simple acrostic to help you with

DECIDING:

Making a decision to alter your life, becomes a catalyst

for emerging ideas. Your mind wants a direction, a course,

a decision, and when you give it that clarity, it rewards

you with new hope, inspiration, and energy. YOU QUIT

FLOUNDERING IN YOUR INDECISION AND FLOURISH

IN YOUR NEW DIRECTION. Not every decision you

make will be the right one. Realize that and understand

successful people learn from wrong decisions and then

move on.

Never look back or second guess your decision; that takes

energy away from making your decision work. DECIDE

NOW … will you always say “Some Day” or is today “Day

One” of your new future?

Several years ago, I was the recipient of some rather

profound commentary on life. It didn’t come to me via

some world-renowned scholar or teacher; it was casually

presented to me by my son Tyler, who at the time was a

21-year-old college student. Tyler was sitting in my office

and was getting ready to graduate from college. I asked

him how he goes about making important decisions. He

thought for a moment and then said: (I am paraphrasing to

the best of my memory)

“Dad, to me, life is like a line. It can be a straight horizontal

line from birth to death, where you don’t do anything but

basically exist, so there is nothing to cause the line to

go up (representing you did something good) … or …

causing it to go down (representing you did something

bad). I am all about making my line as high as I can. So,

when I have to make a decision about doing something or

not doing something, I think about my line. It helps making

a decision so much easier.”

I would say that was some rather profound commentary

on life. Complicated just got simple. Confusing just got

clear. Indecisiveness just turned into action. It’s all about a

higher line mentality. The same is true in business. When

choosing what course to chart, what actions to take, what

decisions to make, always do what is necessary so your

results are depicted with a higher line. I decided to write

a book on that concept, entitled, Raise Your Line. In that

book I wrote a poem that hits the subject head on that I

wanted to share with you. I hope you like it.

Success in life and business is all about a higher line

mentality.

Eagles do it … Turkeys Don’t


www.istockphoto.com / Tonktiti

NEXT POINT: Let’s shift gears again and talk about

something that holds so many people back … EXCUSES. I

once read, “excuses are the lies you tell yourself.” That

is a powerful statement. It is important to understand that

great leaders never expect results from those who give

excuses.; they will find someone else to get the job done.

So, if you are looking for a great excuse to explain why you

didn’t accomplish something, remember this rule: those

who excel at excuses seldom excel at anything

else. Great leaders are well aware of that rule. I find people

who are good at making excuses, are seldom good at

reaching goals, solving problems, and leading people.

To me, an excuse is a form of weakness or inability to take

responsibility for your own mistakes. Excuses usually show

a weakness in your plan, or your attitude, your conviction,

ability, knowledge, judgement, talent, or organizational

skills. I am tired of people who say…

If these excuses don’t work for you, I should note, there

are several books of excuses. There is Garfield's Book

of Excellent Excuses, Excuses for Dummies, The Little

Book of Big Excuses, The Book of Big Excuses, Complete

Excuses Handbook, and my favorite title...1,001 Excuses

for How to Get Out of and Away with Anything.

Please understand, excuses may make you feel better,

but they change nothing and usually annoy the people

you are telling them to. I have found that successful leaders

… when something bad happens, a mistake is made,

a goal isn’t reached … would rather you tell them what

happened, what you learned and what you are going to do

about it, than give them an excuse. If you are always on

the lookout for a great excuse, you better also be on

the lookout for a new job.

I think it is safe to say that most people are not a fan of

excuses, nor a fan of people who are ALWAYS giving

excuses. That statement alone should make us all take

notice that it is a waste of time to search for an excuse.

Excuses do nothing but make you look bad to whomever

you are giving the excuse to and, they most often are

annoying. Benjamin Franklin put it this way when discussing

excuses: “He that is good for making excuses is seldom

good for anything else.” OUCH! I have compiled a list of

short quotes about excuses that should make us all think

twice before ever giving one.

Excuses are for losers. Winners find a way. Losers find

an excuse.

You can have results or excuses ... Not both.

Excuses are for people who don't want it bad enough.

If it is important, you will find a way. If not, you will

find an excuse.

99% of failures come from people who have the habit

of making excuses.

The great baseball player Derek Jeter had a unique

way of looking at excuses. He stated, "There may be

people who have more talent than you, but there's

no excuse for anyone to work harder than you.” We

need to understand that maturity comes when we stop

making excuses and start making changes. Let’s get

hardcore: Excuses are useless. Results are priceless. Here is

a simple way to deal with excuses: Never do anything you

will have to give an excuse for later. I would like to end with

this one last thought on excuses. If you quit looking for

an excuse – you will have more time to find a solution.

Eagles do it … Turkeys Don’t

NEXT POINT: If I have learned one thing in business, it

is “WHY” experience the pain to learn something when

you don’t have to; the more knowledge you can gain

from others, the better for you. Go to school on other

people’s experiences. Learn from their wise words or from

their mistakes and shorten your learning curve. I heard it

once said: “He is truly wise who gains wisdom from

another’s mishap.”

Life is too short to learn and experience it ALL yourself.

Success comes to those who seek knowledge from others

and apply it. According to the American Booksellers

Association … eighty percent of Americans did not buy

or read a book this past year, and seventy percent of

American adults have not bought a book in the past 5

years. We all need to understand that we can gain SO

MUCH experience, insight, and knowledge by reading

about the experiences of others.

So, shorten your learning curve by reading for

KNOWLEDGE every day. I am always looking for great

quotes, sayings, or statements, to help reinforce my

message. I have also found that great quotes don’t always

have to come from famous people to be helpful. In all

honesty, is a statement more profound, wise, brilliant,

insightful, astute, sensible, intelligent, shrewd, smart, or

clever, because a famous person said it? I don’t think so.

I think that each quote should stand alone, judged on its

own merit, and not be given value because of who said

it. Here are some powerful wise words of wisdom from



ANONYMOUS sources that I wanted to share with you.

The wiser a person gets the more they listen.

Those who complain a lot – succeed very little.

Do more than you are paid to do … every time.

To be a winner, all you need to give is all you have.

I have often regretted my speech, never my silence.

Minds are like parachutes - they only function when open.

Never listen to those who have not done “IT” tell you how

to do “IT.”

Worry doesn’t help tomorrow’s troubles, but it does ruin

today’s happiness.

The sooner you admit you messed up - the sooner you can

get on with fixing it.

Good judgment comes from experience, and experience

comes from bad judgment.

Results are everything. You will be graded by what you do,

not what you said you would do.

As I said, shorten your learning curve by learning

something NEW every day. If you haven’t set apart a

few minutes per day to read or listen to something that

will make you better, you will soon be losing to your

competition. If it isn’t part of your daily plan, it won’t get

done. Abraham Lincoln said, “Give me six hours to chop

down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening

the axe.” Put time on your daily calendar to sharpen your

axe. Eagles do it … Turkeys Don’t

NEXT POINT: The day you “REALIZE” that YOU control

your destiny by the choices YOU make, is the day you

start taking control of your life. I am going to throw a list

of questions at you and let you reflect on your answers.

Now, some of these questions might not be applicable

to you at all, which is good. BUT, if one or more of these

questions strikes a nerve when you read them, then you

may have some work to do. Look at each question and

then decide what is important to YOU. Your life is not a

dress rehearsal. You’ve got one shot at it, so try and make

it your BEST SHOT.

Why do you waste time?

Why don’t you rest more?

Why don’t you eat better?

Why do you procrastinate?

Why don’t you laugh more?

Why don’t you forgive more?

Why don’t you exercise more?

Why aren’t you more efficient?

Why are you so critical of others?

Why don’t you save more money?

Why do you waste time listening to gossip?

Why don’t you take more time for yourself?


Why are you sometimes or all the time … late?

Why don’t you say what you are really feeling?

Why do you put so much pressure on yourself?

Why do you spend more money than you should?

Why do you sometimes or always doubt yourself?

Why are you sometimes or always in a bad mood?

Why do you stay in a job or relationship you hate?

Why do you say yes when you really want to say no?

Why don’t you spend more time with the ones you love?

Why don’t you treat everyone with the same respect you

want?

Why don’t you read something every day that will make

you better?

Why don’t you tell the people you care about that you care

about them?

The REALITY OF YOUR ANSWER

to each question is very telling. If

the answer to any one of the

questions is because YOU have

chosen to do so … then YOU can

change it. Quit blaming others for

what YOU HAVE CHOSEN. You’ve

probably heard what I am getting

ready to say many times, but I

think it is very appropriate to bring

it up again right now. Today “IS”

the first day of the rest of your life;

decide now what you are going to

do from here. Eagles do it … Turkeys Don’t

NEXT POINT: A “Standardized Test” can measure

your mastery of writing, language, and math … but it

should never be used to define a person and their TRUE

POTENTIAL TO SUCCEED. Our success has a great deal

to do with our level of SKILL, but not everything. I know a

lot of talented, smart, well-educated people who have, in

no way, come close to reaching their full potential.

I was speaking to a Vice President of Sales last week,

who was expressing her frustration at several of the

salespeople working for her who have the skill but not

the will. She told me they have all the talent, but yet they

still don’t excel. She went on to say they have the training,

knowledge, understanding and a huge opportunity, with

thousands of potential clients available for them to call on,

but they accept being average.

So many companies today are relying on tests to measure,

grade, analyze and determine whether to hire someone.

I am sure there are lots of reasons why people believe

these tests to be helpful in determining the success of an

employee, but there are some fallacies as well. Here are a

few things a STANDARDIZED TEST CAN’T MEASURE.

www.istockphoto.com / Tonktiti

Any director of Human Resources would jump at the

chance to hire someone with these characteristics. These

are incredible life skills that will help to ensure the

success of anyone, and no test will show that you

have them. We all have the FREEWILL to succeed, if

we have the WILLINGNESS to do it. The big question

is WILL you. Who would have ever thought such a simple

word as WILL would have so much to do with our success?

It can be said in different terms: resolve, passion, desire,

determination, tenacity, or conviction, which all lead us

to the same simple term, WILL. Here are a few quotes I

want to share with you that should hopefully broaden your

prospective on how important HAVING THE WILL is to

your success.

“People do not lack strength. They lack WILL.” - Victor

Hugo

“The first step to becoming … is to WILL it.” - Mother

Teresa

“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes

from indomitable WILL.” - Mahatma Gandhi

“The difference between a successful person and others is

not lack of strength, not lack of knowledge, but rather lack

of WILL.” - Vince Lombardi

Never let one opinion or one test determine your fate. Selfdoubt

is the killer of dreams, careers, accomplishments

and success. Just because you aren’t great at one thing,

doesn’t mean you can’t be great at something else. When

you doubt your power, you give power to your doubt.

NEXT POINT: Emerson said, “Nothing great is ever

achieved without enthusiasm.” I see enthusiasm as

the critical trait, component, and ingredient in the

personality of successful people. Enthusiasm is the gas

that drives your engine on your journey towards SEEKING

EXCELLENCE. With enthusiasm you will forever have the

chance to succeed; without it, you have failed before you

ever started. Some people show it differently than others,

but that doesn’t mean it is any less powerful or they are any

less committed. Webster’s defines it this way:

enthusiasm: intense or eager interest; zeal; fervor.

- SYN. see passion

passion: extreme, compelling, emotion or excitement.

- SYN. see enthusiasm

zeal: ardent endeavor or devotion. - SYN. see passion

fervor: great warmth of emotion; zeal. - SYN. see passion

emotion: strong, generalized feeling; physical excitement.

- SYN. see feeling

In looking at how Webster’s defines enthusiasm and the

words associated to the term, it is obvious to see a pattern

developing towards another word, PASSION; they go

hand-in-hand. You can’t have one without the other. So,

it is with Success - you can’t have success without

enthusiasm; they go hand-in-hand.

There is real magic in enthusiasm. I heard it once called

the “Electricity of Life.” So, if you want to be successful

in business … hire enthusiasm, show enthusiasm, share

enthusiasm, nurture enthusiasm, create enthusiasm, and

welcome enthusiasm.

Enthusiasm is but a state of mind;

the combination between mental and physical energy;

your belief (the mental) put into action (physical energy).

There is so much more I would like to share with you, but

we are out of time. I would like to leave you with one last

passage. This is my favorite thing I have ever written. I call

it my SUCCESS CHALLENGE. If you can follow this, you

can’t help but become successful. Good Luck!

SUCCESS CHALLENGE

While others give up; try again

While others gossip; stay silent

While others lie; always be truthful

While others are negative; be positive

While others are fearful; have courage

While others fail to study; read, research and review

While others ridicule; compliment, respect, and praise

While others procrastinate; move forward and persist

While others have no purpose; establish a plan and do it

While others show up late; always be early and prepared

While others find fault; look for advantages and strengths

While others complain; look for alternatives and solutions

While others compromise their integrity; guard it at all

costs

While others waste time; be focused, efficient and

organized

While others blame someone else; strive to exonerate and

help

While others never volunteer; try to always lend a helping

hand

While others doubt their ability; have confidence you will

succeed

While others do the bare minimum; always do more than

expected

While others are inflexible; be tolerant, reasonable, and

cooperative

While others make excuses; accept responsibility, correct,

and move on

While others shirk responsibility; be accountable for your

actions and duties


YOUNG AGENTS CONFERENCE

IIAV’s Young Agent of the Year, Ryan Atkinson

of Atkinson Insurance with Clay Wiley and

Nicole McAllister.

Jake Nelson, Kyle Brown, Laura Hancock, Clay Wiley

and Jacob Knoble.

Marcus Sheridan talking to attendee, Kyle Brown,

during his presentation.

Marcus Sheridan

YAC’s Young Agent of the Year, Ryan Atkinson with

his wife and his agency members.


YOUNG AGENTS CONFERENCE

Marcus Sheridan with IIAV 2022

Young Agent Conference attendees.

YAC’s 2022 Company Person of the Year, Kyle Brown with

Acuity Insurance with Nicole McAllister and Clay Wiley.

Brandon Smith talked to attendees about

work-life balance.

Clay Wiley, Laura Hancock, Jake Nelson at the 2022

YAC Opening Reception at the Circuit Social Club.

DID YOU KNOW … ?

Studies show that doodling or occupying the brain with a simple activity can fire up the brain's “executive

resources,” which is a term to define cognitive processes that allow us to multi-task, concentrate and

plan. It can also relieve stress, improve productivity and memory retention. Try doodling a number or

word or image that pertains to what's being addressed and it's more likely to stay with you.


www.istockphoto.com / Chainarong Prasertthai

WHEN GOOD THINGS HAPPEN

TO GOOD AGENTS

By Richard F. Lund, J.D., Vice President, Senior Underwriter, Swiss Re

Let me tell you a little story. Its Monday, Dec. 21, and

an agency owner, let's call him Bob, is trying to get

things wrapped up before the holidays so he can be

ready for a nice vacation and he'll be back after the first of

the year. At about 3 p.m., his administrative assistant tells

him he has a call from someone named Frank. He asks who

Frank is and she says she doesn't know. Thinking it might

be one of his old college buddies, he takes the call. Frank

says hi, he's an attorney and he wants to talk to Bob about

Kenny, a former insurance customer of Bob's. Frank tells him

that they have a trial starting on Dec. 28 and he wants to

discuss Kenny with him.

Immediately, Bob's heart sinks and things start to race

through his mind: Will his vacation be ruined? But one

thing pops into his mind that he remembers from a Swiss

Re loss control seminar he went to a few months earlier.

The instructor said, "If an attorney calls you and wants to

talk, remember, unless he's YOUR attorney, he's not your

friend. And you DON'T have to talk to him. Instead, ask

him what he wants to talk about and don't volunteer any

information. Instead, politely tell him you can't talk to him

and IMMEDIATELY call the claims department at Swiss Re

or your E&O carrier."

Bob knows that Kenny has always been a problem customer

(late premium payments, unreasonable requests, failing to

report changes, etc.). What does this lawyer want? Why is

he calling ME????

So Bob told Frank the lawyer, "I'm sorry, but I can't talk to

you about Kenny," and hangs up. He immediately calls his

state E&O administrator who gives him the number for the

Swiss Re claims department. Bob calls and speaks with one

of Swiss Re's professional claims staff, Jim, who goes over

everything with Bob, and Jim tells him that if anyone calls

him or if he receives any letters or documents, including a

subpoena, to immediately call him. Sure enough, the next

morning the attorney delivers a subpoena for him to testify

at his deposition on Thursday, Dec. 24. Merry Christmas!!!

Bob immediately calls Jim the claims handler who tells

him to fax the subpoena to him right then, which Bob

does. Suffice it to say, in the next two days, an attorney has

been retained to represent Bob. The attorney contacts the

attorney who issued the subpoena, they talk, the subpoena

is withdrawn and Bob's vacation is saved!

The key to this is not that Bob's vacation was saved (although

that's nice too,) but more importantly he remembered what

he'd been taught at a Swiss Re/IIABA endorsed loss control

seminar: that any time he is contacted by anyone who wants

to talk to him about one of his customers, unless it is his

customer, he should assume they are not wanting to help

him and he should contact his E&O claims department.

But be careful. If there has been a problem with your

customer's policy or a claim, and you receive a call from your

customer, a representative from the insurance company or

even someone from your state department of insurance,

then you may want to call your E&O carrier's claims staff to

get some advice as well.

Here's a few other examples of what happens when

agents do the right thing:

Agent receives a subpoena for his customer's records. He

contacts his E&O claims department who contacts the

attorney who issued the subpoena, asks what it is they

wanted, and determines they only want a copy of the

customer's policy. The claims handler obtains that from the

agent and forwards it to the attorney.

Agent receives a call from the carrier for a policy of a former

customer of the agent and they want to see his file. Agent

asks why and they tell him there is a question about the

information that was contained in the application. They tell

the agent they just want to help him.

The agent hangs up and immediately contacts his E&O

claims department and the claims handler calls the carrier

and asks specifically what information they want. They say

they don't know of anything in particular, they just want

to see the agent's file to see if they find anything in his

notes. The claims handler tells them that if they can tell her

anything specifically, they'll see what they locate, but unless

they have a specific request, they can't provide anything.


They never hear back from the carrier.

Agent receives a call from an upset former customer who

has a claim that was denied by the carrier because the policy

expired due to non-payment of the premium. The customer

tells the agent their going to sue them and hangs up. The

agent immediately contacts his E&O claims department,

they discuss what happened and the claims handler asks if

the agent has any documentation about the cancellation.

The agent says yes, he has a copy of the letter from the

carrier notifying the customer of the cancellation. The claims

handler helps the agent draft a letter to the customer and

provides a copy of the cancellation notice. The agent sends

the letter and the notice to the customer and the agent

never hears from the customer again.

Agent receives a notice of complaint from the state

department of insurance and contacts the Swiss Re claims

department. The claims handler reviews the complaint,

discusses it with the agent, contacts the DOI investigator

and helps the agent prepare a formal response refuting

the allegations in the complaint. In some limited instances,

an attorney is retained to help the agent respond to the

complaint. In most cases, the complaints are resolved in the

agent's favor without further action. But if the complainant

pursues it further, including filing a lawsuit, the groundwork

to defend the agent has already been laid.

In each one of these cases, as soon as

the agent was aware that there might

be a problem that could lead to a claim

the agent immediately contacted their

E&O claims department. The claims

department then gathered information

from the agent and took steps to avert

a claim. In many instances, by taking

immediate action with the claims

department before an actual lawsuit

arises, the claim can be averted.

So you see, not all E&O claim situations

end up bad. Many times, good things

happen to good agents.

This article is intended to be used for

general informational purposes only

and is not to be relied upon or used for

any particular purpose. Swiss Re shall

not be held responsible in any way for,

and specifically disclaims any liability

arising out of or in any way connected

to, reliance on or use of any of the

information contained or referenced in

this article. The information contained

or referenced in this article is not

intended to constitute and should not

be considered legal, accounting or

professional advice, nor shall it serve

as a substitute for the recipient obtaining such advice. The

views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent

the views of the Swiss Re Group ("Swiss Re") and/or its

subsidiaries and/or management and/or shareholders.

Copyright 2010 Swiss Re America Holding Corporation

Richard F. Lund, JD, is a Vice President and Senior

Underwriter of Swiss Re/Westport, underwriting insurance

agents errors and omissions coverage. He has also been an

insurance agents E&O claims counsel and has written and

presented numerous E&O risk management/ loss control

seminars, mock trials and articles nationwide since 1992.

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STAFF PROFILE

GETTING TO KNOW NICOLE MCALLISTER

IIAV DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

What do you do at IIAV?

I am the Director of Communications for IIAV; I am responsible for all of our

external communications. I work closely with all of the IIAV staff to educate our

members about the Association’s benefits and services and to advocate for

Independent Insurance Agents to the public. I was appointed the Young Agents’

Committee Staff Liaison in September 2021 and I have had a blast working with

such a fun group! The many graphic design projects that come through my office

are just the icing on top of the multi-layered cake that is my job!

Tell us about yourself?

I’m married to my high school sweetheart, Ian. We celebrated 15 years of marriage

on St. Patrick’s Day of this year! We have two beautiful children, Audrey and Grant

and two silly Wigglebutts (Australian Shepards), Henry and Finley. Our home is

constantly a mess, we’re always running out of snacks, and we usually have fur

somewhere on our clothes but we are always laughing and having fun! We love

to go on adventures and happily get lost on a “side quest,” when traveling. If

it's the summer, we can be found at the lake or the beach during any and all free

moments!

What is something people would be surprised to learn about

you?

I was a Flight Attendant for a year and a half! I went to flight school here in

Richmond and flew on a puddle jumper of a plane, the Embraer 145 for a regional

contract carrier. I’d wear United wings on the way out and US Airways wings on

the way back. It was a great job for people watching with lots of downtime for

reading, not so much for sight-seeing. I did know all the best airport hidden gems,

though! It was an experience that I will forever appreciate having. I love flying!

Nicole with her husband and children

along with her parents, Ron and

Debbie and her younger brother, Ben

at Lake Chesdin, Virginia.

What is one thing on your bucket list?

I have a very long bucket list but at the top is to be able to travel Europe, especially

Ireland. I’ve been so close so many times when life has thrown a curveball and the

trip didn’t happen. My husband spent many years as a child living in Europe and

I am so envious of his experiences. One day!

What is your favorite …

Food?

Chips & Salsa. Hands down.

Movie?

“Funny Face,” with Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire. My

daughter is named Audrey …

Book?

Nicole, her husband Ian and their

This is the hardest

children, Audrey and Grant.

question! I am an

avid reader — 5 or so books a week so picking a favorite

is no easy feat but my first favorite novel was “Coming

Home,” by Rosamunde Pilcher.

Music?

I’m a country girl! “They’re songs about me…”


Maintaining a safe workplace

shouldn’t be a daunting task.

Protecting the workforce is what we

do at Summit, and we’re here to

help every step of the way.

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Policies are underwritten by Bridgefield Casualty Insurance Company and Bridgefield Employers Insurance Company, authorized insurers in AL, AR, FL, GA, IN, KY, LA, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX and VA;

BusinessFirst Insurance Company, authorized in FL, GA, IN, KY, NC, SC, TN and VA; ©2022 Summit Consulting LLC (DBA Summit, the people who know workers’ comp LLC), PO Box 988, Lakeland, FL 33802. All rights reserved.

WHAT’S IN A NAME? THAT WHICH

WE CALL A ROSE BY ANY OTHER

NAME WOULD SMELL AS SWEET.’

— WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

By Richard F. Lund, J.D., Vice President, Senior Underwrwiter, Swiss Re Corporate Solutions

This phrase:

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by

any other name would smell as sweet," often

quoted from William Shakespeare's "Romeo

and Juliet," and sometimes shortened to "a

rose by any other name," is a perfect example

of how a name immediately brings to mind a

particular image. The intent of the phrase is

also to put forth that it is not the name itself

that is memorable, but what is behind it that

is actually the sweet scent that brings joy to

our senses. Had the rose been called virtually

anything else - pansy, daisy, thorn or even Bob -

the flower itself would have retained its beauty

both in looks and scent, regardless of what it

was called.

Good marketing is the initial key to the success

of any business. Marketing people will tell you

that when you name your business, it should

either be something that identifies who you are

or creates an instant image of what the business

is. Nike brings an immediate thought of sportswear and

athletic gear. Maytag brings an immediate thought of

appliances. Ford or Chevy means automobiles. These

and myriad of others are brand names that have been

studiously analyzed and created to keep themselves in the

public mind, to make one think of a particular "something"

when the name is mentioned.

When you named your insurance agency, either consciously

or subconsciously, you wanted to do the same thing. But

something that may be lost is that by using a particular

phrase or words for your agency name, unlike Nike,

Maytag, Ford or Chevy, you may create the basis for some

plaintiff's attorney to have a jury to believe that you have

created a higher standard of care or duty to advise that is

owed to their client in the unfortunate event of an errors

and omissions claim.

Just as using terms and phrases on your website or

other marketing such as best, expert, peace of mind, or

comprehensive, has been used against agencies to create a

www.istockphoto.com / nicoletaionescu

higher standard of care, so can using seemingly innocuous

terms in your business name. All Risk Insurance Agency,

XYZ Professional Insurance Agency, XYZ Expert Insurance

Agency, and many others, do just what is intended: create

an image that the agency is above and beyond all others.

They create an image that the members of the agency

can do more than the agency down the street. And while

that may be the image that is wanted to be projected, in

the hands of a skillful plaintiff's attorney, it can lead to the

potential downfall of the agency.

The purpose here is not to tell you what to name your

agency, but rather to help you avoid what you shouldn't

name your agency. The same terms that are highlighted

in the IIABA/Swiss Re Corporate Solutions webinar series

"Your Website Says What?,” apply equally to your agency

name. We don't profess to be marketing experts, and

would never use “expert" in any description of ourselves.

Rather, our purpose, as your errors and omissions resource,

is to help you avoid creating the potential for a much

greater problem than is necessary, simply by avoiding

certain words and phrases.



If your agency is named after a person, either you, a previous

owner, or some group of owners, such as AJ Jones Insurance

Agency or Tinkers, Evers & Chance Insurance Agency, there is

virtually no risk that an inference can be made that the name

itself would increase the standard of care of an agent in providing

services to their customer. Ford Motor Company was named after

Henry Ford, for example. He wanted everyone to know it was HIS

company. And the same would be true for any agency named

after a person or persons.

However, insurance agency names that use words or phrases

such as All Risk Insurance Agency, Insurance Risk Partners, Peace

of Mind Insurance Agency, All Lines, Partner, Integrity, and many

others, will send up a red flag for a plaintiff's attorney that if they

need to sue your insurance agency due to an E&O claim against

you for their client, you've made their job much easier by creating

a higher standard of care, just by the words you used to name

your agency.

If you're reading this and you are now having thoughts that maybe

your agency name is problematic, you should consult with your

attorney to determine what steps are needed to make a change.

Or, if you decide that you want to keep your name as it is, just be

aware.

Marketing is always a key to the success of any insurance agency.

Don't let bad marketing be the downfall to your success.

For more information about how words and phrases in your

online presence and marketing materials can create serious

errors and omissions issues, visit the Big “I” Professional Liability

E&O Happens website at www.independentagent.com and look

for the "Your Website Says What?" page.

For information about trademarking your agency name, visit

https://www.iamagazine.com/strategies/why-your-agencyneeds-a-trademark.

This article is intended to be used for general informational

purposes only and is not to be relied upon or used for any

particular purpose. Swiss Re shall not be held responsible in any

way for, and specifically disclaims any liability arising out of or in

any way connected to, reliance on or use of any of the information

contained or referenced in this article. The information contained

or referenced in this article is not intended to constitute and

should not be considered legal, accounting or professional

advice, nor shall it serve as a substitute for the recipient obtaining

such advice. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily

represent the views of the Swiss Re Group ("Swiss Re") and/or its

subsidiaries and/or management and/or shareholders.

Richard F. Lund, JD, is a Vice President and Senior Underwriter

of Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, underwriting insurance agents

errors and omissions coverage. He has also been an insurance

agents E&O claims counsel and has written and presented

numerous E&O risk management/ loss control seminars, mock

trials and articles nationwide since 1992.

Copyright 2021 Swiss Re


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The Big I Virginia Spring 2022

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