Placing You First Insurance Podcast by CRC Group

Mold has been a part of our environment for millions of years, and there are more than 100,000 mold species naturally occurring on Earth.  While mold spores are tiny in size, they can mean big trouble for hotels and resorts. Mold has consistently been a loss leader for the hospitality industry insurers, but its impact has expanded over the last few years, with primary claim drivers including undet...

 At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, employers moved quickly to develop and implement remote work-from-home protocols to protect employees. Almost a year since it all began, employers are starting to develop return to work plans. Well-known finance giants, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan Chase, are delaying their return after initially attempting to bring workers back near the end of 2020 only...

The property market remains challenging in 2021.  How are agents, wholesalers, and markets dealing with the hard market?  We discuss a wide range of issues surrounding the difficult Property market. Featuring: David Pagoumian is the President of the CRC Red Bank, NJ office. David specializes in property placements and is an active member of the Property Practice Advisory Committee. Subscribe to To...

This is the state of the market for property in the northeastern United States, including trends about rates, capacity, limits, and COVID-19. 2020 was a very different year for property insurance.  The industry weathered COVID-19, the elections, a record number of named storms, wildfires, and more. As we begin 2021,  it's a great time to discuss the state of the market for property. In the co...

This is the state of the market for property in the central and southeastern United States, including trends about rates, capacity, limits, and COVID-19. 2020 has been a very different year for property insurance.  The industry has weather COVID-19, the elections, a record number of named storms, wildfires, and more. As we approach the end of 2020,  it's a great time to discuss the state of t...

Casualty capacity is shrinking and the market remains challenging.  How are agents, wholesalers, and markets dealing with the hard market?  We sit down with two CRC Casualty specialists to discuss a wide range of issues surrounding the difficult Casualty market. Featuring: Vladimir Peraza Casualty and Property Broker from CRC New York Stewart Brown Transportation and Casualty Broker from CRC Seatt...

A growing number of organizations are using biometric data, such as fingerprints and retinal scans, as a convenient way to improve security. From touchpads that unlock smartphones and computers, to scanners providing access to places of business, biometric data seems to be a fast, easy and secure way to authenticate individuals and unlock access. Download a Shareable PDF Version of this Article Th...

Everyone knows the fine print matters, but it is especially important when it comes to the additional insured endorsements sometimes requested by partners. Clauses requiring such endorsements can be expensive in ways insureds may not realize. Understanding the hidden costs of an additional insured endorsement can keep an insured from unfairly paying for another’s mistakes or unintentionally elevat...

Fifteen years into the soft market cycle, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Medical Professional Liability (MPL) market is turning around. Many will remember that the Long-Term Care (LTC) market began to show signs of hardening in 2017, and the Hospital segment began to follow suit in the second quarter of 2019. While the Facilities and Physician segments have lagged behind, they’re also tu...

During economic slowdowns, including the global coronavirus pandemic, many insurance buyers are tempted to pare the size of their programs. With the property and casualty insurance marketplace hardening across virtually all lines, the cost of maintaining existing levels of coverage is going up. Deciding to buy less liability coverage, however, may be a big mistake. Subscribe to CRC Group on Youtub...

Allegations of police officers’ excessive use of force reached a flashpoint in 2020, igniting massive protests and riots across the nation. As officers in several cities face criminal charges in fatal interactions with suspects, one might expect civil liability claims against those individuals to follow. In fact, that is not the case. For various reasons, public entities bear the liability risk fo...

Concerts. Festivals. Fairs. Sporting events. Live theater. Corporate events. Whether it is indoors or outdoors, we love to be entertained and inspired. We thrive on learning from experts and hearing from speakers we admire. And this is why the events industry is enormous. In the United States, business meetings, conferences, tradeshows and the like provided over 5.9 million jobs. Event Cancellatio...

Subscribe to CRC Group on Youtube As Hurricane Isaias impacts the US, coastal homeowners rely on insurance agents to find competitive coverage.  We discuss how insurance agents can better serve their clients in a tough market for placing coastal homeowner insurance. The 2020 hurricane season stormed in with a record six named tropical storms by early July. But in addition to forecasts for an activ...

 A supervisor at a midsize business is watching the evening news when she sees a disturbing video of people smashing windows and looting stores in the city where her company is based. What she sees next shocks her: one of the looters is not wearing a face mask, despite the coronavirus, and she realizes as he passes the camera that he’s one of her longtime employees. This scenario is fictitious but...

In this episode, we discuss personal lines flood insurance with Argenia’s Ben Tschepikow.   Personal Lines Flood has a reputation of being a particularly time consuming or difficult coverage to place for agents, leading many to skip working on this type of insurance altogether.  Agents should revisit this coverage due to recent updates to technology and the continued evolution of the private flood...

In this special episode, we provide helpful information for behavioral healthcare providers to better mitigate the risks associated with telemedicine. The impacts of COVID-19 have changed the way we approach much of life, including how Americans receive healthcare. Social distancing, intended to “flatten the curve” and prevent further spread of the coronavirus, has dramatically expanded the use of...

Because property premiums are based on the value of the property, many insureds have sought to save money over the years by reporting lower values. While that tactic can bring cost savings in the short term, it works against the longer-term best interests of both the insured and the industry. Should a catastrophe strike, a business that’s underinsured may not have sufficient funds to rebuild or ma...

Securities litigation is a hot area of insurance due to recent trends that show record numbers of lawsuits and increasing severity of settlements.  In this episode,  we explore trends in securities litigation with specialists in securities law, research, and E&S insurance. Featuring: Garrett Koehn , Western Regional Director, CRC Group Jason Hegland , Stanford Law & Stanford Securities Lit...

When asked to list their most valuable assets, many people would place a home, car, or 401K at the top of the list. And they’d be wrong. While those are important - even vital - pieces of living life, a person’s most valuable asset is actually the ability to make a living, working to pay their mortgage, fuel their vehicle, and fund that retirement account. If unexpected illness or injury derails t...

The first quarter of 2019 saw the excess and umbrella markets start to move toward tighter underwriting, and each quarter since has seen the market get firmer. The second half of the year brought greater capacity restrictions, higher prices, and significant challenges around program structure, due in large part to nuclear jury awards that have hit excess and umbrella lines like never before. Broke...

The earthquake market has moved onto unstable ground as insurers and alternative capital investors demand higher returns on their capital. Rate increases have ramped up over the last year, and buyers should expect higher prices this year for the same coverage. Higher deductibles can be an effective strategy to manage premiums. Buyers who can provide better and more detailed information on their ri...

In insurance, hard markets present hard choices. Policyholders often face sharply higher rates and tighter terms and conditions at renewal, along with exclusions their expiring liability coverage did not impose. In these situations, incumbent carriers may offer an extended reporting period (ERP), which lets insureds file claims after the original policy’s expiration date. Buying an ERP, however, h...

As Americans grow increasingly anxious about the impacts of COVID-19 and public life is limited by social distancing, food production demands are changing. Product sales at retail locations are reaching unprecedented levels. This doesn’t mean people are eating more – just that they’re eating at home due to the closure of restaurant dining rooms and other public spaces. Changes in the food distribu...

Michelle Foster Earle , CEO of Omnisure , an independent Health-care risk services consulting group, shares some advice and answers to common questions she is getting in the wake of Coronavirus. Lee McClure from CRC Birmingham updates us with the latest Healthcare Facilities insurance information; what we know and what we don't know. He tackles everything from Healthcare Facilities insurance...

As businesses of all sizes strive to protect their employees and preserve cash flow during the coronavirus pandemic, likely the last thing on most of their minds is employment practices liability (EPL) exposures. But EPL risks are higher during pandemics and other periods when employers are more likely to furlough, lay off or ask employees to work from home. Despite federal legislation aimed at re...