Reverse-rate evasion bill passes Assembly

The Assembly unanimously (72-0) passed A-2281 yesterday, a bill that would include reverse-rate evasion as a form of insurance fraud. Reverse-rate evasion occurs when New Jersey residents fraudulently obtain automobile insurance in another state even though New Jersey is their principal residence or they principally garage the insured vehicle in New Jersey. Under the bill, an individual who maintains a principal residence in New Jersey or has a motor vehicle principally garaged in New Jersey and who drives on the public highways of New Jersey, but has the motor vehicle insured by a policy issued under the laws of another state is committing insurance fraud if that person obtained the insurance by knowingly preparing or making any written or oral statement to an insurance company in that other state falsely indicating that the person to be insured: (1) maintains a principal residence in the other state when, in fact, that person’s principal residence is New Jersey; or (2) has the motor vehicle principally garaged in the other state, when, in fact, that person has his motor vehicle principally garaged in New Jersey. PIANJ has been tracking this bill since its introduction. More information on this and other PIANJ priority bills can be found here.   

Winter personal-lines newsletters are available for your clients

Now is the time to order your winter issue of Insights and Updates to send to your clients. This newsletter is perfect for your personal-lines clients and features the following topics: the risks of ride sharing; how to prevent ice dams; heating your home with a fireplace vs. traditional gas; the liability of sledding on private property; and travel during the busy holiday traffic. This newsletter, in which you also can include your agency’s privacy notice, can be personalized and sent through PIA Creative Services. For more information, contact dcramer@pia.org or call (800) 424-4244.  

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PIANJ’s Health Insurance Tool Kit

Many property/casualty insurance agencies include health and long-term care benefits as part of their books of business. Maybe you want to know how working with a navigator can help you expand your services. At the very least, every agency principal cares about health insurance for themselves, their families and their employees. Think PIA first. As your business partner, PIA has a cache of information you need to have on this universal topic for your agency’s well-being. PIA’s Health Insurance Tool Kit is available to PIANJ members.   

PIANJ offers Webinar on agency appraisals

Agency managers: Annual review time is just around the corner, and compensation is the single biggest expense in an agency. Do you have competent staff and appropriate job descriptions? When it comes time to evaluate your staff's performance, is it something you enjoy or something you dread? Do you know how to seek good CSR candidates to hire? PIANJ will hold Agency Staffing, Performance and Job Evaluations on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2014, from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Led by Jonathan Persky, CPA, CIC, PHR, this course is not applicable for continuing-education credit. To register, click here. Can’t make the live Webinar? No problem. Sign up and RSVP and you will get the replay automatically.  

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2014 CISR 2 IC: Commercial Casualty II—BAP, WC, Excess

This course, like Commercial Casualty I, strengthens an insurance producer’s ability to have productive, assured interactions with his or her commercial customers in the area of commercial casualty exposures and coverages. In this course the focus is the business auto policy, the workers’ compensation policy and excess liability policies. Topics will include the following: business auto exposures and coverages, workers’ compensation and employers’ liability insurance policy and commercial umbrella and excess liability policies. The course will be held Thursday, Oct. 2, 2014, from 8 a.m.-3:45 p.m., exam at 4:15 p.m. (Exam is optional. Required only for those pursuing the CISR designation.) Earn NJCE: 7 GEN. CISR DESIGNEES: NJDOBI will award 12 CE credits for each full year of the license term that the designation is maintained in good standing. For more information or to register, click here.  

Dependent property coverage—the 'because' coverage

Business income and extra expense policies, along with a variety of other business interruption forms and endorsements, indemnify for the consequential or indirect losses associated with physical damage to the insured’s property. This is what many refer to as "because" coverage—because a retail store is damaged severely by a fire and it is impossible to conduct business as usual, the owner needs indemnification for lost income until repairs are completed and operations resume. Or, if the business must continue operations (e.g., an insurance agency), the owner needs extra expenses to relocate their business in order to avoid the suspension of some, or all, of the operations. Whether income must be replaced for suspended operations or operations must continue at all costs, the financial need exists "because" of the damage to property. To learn more about this complex coverage, access QS90098 in the PIA QuickSource library.  

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