Calendar of events:

Nov. 2
Fall Reception
Butterfield 8 | New York, N.Y.
Register Now!

Nov. 15
Board and Committee meetings
PIA headquarters | Glenmont, N.Y.

Jan. 25
MetroRAP Reception
Connolly's Times Square | New York, N.Y

Aug. 14
Golf Open
Seawane Club| Hewlett Harbor, N.Y

Were you there?

Buffalo I-Day Kickoff

Mid-Spring Reception

PIANJ/PIANY Annual Conference

Golf Open

Rockland Boulders Baseball

Other YIP events:

All Industry Networking Event-Long Island
NY-YIP Trivia Night-Utica
NY-YIP Trivia Night-Utica
NY-YIP Trivia Night-Troy
Escape Room Challenge-Long Island

Welcome new members

Rachel Baratz
Rainbow International of the North Shore
Ronkonkoma

Keith Bleyer
KMB Coverage
Bohemia

Tate Buffington
All Risks Ltd.
Princeton, N.J.

Joseph Cambareri
Complex Coverage
Huntington

Sean Campbell
Preferred Mutual
New Berlin

Tiffany Cermak
SGB Associates
Huntington

Ian Donegan
XS Brokers
Quincy, Mass.

Michael Fillas
Aspis Risk Services
Astoria

Shawn Fitzgerald
Eric A. Funk Agency
Centereach

Risa Kluger
Servpro of Port Jefferson
Coram

Vincent LaPuma
Grand Insurance Agency
Glendale

Gary Lombardo
Grand Insurance Agency
Glendale

Rob Mairano
Complex Coverage
Huntington

Casey Marshall
Miles B. Marshall
Hamilton

Sean McVicker
XS Brokers
Quincy, Mass.

Yui Moy
Jimcor Agencies
Plainview

Travis Owens
NYCM
Edmeston

Dana Ropraz
Rainbow International
Holbrook

Collin Schumacher
Chubb Group
Brooklyn

Troy Shepard
MLM Agency
Westport

Ian Sterling
SterlingRisk
Woodbury

Thomas Treiber
QBE North America
Oyster Bay

Sponsor spotlight:

AmTrust North America

AmTrust North America is a division of AmTrust Financial Services Inc. The company was founded in 1998 to provide workers’ compensation insurance to small businesses throughout the U.S. Now, it is a multinational firm specializing in small- and mid-sized businesses. Focusing on low-risk hazard and niche diversity, AmTrust has maintained financial stability while achieving growth. It is rated “A” (Excellent) by A.M. Best, and has earned a reputation as one of the leading firms for innovation and technology driven insurance products. To find out more about AmTrust North America and its products, call (212) 220-7120 or click here.

New York Central Mutual

New York Central Mutual Insurance is a property/casualty insurance company located in central New York that employs more than 1,000 dedicated insurance professionals. NYCM remains committed to maintaining great service and the personal touch it always has provided to its insureds. When disaster strikes, customers can depend on NYCM to accommodate them with solutions—not complications or delays. NYCM has applied leading-edge technologies throughout the company to make every aspect of service to customers and agents—from processing policies to handling claims—precise and efficient. The people at NYCM live and work in New York state and, therefore, understand all its policyholders’ insurance needs directly. NYCM is proud to be known as the "personal-touch" company by insureds and agents. NYCM does its best to ensure customers, agents and re-insurers can gain instant access to and an answer from one of the company’s family of employees. For more information about NYCM, call (888) 234-6926 or click here.

Price and Price Enterprises/Melwain Surety Bonds

Price & Price Enterprises/Melwain Surety Bonds has been family owned for three generations. If there is anything it has learned over the many years in the industry it is: Success depends on the loyalty and confidence of its customers. This valued relationship results in excellent and expedient service. The broad range of markets it serves allows for the placement of difficult risks, which are often turned down by other agencies. It understands that not everyone has the same financial situation, therefore, it has affiliated with different sureties that tailor their response to each individual’s needs.  No matter who the client is, Price & Price Enterprises/Melwain Surety Bonds has the right market. To contact Price & Price Enterprises/Melwain Surety Bonds, call (516) 295-6081 or click here.

Simon Agency NY

Simon Agency NY Inc. is a full-service insurance wholesaler with access to more than 30 insurance companies. The Simon Agency collectively has been providing insurance markets to its family of brokers for more than 55 years. What sets the Simon Agency apart from other general agents is its ability and dedication to respond to brokers more quickly than its competitors. Simon Agency recognizes the need for timely, effective and efficient quoting. Its underwriters evaluate each submission and get a quote from the market that they know will provide the best value for their clients. Simon Agency’s spread of markets enables it to place a broad range of risks. These markets vary from traditional “A”-rated, admitted carriers to specialty "boutique" markets able to underwrite less desirable classes. For more information about Simon Agency NY Inc., call (516) 593-2700 or click here.

Skeele Agency

Skeele Agency is a family-owned and operated agency, which was established in 1957 and has grown to serve more than 6,000 clients in the central New York (Madison, Onondaga, Cortland and Chenango counties). Even though there are several other areas represented, the Skeele Agency is committed to personal and community service. Offering a wide range of products through a variety of insurance companies, the agency strives to reduce costs, close gaps in their clients’ coverage and provide prompt service—all the while being committed to the people and the communities in which they do business. To contact The Skeele Agency, call (315) 852-6180 or (315) 662-7080 or click here.

Utica First Insurance Co.

The Utica First Insurance Co., headquartered in Oriksany, N.Y., has been in business for more than 100 years.  It was founded as a fire protection insurance company in 1903. It operated as Utica Fire Insurance Co., until 1993, when the company decided it needed a name change to reflect the diversified products it offered. The company operates in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. To contact Utica First Insurance Co., call (800) 456-4556 click here.

Did you know?

YIP renewal invoices.

Keep an eye out for your YIP renewal invoices. We now have a two-year payment option for $150. Choosing this option will keep you a valuable part of our membership, as well as decreasing the frequency of mailings and invoices that you get from us. This helps reduce our paper usage and keeps your association running efficiently, as well as saving you money over the long term. When you receive your renewal email, go online and make sure this option is checked off before you submit your renewal. It’s that easy.

Don’t go it alone—manage your E&O exposure

PIA knows there are opportunities for hundreds of potential errors and omissions every day. Many actions leave your agency open to costly E&O litigation, but you can take steps to prevent or mend E&O damage. Think PIA first for tools and information to protect your agency.

Through its Agents and Brokers E&O Risk Management Tool Kit, PIA members can learn about:

• E&O mistakes other insurance professionals have made and how to avoid them;
• what to do when you have an E&O claim;
• risk-management resources, including coverage checklists;
• PIA’s E&O assistance hotline;
• your responsibility to your clients when a carrier goes into rehabilitation or insolvency; and
• so much more.

To access this essential tool kit, log on to pia.org and select “E&O Risk Management Tool Kit” under “Tools and Resources.”

Discounts on your E&O coverage.

PIA also offers several E&O-related education courses and loss-prevention programs, many of which offer a discount on your E&O coverage written through PIA. To view the upcoming course schedule, click here.

PIA’s E&O products.

PIA offers a selection of quality E&O insurance coverages for producers. To learn more, click here.

Think PIA first!

Contact us by phone at (800) 424-4244 or send us an email at resourcecenter@pia.org.

News

NY-YIP to honor Glass with Young Insurance Professional of the Year award

New York Young Insurance Professionals will presented Marshall Glass with the NY-YIP Young Insurance Professional of the Year award on Aug. 15 at the NY-YIP Annual Golf Outing. The event is being held at Seawane Club in Hewlett Harbor, N.Y. Glass is downstate regional sales manager for The Iroquois Group. More …

PIA comments on millennial hiring on NPR

The insurance industry has a lot of open positions, and it's scrambling to fill them. It's targeting millennials, but many simply don't consider insurance as a potential career—or think it's boring. More …

Insurance industry unveils Guiding Principles for Information Security 

October is National Cyber Security Awareness month, and PIANY is teaming up with the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of New York and the New York Insurance Association to release Guiding Principles to Advance Information Security in New York with the facilitation of the Center for Internet Security. The goal of the principles is to create a strong working relationship within the insurance industry to ensure agencies, companies and policyholders are better protected. For 12 weeks, starting in October, the associations will unpack a new guiding principle each week. The second principle is: Security is a moving target. For more information, click here.

Study: Millennials trust insurance companies

According to new research by Mintel, 53 percent of millennials (compared to 31 percent of customers overall) say insurance companies are more trustworthy than they were five years ago. Sixty-one percent of millennials trust insurance companies to do what's right for their customers; and 58 percent agree that insurers are interested in keeping customers healthy. More …

Small businesses and the millennial trend

By 2020, millennials and Generation Xers will own more than 60 percent of small businesses, compared to 38 percent today. This increase also may cause digitally underwritten insurance to grow from $4 billion—out of $100 billion in 2015—to as much as $33 billion by 2020. More …

Millennials in the workplace

An article in a trade publication discusses some of the challenges millennials face in the workplace, specifically those caused by their parents. More …

Training and technology on the job

Companies are rethinking the importance of on-the-job training and how to implement it based on input from millennials. For example, instead of two-day sessions, consider 10-minute, monthly sessions. More …

Leaders

President
Jason Bartow, Bartow Insurance Agency

First Vice President
Dina Bruno, The Main Street America Group

Vice President-Membership
Tim Madden, Myles Share & Associates

Vice President-Programs
Tom Nofi, Lancer Insurance Co.

Immediate Past President
Jennifer DeCristofaro-Lancer Insurance Co.
Directors
Michael Ascher-AmTrust North America
David Lande, Total Management Corp.

Long Island Regional Chair
Ian Sterling, SterlingRisk

New York City Region
Marshall Glass, Iroquois Group

Hudson Valley Regional Chairs
Cameron Gilbert, George A. Bell & Son Inc.
Laura Murray, Allan M. Block Agency

Utica/Syracuse Regional Chair
Ryan Kelly, NYCM Insurance

Buffalo Regional Chair
Ed Chadwick, Russell Bond Insurance Wholesalers

Annual sponsors

Platinum

Professional Insurance Agents of New York State Inc.

Gold

Interboro Insurance Co.
Lancer Insurance Co.
The Main Street America Group
Morstan General Agency
Parsons & Associates
Simon Agency NY

Silver

AmTrust North America
Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance Co.
JLNY Group
Member Brokerage Service
NYCM Insurance
Price and Price Enterprises/Melwain Surety Bonds
Skeele Agency
Utica First Insurance Co.

Bronze

Access General Agency
Flexible Agency
Iroquois Group
P.W. Wood & Son
Russell Bond Insurance Wholesalers
Third Eye Solutions
The Valley Group

Contributor

Eugene A. Bartow Agency
F.A. Scott Insurance Agency
Mutual Boiler Re
Scottish American
Warwick Resource Group
The Winfield Group