Does your client’s new policy match their old one?
There are a lot of changes going on in the insurance industry and oftentimes change also means emerging risk. If you have listened to any E&O webinars lately, there is a good chance you have heard of the “mirror test”. If you are not familiar with this term, then it is something to pay attention to no matter what line of business you work in.
The reason we are talking about the “mirror test” is because the market is hardening. This change is causing agents to look for better pricing from new carriers to help their customer’s avoid premium increases. The risk? Well a new policy also means new terms and conditions. Does the insured still have the same limits and the same coverage options with their new carrier? It may not be a deal breaker if the coverage has some differences, but what is important is making sure the client is aware of these differences. The agent has a duty to provide the insured with information on these changes and should also have documentation of the customer’s acknowledgement that they understand these changes. As with any material conversation, a customer sign-off would be ideal but an email from the insured would still provide a good defense if an E&O claim was made.
If you have questions regarding you current workflow when a customer is moved to a new carrier – or your lack of workflow – feel free to reach out to the team at Virtual Agency Solutions for support. There have been E&O claims arising from this issue in the past and we anticipate seeing more of them during this hardening market. An important value of an independent agent is having access to multiple carrier options. We need to make sure this value does not also come with an increased E&O exposure.
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