Errors & Ommissions

[Josh]

It seems as though you are trying to back up your statement with a narrow point of view. Are MA's and GI med supps all you sell? Is this your view of the whole "Senior Market"? Do you never get referrals for the children of seniors, like maybe life insurance? How about LTC? Just wondering here, not saying you should be selling other things, just wondering why you seem to limit yourself.

I probably should have phrased it "senior health market" because that's really what I meant. Most of my agents try to stay focused on one product and just write a ton of it. If they run accross something else they'll usually hand it off to someone who does it more. I think it would make more sense to at least add FE to it but they seem reluctant to. My theory is that Med Advantage is just such an easy sale they'd rather do that than learn sales process the way they would need to learn it to sell most other products. Again, just a theory. Some agents in my area try to use MA business as a way or prospecting for LTC, Annuities, etc but it's usually not effective for them, not sure if it's the market or the agent.

It's just odd to me that the MA carriers are requiring E&O. Maybe it's because carriers such as Aetna and UHC offer both supps and MA and find it easier to just have the same requirements for agents in all states?

 

[Russ]

Not to be a stick in the mud but that scenario doesn't work. If the client died at a surgery center, the surgery center and/or doctor would be the ones open for the liability. If they couldn't prove that the surgeon made a mistake they wouldn't have a case against anyone. If they can prove the surgeon made the mistake, his malpractice insurance is what would be on the hook for it because he'd be the one that made a mistake on it.

Even if the deceased's spouse, children, other family or friends wanted to go after someone they would then choose the insurance carrier for forcing the deceased to go to that facility. Again, at that point, they would have to prove that the provider made a mistake to prove that there was even a loss.

Any other

Others have made excellent points as to why you need it. Most companies I get licensed with now, require it....I have mine through Shenandoah Life(CalSurance Associates...Westport Insurance Corp.), who I write life and med-supp policies for. Shenandoah Life requires it.

 

[BiggitySwat]

I pay about $1300 anually for 1 million in E&O insurance, though it covers my butt on the securities end. Is my E&O expensive because it covers securities and life insurance, or is it because I'm getting ripped ofF?

 

[Josh]

I pay about $1300 anually for 1 million in E&O insurance, though it covers my butt on the securities end. Is my E&O expensive because it covers securities and life insurance, or is it because I'm getting ripped ofF?

If you were in NY that'd be a good deal. E&O to cover securities activities does cost more money. A good friend of mine pays $1,600 through his broker dealer which is less than he was paying before. A lot of "deals" on e&o coverage don't include coverage on securities licenses.

 

[Ray Ray]

E&O Insurers need to break down the Lines, mainly in the Health Insurance business, to be able to offer more competitive E&O premiums and coverages.

Many E&O carriers ask how much gross annual premium you write in each General category of Insurance but I think the underwriting of the E&O is to general and needs to be more specific. They know where the claims are coming from and the Agents selling those lines of insurance should pay more in premiums.

Health Insurance is generally lumped into one category and should be broken down into several different categories. Selling Dental Insurance or even Individual Disability Income does not come with the same E&O risks as selling Group Health Insurance. Selling Whole Life does not have the same E&O risks as selling Securities.

An OB/GYN pays more for malpractice then a GP.

I am tired of paying the E&O premiums to support claims made to the carriers on lines we don't even sell. We should be able to purchase E&O based more upon the type of Health products we sell and not all be put into One category called Health Insurance.

 

[xrac]

Anyone familiar with E&O offered through National Ethics Bureau. The rates look competitive but is there a down side???

http://www.ethicscheck.com/eo/images/EO_ForLess.jpg

 

[arnguy]

Assurant offers E&O that covers health, life, annuities, and mutual funds for $527 annually to agents licensed with them v. the $695 shown on the National Ethics chart. BTW, the insurer is the same company, i.e., CNA. The Assurant policy limits are $1 Million/Claim and $3 Million/Annually (aggregate). The National Ethics chart doesn't indicate the limits.

 

[dgoldenz]

I just paid $1016/year for $2Million/$2Million through NAIFA. It doesn't matter whether you do something right or wrong - if a client wants to hire a lawyer and push it to the full extent, are you going to pay a defense lawyer $400/hour for hours on end or would you rather just pay the $1k/year? Seems like a no brainer to me.

 

[Mark]

Anyone familiar with E&O offered through National Ethics Bureau. The rates look competitive but is there a down side???

http://www.ethicscheck.com/eo/images/EO_ForLess.jpg

The price looks good to me.

 

[NPCOACH]

Not to be a stick in the mud but that scenario doesn't work. If the client died at a surgery center, the surgery center and/or doctor would be the ones open for the liability. If they couldn't prove that the surgeon made a mistake they wouldn't have a case against anyone. If they can prove the surgeon made the mistake, his malpractice insurance is what would be on the hook for it because he'd be the one that made a mistake on it.

Even if the deceased's spouse, children, other family or friends wanted to go after someone they would then choose the insurance carrier for forcing the deceased to go to that facility. Again, at that point, they would have to prove that the provider made a mistake to prove that there was even a loss.

Any other

I understand your frustration, however, a very high percentage of E & O lawsuits involve failure to perform services. For example, an agent sells an annuity and didn't advise the clent that he should have a medicare supp. Or a final expense agent should have known and recommended a prospect get lltc insurance.

A good friend of mine was drummed out of the business because he sold a client a term life policy in response to a term life card he sent out. 2 years later the client was disabled. He sued the agent because the agent "should have told him about disability insurance". His lawyer argued that the agent did not do a thorough review of all his insurance needs for which the agent was licensed to sell. Had he done so, his client would have bought the disability.

California court room and jury- guy in wheelchair vs. agent that made a nice life insurance commission. Guess who won.

As others have pointed out, it costs $50 to file a frivolous lawsuit and thousands to defend against it.