E&O Weekly Prevention
  
Strategies for the Professional Agent
October 24, 2013



Agents of America





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Letter From  the Publisher

AgentsofAmerica.ORG (AOA), Learning Center and the publishing firm of Thomas Reuters  is pleased to announce that Book One of the series Insurance Agency Risk Management - A Comprehensive Guide to Avoiding E&O Claims is now available. 

  

E&O Tips of the Week 

 
Each week AOA thru the Learning Center will be providing E&O tips. These E&O tips will be developed from AOA's extensive library of high level educational material and will be included as part of the webinar / seminar package currently in development, that both agents and carriers will find beneficial in reducing E&O Claims. 
 
Check out this week's E&O TIP on "What does Your Promotional Material Really Say about You?". 

  

Special Report, "Social Media in the Workplace", this week the law firm of Jackson Lewis LLP provides us with three opinions from the National Labor Relations Board's Acting General Counsel, the passage of state laws prohibiting employers from requesting social media account passwords, and industry specific guidance affecting certain businesses and professions are examples of some of these developments.  

 

 

A review of the top stories on World Risk & Insurance News at WRIN.tv. Here is your opportunity to see the online video news stories you may have missed. Watch them now "Week in Review".

 

MONDAY MORNING, the weekly "mini-webinar" features industry leaders interviewed by marketing guru George Nordhaus on "Independent Agency of the Future" To see this week's presentation click here. 

 

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Also if you have any thoughts, comments or suggestions, please email me at [email protected]. 

 

"Bringing the Best Together"

Angelo J Gioia

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AOA News, Views, Tips & More

No Coverage Under Mortgage Brokers Professional Liability Policy Because Professional Services Not At Issue

By Joseph P. Monteleone, Esq. of Tressler LLP

 

FederalJudge A. Joe Fish of the Northern District of Texas recently ruled in favor of an insurer under a professional liability policy, holding that there was no duty to defend because professional services were not at issue in an underlying lawsuit brought by investors in the insured company. AXIS Surplus Ins. Co. v. Halo Asset Management, LLC, No. 12-cv-2419, (N.D. Tex. September 27, 2013).

 

Avoiding Traps That May Eliminate D&O Coverage for Innocent Policyholders

By Alexander D. Hardiman. Esq. of Anderson Kill P.C.

 
A recent court ruling serves as a reminder that the smallest of words - an, the, any or such - may determine whether a D&O policy exclusion applies to a policyholder's claim. In TranSched Sys. Ltd. v. Fed. Ins. Co., CA 12-939-M, 2013 WL 3974134 (D.R.I. Aug. 2), the court considered whether a jury verdict of intentional misrepresentation triggered a D&O policy's fraud exclusion. The policy excluded coverage "based upon, arising from, or in consequence of any deliberately fraudulent act or omission or any willful violation of any statute or regulation by such Insured . . . ."
 

Decorative Art Fountain Not Consumable for Purposes of Exception to Fungi or Bacteria Exclusion

By Elizabeth A. Odian, Esq. of Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

 
Recently, in Heinecke v. Aurora Healthcare Inc., the Wisconsin Court of Appeals held that a decorative art fountain was not "a good or product for consumption" within the meaning of a "consumption exception" contained in an insurance policy's Fungi or Bacteria exclusion. The Heinecke case arose from a Legionnaire's disease outbreak caused by exposure to Legionnella bacteria found in water contained in a decorative art fountain constructed by the insured and located in the lobby of Aurora St. Luke's South Shore Hospital.
 

Employer Arbitration Agreements Can Limit Class Actions

By Marc Zimet, Esq. of Jampol Zimet LLC

 

U.S. Court of Appeals Rules Employer Arbitration Agreements Can Limit Class Actions.

 

On August 21st, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Richards v. Ernst and Young held that an employer's arbitration agreement could be enforced, despite any limitation on joint or class actions.

 

Colorado Court Applies Massachusetts Law to Bar Coverage for Chinese Drywall

By Richard J. Cohen, Esq. and Richard J. Ahn. Esq. of Goldberg Segalla LLP

 

A Colorado state court applied Massachusetts law to deny an excess carrier's summary judgment motion that sought to disclaim coverage for defective Chinese drywall claims.  Specifically, the court found that use of the term "pollutant" within the absolute pollution exclusion to be ambiguous "at this stage in the proceedings."  In doing so, the court set the case up for trial.

 

Enrollment Process Under the New Legislation to Assure Success Avoid Future Penalty

 

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Treasury Department released new regulatory guidance under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) in early 2013.  These rules will come in to effect from January 1, 2014 and will apply to everyone in US.  An introduction to these regulations could mean that a number of individuals in the U.S. will remain uninsured in 2014 and perhaps beyond.

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