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 Industry News

V I R T U A L     U N I V E R S I T Y
Don’t Let Insurance Questions Keep You Up

Independent agents and brokers run into a variety of technical coverage problems from time to time and finding the right place to get answers can be difficult. Don’t let coverage problems keep you up at night—the Big "I" Virtual University will put your mind at ease and help you solve your client’s problems. The VU Research Library contains hundreds of articles on a variety of technical issues from teen drivers to construction defects. And the VU’s expert faculty members are available to help with a specific coverage or claim issue. The experts volunteer their time and extensive expertise to help Big "I" members because they love the field of insurance and all its complexities. This is an amazing resource and a great Big "I" membership perk.

Interested in learning even more about a specific issue? The online classes help you gain expert knowledge in a wide variety of commercial and personal lines coverages. These classes are available to both members and non-members and offer CE credits in many states.

No matter the topic or the way you want to learn, the Big "I" Virtual University is always available. With your member ID and password, you can be searching this information with a few clicks of your mouse.

Review this remarkable resource that will help independent agents reclaim market share from competitors and make us strong allies with our carriers. Visit the Big "I" Virtual University and learn more about all the services, try the "Ask an Expert" service and sign up for the free newsletter. To take full advantage of your free access to the site, ensure that all agency employees have received their ID and password. If you don’t know your ID and password, click here. For more information, contact Madelyn Flannagan at 800-221-7917; madelyn.flannagan@iiaba.net.

B E S T   P R A C T I C E S
Help Secure Your Agency’s Future

Best Practices products offer a broad range of tools designed to meet your agency’s performance evaluation, research and management needs, including tools like the "Agency Self-Diagnostic Tool," "Guide to Producer Contracts," "Customer Service Made Simple" and more. The Best Practices library continues to grow with the release of the "2005 Best Practices Study Update." This valuable tool details the inner workings of today’s most successful agencies and provides benchmarks to measure against your own agency’s performance, and is best used in conjunction with the "2004 Best Practices Study."

Best Practices products effectively help agencies build success by understanding the past, analyzing the present and formulating a strategy for the future.

Visit the Best Practices Gateway to browse the latest research on top rated agencies, rank performance against the Best Practices agencies, download useful tools to improve performance and share opinions and experiences on a variety of agency management issues. The Gateway also provides a Performance Quick Check that lets you compare your agency’s performance in seven areas critical to agency value and to obtain an overall weighed performance score. With the score page, you can drill down to specific information for assessing and improving agency performance in seven areas. Readers also can review a complete menu of all available Best Practices resources, download samples and obtain ordering information.

B I G   " I "     M A R K E T S ^SM
Event Liability at Your Fingertips

Rising temperatures signal many things: budding trees, blooming flowers, the end of school and an invitation to get outdoors. On any given weekend, you’re bound to hear about weddings, picnics, athletic events, proms and graduations. Chances are your clients are involved in one of these events. What they all have in common is the need for event liability insurance. As a Big "I" member, you have access to event liability offered through Gales Creek on Big "I" MarketsSM, and registered Big "I" MarketsSM members can quickly and easily provide an indication when a client calls inquiring about event insurance. Click here for event categories and rates posted on the "Underwriting and Coverage" page of event liability. Access the info with just one click after logging in. Click here to download a copy of the rating guide that contains both event categories and rates on one page, conveniently sized to fit on the wall beside your phone. A quick glance at the rating guide will give you an indication while your client is on the phone. Not only does this save you time by saving you the return call, you also avoid spending time submitting a request on the system for a client who may or may not be interested. With this you can submit quote requests only for coverage the client has already agreed to purchase. Click here to learn more about this product. For more information, contact a Big "I" MarketsSM team member at bigimarkets@iiaba.net.

Hurricane Season One Week   Away

With less than one week left until the start of hurricane season, consumers need to purchase flood insurance now. Flooding is the most pervasive and costly disaster in the United States. In fact, homes in flood-prone regions are 26 times more likely to experience a flood than a fire over a 30-year period. Additionally, one-third of flood victims each year live outside designated flood-prone areas. Approximately 50% of the U.S. population lives and works within 50 miles of the coastline. Now is the time to check with your customers—remind them of the importance of flood insurance. For more information on the Big "I" Flood Program, click here.

I N S U R B A N C
New Employees Join InsurBanc

Marie R. Rider has joined InsurBanc as vice president, director of marketing, and Scott A. Adamsons has joined the company as vice president of sales and business development. Rider will direct the bank’s strategic marketing plan including advertising initiatives, public relations and sales support efforts. Adamsons will direct the sales and business development efforts of the bank, focusing on the needs of independent insurance agencies and developing relationships with them throughout New England.

I I A B A     N E W S
Free Publicity for Your Agency

As the country’s largest trade organization of independent agents and brokers, the Big "I" often receives requests from reporters looking to talk to experts and member agents about a variety of issues of local and national importance to the insurance industry. It is to the benefit of all independent agents and brokers to have our voices heard. Big "I" members in the past year have been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, CNN.com, The Washington Post, USA Today and many more media outlets. Big "I" agents have appeared on TV shows such as "Business Week TV," "Open House" on CNN, "The Nightly Business Report" on PBS and the "Big Story Weekend" segment on FoxNews. In addition to these large, national papers and outlets, we often receive requests from smaller, local papers looking to speak to agents in their area. Not only is this volunteer opportunity a great way to promote the goals of the Big "I," but it’s a great way to get press for your agency as well! If you volunteer to be a Big "I" media spokesperson, we will supply you with hints and tips on talking to reporters, as well as frequent updates on hot-topic issues to help you stay on top of the industry news. Volunteering to be a media spokesperson has no minimum time requirement…you help when you can. For more information or to volunteer, contact Emily Crane at 800-221-7917; emily.crane@iiaba.net.