Part 1

The Connecticut House and Senate passed two bills that would allow prosecutors to seek up to $1,000 in additional fines, above and beyond any criminal penalties, if a distracted driver strikes and injures or kills a so-called vulnerable user of the road. They include horseback riders, joggers, pedestrians and others lawfully using the thoroughfare. The 2^nd  bill, approved 139-1, would allow the state insurance commissioner to notify auto insurers when distracted clients are caught and would allow the Department of Motor Vehicles to assess points on licenses of offenders.

Social media could become legal nightmare!

A junior high school aged boy posts a picture of a female classmate in a provocative pose. 2 hours later, the photo has 450 “likes” and half again as many “comments”. The “friend requests” of the boy are rolling in like a tsunami.  This kind of popularity has a cost: moral and legal. Let’s focus on the legal, but 1^st some interesting facts:

• the average age a child is given a smart phone: 9 years old
• 69% of teenagers communicate with strangers online
• 52% of high school students have bullied online
• 52% of high schools students have been bullied by others online to

Social media has become so ingrained in our society but the insurance industry is still evaluating if and how to cover homeowners for the liability it creates. If you are the parent of that junior high school aged boy and called your homeowners insurance agent stating that you are being sued by the parents of the young lady, and asking if your homeowners insurance covers you, your agent would probably respond “that depends”. Not the answer you were hoping to hear. There are several facets to this potential claim. Most homeowners liability policies cover liability that results in physical injury or property damage because of your negligence. Defamation of character or emotional distress is not physical injury but injury (in a legal sense) still. Personal injury liability, an optional coverage on most homeowners insurance policies, provides coverage for libel, slander, defamation of character, and wrongful eviction. If you have personal injury liability on your homeowners policy, there is a possibility that this claim would be covered. However; homeowners insurance does not cover injury resulting from intentional acts of household members over a certain age. You can see how it would be against public policy if you struck your neighbor or lit his house on fire and your homeowners insurance covered you for that. The age of competency (when your insurance company will not pay for liability arising out of your intentional acts) varies by insurance company. So what is the parent of adolescent children to do?

Here’s the bottom line:

1. Make sure your homeowners insurance has personally injury liability coverage. Call your agent/company to confirm this. Also, get an umbrella policy although those “intentional act exclusions” are usually tighter than the homeowners policy wording.
2. Set rules with your children regarding use and content of social media. Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
3. Check for parental tools such as SocialScout, which helps parents monitor their children’s social networking.

As the insurance industry evolves to contemplate these new liability claims which social media can bring, we will keep you posted on that evolution and how it could benefit you.

“I have not had any claims yet why do my premiums keep going up”?

We get asked that question frequently…and it is a very valid question. Everyone’s circumstances are unique but here is some information that might make some sense of it (from one point of view):

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) released its 2012 questionable claims (QC) referral reason analysis. Over the period from 2010 to 2012, there was a 26.7 percent increase in QCs referred to NICB, going from 91,797 in 2010 to 116,268 in 2012—a new record. In 2011, the total was 100,450. What is a questionable claim you might ask ? “Those claims that NICB member insurance companies refer to NICB for closer review and investigation based on one or more indicators of possible fraud”.

Let me give you some examples of actual claims:

• I had a party at my house after my child’s christening and my wife’s jewelry suspiciously disappeared.
• I had pervasive hail damage done to my car.
• My car was hit while parked.
• I lost my $8000 Rolex watch

And what states does this occur the most in? California, Florida, Texas, New York, Maryland.

One of the things that is both a blessing and a curse with insurance is that the contributions of many people pay for the needs (claim) of the few. Unless the insurance companies can prove fraud, they are paying these increased claims and that affects how much you pay in premium.

We just wanted to pause and wish you all a very Merry Christmas with family and friends. We also hope that 2013 brings good things to you. In years past we have given out calendars, letter openers, and sent out Christmas cards. This year I felt with so much need in the world, it would be better to put the money that we normally would have spent on Christmas cards to better use. We are delighted to say that because of the business our insureds have given us, we were able to donate $4000 to charity. The charities we chose are: the Salvation Army, the Springfield mission, World Vision, water.org, Heifer International and a local food bank and soup kitchen. Thank you for inspiring us with your generosity and enabling us to do this with your business. God bless! Chris Howland