My belly is still full from our Thanksgiving feast at my daughter’s home, and I am feeling grateful for many things, including my family, my friends in the industry, and a career that I am proud of. 2009 has been a challenging year, and anyone who is still standing in our industry also has our associations to thank for standing vigilant on many issues. It occurred to me after watching seeing Santa Claus conclude the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade last Thursday, that I have a wish list I’d like to present to him. Santa, if you are reading this article, I have some requests of the New York State Insurance Department on behalf of all of the good, honest, insurance agents who are working to help their clients.

First, we’d really appreciate some relief from the amount of time we waste on unnecessary requirements. One particular item I’d like to see addressed is the affidavits agents are required in order to place business with a non-admitted carrer, on which we have to identify three companies and three reasons for being declined in the admitted market before we place a client’s business in excess and surplus lines market. As agents of the companies we represent, and de-facto underwriters for those companies, we are uniquely familiar with their appetites. We know the requirement of each carrier, so why should our CSRs consume our companies’ and customers’ time, making three phone calls, when we know they will be declined? This is a waste of our resources and time and labor.

At the bottom of these forms, there is a statement that the agent is required to sign that he or she (not a CSR) spoke with the carriers who declined the line. Which means, in theory, we require affidavits from our CSRs, saying they spoke to our underwriters on our behalf. Take for example, the addition of coastal homeowners to the export list. Everyone knows coverage for moderately priced homes on costal property can’t be found in the admitted market nowadays. This is such a common risk, it eats up a disproportionate amount of our and our CSRs’ time. It would be a no-brainer to add this risk to the export list.

A second wish on regulations: In order to keep premium money in an interestbearing account, agents understandably must have approval from their carrier. It would be nice if the carriers could include permission for their agents to invest premium money in an interest-bearing account in their agency contracts, eliminating the needless extra paperwork required by the NYSID. We’d be getting the same interest as the carriers on their treasury bills (a big zero), but the thought is nice.

Another wish I have would be the repeal of the decades-old regulation that requires photo inspections of private passenger vehicles. I understand the original goal of the requirement was to deter fraud and ultimately reduce premiums. This is a positive thing. But, the program is inefficient and unnecessary since new fraudfighting tools like Special Investigation Units; the enhanced loss-reporting system; CLUE reports and improved DMV title verification procedures have come into effect. Ultimately, the burden and costs to producers and carriers trickle down to our clients and the regulation is old and unnecessary.

Of course, Santa, my big wish is to erase the imminent disclosure regulations the NYSID is about to enact. A 45-day public comment period on the fourth draft regulation went into effect Dec. 2 and thanks to the continued work of PIANY and other groups on this issue, the proposed regulation is far less burdensome than the original version, but, as our associations have maintained all along, this is a solution looking for a problem and is absolutely unnecessary.

With all this work that our associations have done this year on our behalf, I also wish that all agents would contribute to their Political Action Committees. 2010 is a major election year in our state legislature, and I think many agents don’t realize how important PACs are to our industry. It is always assumed that our associations support our cause in Albany and Washington, D.C., but rarely is the connection made that this support relies on donations to their PACs.

I have one last wish, or rather a note of thanks because I realize this one is a wish Santa can’t deliver. I fondly remember a good friend of our industry, Stanley Landberg. I read with sorrow the news of his recent passing. Stan was underwriting manager and resident vice president at General Accident in New York City when I became friendly with him. He trained my daughter, Marcy, at the sibling program at General Accident. I always saw Stan at PIA regional meetings and other functions and I just wish that we did lunch instead of just planning to do it. Stan knew the world and all of his friends in the industry will surely miss him.

Santa, I can tell you that every agent I know has worked extra hard this year, in a difficult economy. I know we and our association look forward to working with Superintendent Wrynn and the NYSID on these and other issues in 2010. I think we deserve a few wishes granted.

End Note
N. Stephen Ruchman is a partner of B&B Coverage LLC. A past president of the Professional Insurance Agents of New York State Inc., he is an active supporter of PIANY, and has sat on, or chaired nearly every committee including the Executive Committee and the Long Island Advisory Council and PIANY’s Political Action Committee. A graduate of Michigan State University, with a major in insurance, Ruchman is past president of the Peninsula Counseling Center and a member and past president of the Rockville Centre Chamber of Commerce board of directors. Additionally, he is on the business advisory board of The First National Bank of Long Island and past division chair for the Insurance Division of the United Jewish Appeal.