Over the past two centuries, if there is one surety it is our shared acceptance of the evolution of our world and worlds, as life moves forward in an ever-changing, ever-evolving reality. Reflecting the world around us, the insurance industry is constantly evolving; sometimes for the positive and sometimes for the negative. The way we do business now is not the way we did business five, 10 or 15 years ago.

I guess a “Happy Birthday” to Charles Darwin and a “Thank You” are appropriate before I go further. “Evolution”, after all, furnishes my context.

Back in the days when automation meant Univac, I can remember going at least once or twice a week to the “street” to talk to my underwriters on Water and John Streets to place my business and get my binders signed. Now, many of the buildings that housed our companies are residential apartments. I don’t think you could count the number of companies that remain in New York’s sentimentally termed “Insurance District” on one hand. All of our underwriters are located in Jacksonville, Elmira, Syracuse, etc. Automation has taken control of our record keeping, of our communication with our carriers, and our correspondence with our clients. Things have certainly changed: who knew what a T1 line was even 15 years ago?

This past month at the PIANJ/PIANY Joint Annual Conference in Atlantic City, I participated in a continuing education course instructed by PIANJ Vice President Keith Savino and Automation Guru Steve Anderson about automation in the office and how we do business. I had the opportunity there to ask questions about a situation I’m experiencing and a problem with my automation system that I’ve had since going paperless in our office. It’s amazing how we agents have come to rely so heavily on our automation systems in such a short period of time. Now in the age of scanning, and having gone paperless at the urging of our vendors, we face new challenges that we never could have conceived a decade ago. During the class, I shared with the instructors that recently, I received an informational subpoena from a lawyer who is involved with one of my clients on all records going back to 2005. The lawyer requested the information to be submitted to his office electronically. I asked our IT person to put the insured’s records on a disc so I could submit it. I was surprised to learn that my system, purchased from one of the industry’s major automation vendors, cannot do this. We can reproduce records only one transaction at a time. When we called the vendor, they said they would look into the situation. After several days they came back to me and told me they could do the task in their office for a charge of $1,600. I felt like I was sold a bill of goods. I had the opportunity at the PIA conference to bring this problem up to Savino and Anderson and they confirmed that the providers we currently are using can’t do what we were asked. I wish I had taken the class prior to investing in my automation system. Readers of this column take heed: In this litigious climate, we need our vendors to provide us with greater flexibility and the ability to compile and duplicate data more easily. Tell your vendors you need this option. And, prepare yourself by learning all you can about automation before you make a huge investment in your system. Steve Anderson’s Agency guide to comparative rating, offered by PIA in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and New Hampshire is a great resource from PIA’s Tech Info Central, as are the PIA CE courses on the issue; and ACORD’s AUGIE user group exchanges.

Information is a powerful tool to help us navigate change. That’s why our association surveys are so important. PIA’s technology survey results can help agents make informed choices about the automation vendors they choose. And, the annual PIA Company Performance Survey, which will close as this publication goes to print, is important for the same reasons. As I write this column, the survey is about to break records in participation in almost every state in which PIA conducts it. Over the last couple of weeks, I have received emails from several companies requesting that our office participate in the survey. It is obvious these companies care how the agents perceive them as partners. They rely heavily on the survey to determine how their agents perceive their business practices. And, they know this survey provides honest and unbiased results because it allows agents to speak freely due to the anonymity provided them through the survey methodolgy.

I’m convinced anonymity is the key to the survey’s popularity. Agents can tell the truth and don’t have to worry about real or perceived retaliation or relationships with the carriers. Another reason the survey is so popular may be that it has become so simple to complete. Click on a link and take three minutes to fill it out online, or use a fax-back version for those of us who are not yet so tech savvy. In addition, the survey is open to anyone who does business with carriers and works at independent agencies. Membership in any organization is not required to complete the survey. A decade ago, these surveys didn’t exist. Now, they are effective tools for agent-carrier communication, conducted by a credible third party. Over eight years, PIA’s surveys have collected information to identify trends and show improvement and changes the companies have made in products, technology, marketing, service and communication. I look forward to seeing the results of this year’s survey, which underwent some change itself after a benchmark study PIA conducted this winter.

Another change I’d like to note: The recent announcement that New York’s Superintendent of Insurance Eric Dinallo would resign to take a position at New York University. I wish him good luck in his future endeavors and hope that the new superintendent will have a strong understanding of the industry and how it operates, especially when it comes to distinguishing the mega brokers from Main Street independent agents. I hope whoever takes the reins at the insurance department continues strong, open communication with our associations on issues that affect our producer community and the insurancebuying public we serve.
Times certainly are changing. We need to rely on and support our associations and stay flexible.

Before we blow out the 200 candles, let’s give Darwin the last word: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives nor the most intelligent; but that one most responsive to change.”