Losses have begun to mount in the entire region east of Lake Ontario, as this winters record-setting snows weigh down upon roofs and cause skidding and other serious accident conditions. It is always amazing to me how few accidents there are given the circumstances presented by record snow falls. It is testimony to the caution, care, and experience of upstate drivers that the records are nowhere near as bad or catastrophic as they might be.

Problems Mount for New Orleans

Speaking of catastrophes, the ruination has not abated in New Orleans. The recent tornadoes add to the pileup there of damages and claims that started in the wake of Katrina. We pray for the people of New Orleans and praise the on-the-scene agents who write the checks and push the claims process.

Advertising Agents

The Independent Insurance Agents Association of America cleverly issued a warning to couples thinking about marriage just before Valentines Day; the advisory talks about planning and risk management for the big day. Of course theres a lot more we could add to this of a non insurance, precautionary nature, but well leave that for another column. This kind of public relations, while opportunistic, it is nonetheless effective. It demonstrates that independent insurance agents are thinking about their clients and their future clients actively.

Speaking of the independent insurance agents, its fun to see busy Bob Rusbult on Fox News, or one of the other major channels, pitching the independent insurance agents case for consumer choice. Bob " who happens to be from upstate New York as well " has been a solid quarterback for the Washington office of the Big I and has seen several changes through during his tenure. The commercials pitch essentially was the same argument that goes back to 1986 when the agents had Raymond Burr as a spokesman and identified themselves as more than one company agents. The effort actually started back here in New York with John Faley of Yonkers, who was the chairman of the communications committee at the time and probably should have gone up the chairs and become the president. John did one spectacular job putting the Big I on television for the first time in its history.

Such commercials as Bobs really dont stay in the public mind unless there is a constant repetition of images and a very creative approach to the messages. After all, the Independent Insurance Agents of America is competing with GEICOs award winning advertising, with the Allstates advertising, and against some of the other multi million dollar budgets. Time was when agents had the support of advertising campaigns undertaken by the major carriers who used independent insurance agents. Today, however, there is a diminution of ads by independent agency companies and a diminution of companies, too, and so the agents do not have that by-product benefit. If agents can hook on to these programs locally, they will have an impact that will work long term.