Exposures and Coverages

Jerry Trupin’s Exposures and Coverages brings us the most accurate, interesting observations anywhere about the insurance policy itself and how it affects the business of the agent and the ultimate client, the consumer.

2017/ August 21/ Past Issues

Protective Safeguard Endorsement: Who’s it Protecting; NY Court Holds Crime Policy Covers Spoofing Loss of Funds; Short Takes: Loss Control for Brokers & Agents; Class Action Data Breach Lawsuits; $795 an Hour

Jerry Trupin Exposures and Coverages August 21, 2017

By Jerry Trupin, CPCU A good crop of interesting cases this month. Which is great, because I’ve retired as of 7/1/17. I hope to continue following insurance and may contribute articles to the Insurance Advocate from time to time, but this will be my last regular column. I started in the insurance business by […]

2017/ May 29/ Past Issues

Insurable Interest—It’s Not Just Theory; Authorized Rep Steals $5.2 Mil—Firm “Fully Insured” But Collects Zero; After 40 Years in the Desert, Norman Rockwell Painting Returns; Vacancy and Ambiguity—A Bad Mix

Jerry Trupin Exposures and Coverages May 29, 2017

Insurable Interest, It’s Not Just Theory Insurable Interest is not just a topic in Insurance 101. You cope with it every time you specify the named insured for a property policy. Insurable interest means the insured has to have some skin in the game. It doesn’t mean the insured has to be the absolute owner. […]

2017/ April 24/ Past Issues

Is a Signature Needed to Make a Purchase Order a Written Contract? When Do You Report D&O Claims? Does Extended Reporting Period Affect Duty to Report D&O Claims? You Test-Drive a Car, Somebody’s Insurance Must Cover You, Right?

Jerry Trupin Exposures and Coverages April 24, 2017

By Jerry Trupin, CPCU Is a Signature Needed to Make a Purchase Order a Written Contract? The blanket or automatic additional insured endorsement may save work for insurance companies, but it’s become an attorney’s full-employment bonanza. To avoid possible collusion between owners and contractors, the endorsement includes a requirement that there be a written contract […]

2017/ February 27/ Past Issues

Murder, Examination Under Oath & the 5th Amendment; Lead Paint Claims and the Pollution Exclusion; Landlords’ Additional Insured Coverage Primary; Small Businesses Need Fiduciary Liability Insurance; Short Takes

Jerry Trupin Exposures and Coverages February 27, 2017

Murder, Examination Under Oath & The 5th Amendment The headline read “Ohio Homeowner Charged With Murder, Arson Declined EUO” (“EUO” is insurance shorthand for “examination under oath”). The story: Lester Parker, co-owner with his wife of a home in Hamilton Ohio, was accused of torching their house and causing the death of a firefighter who […]

2017/ January 30/ Past Issues

Claims-Made Trap; ISO Filing New Designated Premises Endorsement—Watch Out; FEMA Buying $1 Billion Flood Reinsurance; DFS Rules Against Troublesome Crime Exclusion; Lower A.M. Best Rating Linked to Increased Risk of Impairment

Jerry Trupin Exposures and Coverages January 30, 2017

Claims-Made Trap Claims-made policies are different animals and they can viciously bite the unwary. An example: a Pittsburgh University claim under a Lexington Insurance Company policy. This claim arose out of a professional liability dispute between University of Pittsburgh and Ballinger and Company, the architects on a building renovation of Salk Hall at the University. […]

2016/ Past Issues/ Winter

Computer Fraud Is Not Cyber Coverage; FEMA to Buy Reinsurance; Flood Damage Not Restricted to Special Flood Zones; Late Notice Can Still Doom Liability Claims; Embezzlements Continue to Bedazzle; What is Vacant Land?

Jerry Trupin Exposures and Coverages December 26, 2016

Computer Fraud Cover Is Not Cyber Coverage Another sign of the increasing incidence of cyber fraud troubles is the frequent reports of insureds looking for coverage for cyber fraud under their crime coverage. (It also shows that many insureds lack cyber coverage.) A case in point is Apache Corporation v. Great American Ins. Co.[i] Apache […]

2016/ October 17/ Past Issues

Precious Metals Exclusion; Per Claim Deductible; Adjuster Has the Right to See the Damage; Fixing Federal Flood Insurance

Jerry Trupin Exposures and Coverages October 17, 2016

Precious Metals Exclusion Thieves pried open seven air conditioning units at Celebration Church and stole seven condenser coils. Stolen coils can sell for more than $1,000 each because of their copper content. Copper theft is big business. It’s estimated at almost a billion dollars a year, with theft from a/c units accounting for three-fourths of […]

2016/ Past Issues/ September 26

Fooled by a Phisher; Business or Hobby; Hurricanes and Civil Authority Orders; Cat Bonds Come of Age

Jerry Trupin Exposures and Coverages September 26, 2016

Aqua Star, a New York fish importer, received an email supposedly from one of its suppliers, a fish exporter in China, instructing Aqua Star to change the bank information it used to wire payments to the supplier. Aqua Star’s employees complied with the request. Unfortunately, the supplier’s computer had been hacked and the instruction came […]

2016/ August 29/ Past Issues

Umbrella Limits: How High Is Up?; Notice of Changes to Renewal Policies Required; Safety First?; An Exclusion You Don’t Want

Jerry Trupin Exposures and Coverages August 29, 2016

The federal government is suing a California home owner for $25,000,000 alleging that his negligence caused a 27,500-acre wildfire that took 16 days to contain, destroyed 20 buildings and forced thousands of residents to evacuate. The suit alleges that the cause of the fire was a faulty electrical wiring box that shot sparks, starting a […]

2016/ July 25/ Past Issues

Non-Governmental Unemployment Insurance; Insurance “Gotchas”

Jerry Trupin Exposures and Coverages July 25, 2016

An Ideally Insurable Risk: Unemployment Insurance? A key insurance concept is “ideally insurable risk.” No, that doesn’t mean the old fire insurance chestnut about covering pig iron under water; it refers to the characteristics of a risk that make it suitable for insurance coverage. The characteristics are: Large number of similar exposure units […]