In February, J.D. Power and Associates released the results of its 2010 Insurance Agency Satisfaction Study: Personal Lines. These results indicated that insurers whose agents are highly satisfied tend to receive a considerably greater share of business from those agents.

The study found that, on average, there is more than a 150-point gap in agency satisfaction between insurers who receive 5 percent or less of an agency’s business and those who receive more than 60 percent of an agency’s business (661 vs. 821, on a 1,000-point scale). In addition, 77 percent of highly satisfied agents (satisfaction higher than 950 points) say they intend to increase business with an insurer, while only 24 percent of less-satisfied agents (satisfaction of 600 points or less) say the same.

“Individual policyholders are more likely to be loyal to their independent agent than the insurer that writes their policy,” said Jeremy Bowler, senior director of the insurance practice at J.D. Power and Associates. “This strong bond between policyholders and insurance agents makes it essential for insurers to satisfy their appointed agents in order to grow their business.”

While the contact an insurer has with an agency is the main driver of agency satisfaction, the level of satisfaction varies depending on the role the individual holds in the agency. Agent principals are less satisfied with insurers than are agents or producers, particularly in the area of key business contact (778 vs. 808, respectively). Similarly, agent principals are less satisfied than their licensed customer service representatives with the technology interfaces offered by the insurers they work with (735 vs. 764, respectively).

“Frequent contact with the agents and staff is one of the best practices employed by insurance companies with high satisfaction levels,” said Bowler. “Insurers that make it a priority to build relationships with their agents see direct results to their bottom line. However, with the difficult economic times, insurance companies are challenged to use their limited resources to maximize agency satisfaction. By understanding the different roles and responsibilities of personnel within an agency, insurers can better target their efforts to meet agent expectations and increase satisfaction.”

The 2010 Insurance Agency Satisfaction Study is based on responses from 2,316 insurance agents who evaluated more than 10 well known insurance companies across the industry. The study was fielded between November and December 2009.

Source: J.D. Power & Associates press release

“Ethics” is a broad-ranging term, and ethical decision-making is important in virtually every aspect of life. As insurance professionals, you need to be concerned about the impact of ethics on both your clients and your own agencies. It’s up to you to advise your clients about the risks posed by executive misconduct, fraud, and other serious ethical issue. CEU.com offers a number of continuing education courses (for credit) that will help you do that job effectively.

These courses include:

• Adjuster Conduct and Law
• Anti-Money Laundering Legislation
• Basic Ethics for the Insurance Professional
• Ethics and the Insurance Industry
• Ethics and the Senior Market
• Fraud in the Life and Health Insurance Industry
• Fraud in the Property and Casualty Insurance Industry

The information you will learn in these CE courses will help you provide your clients with up-to-date, knowledgeable guidance as they attempt to minimize risk in their organizations. They will also help you run your insurance business in compliance with all ethics laws and regulations. Be sure to include one (or more) ethics course when you sign up for continuing education.

Click Here to view the above mentioned ethics courses approved in your state.

In the survey conducted by Insurance Journal, 11 of the 26 states they polled use fingerprinting in their license applications processes. Each of these “fingerprinting” states reported that it had helped them identify applicants who had served time in prison or had other substantial run-ins with the law. Convicted forgers, child abusers, and even rapists (all of whom, of course, had lied on their applications) were discovered among the potential licensees.

The controversy over fingerprinting is another example of significant differences in insurance regulation and governance from state to state. Some in the industry see this as a reason for the federal government to take a role, however limited, in making sure regulations across the country are more uniform.

Is fingerprinting of potential insurance agents an invasion of privacy, or is it necessary to weed out people with serious criminal histories? Should the federal government step in? Let us know what you think!

Several state insurance departments, including Oklahoma, Idaho, Nevada, and California, have reported similar scam attempts during recent months, and insurance industry officials warn that it is likely to spread.

If you receive a call asking you to provide your social security number or credit card information, you are advised to contact both local law enforcement officials and your state’s department of insurance.

Remember, a state-sanctioned, bona fide insurance industry regulator would never solicit your personal information or any sort of payment by phone. Even if you are concerned that you might actually have committed some sort of breach, do not give your information to anyone who calls you! Contact your department of insurance and talk to a legitimate representative to clear up your concerns.

In the end, the paper did not recommend that. It did propose something called an Office of National Insurance (ONI), which is supposed to “gather information, develop expertise, negotiate international agreements, and coordinate policy in the insurance sector.” It also stressed the importance of federal involvement in insurance consumer protection. Some industry leaders have expressed concern that the ONI will end up regulating insurance in some way at the national level, but at this point, that is not its purpose.

Most agents support uniformity between states in terms of regulation and licensing requirements, but they stop short of wanting federal intervention.

How do you feel about the subject? Do you think federal involvement in insurance regulation can have its benefits? Have differences in requirements from state to state caused you any problems? Or do you think the state-level regulation system is fine as it is, and federal involvement is just not the way to go?

To read the whole white paper, click here

That’s some skill. Are you a little envious? I mean, wouldn’t that be great to be able to know what people are really thinking when they are talking to you? There might be a few highly trained pros in the world who have really honed their skills at spotting liars to that level, but really, it isn’t necessary for most of us. I’d hope it’s not required in the insurance business, anyway. But studying and understanding subtle, non-verbal communication cues at some level can help you avoid confusion and work better with your clients and fellow agents.

It’s generally accepted that there is much more to communication than merely the words you use. Some people toss around the old adage “93 percent of communication is non-verbal” – but that might not be entirely accurate. One thing is certain, though. You have to work on your communication skills in order to truly connect with other people and avoid frustrating misunderstandings.

Communication skills are just like any other business skills, so CEU.com has developed a new course to help you both convey and understand messages successfully. Communication Skills is a personal development course (no CE credits earned/given) that is designed for insurance professionals who want to communicate more effectively.

The course covers topics like:

• Understanding body language and how to use it effectively
• Choosing your words wisely (how words mean different things to different people)
• Understanding how tone can affect the way you are understood
• Using tact to handle criticism and rejection
• Improving written communication and email etiquette 

To sign up for this course, click here

How about you? When has good (or bad) customer service influenced your buying decisions? Do you have a great customer service rep who is helping you to build your business? Share your stories and thoughts with us in the comments.

“At CEU.com, we pride ourselves in using technology to its greatest advantage,” said Bruce MacMillian, CEU’s president and CEO. “Making the audio from our courses downloadable makes perfect sense, and it’s a great use of the technology. Freeing our students to take the audio with them to review at their convenience will help them to retain and utilize the information to enhance their careers, and that’s what continuing education is all about.”

Insurance professionals are required by law in the hurricane-vulnerable state of Florida to be able to provide assistance to their clients with regard to mitigation. Specifically, these guidelines stipulate that an insurance professional must be prepared to assist homeowners in identifying potential mitigation measures such as reinforcing walls and strengthening roof/wall connections, and they must also be able to identify and recommend licensed professionals (e.g., contractors) who can inspect homes to verify implementation of those measures. The insurance professionals must then provide premium discounts when clients conform to the mitigation guidelines.

The rules are very detailed and somewhat complex. To help licensed general lines agents and customer representatives comply with them, CEU.com is pleased to offer a hard-to-find course entitled “Florida Hurricane Loss Mitigation.”

This course is a part of the Florida training programs that are designed to inform Florida citizens with regard to the nature, purpose, and application of the Home Structure Rating System for assessing and improving the ability of their homes to withstand the forces that are involved in severe tropical storms and hurricanes.

Modules covered in this course include the Florida Home Structure Rating System, Wind Resistance Improvement, the My Safe Florida Home (MSFH) Program, Residential Construction Mitigation, and Premium Discounts for Improvement.

To register for “Florida Hurricane Loss Mitigation” or to review a complete course catalog, insurance professionals should visit www.ceu.com.