Ask Tim

​The excellent American History Tellers podcast has just done a three-part series on the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. If you haven't listened to the show before, this is not a dry recitation of history. The host places the listener in the scene being described and relays the story of what happened from the viewpoints of people who were there.The Chicago fire series barely mentions insurance, but it's a good reminder of why we have building and fire safety codes. In the fall of 1871, Chicago had all the key ingredients for a fire disaster:Thousands of wood frame buildingsA droughtHigh windsThe 30-hour fire that resulted devastated…

​The following is a re-publication of a post that originally ran in 2011.Question from an IIABNY member: I have a personal lines customer who called saying he has a person come to his house every other week and do five hours worth of cleaning. He wanted to confirm there is liability coverage should she be hurt. I called the insurance carrier and the underwriter forwarded the attached Workers Comp endorsement, which to me is a bit confusing. Can you advise your understanding of this endorsement? I would assume if she were hurt on the premises and the insured was negligent (i.e. he allowed her to…

​Question from a Big I NY member: I have a commercial lines client who has a $5,000,000 umbrella policy with us.  The insured does not want us to show on certificates that he has a $5,000,000.  He would like us to show on the requested certificates a $2,000,000 umbrella policy.   The insured just bumped up his umbrella for one client.  The umbrella policy has always been $2,000,000 and he will be changing the coverage back to $2,000,000 at renewal.  Is this something that I can do?Watch the video below where my confidant and I consider this question. Also note the change in title because truth…