Industry News

​By Chris Boggs, the Big I’s Executive Director of Risk Management & Education​News reports from across the country tell of retailers boarding up their buildings in attempts to curtail damage from rioters post election. From an insurance perspective, are there any coverage issues these retailers should consider? Insurance coverage questions asked over the past several days in preparation for the election have center around several common terms:Riot,Civil unrest,Insurrection, and even War.Each read similarly, “If my insured’s property is damaged by (fill in the blank from above), is there coverage? Understand that no (or very few) coverage question(s) is/are answered with a simple “yes” or “no.” There is…

​The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) has announced that New York State of Health (NYSOH) will be the only authorized provider of certification training courses. NYSOH is the health insurance marketplace for New York, one of the marketplaces created under the federal Affordable Care Act.All insurance brokers wishing to obtain individual or group health coverage for their clients through NYSOH must take a certification course and apply for certification. Previously, the certification course was available from third-party organizations such as Big I New York. The announcement on the DFS website states:Effective August 31, 2020 you must contact NYSOH to register a new account and to access the…

​The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) on Tuesday told insurance carriers that it expects them to begin considering the financial effects of climate change if they are not already. While the department did not call for immediate action by insurance agents and brokers, you should expect to see changes in carrier underwriting guidelines.DFS described the purpose of its circular letter​ to carriers as "to outline DFS’s expectations for the industry and begin a dialogue as to how DFS can best support your institutions’ efforts to manage the financial risks from climate change." The letter pointed to the increasing cost of climate-related natural disasters. "These…