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September, 2008
Issue #99 - Since 2000
Buyer's Market In Insurance May Be Ending
Over the past 18 to 24 months we have been in the biggest buyer's market I have seen in my 30 years in the insurance business. Premiums have dropped dramatically for many businesses. I have urged my readers to bid their insurance to a point where I get threatening letters from insurance agents.
A few weeks ago Standard and Poor's adjusted their outlook for commercial insurance from Stable to Negative. This means that the rating organizations are ready to downgrade insurers who continue to show premium-cutting while investment income declines.
The other side of the picture is the tremendous capital that remains in the insurance marketplace. Simple economics dictates that many dollars chasing limited risks means lower premiums. We will see.
Add the issues reported recently by AIG and we may see insurers start to try for premium increases at renewal.
The best way to combat higher premiums is through competitive bidding at renewal - two agents fighting it out for your business.
Blog Posts
Check out some of the insurance hints and tips I've blogged about over the past few weeks:
Global Warming and General Liability Insurance
Saving Money on Personal Insurance
Check Your Insurer's Financial Ratings
For access to my blog go to www.InsuranceBuzzer.com.
Subscribe to my blog to get immediate notification of my postings by email. You can also view my entries by using a service such as Google Reader.
Insurance Marketplace - To Bid or Not to Bid
If you have not bid your insurance for a few years, now is the time. In most cases, not bidding your insurance now will result in higher premiums and coverage that is not as broad as it could be.
My booklet, "How to Bid Your Insurance," is now on sale, or download it here for free.
Search Feature
I have just finished implementing a site search feature for my websites and blog. I figured now that I have more than 1,000 articles, definitions, posts, newsletters, white papers, and ebooks, I had to make it easier for visitors to find what they were looking for on my website.
Try it out:
It also appears on the bottom of every webpage and on the sidebar of my blog. Comments welcome.
Life In Maine and Other Stuff
One event overshadows everything else in the past month. My 362 day old granddaughter (and her mother and father) are visiting. Sitting on the floor playing with her, I got to watch her take her first steps. It makes all the frustrations of dealing with her father while he was growing up worth it (wink!).
Do You Have the Right Insurance?
Contact me to discuss an unbiased review of your insurance program. Do you have the right coverage? Can your policies be fine-tuned to improve the protection? Can changes be made to ease the administrative burden insurance causes? Are you getting the service you should from your broker? I can help. Remember, I don't sell insurance so I'm unbiased.
Need a Speaker?
I'm pleased to speak to trade, business, or service associations about insurance topics. See my speaker's page.
Please Forward This Newsletter To Your Business Associates
Scott Simmonds,
CPCU, ARM, CMC
Insurance Consulting
Phone 207-284-0085
Fax 802-992-4027
Scott@ScottSimmonds.com
www.ScottSimmonds.com
See My Insurance Blog - www.InsuranceBuzzer.com
Comments regarding insurance policies or products in this newsletter do not constitute an endorsement. I accept no fees of any kind from any company mentioned in this newsletter.
© 2008 Insurance Consultants of Maine, Inc. All Rights Reserved. We encourage sharing this newsletter if copyright and attribution (including my web address) are always included.