There are times when the coverage you need is available exclusively from a nonadmitted carrier. What is the difference between admitted and nonadmitted carriers, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each? Should you be concerned if a carrier is not admitted?

 Admitted Carriers

An admitted carrier is one that follows guidelines set forth by the state and is therefore licensed in the state or country in which the insured exposure is located. Of course, these guidelines vary from state to state, and some are more stringent than others. The obligation to follow state regulations and submit rates to a state’s department of insurance limits the flexibility of the insurer. If an admitted carrier becomes insolvent, the state guarantee fund steps in to pay out claims and premium remuneration where applicable. 

  Nonadmitted Carriers

It is a common misconception that nonadmitted is synonymous with nonlicensed. In reality, nonadmitted carriers do not have rates filed with the state and therefore are not as highly regulated, but this also means they are not protected by state funds. Because of this, they are sometimes able to offer better rates – these carriers can base price on specific exposures. Further, certain complex risks require the use of nonadmitted carriers because the conventional insurance marketplace fails to provide adequate coverage. However, in the case of insolvency, the state will not pay the carrier’s outstanding claims and premium remuneration.  

 Judging Financial Strength

Since with a nonadmitted carrier you are not guaranteed payout from the state in the case of insolvency, as you are with an admitted carrier, one of the most important things to consider when purchasing coverage through a nonadmitted carrier is its A.M. Best rating, which rates a carrier on financial strength and size based on policyholder reserves. As long as you are aware of market conditions and are sure the carrier is reputable, buying coverage from nonadmitted carriers can be beneficial in several ways: They often provide lower rates, absolute control over coverage terms and coverage unavailable through admitted carriers (including specialty risks, risks that are unusual or those that are unusually large).

 Choosing Prudently

It is important to note that nonadmitted does not mean that an insurer is not regulated – many states do regulate nonadmitted insurers. In fact, many nonadmitted carriers are actually admitted carriers in other states. Nonadmitted carriers intentionally opt out of filing rates with the state not necessarily because they are unable to comply, but because doing so provides the advantages mentioned above. On the other hand, just because a carrier is admitted doesn’t mean it is financially solvent. Because of state restrictions on rates and forms of coverage, admitted carriers’ payouts may increase faster than permitted premium increases in certain classes of business, leading to financial instability.

 Therefore, when making your choice of insurer, you should not ask yourself only whether the carrier is admitted or nonadmitted, but rather whether it is financially capable of paying claims in the event of an accident.◊  In CA another issue is that you can not purchase insurance from a Non Admitted Company if an Admitted Company offers the coverage. 

 Insovency is a real issue!  As an example Legion Insurance Company was a large well run insurance company.  After 9-11 their reinsurance company failed as did they.  Clients that were insured with Legion on a non admitted basis had claims delayed, and mostly not paid.  While Clients that were insured with Legions admitted side had the state guarantee fund coverage!

In CA today we see California Workers Compensation Companies in trouble.  Most of the reform that drove rates down in 2006 has proven not to work.  The system is broken, and we have started to see CA workers comp companies pull out of CA, and a few insolvencies.  Self Insured Groups, SIGS for CA workers comp are very dangerous as they typically have “joint and several liability” clauses.

$500 reward for information leading to the recovery of the stolen items, computers, xbox, games ect.. or for information leading to the capture of the people responsible.  If you know who has it, or see it, or who took it just report it to the Police, or to the Center for Human Services, and if your information leads to getting it back, GDI will give you $500.  It is that simple!

It is one thing to have someone steal from a business or from someone home or farm.  That is pretty bad, and always heart breaking to deal with.

What gets me about this is that the Patterson Teen Center is run by a nonprofit organization The Center For Human Services.  They are doing the heavy lifting for all of us people who are too busy to help. 

This program is designed to give our youth from ages 12-17 the help and support they need to progress in life in a drug free environment.  The cost to these children to attend this program is nothing, but the loss they just experienced can be life changing. 

Here is a bit more about what they do.

The CHS Patterson Teen Center is located at 118 N. 2nd Street in the heart of downtown Patterson. The program staff provides positive after-school activities for teens in the Patterson community at a fun and safe “drop in” site for youth. Youth attending the Teen Center can also participate in activities that build their life skills and developmental assets. These activities include: tutoring, homework, assistance, access to a computer lab, community service opportunities, event planning, youth leadership training, recreational activities, job skills development, educational field trips and sports and more.

My little girl shared this cool app with me Hootsuite.com which links all my blogs, and social media sites allowing me to write things one time and post them to multiply sites. I will let you know how it works out… this is the first post.

I am blessed to live in the middle of a 22 acre Almond Orchard. My home is at the end of a long crape myrtle lined driveway. I have a fence full of ivy around our home, and back yard. Beyond that I have a large Koi pond, and a horse corral. I spend my quite time sitting by our pond watching the fish, horse, and goat play looking beyond them into our orchard. It is a very affective spot to find clarity and God.

Running a large insurance brokerage is a real full time job so I hire a real farmer to take care of my orchard. That leaves me responsible for about 2 acres of landscaping and horse corrals. Although I have a gardener, they limit there activities to about a quarter acre of the manicured landscaping. Mow and blow usually.

For the most part the rest is pretty low maintenance. Clean out the pool and check the chemicals once a week. Spot check sprinkler systems, and keep the weeds down. Pretty much like any other homeowner. Except a few acres of distance to cover, and instead of one or two systems to check I have a dozen or so to keep track of.

Weeds have gotten my attention lately. Normally once a month I jump into my mule which has a 15 gallon spray rig mounted on it full of round up and some misc bug sprays mixed in to keep the ants and other crawlers down. This last year I haven’t had the time to keep up with the weeds. And of course when you don’t pay attention to weeds they tend to grow! Similarly when you don’t pay attention to business problems or poor attitudes they also seem to grow.

I see some great similarities between business and weeding. I started clearing out my 2 acres of weeds. Some up to two feet high! I would like to share with you a few of my thoughts about weeds.

When weeds first pops up they are very small and week. Just like when a bad attitude at work first pops up. If I tend my land, and spray the seedlings of these weeds when they are just getting started they quickly die, and wither away leaving no trace that they were ever there. I have many ways to deal with seedlings. One it chemical sprays, the other is a torch attached to a large propane tank. I don’t need to burn the seedlings completely to kill them; just the increased heat from the torch passing over them is enough to kill the weed when it is just sprouting. So a little heat works well on weeds and bad attitudes.

If I wait a bit and let the weeds grow even just a little, and then spray them when they die they leave more of a mess. I then have to clean up of dead grass, and stems that have to be dealt with after the weed gone. When we allow the bad attitudes of people to mature in our businesses even for a bit, they to leave behind bigger messes that has to be cleaned up once we get rid of them.

The biggest mistake I seem to make from time to time is to allow a weed to grow. In fact sometimes I have gone to the extent of allowing weeds to be fertilizing and watered along with my orchard. The funny thing is that no matter how well I take care of a weed it never magically morphs into a fruit bearing plant. Instead of course what happens is the weed gets bigger and stronger and then starts germinating spreading seeds of discontent throughout my orchard. This of course causes more weeds to begin to sprout. Funny how letting weeds grow in my orchard does about the same damage as letting bad attitudes grow in my agency.

On my farm, and in my business the best way to deal with weeds is to have a formal weed control system to find weeds as they sprout, and deals with them right away.

I have never seen a problem get better by ignoring it, or hoping it will get better on its own. Weeds and attitudes are the same way. If I let the weeds just do what they want, soon my entire orchard would be full of weeds and choke out even the healthiest of my trees. Stealing their nutrients, and taking their water.

Someone once told me they could work with anyone and make them successful. The only thing they couldn’t fix was a bad attitude.

One finaly thought. It isn’t the weeds fault that it is a weed. After all, all a weed can be is a weed. If we feed and care for a weed all we can get is a strong healthy weed that will spread its seeds throughout our garden. So if we allow a weed to grow, that is our fault.

I would like to bring the work of the Center for Human Services to your attention. 

I am asking that you consider a small donation to help them do the work you and I wish we had the time and resources to do. 

Many times we want to help someone but don’t know how to, or have the time, or money to do it.  But by giving even a small amount to an organization like The Center For Human Services, your money is magnified as they already have their feet on the ground, and the facilities in place to offer the services needed.  Thanks, Grant Davis

Please click on this link to see an overview of their programs.
Center For Human Services Programs at a Glance 2010 

Please click here to see what your $40 can do in the lives of others!
what can $40 do-

Here is a letter from them about a fund raiser they are doing.  Also please consider signing up on their website to offer a regular monthly gift.  $5, $10 a month adds up over the year, and gives them the monies needed to do the work we all wish we were doing to help others.

Over the past forty years, CHS has been fortunate to offer shelter services and family resource centers that meet basic needs, prevention programs that keep our children safe and free from drugs, counseling that mends individuals and families back together, juvenile diversion services to point wayward youth in a positive direction and education and employment services that help build bright futures for others.  Each day CHS is working to change lives for the better.  As a result, CHS has established a solid reputation and continues to accomplish our mission…“to change lives and build futures through programs that strengthen and support youth and families.”

 Due to the large number of job losses, home foreclosures and other stressors on our families, Center for Human Services’ work is more critical than ever before. 

• In the past 6 months there has been a tripling of children and families calling upon the Family Resource Centers. At the same time there has been a reduction in grant opportunities and donations from both foundations and donors.
• Hutton House, the only youth shelter of its kind regionally, assists displaced and distressed families by providing a safe place for adolescents while crisis situations can be resolved.
• Case loads and wait lists for those seeking mental health services at their Community Counseling clinics are also on the rise.

 To celebrate our “40^th”, we are launching a “40/40 Campaign” where 40 Teams are asking 40 people to give $40.  The goal is to raise $64,000 to support CHS programs.  I would like to invite you to participate on my team by making a donation of $40 (or a gift of any size).  You can make a secure, online donation by clicking on the link below http://www.centerforhumanservices.org/donate/index40.html. 

Enter team code 201 in the space provided. If you would like to mail in a donation please send to:

Center for Human Services

1700 McHenry Village Way #11

Modesto, CA 95350 (Please enter team code 201 in the memo section.)

To see the latest CHS happenings, please visit our website at http://www.centerforhumanservices.org  and/or join us on Facebook. 

Thanks in advance for your support of CHS.  I hope to hear from you soon!

Sincerely,

  Dawn Tacker

Hard Times, Hard Faith.

You will have to hang with me a bit on this one.  I have to tell you three quick stories for what I want to share with you to make any sense.

1. I was reading to my 12 year old the other night from the book of James.  Just because…  I reed the part that talked about there being only two influences in this world.  Good ones that bring you closer to God, and bad ones from the devil.. (I am paraphrasing a little or a lot depending on how you read it)…
2. I like this part.  I thought about fear, and worry, and the Dale Carnegie book I read when I took the Dale Carnegie Sales class in the 80’s, how to Stop Worrying and Start Living I think was the title….  Close enough…
3. So watching my dog Jax dig for gofers in my over run horse corral afterwards I thought a lot about all this…  if you follow my face book you will see my son is a Boy Scout and a few weeks back was a father son camp out.  A story we heard there was about a battle in everyone between a bad wolf, and a good Eagle.  To really cut this story short, the question was which one will win?  The answer is “The one you feed”.

Ok, now that all that is out of the way I am sure you can see where I am heading… Inside most of us today there is a battle between faith in what we can do, have done, want to do, and our faith in God, and our fear of the economy, what can’t be done anymore, worry, business losses, finical losses again in the stock market yesterday 5-6-10, lack of jobs, ect.. 

The thing is we can’t do anything about how bad it is.  The Dale Carnegie book I read talked about how it feels the same to worry about something as it feels when it actually happens.  I don’t know how that compares to what has actually happened.  I mean it hurts!  But worrying can’t be the answer.  Just logically worry doesn’t do anything but cause anxiety does it? 

So I think planning is always a good choice.  Figure out what you think you should do.  Compare it to whatever options you may have, and then for me pray about it and hope for a peaceful feeling to come.

Once that happens I think it’s time to take action.  All any of us can do is our best.  Things will happen even when we do our best, but at least we know we did our best, and what ever happened couldn’t have been avoided. 

I think feeding fear doesn’t help us.  From James again, he talks about a double minded man is unstable in all his ways.   I think he was talking about the story my son heard at boy scouts.  You can’t feed both the Eagle and the Wolf and have one win… 

Faith then is hard to hold in hard times.  But if we can narrow it down to only two choices fear or faith.  We all have to pick one to feed

If you are like many people that I help, the answer is, “I am not sure I have ever reviewed the beneficiaries I assigned years ago.”

In a recent article in Investment News, about 80% of beneficiary forms on individual retirement accounts, defined benefit pension plans and insurance policies are either blank, outdated or not properly filled in.* We want our clients to be the other 20%.

 Without a comprehensive beneficiary review, you may be leaving assets to those you did not intend or no one at all. A comprehensive review of your beneficiaries can ensure that your assets go to exactly whom you wish.

 Before you launch into this project, you need to determine all of the different places you might have a beneficiary contract in place. Of course, the primary document is your Will, but many individuals use a Living Trust as the primary instruction document instead of a Will.

In addition to your will, You will also need to review:

IRA, 401(k), 403(b) or other similar accounts

Annuity, life insurance, and long term care policies

Brokerage accounts

Existing bank accounts, to include Certificates of Deposit

Structuring your legacy is one of the most important pieces of the retirement process but often times, it is an overlooked portion of the process as it produces no income for a financial advisor. We always strive to add real value to our clients and fully realize that relationships are built over time, not transactions.

We have cleared our schedules during the month of BLANK to offer Complimentary Beneficiary Reviews. We want to spend an hour making sure your beneficiaries are EXACTLY the way you want them to be.

During your consultation, you’ll receive your Personal Legacy Planning Kit, which includes:

A Beneficiary Review and Update Assistance

A copy of our step-by-step manual:  “A Guide to Your IRA Beneficiary Choices”

Complimentary copy of “Understanding Trusts” and “Advantages of a Will’

You will also walk away with a  From the Heart Journal a place to keep all your important
information such as:

Account numbers, policy numbers and company names of all investments and real estate
Location, phone numbers, and contacts for wills, trusts, bank accounts, and credit cards Names and contacts of Bankers, Attorneys, Accountants, etc
Funeral instructions

All compliments of GDI to help you plan for the things that matter to you!

Call us at 888-991-2929 to schedule you complimentary Beneficiary Review. 

We will save a copy of our Legacy Planning Kit and From the Heart Journal just for you.

I attended the annual awards dinner last night, and had a great time catching up with friends.  Here is a picture of me with Margo Souza of Circle H Dairy, and Christine Hackler General Manager of the Central Counties DHIA.

Latter in the evening I announced the GDI Insurance Production Award to Gabriel Machado Dairy!

One thing for sure I always learn a little bit more about what it means to own a dairy today.  I have to admit insuring a dairy properly takes a lot of time to make sure nothing is missing, and all the premium credits are given, ect.. but running a dairy is a lot of work.  I had a few conversations last night about the many changes in the dairy business over the past decade.

One thing I will say is this group of dairyman, and women are dedicated to improving their product, as well as paying attention to the impact on the enviroment, and our valley.  I was really proud to be there and have even a small part in the program..  Thank You!

Ok, we eat out a lot, and I need to drop a few pounds before my A1C gets any higher, so I am trying to go low carb, and eat a lot of almonds from our orchard. 

Saturday I went to Strings in Turlock, and ordered the Sea Food Stew.  Very good and low carb to boot!  I also noticed that they have just redone the menu, and the presentation was awsome, and they have also redone the inside of the resturant.  Very nice, and pleasing to the eye, they have a great painting on their wall, that someone did a great job on.

I recomend checking it out.  If you haven’t been to strings for a bit, it is well worth it to go grab dinner and enjoy the up grades to the resturant and the food!  Good Job!

The Workers Compensation Insurance Rating  Bureau on April 14^th  published  The Insurer Experience for 2009.

The total written premium was $8.9 billion down from  $10.7 billion for 2008. 

The average rate per $100 of  payroll was down slightly from $2.37 to $2.35. This is down 63% from 2003.

The accident year loss ratio was 75%  up 6% from 2008.

The combined loss ratio was not reported but in 2008 it was 108% and the estimate is that it will be around 120%.

What does all this mean for CA?  The pressure is on to increase rates and at some point they will go up and go up fast.  

I do not see it happening this year but look out for January 2011.   There will  most likely be some increase in pricing .

The way your modification factor is calculated changed this year as well.  Bottom line the “new math” will cause an increase in most modification factors as well.  It is vital that business’s adopt aggressive OSHA compliant safety programs and check their claims status each month.  GDI brokers do this as a free service for our clients.