The global economy may be going to “hell in handbasket” (what agreat old-lady phrase, as my teenage daughter would say), but forus ordinary folks, life goes on. We still have to pay bills, do ourjobs, satisfy our clients and keep our businesses running asprofitably as we can.

That lesson hit home last week at the annual PIIAI meeting forIllinois agents in Springfield. It was a beautiful fall day, so Imade the three-hour drive to check out the scenery.

Although national politics was on display–a panel moderated byBob Rusbuldt featured media savants Paul Begala and Tucker Carlsonposturing about the upcoming presidential election–it was the“smaller” issues that dominated the day.

Like every other entrepreneurial business today, Illinois agentsare focused on survival. Their numbers are steadily shrinkingthrough M&As and simple attrition. When they can take time awayfrom regular business to attend an event like this, they want toget something out of it that they can bring back to their officesand put into immediate use. So although the undercurrent ofnational politics, the AIG fiasco and the big federal bailout wasthere, breakout sessions focused on workaday stuff: med malinsurance, how to hire good people, service fees and premium fundtrust accounts (we cover a couple of these on our Web site — checkit out at http://www.agentandbroker.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=Articles&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=3&Tier4=Web+Exclusive).

However, several issues of national scope are on the radar.PIIAI government relation guy Phil Lackman ticked off the mostonerous. Topping the list is controversy surrounding certificatesof insurance — a big national concern and a major problem withinthe producer community.

According to Phil, problems arising from misuse involving theissuance of certificates of insurance — such as client requests toadd or change coverage on the certificate — accounted for thelargest portion of E&O claims for Illinois agents: 7 percentlast year, and as high as 12 percent in other years. Our ownbeloved Chris Amrhein has written extensively about the problem ofrelying on certificates of insurance instead of examining theactual policy language. And there's lots of information on Big I'seducational site at http://www.iiaba.net/eprise/main/VU/NonMember/Certificates.htm

Although some states have passed legislation addressing theissue, most have not been successful, Lackman said. In Illinois,PIIAI got the DOI involved in clarifying that certificates ofinsurance are evidence of coverage, not coverage itself —and that policyholders can't add coverage or endorsements throughcertificates.

I'd be interested in hearing if any of you have run into any“certified lunacy” horror stories involving your clients andcertificates of insurance. Feel free to share here!

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