Rough Notes
Who Will be the 2025 Agency of the Year? One of the agencies featured in a Rough Notes cover story during 2025 will be named Agency of the Year. The winner will be selected based on votes from previous Rough Notes cover agents. The nominees for this...
Posted: Dec 30, 2025
Insurance Marketing & Communications Association research finds that marketers struggle between tactics and strategic needs By Peter van Aartrijk A recent study of insurance marketing and communications professionals unveils deep organizational i...
Posted: Dec 30, 2025
A strong and stable market prepares to address “advanced air mobility” By Joseph S. Harrington, CPCU When it comes to aviation risk, today’s insurance agents and brokers may be facing what their predecessors dealt with 100 years ago at the dawn of th...
Posted: Dec 30, 2025
How independent agents give clients an insurance edge By Mike Skiados, MBA, CAE Insurance can be overwhelming, especially in today’s market. That’s where independent agents come in. More than policy sellers, they’re problem-solvers—simplifying comple...
Posted: Dec 30, 2025
What every insurance principal must know about premium trust accounts By Patti Smith Running a successful independent insurance agency requires more than insurance acumen. While attention is often focused on carrier appointments, talent acquisition,...
Posted: Dec 30, 2025
The need for premium financing increases as pricing remains aggressive in the current market By Lori Widmer As 2025 began, the overall insurance market showed signs of stabilization. A Risk Strategies 2025 Outlook report said that property, cyber, a...
Posted: Dec 30, 2025
The process is imperative [T]hink of continuity not as a massive project to complete, but rather a daily discipline to enforce and monitor consistently. By Kari Glennon Every producer’s book of business (BoB) is a continually appreciating asset. Ho...
Posted: Dec 30, 2025
Dealing with the legal and financial mess that results from absent coverage If there was no option to secure the coverage via buy back, it may have been wiser (and fairer) to decline writing a CUP. By Bruce D. Hicks, CPCU, CLU The Court Decisions col...
Posted: Dec 30, 2025
How risk advisors build trust that lasts Every great relationship, … every renewal that turns into a referral … starts the same way. Not with pressure. Not with price. But with process. By Carolyn Smith, APR, CRA, TRA When it comes to building busine...
Posted: Dec 30, 2025
Why do you stay in the insurance industry? Is everyone in the insurance industry similarly motivated? Probably not. By Cheryl Koch, CPCU, ARM, AAI, ACSR, AFIS, and Mary Belka, CPCU, ARM, ARe, RPLU, CIC With a combined nearly 100-year career in...
Posted: Dec 30, 2025
New clients deserve the same onboarding courtesies that new employees enjoy [N]ew clients deserve onboarding attention so that expectations are clear and so that we may interact with a new client in the way they want to be served. By Scott Naugle Mos...
Posted: Dec 30, 2025
Will concerns expand into other matters of the regulation of insurance? As the practice of the business of insurance moves to tangled webs of TPSPs, affirmative and effective insurance regulation will become more difficult. By Kevin P. Hennosy If my...
Posted: Dec 30, 2025
So why does everything take so long? Speed has always determined who gets the business. Now it will determine who stays in business. By Ola Kolade Commercial insurance is obsessed with speed. Brokers block wholesalers to get first crack at markets....
Posted: Dec 30, 2025
INSURANCE-RELATED COURT CASESDigested from case reports published onlineCOURT DECISIONS Huge battle waged over paltry limits A three-vehicle accident initiated a drawn-out dispute. Diana Guevara (Guevara) was the operator of a truck that was the fina...
Posted: Dec 30, 2025
INSURANCE-RELATED COURT CASESDigested from case reports published onlineCOURT DECISIONS Insurer’s late notice breaches treaty As part of its operations, Unified Life Insurance Company (Unified) decided to sell short-term medical insurance policies. I...
Posted: Dec 30, 2025
INSURANCE-RELATED COURT CASESDigested from case reports published onlineCOURT DECISIONS Rooster calls but CUP doesn’t answer In 2019, Joey Bailey (Bailey), while inebriated, operated his vehicle in the wrong lane of an interstate highway. Trag...
Posted: Dec 30, 2025
INSURANCE-RELATED COURT CASESDigested from case reports published onlineCOURT DECISIONS The insurer’s argument was “inadequate” Peterson’s Oil Service, Inc. (Peterson’s), a fuel and heating oil distributor, faced a class action lawsuit filed on behal...
Posted: Dec 30, 2025
Careful planning and bold action empower you to turn the obstacles of 2026 into momentum As the market demands sharper insights, faster execution, and deeper strategic value from brokers, producers who are tech-savvy will respond more quickly and ac...
Posted: Dec 22, 2025
Are pollutants covered if they’re applied rather than “discharged” or “dispersed”? How can you know for sure how they emerged? Even if PFAS are held to fall within the ISO definition of “pollutants,” that’s not the last word regarding the applicatio...
Posted: Dec 18, 2025
Better support needed for workers changing jobs “Even when the new employer automatically enrolls the new employee, the plan features of the old employer may not line up with the new one.” —Kelly Hahn Head, Retirement Research Vanguard By Thomas A. M...
Posted: Dec 11, 2025
INSURANCE-RELATED COURT CASESDigested from case reports published onlineCOURT DECISIONS It’s plausible that product liability applies Norfolk & Dedham Mutual Fire Insurance Company (Norfolk) happened to provide commercial property coverage to 10...
Posted: Dec 02, 2025
INSURANCE-RELATED COURT CASESDigested from case reports published onlineCOURT DECISIONS Not bad faith, bad timing After a large network of thunderstorms with powerful, straight-line winds passed through, the home and property of Colin Henderson and W...
Posted: Dec 02, 2025
INSURANCE-RELATED COURT CASESDigested from case reports published onlineCOURT DECISIONS Insurer’s information request creates a defense obligation In 2014, Phillip Riley and his spouse (the Rileys) sued various members of the lumber industry includin...
Posted: Dec 02, 2025
Questions to ask as you shift your thoughts from action to reflection Leave your phone on silent, tucked away in your bag, or perhaps even turn it off (gasp)! It’s okay. You’ll be okay. By Meg McKeen, CIC A new year is approaching, signaling a clean...
Posted: Dec 01, 2025
A closer look at charitable giving in the insurance industry [P]rioritizing the right [charitable] initiatives can foster a healthy team culture, reinforce your company’s mission and, most important, help people who need it the most. By Katy Rodrigue...
Posted: Dec 01, 2025