Friday again? What a week.

Well, folks - I can hardly believe it: it’s Friday yet again. Where does the time go? And where has it gone?

It doesn’t seem long ago we first started hearing about Covid-19 on the news; and, yet, we’re just two weeks out from the Christmas holiday. I sometimes find this difficult to comprehend, given the year we’ve had, because time has absolutely flown!

I suspect this is due, in very large part, to how busy things have been. Though there’s been nothing “normal” about this year, all the “normal” things have still taken place.

While we’ve been absorbed in the news, we’ve still undertaken our regular life activities. The laundry, dishes and yard work has still been there; we’ve still celebrated birthdays, holidays and even the completion of work events (we just wrapped another webinar yesterday!).

And somehow, all of this has led us to a very fast run-up towards the “end of the year.”

How’s everyone out there doing with this? I, for one, can attest to the fact it’s absolute chaos in both my office and my home. We’re all frantic trying to wrap up end of year projects, both personally and professionally.

I won’t bore you with details of my chaos at home (do you really want to read about our pre-Christmas bathroom renovation, or my kids’ Christmas crafts?), so I’ll focus on the “work stuff” instead.

Right now, my work days are occupied with planning for 2021 items and events. Top among them are our 2021 calendar projects. We have the annual wall calendar we put out with our friends over at the IMWCA, of course, and we also have our calendar coasters, which we started just this year.

Needless to say, things haven’t exactly gone to plan these past twelve months, so we’re planning to relaunch this project again for 2021.

We’re also hard at work on a recent Market Update video, which is being produced with help from our friends over at Alliant Insurance Services.

Oh, and I probably needn’t even mention the other project keeping us so busy: the ICAP Board Election. Knowing how close this election will be, we’ve reached out to members directly and encouraged each one to cast their vote. We’ve created an easily-accessible list of candidate bios, and have provided all members the link to vote electronically. We’ve also made it so that voting online takes less than one minute.

If you’ve already voted and still have a minute to spare, why not jot down our 2021 dates for later reference? I’ve pasted them in the body below, and linked them on our events calendar, for convenience. (those marked with an asterisk indicate member events)

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but here’s to planning for 2021!

Law Enforcement Trainings* (1:30 - 2:30 PM)

• Hosted the first Tuesday and Thursday of every month!

CE Webinars* (10-11 AM)

• March 25

• June 24

• September 9

• December 9

ICAP Agent Academy (9 AM - 2 PM)

• March 18 (Part I)

• September 2 (Part II)

ICAP Educational Summit* (9 AM - 12 PM)

• June 17

ICAP Agent Seminar (9 AM - 2 PM)

• November 4

It's a Year of Close Elections

Greetings, everyone - and welcome to December!

We’ve been quiet on the blog these past few weeks, because we’ve been busy. Man, have we been busy. Between end-of-year projects to holiday prep, planning for 2021 offerings to the ICAP Board Election, it has been a crazy few weeks.

Let’s hone in on that last item a bit: the BOD Election.

We have several candidates running for two seats this year (learn more about them here!) and, for those who aren’t familiar, voting is open. It will remain open until December 15, at which point votes will be tallied and, within the week, reported to the ICAP membership.

If you haven’t already had your fill of election news as of late, tune in, because this is shaping up to be a close race for both seats.

We haven’t seen quite the member response we were anticipating, but the votes that have come in have fallen all across the board. Because the margins are so small, it’s especially important every ICAP member has their say.

Remember, it’s one vote per member, regardless of the chosen form of submission. Members can vote via the ICAP website. They can also choose to vote via postcard ballot, but they must remember to write the name of their member entity on it before mailing.

This is important! As with most elections, unverified/unmarked votes cannot be counted, and we want to ensure every member has the chance to have its voice heard.

Looking to be heard another way? We’re always available! If you have questions or want to discuss the election, or any other elements of the Pool, simply shoot us an email to info@icapiowa.com. We’ll keep an eye on the inbox, and will forward anything that comes through accordingly.

Right, all that said, I’m off to catch a few zzz’s before my Tuesday morning officially begins. I’m already looking forward to the piping hot coffee that will come with it…

A conversation about the changing market

At our annual Agent Seminar last week, we discussed some of the current and anticipated trends related to the changing insurance landscape.

It’s no secret the market is hardening and, when you consider recent liability incidents (think claims against law enforcement, for example) and weather-related losses (like the derecho that has cost an estimated $1.6 billion in Iowa so far!), there’s little wonder why.

Suffice it to say, it all has us thinking. So we took to the mics to discuss.

You can listen to a few of our thoughts here.

The Agent Seminar is Happening This Week! Here's What You Can Expect.

Given this will be the first Agent Seminar to be hosted digitally, we’re expecting a bit of excitement during the event this Thursday.

While some of the things we typically do won’t be feasible for the virtual event, other things will. I mean, when one door closes, right?

Suffice it to say we’ll be opening virtual doors for the 2020 Agent Seminar, and we’re excited about what they’ll mean (think virtual raffles, surprise polls, digital interactivity and more!).

Similarly, the content this year will be different than in years past, thanks to an ever-hardening insurance market.

For those who’ve been in the industry for a while, you are likely already familiar with the cyclical nature of insurance, and what its swings can mean for both agents and insureds. You may, however, not be as familiar with what the markets are experiencing now.

And when I say “now,” I mean now - in the midst of an unprecedented global pandemic when the most bizarre of weather-related events are (quite literally) taking the world by storm.

Let me assure you, there’s a lot to learn. And there’s a lot to discuss. Fortunately, ICAP has two heavy-hitters willing to steer the conversation.

Kristin Smolek, VP of Pooling for Sedgwick (a leading global provider of technology-enabled risk, benefits and integrated business solutions), and Justin Smolek, VP of Alliant Insurance Services (one of the nation’s leading distributors of diversified insurance products and services) will review some of the changes and implications the industry is experiencing nationwide.

Our own Kasi Koehler will take things one step further, in a discussion of what this means for ICAP members - and agents - and what we can do to minimize certain effects of a hardening insurance market.

This is important, folks, because the fact is, one way or the other, market changes will affect us. They will impact all of us, both personally and professionally, and they will have an effect on the bottom line for individuals and organizations alike.

We’ll review these implications verbally, of course, and we’ll have a fancy digital handout to match.

If you haven’t already registered for the 2020 event, do so now, before it’s too late. I’m not exaggerating when I say time is running out. Registration closes in just two days!

If 2020 has taught us anything, it's to prepare for the unknown.

I’m going to do something really boring right now.  I’m going to bring up the topic of property coverage. 

It isn’t exactly the hottest topic around, but if 2020 has shown us anything, it’s shown us we need coverage.  And we need it now, more than ever before.

I think most of us will agree, 2020 has been a bit of a wild ride.  From the derecho that hit Iowa, to the fires raging out west, to the floods that have decimated the south, 2020 has kept us on all edge.

Throw in the mess that is politics and the ongoing chaos surrounding Covid-19, and it’s been a hard reckoning this year.

If you’re like me, you’ve made attempts to take back control of the year (that’s a good thing!).  Regardless of what we do, though, the fact remains we are all at the mercy of 2020, and we must be prepared for whatever it throws our way.

Take the recent derecho that tore across the Midwest, for example.  

Most of us had never even heard of a derecho, but many of us are far too familiar with it now.

So familiar, we’re still working hard to clean up some of the millions - if not billions - of dollars worth of damages the derecho left in its wake.  A number of local communities are actually still trying to figure out how to pay for the replacement and/or repair for some of those damages.

This is a sad realization for many municipal representatives, who discovered some of their property was underinsured - and even uninsured - after it sustained damages in the storm.

As representatives of the Pool, this is a hard thing for us to see.

We, as a Pool, exist for our members, and we want them to be covered.  We work for them to be covered.

So to see a member building sustain damages and realize that member didn’t secure coverage for it is really difficult for us.  So difficult, the Pool funded a professional property valuations program, which discovered more than $7 BILLION in un- or underinsured member property.

This means the property that was missed before the derecho struck isn’t a one-off, but rather a common occurrence.  And it’s something we’d like to see changed.

The tricky thing about coverage, is no one cares about it until they need it.  And when the day comes that they actually need it, it’s often “too little, too late.”  This is true in many situations, and certainly it’s true when it comes to going through a member’s SOV.

That’s the property statement of values (SOV), for anyone who isn’t familiar with the acronym, and it is especially important when it comes to securing property coverage for a building or other structure (think fences, wells, water towers and the like).

Every ICAP member that secures property coverage through the Pool provides us with an SOV, which should be updated annually, at minimum, to ensure the member’s coverage is appropriate for its exposures.  But simply having one individual review the SOV typically isn’t adequate.

This is because it is virtually impossible for one individual to know all of the buildings, structures and miscellaneous items an entity owns.

Instead, we recommend an entity break the SOV out by department, and have department heads list out every property, structure and automobile their department utilizes, maintains and/or manages.  They can them cross-check them with the SOV.

Did your entity purchase, sell or change use for a building, structure or vehicle mid-term?  Let us know about any changes!

Though the Pool does not implement charges for most changes made mid-term, we do process them, and can help ensure your SOV stays up-to-date, which can help protect your entity when it comes to the unanticipated or unknown.  

And, as most of us now know, the “unanticipated” tends to rear its head just when we least expect it…

Interested in learning more?  Check out this audio clip, or take a look at the video posted here.