Tuesday Morning Insurance Tidbit - Whirlwind of Market Changes

[InsuranceMan]

Happiest and greatest of Tuesday mornings to you dear ADI-ers,

     My oh my … how long has it been since I last sat in my lair to pen a TMIT?!?!  Too long is the correct answer.  Summertime always seems to be a new level of busy, and this year that too has been taken to the “n-th” degree.  First and foremost, I hope my writing finds you all doing well, staying healthy, and hopefully enjoying as much of the nice weather as is possible, despite the current level of weirdness, wherever you are.

     I am certainly one of the fortunate few.  Here in Sheridanopolis, things have remained relatively “normal” for the most part throughout this whole situation.  Stores are open, restaurants and bars continue to operate, and really there was only a bit of a shutdown (with the allowance of curb-side for EVERYTHING) for only a few weeks.  I travel outside of this area though, and talk to others of you in different parts of the country, and things sound very difficult and scary.  If I could rectify that situation for you with my super powers, I certainly would, in a swift dang hurry.

     OK, on to the quick TMIT update for today dealing with the world of insurance.  As you are all aware, this “situation” has taken it toll on many things.  Business are hurting, prices on many common everyday items are up, supply chains are a wreck, and folks may not be making money like they had been.  In the first quarter to nearly half the year, the insurance companies were doing what they could to off-set premiums, forgive a month or two of payments, even giving some money back to personal line customers since they were not driving as much.  Tip ‘o the cap to those carriers that did that and understood.

     We are moving into and are in the “Second half of the year” though, and although things are still tight in many places, carriers are now moving in the direction of the “old normal”.  What that means to those of us in the distillery insurance arena is that not only are premiums expected to be paid on time and in the full amount due, but renewal are seeing an increase as well as premiums charged on new business.  I wanted to give you all a “Head’s Up” on this so that hopefully things won’t come as a shock to you if you are looking to start up or renew your policy, no matter who you work with.

     Out of the top 5 carriers in the country that will write insurance for distilleries, all of them are seeing rate increases right now of between 10% - 20% in some cases.  If you are unfortunate enough to have sustained a loss in the past three years, you may even see rates increase as much as 35% - 45%!!!!  EGADS!!!!  Yes, you read that correctly, sorry.  I have seen an average increase across all carriers and across the country on average of 14.25% since July of this year.

     Not to be the bearer of more troubling news, rather, the guy “in the know” that is wanting to prepare you, so that you are not blindsided.  The optimist in me is looking for the silver lining (wow, I am using a lot of cliché’s in todays piece … I guess that is what happens when you don’t write something for a while) in all of this, and that silver lining is that the insurance market is cyclical.  What I mean is that “hard markets” are usually on the horizon and occur every 5 to 7 years and are often spurred on by something dramatic.  Fires, natural disasters, major instances like riots and looting, or pandemics.  Well … welcome to 2020 where we have had them all.  So, although we are seeing a hardening of the marketplace in the way of increased premiums, the hardening usually comes in one of two forms:  Premium increases due to those aforementioned items, or a hardening of the market where carriers pull out of a specific industry altogether.  We are seeing the first, and I am confident that we will not see the latter.

     Often times the latter of these two shifts will cause the former as well due to the fact that there is less competition in the marketplace.  Premium increases usually last for a little while, and then things adjust back down, whereas if a carrier pulls out of the market, it is usually quite a while before we see another join in.  So at the end of the day (another cliché for you), keep you heads up (there I go again) and know that like all things, this too shall pass (I could not resist one more, its kind of a theme).  I, InsuranceMan 2.0!!!, have been here for you and will continue to be here for you in order to battle the forces of the insurance-verse and keep premiums as low as possible all while obtaining the best coverage possible.  If you need anything or are uncertain as to if you have the best coverage for the best price, let me know and I will gladly assist you.  I am always on call, day or night (last one)!!!  Until next time dear reader …

 

Stay Vigilant,

 

Aaron Linden

a.k.a  InsuranceMan 2.0!!!

307-752-5961

Insuranceman2.0@yahoo.com       or       aaron@roaringforkins.com