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News Briefs

September 2007

AGENTS DEMAND REAL-TIME SERVICE

Independent insurance agencies are poised for a major service breakthrough with the proliferation of real-time transactions, says a prominent participant in the industry-wide push to double real-time transaction volume in a year.

"We need to drive the implementation of real time," says Robert G. Slocum, chair of the Agents Council for Technology (ACT), an affiliate of the Independent Agents and Brokers of America (IIABA). "There's no technological reason we can't do what needs to be done to provide the level of service and information that our customers require."

ADJUSTER COURSE OFFERED MONTHLY

Greenville, S.C.-based HAVA Insurance School is offering a adjuster training classes that will help save property owners thousands of dollars in unpaid damage costs, the company says.

The six-day practical adjuster training class arms adjusters with the knowledge needed to write accurate and complete estimates. Students will learn policy and construction basics in the classroom and will also receive hands-on training when they go onsite to a mock disaster claim and learn to scope the damages, investigate, document and take pictures.

For a schedule of classes visit www.havainsuranceschool.com.

HOMEOWNERS LACK SENSE OF COVERAGE

Many U.S. homeowners mistakenly believe that standard homeowners insurance protects them from a wide array of perils, according to new research by the Kansas City, Mo.-based National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). The survey found that 33% of U.S. heads of household, who own a home and have homeowners insurance, incorrectly believe flood damages would be covered by a homeowners or property and liability policy.

PBM MEETS MANDATE

ScripNet Inc., a Las Vegas-based nationwide pharmacy benefit manager that contracts with workers' compensation insurance carriers and pharmacies to ease the availability of prescription medications to injured workers, announced its support for, and compliance with, a Texas Department of Insurance mandate that workers' compensation carriers accept eBilling from health care providers as of Jan. 1, 2008.

According to the company, ScripNet will be fully compliant with Texas' new eBilling requirements so that all pharmacies, whether on or off the ScripNet network, can bill carriers electronically for workers' compensation prescriptions.

TRIA EXTENDED, FIVE YEARS ADDED

The House Financial Services Committee passed H.R. 2761, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Revision and Extension Act of 2007 (TRIREA) by a vote of 49 to 20.

The legislation will extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) for 15 years and help spur the further development of a private market for terrorism risk insurance. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, many insurance companies excluded terrorism events from their insurance policies. As a result, Congress passed TRIA as a three-year temporary program in 2002. In 2005, the measure was extended until 2007.

Since its enactment, TRIA has ensured the availability of affordable terrorism risk insurance in the marketplace.

TRIREA will include provisions to:

* Extend TRIA for 15 years with current co-payments and deductibles for conventional terrorism acts;

* expand TRIA's "make available" requirement to include NBC coverage;

* change TRIA's definition of terrorism to include acts of domestic terrorism;

* set the program trigger at $50 million;

* add group life insurance to the lines of insurance for which terrorism coverage must be made available;

* decrease deductibles for terrorist attacks over $1 billion and decrease the trigger after such events; and

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