IN THIS ISSUE DECEMBER 2018 VOL 14 ISSUE 12
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Five Ways To Uncover Incredible Amazon Deals
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Agent Who Kept Premium Owed To Zurich Loses At Ninth Circuit
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CA State Farm Agent Arraigned On 40 Felony Counts Of Grand Theft
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What The Mid-Term Election Means For Investors
Lojack Signal On Reported Stolen Car Reveals Organized Insurance Fraud Ring
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Arrest Of Crooked Opiod Treatment Center Owner For $104K Fraud
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NASA’s InSight Mars Lander New Home “A Large Sandbox”
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Florida Approves 13.8% Decrease To Workers’ Comp Rates
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Lloyd’s: IOT Could Unleash More Insurance Innovation
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Florence & Michael Were 2018 Atlantic Hurricane Season’s Most Damaging Storms
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Commercial Insurers Improve In Customer Service But Many Customers Remain “Indifferent”
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Allied American Underwriters Announces New E-Cig & Vape Store Program
Surprising Way Customer-Centric Antifragility Helps Companies
Do I Need A UPS On My Computer? Why Is Delaware So Popular For Corporations?
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Partially Automated Vehicle Systems Struggle In RealWorld Conditions
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NAIC Elects 2019 Officers
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Instec Builds Predictive Model For Insurers
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IBM Qradar Expands Knowledge Of Cybercriminal Techniques
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Miami Area Police Chief Ordered False Arrests To Improve Crime Statistics
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SPECIAL REPORT PG 28 AAA REPORT: PARTIALLY AUTOMATED VEHICLE SYSTEMS STRUGGLE IN REAL-WORLD CONDITIONS
HOW (AND WHY) TO WRITE A PRESS RELEASE THAT ACTUALLY GETS PUBLISHED
PG 42 FEATURES INSURANCE AND THE LAW PAGE SIX
2018 FAIA & LAAIA TRADE FAIR BOOTH IMAGES NOW ONLINE!
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Kim Komando Barry Zalma
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DECEMBER 2018 INSURANCE - POLITICS - TECHNOLOGY - PEOPLE A Publication of AdMax Corp., Inc. Corporate Offices P.O. Box 31551 Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33420 Ron Manera, Publisher/Senior Editor Join Me On Linkedin: HERE Follow Me On Instagram: @rj.0521 561.718.0745 • ron@insurmedia.com
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DECEMBER 2018
TECHNOLOGY
5 WAYS TO UNCOVER INCREDIBLE AMAZON DEALS
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Really Cool Tech Info - From Kim Komando
or shoppers, Amazon is the ultimate rabbit hole. You can search for one item, but then you see another item, and another, and soon you’re careening through a maze of products and deals. All you wanted was a new rake, and 10 minutes later you’re wondering if there’s enough room in the pantry for a fondue warmer.
secure them? Here are five ways to unearth incredible deals on Amazon.
1. Shop the Amazon Warehouse and Outlet Some of us like to browse. We prefer used bookstores, vintage clothing shops and second-hand furniture stores. Amazon Warehouse is just that kind of place. Here, you’ll find returned and lightly used products that are still functional but don’t qualify as “new.”
Speaking of which, tap or click here for the best hightech kitchen gadgets this season.
errors. Tap or click here if your package arrived later than expected.
Conditions range from “Refurbished,” “Like New,” “Very Good,” all the way down to “Acceptable,” and the product information includes notes on what defects or blemishes to expect on a particular item.
How do you find these fantastical price-drops?
As you might expect, you’ll find a treasure trove of electronics from
And on rare occasion, Amazon may even reimburse you for And what do you need to do to
See Kim Komando Pg 38
But you could shop on Amazon for years without discovering special bargains and price cuts. Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer, so it shouldn’t be surprising that there’s a universe of tips and tricks for saving money.
DECEMBER 2018
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CLAIMS & THE LAW
AGENT WHO KEPT PREMIUM OWED TO ZURICH LOSES AT NINTH CIRCUIT
Expert Analysis & Commentary by Barry Zalma, Esq., CFE
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nsurance agents, by contract with insurers they represent, must place all premium collected on behalf of the insurer and place the funds in a separate trust account. Depending on the terms of the contract the agent then deducts the agreed commission and remits the remainder to the insurer. Failure to remit the premium, less the commission, is a theft or conversion of funds to which the agent had no entitlement.
motion to set aside the entry of default and default judgment against them.
In evaluating such a motion, an appellate court must consider three factors:
set aside the default. The Ninth Circuit did not reach the issue of defendants’ culpable conduct because defendants’ lack of a meritorious defense was sufficient to justify the district court’s refusal to set aside the default and default judgment. Defendants have no meritorious defense to Zurich American Insurance Company’s breach of contract claim.
1. Whether the party seeking to set aside the default engaged In Zurich American Insurance in culpable conduct that led Company v. Sealink Insurance to the default; Service Corp. And Yan Sara 2. Whether it had no meritorious Zhang, and Phann Gelinda defense; or Keo, et al., No. 17-55776, United 3. Whether reopening the States Court of Appeals for the default judgment would Ninth Circuit (October 15, 2018) prejudice the other party. Defendants Yan Sara Zhang and Sealink Insurance Service A finding that any one of these Corporation appealed from the factors is true is sufficient reason district court’s denial of their for the district court to refuse to
The defendants point to the lack of a written agreement and argue that the contract at issue does not exist. However, they do not dispute that Sealink sold insurance policies issued by Zurich in exchange for Sealink’s remittance of premiums, and there is ample evidence of an agreement governing that arrangement. Defendants offer no facts to dispute the existence of an agreement, and general
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Barry Zalma, Esq., CFE, practiced law in California for more than 43 years as an insurance coverage and claims handling lawyer. He now limits his practice to service as an insurance consultant and expert witness specializing in insurance coverage, insurance claims handling, insurance bad faith and insurance fraud almost equally for insurers and policyholders. He also serves as an arbitrator or mediator for insurance related disputes. He founded Zalma Insurance Consultants in 2001 and serves as its only consultant. 6
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objections to the existence of a contract are insufficient to satisfy the meritorious defense requirement.
regarding the extent of the deficiency owed is not enough to justify vacating a default or default judgment.
The defendants argued that the judgment is void due to inadequate service of process. But Zurich’s service of process satisfied the statutory requirements. Zurich’s substituted service of the summons and complaint on Zhang was proper. Zurich’s service of the summons and complaint on Sealink complied with Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Finally, Zurich served both Zhang and Sealink with its motion to enter default judgment in accordance with the Central District of California’s Local Rules.
Defendants also lack a Defendants fail to offer specific meritorious defense to Zurich’s facts disputing the damages breach of fiduciary duty claim. amount despite being in the best Defendants do not dispute that position to have the accurate Sealink failed to maintain the records required to refute premiums it owed Zurich in a Zurich’s evidence. Defendants’ segregated trust account as assertion that they lack records required by California Insurance substantiating the claimed Code sections 1733 and 1734. amount does not amount to Defendants’ argument that an allegation of “sufficient facts those provisions do not provide that, if true, would constitute a Zurich with a cause of action defense. is mistaken. The Ninth Circuit concluded that The district court determined a civil action will lie for that the declaration of Zurich’s damages proximately legal collection specialist and resulting from a the billing statement generated by licensee’s breach of the fiduciary obligations Zurich constituted proof sufficient to imposed by sections support Zurich’s requested damages. 1733 and 1734.
ZALMA OPINION
This case establishes that insurance fraud is not limited to people who are insured defrauding an insurer. In this case the Defendants’ challenge to the sufficiency insurer trusted the agents and reliability of that evidence does not and allowed them to bind Finally, defendants fail insurance with Zurich in amount to a meritorious defense. “ to assert a meritorious exchange for a promise defense to the size of to remit premiums. Zurich the default judgment award. was the victim of fraud by the The district court did not err in agent and, rather than attempt The district court determined failing to set aside the default a criminal prosecution for that the declaration of Zurich’s judgment pursuant to Federal conversion, sued the agent and legal collection specialist and Rules of Civil Procedure that obtained a judgment which was the billing statement generated provides for relief when a upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court by Zurich constituted proof judgment is void. In contrast of Appeal. Zurich should execute sufficient to support Zurich’s to the other grounds for relief on the judgment and obtain the requested damages. Defendants’ a default judgment may be full amount of the judgment. If challenge to the sufficiency and vacated on this ground even if not, it should seek prosecution of reliability of that evidence does the defendant lacks a meritorious those who unlawfully converted not amount to a meritorious defense. Zurich’s funds defense. A mere general denial DECEMBER 2018
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NEWS
LOJACK SIGNAL ON REPORTED STOLEN CAR REVEALS ORGANIZED INSURANCE FRAUD RING has proven very effective in investigating and prosecuting organized insurance crime rings,” said Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones. “These crimes hurt ACRAMENTO, Calif. — every consumer, because in Detectives from the California Department of Insurance, arrested four people early this morning for allegedly ripping off four auto insurers for more than $34,000 by filing fraudulent insurance claims. One additional suspect was taken into custody Thursday, November 15, 2018. All suspects were booked into the Sacramento County Jail.
Seven Valley residents linked and charged in stolen car fraud scheme
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Investigated by the Urban Auto Fraud Task Force, which is supervised and led by the California Department of Insurance Enforcement Branch and includes the California Highway Patrol and Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office, which will prosecute the suspects, the case involves suspects attempting to collect from their auto insurer by falsely claiming their vehicles were stolen when in fact were found in the possession of an accomplice who owned an auto body repair shop. “Our multi-agency task force 8
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they found several suspicious vehicles partially dismantled and stripped. The California Highway Patrol’s auto theft investigation team
Credit: CA Dept. of Insurance
the end we all pay for these crimes through higher insurance premiums.” The seventh suspect and ring leader, Hector Whitley, owned the body shop, located in Sacramento County and was arrested in 2016 after Rancho Cordova Police and the Sacramento County Sheriff traced a stolen vehicle’s LoJack signal to his body shop where
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was called in to serve a search warrant and discovered additional vehicles reported stolen, weapons and illegal drugs in the shop. Dylan Allen Dudley, owner of the original vehicle reported stolen admitted to investigators he filed a false police report in an attempt to get his insurance company to pay the claim for his vehicle.
DECEMBER 2018
NEWS
DECEMBER 2018
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NEWS - SCIENCE
NASA’S INSIGHT MARS LANDER NEW HOME ‘A LARGE SANDBOX’
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ith InSight safely on the surface of Mars, the mission team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, is busy learning more about the spacecraft’s landing site. They knew when InSight landed on Nov. 26 that the spacecraft had touched down on target, a lava plain named Elysium Planitia. Now they’ve determined that the vehicle sits slightly tilted (about 4 degrees) in a shallow dust- and sand-filled impact crater known as a “hollow.” InSight has been engineered to operate on a surface with an inclination up to 15 degrees. “The science team had been hoping to land in a sandy area with few rocks since we chose the landing site, so we couldn’t be happier,” said InSight project manager Tom Hoffman of JPL. “There are no landing pads or runways on Mars, so coming down in an area that is basically a large sandbox without any large rocks should make instrument deployment easier and provide a great place for our mole to start burrowing.” Rockiness and slope grade factor into landing safety and are
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also important in determining whether InSight can succeed in its mission after landing. Rocks and slopes could affect InSight’s ability to place its heatflow probe — also known as “the mole,” or HP3 — and ultrasensitive seismometer, known as SEIS, on the surface of Mars.
InSight releases the clear-plastic dust covers that kept the optics of the spacecraft’s two cameras safe during landing.
“We are looking forward to higherdefinition pictures to confirm this preliminary assessment,” said JPL’s Bruce Banerdt, principal investigator of Launched from Touching down InSight. “If these on an overly Vandenberg Air few images — with steep slope in the Force Base in California resolution-reducing wrong direction dust covers on May 5, InSight will could also have — are accurate, operate on the surface jeopardized it bodes well for for one Martian year, plus both the spacecraft’s instrument 40 Martian days, or sols ability to get deployment and the — the equivalent of nearly adequate power mole penetration of two Earth years.” output from its our subsurface heattwo solar arrays, flow experiment.” while landing beside a large rock could have prevented InSight Once sites on the Martian surface from being able to open one of have been carefully selected those arrays. In fact, both arrays for the two main instruments, fully deployed shortly after the team will unstow and begin landing. initial testing of the mechanical arm that will place them there. The InSight science team’s preliminary assessment of the Data downlinked from the lander photographs taken so far of the also indicate that during its landing area suggests the area first full day on Mars, the solarin the immediate vicinity of the powered InSight spacecraft lander is populated by only a few generated more electrical power rocks. Higher-resolution images than any previous vehicle on the are expected to begin arriving surface of Mars. over the coming days, after Table of Contents
DECEMBER 2018
NASA’s InSight spacecraft unlatched its robotic arm on Nov. 27, 2018, the day after it landed on Mars. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech
“It is great to get our first ‘off-world record’ on our very first full day on Mars,” said Hoffman. “But even better than the achievement of generating more electricity than any mission before us is what it represents for performing our upcoming engineering tasks. The 4,588 watt-hours we produced during sol 1 means we currently have more than enough juice to perform these tasks and move forward with our science mission.”
JPL manages InSight for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. InSight is part of NASA’s Discovery Program, managed by the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
A number of European partners, including France’s Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), are supporting the InSight mission. CNES, and the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP), InSight will study the deep interior provided the SEIS instrument, of Mars to learn how all celestial with significant contributions bodies with rocky surfaces, from the Max Planck Institute for including Earth and the Moon, Solar System Research (MPS) in formed. Germany, the Swiss Institute of Technology (ETH) in Switzerland,
Imperial College and Oxford University in the United Kingdom, and JPL. DLR provided the HP3 instrument, with significant contributions from the Space Research Center (CBK) of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Astronika in Poland. Spain’s Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) supplied the wind sensors.
For more information about InSight, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/insight/
For more information about NASA’s Mars missions, go to: https://www.nasa.gov/mars
NEWS
LLOYD’S: IOT COULD UNLEASH MORE INSURANCE INNOVATION “Networked World: Risks and Opportunities in the Internet of Things,” published in collaboration with University College London’s Department of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy (STEaPP) and the PETRAS Internet of Things Research Hub, analysed the impact of the IOT on the insurance sector.
and are bespoke, and fraudulent claims are recognised quicker. The ability to create personalised policies will also enable insurers to more accurately predict and mitigate risks.
anything go wrong.
To help insurers to understand the evolution of the adoption of the IoT and its potential impacts, the report includes ten extreme scenarios on four critical sectors: Infrastructure and The advent of Water, Agriculture, the Internet Marine and the Home. of Things (IOT) has the Smart Each scenario potential to increase highlights how technologies complexity and amplify IoT could generate risk, but it could also and exacerbate enable more innovation risks that could cause losses in throughout the entire several lines of insurance value chain, business at the same time.
However, the report also noted that new types of threats will emerge, which will increase the demand on insurers to come up with new products and services. The scale and variability of the type of disruption that including the way claims oT will lead to data capture could occur will multiple are settled in future.” Dr Trevor and management at an affect Maynard, Head of unprecedented scale, sectors and lines Innovation for Lloyd’s, said: according to the report. This could of business. mean better risk assessment and more flexible, bespoke and real- In addition, the range and quality “Insurers should play a role in time products. It may also increase of security standards that currently shaping the IoT landscape and policyholder concerns about the exist for the IoT will make it hard for Lloyd’s has proposed several insurers to make risk assessments. options from leading on data use and accuracy of their data. And there are critical blind spots in standardisation to working with Meanwhile, interconnectivity will the regulation and legislation of IoT governments and tech companies. create new business models where devices and their impacts. These more is known about insureds, include uncertainties surrounding policies are generated in real-time attribution and liability should See IOT And Innovation Page 40
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NEWS
FLORENCE AND MICHAEL WERE 2018 ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON’S MOST DAMAGING STORMS
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EW YORK, November 29, 2018 — The 2018 Atlantic hurricane season was less active than the 2017 season but still caused extensive property damage across the southeastern United States, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.).
An average Atlantic hurricane season produces 12 named storms and six hurricanes, including three major hurricanes. The 2017 hurricane season had 17 named storms. Ten of the 17 reached hurricane strength and six became major hurricanes.” The 2018 hurricane season officially concludes tomorrow (Nov. 30) and saw the formation
of 15 named storms. Eight of the 15 became hurricanes, and two (Florence and Michael) became major hurricanes, according to Philip Klotzbach, Ph.D., a research scientist with the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University (CSU). Klotzbach is also a non-resident scholar with the I.I.I.
an average year for major hurricane activity, 2018 was The original CSU forecast record-setting, with Hurricane for 2018, presented in April, Florence spurring statewide predicted slightly above- rainfall records in North and average hurricane activity South Carolina. In addition, with three major hurricanes. Hurricane Michael was the The seasonal outlooks CSU first time on record a Category subsequently released in 4 hurricane made landfall in the summer envisioned less the Florida Panhandle,” said hurricane activity, with CSU Sean Kevelighan, I.I.I. CEO. “As forecasting 12 named storms, financial first responders, the five hurricanes, and one major insurance industry continues hurricane on Aug. 2. “Even in what ended up as
See Most Damaging Storms Page 39
NEWS
LARGE COMMERCIAL INSURERS NOTCH SLIGHT IMPROVEMENTS IN CUSTOMER SATISFACTION BUT MANY CUSTOMERS REMAIN ‘INDIFFERENT’ XL Catlin Ranks Highest among Large Commercial Insurers for Third Straight Year
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OSTA MESA, Calif.: 29 Nov. 2018 — Overall customer satisfaction with large commercial insurers has increased slightly in 2018, according to the J.D. Power 2018 Large Commercial Insurance Study.SM Despite the modest improvement, customer satisfaction with large commercial insurers is still notably lower than that of other industries, with many customers identifying as “indifferent” to their insurer. “As the industry contends with heavy catastrophic losses and strained profitability, keeping high value large commercial customers is more critical than ever,” said David Pieffer, P&C Insurance Practice Lead at J.D. Power. “The key is to deliver services and customer experiences that increase overall satisfaction. Currently, 30% of large commercial insurance customers rate their relationship with their provider as ‘indifferent,’
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and 45% say they are ‘pleased’ with their relationship. The group that is ‘pleased’ is 139% more likely to renew with their existing provider and 83% likely to indicate that they will not
switch insurers even if a broker recommends it.”
Study Rankings XL Catlin ranks highest among large commercial insurers for the third straight year with a
Mr. Zalma recently published on Amazon.com with links at the Zalma Books site with the following volumes:
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DECEMBER 2018
score of 796. Berkshire Hathaway ranks second with a score of 784, and Chubb ranks third with a score of 782. The 2018 Large C o m m e r c i a l Insurance Study provides an independent and objective measure of overall satisfaction among large commercial insurance risk professionals in the United States and Canada. The study is based on 1,659 evaluations from risk professionals or employees who provide oversight for their organization or are members of their organization’s risk management team. Organizations included in the study have at least $100 million in annual revenue or operating budget and have drive customer satisfaction, purchased a commercial growth and profitability. insurance policy from one of Established in 1968, J.D. Power the profiled insurers or brokers. is headquartered in Costa Mesa, Calif., and has offices serving J.D. Power is a global leader in North/South America, Asia consumer insights, advisory Pacific and Europe. J.D. Power services and data and analytics. is a portfolio company of XIO These capabilities enable Group, a global alternative J.D. Power to help its clients investments and private equity DECEMBER 2018
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firm headquartered in London, and is led by its four founders: Athene Li, Joseph Pacini, Murphy Qiao and Carsten Geyer. About J.D. Power and Advertising/Promotional Rules h t t p s : / / w w w. j d p o w e r. c o m / business/about-us/pressrelease-info www/underwritersinsider.com
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THE INSIDE TRACK - BREAKING NEWS U.S. Judge To Plaintiffs In MH370 Suit: “Not Here”
NASA’s Insight Mars Lander Safe On Red Planet
n a 61-page decision, a U.S. judge dismissed a lawsuit brought in the U.S. over the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines MH370. When addressing the key issue of the suit brought by victim’s families against insurer Allianz SE, Boeing Co. and the carrier, U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson made the point that the suit did not belong in the U.S. but rather Malaysia. “At its core, this case is about the unexplained disappearance of a passenger plane operated by Malaysia Airlines as part of its national air carrier fleet following its departure from a Malaysian airport. Litigation in the United States related to the Flight MH370 disaster is inconvenient,” she wrote in her opinion.
ASA’s Mars Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) spacecraft successfully accomplished a soft touchdown on the surface of the Red Planet on
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shortly after 3PM EST Nov. 26 after a harrowing descent through Mar’s thin atmosphere. Engineers kept a close eye on the stream of data indicating InSight’s health and trajectory, and monitored Martian weather reports to figuring out if the team needed to
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THE INSIDE TRACK - BREAKING NEWS make any final adjustments in preparation for landing. “Landing on Mars is hard. It takes skill, focus and years of preparation,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, a s s o c i a t e administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Keeping in mind our ambitious goal to eventually send humans to the surface of the Moon and then Mars, I know that our incredible science and engineering team — the only in the world to have successfully landed spacecraft on the Martian surface — will do everything they can to successfully [utilize] InSight on the Red Planet.”
Polio-Like Disease Has Spread To 31 States
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ccording to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there are now 286 cases of confirmed acute flaccid myelitis in the U.S. in 2018. There are an additional DECEMBER 2018
170 cases under investigation of the disease also known as AFM. Although the incidence of the disease has increased every year since 2014, the CDC says “less than one to two in a million children in the United States will get AFM every year.”
Dating Site Romance Scam
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ccording to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Southern District of Florida, Peter Vincent Cruz, used online dating sites like Match. com or PlentyofFish.com to secure victims, pretend to be in a loving relationship, and then use the relationship to steal funds from the victim and use victim accounts to aid in a money laundering scheme: “The court docket further indicates that Cruz’s co-conspirators also used stolen and false identification information to create online personas, utilizing online dating applications, email, social media, and other forms of communication, in order to facilitate romance Table of Contents
scams. The co-conspirators then pursued false and fraudulent relationships online with individual victims (the “romance scam victims” or “individual victims”), and tricked these victims into falling in love with them. Eventually, the co-conspirators would persuade these individuals to open bank accounts and shell companies; to conduct financial transactions (cash withdrawals or transfers) under false pretenses, such as to purportedly aid with medical bills or business expenses; and to send money from the victims’ personal savings, or in the form of iTunes gift cards.” So if you think you are falling in love online, don’t be cajoled into sending anyone iTunes gift cards, of all things. Sources say that the dating scammers are often unusually sloppy and will have difficulty fooling alert persons. Yet, beware a dating site “lover” that wants to take you off the dating site quickly and begin a conversation via email or texting. Make sure the dating profile matches their purported age and location. www/underwritersinsider.com
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NEWS
CALIFORNIA STATE FARM AGENT ARRAIGNED ON 40 FELONY COUNTS OF GRAND THEFT
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RANGE COUNTY, Calif. — Anna Gabriela Garcia, also known as , 46, of Capistrano Beach, was arraigned yesterday and charged with 40 felony counts of grand theft after allegedly collecting premium payments from customers and diverting the funds of over $195,000 for personal use. Garcia, a former licensed insurance agent, while working for an independently owned State Farm agency from September 2011 to November 2014 embezzled more than 300 checks totaling $195,626 by altering, endorsing or depositing them into her personal bank accounts. These checks were for payment of the insureds’ insurance premiums or were premium refunds for the policyholder. “Garcia’s alleged crimes are an example of why insurance fraud is not a victimless crime,”said Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones. “In order to line her own pockets, Garcia allegedly took advantage of people who trusted her and put those people at risk of economic loss by failing to place insurance coverage intended to protect them.”
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ACH debits from one State Farm insured’s bank account to pay the premiums of others unknown to that insured. She also allegedly made unauthorized charges to multiple customers’ credit cards to pay the premiums of unrelated others’ State Farm policies. Garcia allegedly used cash payments from some clients to purchase money orders to pay premiums for other clients and set up policyholders on unauthorized State Farm installment payment plans. Garcia also misdirected customer billings, statements, and refunds Dave Jones, CA Insurance Commissioner to incorrect addresses, some Garcia allegedly failed to of which were her own or Post place coverage for personal Office boxes she had access to. and commercial automobile Victims included extended family insurance causing cancellation of members and elderly State Farm DMV registrations and exposing customers. customers and others on the road was arraigned on to the risk of economic loss. Garcia Garcia November 5, 2018 at the Orange also allegedly failed to place a life insurance policy and at least 17 County Superior Court in Santa homeowner and renter’s policies. Ana. Bail was set at $20,000.00. This case was handled by CDI’s To conceal the embezzlement of Investigation Division and is being diverted premium checks into prosecuted by the Orange County her personal bank account, Garcia District Attorney’s Office. Garcia’s allegedly made 57 unauthorized license expired in April 2018 for failure to renew. Table of Contents
DECEMBER 2018
ANALYSIS
WHAT THE ELECTION MEANS FOR INVESTORS by Matthew A. Treskovich, CPA/PFS, CITP, CMA, MBA, CFP®, AEP®, CLU, ChFC, FLMI
The election results are in! What does that mean for investors? Over the past 90 years, the US economy, and the stock market, have done well no matter what party was in control in Washington, DC. The market has done well under single-party control in Washington, and also when the government is divided. Larger deficit, higher interest rates ahead With a divided government, fiscal discipline is unlikely. Making a
major reduction in the deficit would require a combination of spending cuts and tax hikes, both of which seem unlikely in the next two years. The national debt will most likely continue to grow. Additional long term government debt issuance will likely lead to higher long-term interest rates. Healthcare and infrastructure in focus; tariff and trade situation unchanged The election results will probably not have a major impact on the tariff and trade negotiations. Any trade deals must be affirmed by the Senate, which remains in Republican control. The President’s famed desire to “make deals” will probably result in a change in focus to domestic
issues where both parties can find some agreement. The prospect of prescription drug price reform received significant attention during the campaign season. Drug price reform could impact pharmaceutical company stocks, along with biotechnology companies. The goal of drug price reform is to reduce prices for US consumers. If other countries are forced to pay a greater share of drug costs, this could increase overall revenue for the pharmaceutical companies. In the long run, prescription drug price reform could be positive for drug manufacturer stocks.
See What Election Means Page 23
About the author:
Matt is the Chief Investment Officer of the firm of CPS Investment Advisors with 18 years of experience in financial services also serving as the CFO of an insurance brokerage. With a Master’s degree in Business Administration, with an emphasis on accounting from the University of Phoenix, Matt is a CPA licensed in Florida and holds the AICPA’s Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) designation. Matt is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER ™ and a Certified Management Accountant (CMA). and received a Certificate of Distinguished Performance from the IMA for achieving a CMA exam score in the top ten worldwide. In 2017, he was awarded an AICPA Standing Ovation for exemplary professional achievement in personal financial planning services. Treskovich also is certified as an Accredited Estate Planner® (AEP®) designee by the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils (NAEPC). He is a member of the Institute of Management Accountants, former President of the Mid Florida Chapter and former Treasurer of the IMA Florida Council. DECEMBER 2018
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NEWS
FLORIDA: ARREST OF CROOKED OPIOID TREATMENT CENTER OWNER FOR $104,000 INSURANCE FRAUD UNDERSCORES IMPORTANCE OF ANTI-FRAUD EFFORTS
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OYNTON BEACH, Fla. – Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis announced the arrest of James Durkin, 39, owner of The Hope Center of Recovery, an opioid treatment facility located in Boynton Beach, Florida, for insurance fraud. Durkin was charged with two counts of organized scheme to defraud for allegedly submitting over $104,000 in fraudulent insurance billing. CFO Jimmy Patronis said, “As the opioid crisis continues to grip our nation, it’s unconscionable that anyone would use addiction treatment to make a quick buck. Insurance fraud at crooked addiction treatment centers fuels the ongoing opioid epidemic in Florida. Fraud like this takes away from the real work that legitimate opioid treatment
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homes are doing to help those who need it. Combating fraud at opioid treatment centers will remain one of my top priorities.”
(SHTF), and the Boynton Beach Police Department (BBPD) revealed evidence that Durkin was falsifying billing information to Cigna and United Health Care for addiction recovery treatments. Treating physicians listed on billing documents were falsified in order to defraud the insurance companies into reimbursing the clinic for addiction treatment services that were never performed. Durkin surrendered to insurance fraud detectives at the Palm Beach County Jail and faces up to 30 years in prison.
Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis
A joint investigation between CFO Patronis’ Division of Investigative & Forensic Services, Sober Home Task Force of Palm Beach County
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According to a follow-up story by the Palm Beach Post Times, Durkin’s wife, Jaclyn Sue Durkin, 29, of Boca Raton was also arrested and charged with 2 counts of forgery.
DECEMBER 2018
FLORIDA APPROVES 13.8% DECREASE TO FLORIDA’S WORKERS’ COMPENSATION INSURANCE RATES
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ALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier has issued a Final Ordergranting approval to the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) for a statewide overall rate level decrease of 13.8 percent. This applies to both new and renewal workers’ compensation insurance policies effective in Florida as of January 1, 2019.
DECEMBER 2018
Governor Rick Scott said, “Over the past eight years we have cut billions in taxes and eliminated thousands of burdensome regulations as we have worked to make Florida the best state in the nation to build and grow a business and find a great job. Today’s approval of a significant decrease in workers’ compensation insurance rates marks even more great news for Florida businesses that will result in savings of more than $450 million for employers Table of Contents
across the Sunshine State.” Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis said, “A workers’ compensation insurance decrease of 13.8 percent amounts to almost a half billion dollars in savings for Florida’s business community who support local economies, employ our neighbors, and give back to our
See FL Comp Rates Cut Page 21 www/underwritersinsider.com
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NEWS
ALLIED AMERICAN UNDERWRITERS, A DIVISION OF USG INSURANCE SERVICES, ANNOUNCES NEW E-CIGARETTE & VAPE STORE PROGRAM
T
he vaping industry is on the rise and growth is exponential. Over the years it has become a popular new option for the smoking population. We are proud to announce that our E-Cigarette & Vape Store program is available to distributors, retailers, importers, and wholesalers.
and specialty division offering Workers Compensation, Programs, Environmental, Personal Lines, and Surety Bonds.
USG Insurance Services, Inc. specializes in providing innovative solutions for hard to place commercial insurance. We are a national wholesale broker and managing general agent The Allied American program (MGA) with 21 offices across the offers Property and Liability country. coverage including Product Liability with a limited battery We represent a variety of “A” rated exclusion. carriers, both admitted and nonadmitted, represent 18 carriers and work with over 260 different About Allied American brokerage markets. We write Underwriters and USG business in all states! Insurance Services, Inc. AAU is a program manager
In addition to our E-Cigarette &
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Habitational Apartment Buildings, Condos, Rental Properties, Subsided Housing, Student Housing and Dwellings along with over 30 markets Contractors - Artisan Contractors, Architect & Engineers, Roofers, Fire Suppression and more We have over 20 markets and the majority are “A” rated To speak with our team for more information please reach out to:
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Vape Store programs here are some of our most popular products:
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DECEMBER 2018
NEWS Continued From Page 19
WHAT THE ELECTION MEANS TO INVESTORS Increased infrastructure spending is another area where the Democrats and Republicans could find room to compromise. Additional infrastructure projects could benefit basic materials companies, energy companies, and job creation.
the House make repealing the SALT limitation a high priority, Republicans in the Senate may attempt to tie it to a round of broader tax cuts. Even without further tax cuts or an infrastructure bill, the economic fundamentals are positive for growth and jobs.
financial security is better now than it has been in a decade. Domestic energy production is at a record high, and good-paying manufacturing jobs are finally returning to American soil.
While additional volatility is likely in the short run, we know that in the long run economic Economic growth was over 4% fundamentals drive the markets. in the second quarter, and we The best course of action for are on pace to see 3% growth for long term investors is to invest in the full year. Unemployment is at quality companies, with a track
Tax Cuts 2.0 may still be on the table One of the major hot-button issues surrounding the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was the limitation on deductions for state and local taxes, known as the “SALT limitation”. This limitation on deductions has the most impact on taxpayers located in states with high taxes, a level not seen since the 1960’s, and the economy will likely like New York and California. continue to add jobs at a healthy Repealing the limitation would rate into 2019. Unemployment effectively provide a targeted will likely decline further, to a tax cut for taxpayers in high- level we haven’t seen since the tax states. If the Democrats in 1950’s. The typical American’s DECEMBER 2018
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record of solid earnings through market cycles. Understand what you own, why you own it, and trust that in the long run the US economy will continue to do what it has done for the last 100 years. www/underwritersinsider.com
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ANALYSIS
SURPRISING WAY CUSTOMER-CENTRIC ANTIFRAGILITY HELPS COMPANIES By Merilee Kern
H
ow supply chains—and other organizational systems—can move beyond resiliency and achieve true ‘antifragility’ in order to meet modern challenges and expectations The convergence of social and demographic trends, consumer behavior and new technologies like the blockchain, mobility and various facets of “the cloud” are continually re-shaping missioncritical business areas across industries, and the supply chain is no exception. “While historically successful supply chains have managed risk and were resilient when faced with adversity, the operational climate rife with
innovation and disruption has Khan provides deeper insight on changed and ‘rolling with the ways companies can safeguard punches’ and against inevitable adhering to the Customer-centric future uncertainties. status quo is no antifragility is longer viable; in the idea that, rather than “For starters, it’s fact, doing so is a important to simply preventing or death knell,” warns understand that surviving an unexpected Bristlecone CEO today’s marketplace and unpredictable Irfan A. Khan. disruption far event, companies need beyond systems to implement systems This ominous and or technology; it’s stern warning from an overarching and strategies that Khan is well-honed, minimize the impact on its paradigm shift given his pedigree customers while enabling … holistic, as a marketplace the business to actually c o m p r e h e n s i v e change agent changes that touch benefit from those same revered for every single aspect disruptions.” driving business of an operation— transformation be it internal or and driving customer-centric external,” he notes. “To succeed in turnaround growth strategies in a this volatile environment and even multitude of environments. Below, turn adversity into opportunity,
A
bout the author: Branding, business and entrepreneurship success pundit, Merilee Kern, MBA, is an influential media voice and lauded communications strategist. As the Executive Editor and Producer of “The Luxe List International News Syndicate,” she’s a revered brand and consumer product trends voice of authority who spotlights noteworthy marketplace change makers, movers and shakers. Merilee may be reached online at www.TheLuxeList.com. Follow her on Twitter here: http://twitter.com/LuxeListEditor and Facebook here: www. Facebook.com/TheLuxeList
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turn to one key area that’s chronically overlooked: the supply chain. Not only do they need to be more resilient, modern supply chains need to be ‘antifragile’ in order to sustain evolving cash flows and ensure tomorrow’s revenues.”
antifragility” to better help organizations achieve the truest form of antifragility and, in turn, better ensure their organizations succeed. Khan explains, “Systems are fragile when organizations are unprepared to handle changing conditions. We can’t predict these Antifragility, a term coined by major shocks, but we can work to risk analyst Nassim Taleb, is the reduce the fragility within systems. idea that rather than try to simply Customer-centric Antifragility, prevent or survive unexpected specifically, will not only prepare and unpredictable events—called your supply chain for when—not black swans—organizations if—a disaster occurs, it will also need to implement systems and prepare your supply chain for a strategies so they can benefit from future we know will inevitably be these disruptions and in so doing, uncertain.” move ahead of the competition. Put another way, it’s not so much “Customer-centric antifragility is survival of the fittest as it is market- the idea that, rather than simply leading success for the cleverest. preventing or surviving an unexpected and unpredictable According to Taleb, a black swan event, companies need to has three identifying attributes. implement systems and strategies “First, it is an outlier, as it lies that minimize the impact on its outside the realm of regular customers while enabling the expectations, because nothing in business to actually benefit from the past can convincingly point to those same disruptions,” Khan its possibility. Second, it carries an continued. “Doing so facilitates extreme impact…. Third, in spite a deeper affinity with customers of its outlier status, human nature while also setting the business makes us concoct explanations for apart from its competition. If its occurrence after the fact, making an organization maintains a it explainable and predictable.”This customer-centric approach with covers everything from extreme its antifragile systems, the business weather events and environmental will reap the rewards because disasters to political upheaval and there is no greater way to build the economy suddenly tanking. and fortify a brand than through increased trust.” Expanding on Taleb’s notion of antifragility, Khan has actually Khan additionally provides introduced the extrapolated strategies to help supply chain concept of “customer-centric professionals and business leaders DECEMBER 2018
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achieve true antifragility, founded on his belief that those who are the most proactive will stand the best chance reaching the kind of customer-centric antifragility that makes a real impact. “Instead of adopting a defensive posture or always being reactive, we need to stay on the offensive. It’s a daily race.” Here are five approaches he feels are crucial to developing an antifragile system and maintaining the mindset for success in supply chain innovation. • Stop trying to achieve resilience; be resilient. It’s what sets leaders apart. • See the certainty in complexity will provide clarity and focus. • Compete against yourself; don’t worry about what your competitor are doing. • Have evolving goals to keep up with ever-evolving technology, best practices, and operations. Don’t get stagnant. • Only settle for perfection, which is as fleeting as it is elusive, so maintaining it requires constant effort, constant improvement, and constantly staying on the offensive. The importance of designing antifragile systems that thrive in times of hardship are among the topics addressed at Bristlecone’s annual Pulse conferences held each October at MIT. AT this event, academics and top supply chain
See Customer-Centric Antifragility Page 30 www/underwritersinsider.com
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“The Final Authority on Everything!” WARNING!
The Advisor has been known to be politically incorrect and may send certain Millennials scurrying to their safe space. Please read at your own risk.
UPS OR DOWNS?
T
he guy who services our office computers insists I need a $100 UPS on each of 6 computers. Is he just trying to sell me something I don’t really need? By the way, our power goes off about 3 times a year - do I want to lose the $600 or half of a letter I might be writing? - D.A., Baton Rouge, LA
ADVISOR
Essentially smart batteries, UPS’s kick in within milliseconds should your power be interrupted keeping your computer and monitor running for a long as 30 minutes, depending on the electrical load and the capacity of your UPS.
buying, check the specs on the box. Look for at least 700va capacity (more is better) and compare clamping time/ voltage and other specifics to similar models.
And that “half of a letter” might have been that romantic poem to your wife This gives you plenty of time you’d been struggling with for to save your work and power- hours… down the computers, but the devices also protect you WHAT DID DELAWARE? against power spikes and t seems that many of the brown-outs - both of which credit card companies I can spell disaster to sensitive electronic devices. Before deal with are incorporated
I
He’s wrong. You’ll also need to protect your phone system and DSL/ Cable modems and routers. UPS’s or universal power supplies do more than protect you against power outages and are considered absolutely necessary by all information technology professionals . 26
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in Delaware. I’ve also noticed that a lot of large boats are registered and incorporated in Delaware. What’s the big attraction of incorporating in Delaware? - R.H., Charleston, SC While all states accommodate the filing of corporations and LLCs, Delaware has turned it into a significant revenue source for the state, offering several advantages to incorporators, including state-of-the-art imaging equipment and rapid filing. Further, Delaware’s body of business laws can be favorable to companies trying to avoid DECEMBER 2018
lawsuits. The Delaware court that the state has no sales or issues judicial decisions minus personal property tax, there is jury trials - seen no state income tax on as a big plus by companies that do not defense attorneys. do business in the state, The court decisions shareholders can act are written, easy in writing rather than to follow and holding meetings, you rely heavily on can conduct numerous Delaware case law types of business under – well understood one corporation and by most corporate corporate records attorneys since need not be kept in Delaware’s well Delaware. written opinions are often studied in law school. And yes, there are 78 domestic P&C insurers based in the little The large number of state. Sounds like a corporate companies that chose paradise - but still, you’re Delaware to incorporate may getting awful close to New also be explained by the fact Jersey... Table of Contents
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ANALYSIS
AAA FINDS PARTIALLY AUTOMATED VEHICLE SYSTEMS STRUGGLE IN REAL-WORLD CONDITIONS
O
RLANDO, Fla. (Nov. 14, 2018) – A new survey from AAA finds that 40 percent of Americans expect partially automated driving systems, with names like Autopilot, ProPILOT or Pilot Assist, to have the ability to drive the car by itself, indicating a gap in consumer understanding of these technologies and reality. AAA also tested these systems and found that they are in fact not designed to take over the task of driving and can be significantly challenged by every day, realworld conditions such as poor lane markings, unusual traffic patterns and stationary vehicles. As this type of technology becomes more commonplace on the road, AAA cautions consumers not to take vehicle system names at face value and, although meant to assist in the driving task, should never be used as a replacement for driver engagement. “With today’s exciting advances in vehicle technology, there is a greater need for naming that clearly signals to a driver what the
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The Underwriter’s Insider
system does,” said Greg Brannon, AAA’s director of Automotive Engineering and Industry Relations. “Vague or confusing terminology may lead someone to overestimate a system’s capability, unintentionally placing the driver and others on the road at risk.”
when encountering scenarios that included moderate traffic, curved roadways and streets with busy intersections. Researchers noted many instances where the test vehicle experienced issues like lane departures, hugging lane markers, “ping-ponging” within the lane, inadequate braking, unexpected speed In partnership with the changes and inappropriate Automobile Club of Southern following distances. AAA’s study California’s Automotive Research also revealed that nearly 90 Center, AAA tested four vehicles percent of events requiring driver equipped with systems that intervention were due to the test combine technologies such as vehicle’s inability to maintain adaptive cruise control and lane lane position. The irregular and keeping assist to help maintain complex nature of the real-world lane position, forward speed and driving environment revealed the following distance in relation vulnerabilities of this technology. to a lead vehicle. Closed-course AAA’s testing found the systems and on-road testing evaluated generally performed best on performance in typical driving open freeways and freeways with situations where the technology stop and go traffic. generally behaved as expected. However, there were a number of During closed-course testing, instances in both environments common driving situations were that caused these systems to simulated such as staying within act in an unpredictable manner, the lane at 45 mph, following requiring driver intervention to a distracted or impaired driver, avoid a potential collision. encountering a commercial vehicle, for example, a tow truck, While driving on public roadways, or contending with a vehicle AAA found test vehicles struggled that suddenly changed lanes to Table of Contents
DECEMBER 2018
reveal a stationary vehicle. All test vehicles were able to successfully maintain lane position as well as recognize and react to the presence of the tow truck with little to no difficulty. However, in the scenario where a lead vehicle changed lanes to reveal a stationary one, three out of the four test vehicles required driver intervention to avoid an imminent crash. In general, this scenario is a stated limitation of these systems, however, it is a relatively common occurrence on roadways and could take those drivers by surprise who have become too reliant on the technology. “Both real-world and closed-course testing exposed separate yet equally serious limitations with these systems,” said Brannon. “It reinforces that there is still much work to be done to educate consumers on the nuances between system names and functionality and that it is much too early to refer to these vehicle technologies as automated.” In order to reduce the misuse of partially automated vehicle systems, AAA encourages drivers to educate themselves by requesting a demonstration at the dealership as well as thoroughly reading the vehicle owner’s manual. As this technology becomes more DECEMBER 2018
prevalent, standardized naming across vehicles that clearly reflects how technology functions will be necessary. Greater consistency across the industry will help consumers understand the type of technology their vehicle has along with how, when and where to use these systems.
2018 Nissan Rogue, 2017 Tesla Model S and 2019 Volvo XC40) using specific criteria and each test vehicle was outfitted using industry‐standard instrumentation, sensors and cameras to capture vehicle dynamics, position data and braking intervention. Complete methodology can be found in the full research report at newsroom.aaa.com.
The consumer survey was conducted October 4–7, 2018, using two probability samples: randomly selected landline telephone and mobile (cell) phone numbers. The combined sample consisted of 1,003 adults (18 years old and older) living in To assess the capabilities of the continental U.S. The margin partially automated vehicle of error for the study is 4% at the systems, AAA conducted primary 95% confidence level. Smaller research in partnership with the subgroups will have larger error Automotive Club of Southern margins. California’s Automotive Research Center in Los Angeles, California. AAA provides more than 59 million Track testing was conducted members with automotive, travel, on closed surface streets on the insurance and financial services grounds of Auto Club Speedway through its federation of 35 motor in Fontana, California and was clubs and nearly 1,100 branch rented by AAA for independent offices across North America. Since testing. Public highway evaluation 1902, the not-for-profit, fully taxwas conducted on surface streets, paying AAA has been a leader and highways and limited-access advocate for safe mobility. Drivers freeways throughout the greater can request roadside assistance, Los Angeles area. identify nearby gas prices, locate discounts, book a hotel or map a Four test vehicles were selected route via the AAA Mobile app. To (2018 Mercedes-Benz S-Class, join, visit AAA.com. Table of Contents
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ANALYSIS Continued From Page 25
CUSTOMERCENTRIC ANTIFRAGILITY
leaders discuss how innovation is shaping supply chains globally, share knowledge about the future of the supply chain, and confer about the platform and services transformation. Participating companies include Toshiba, Sleep Number, Varex, and Corning; MIT speakers include author Neil Gershenfeld (Third Digital Revolution), Ron Spangler, Suzanne Greene, and industry analyst, Pierre Mitchell. In the spirit of “persistent proactivity” as Khan advocates, his company has also developed and launched a new antifragility index that helps organizations measure and predict supply chain vulnerabilities and operational readiness. “Instead of your system being exposed by disruptive events, by leveraging the A-Index, you can perform the analysis in advance, and be prepared for when the system shocks actually come.”
help lay the foundation for a value Continued From Page 21 network that thrives during times of uncertainty. As Khan himself urges, the entire industry must remain proactive and vigilant to continually evolve supply chains in order to succeed in our unsure, ever-changing world.TheLuxeList.
FLORIDA CUTS WORKERS’ COMP RATES 13.8%
Sources: https://www.investopedia.com/ terms/a/anti-fragility.asp https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Antifragile https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Black_swan_theory
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And, according to Khan, rest assured those shocks will come. However, the steps above will 30
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communities. We must continue to do all we can to support and fuel Florida businesses, the backbone of our economy. While today’s news is good news, we must keep a close watch on Florida’s workers’ compensation insurance market so that we don’t go back to the time of skyrocketing rates.” Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier said, “Workers’ compensation insurance is a critical operating cost for business owners and the 13.8 percent rate decrease approval will allow employers to better support Florida’s families, visitors and labor force. This most recent decrease marks approximately $454 million in savings for employers and can help facilitate additional cost savings for the communities they serve.” NCCI received this approval after submitting an amended rate filing to OIR on November 7, 2018 in response to Commissioner Altmaier’s Order from November 2, 2018.
DECEMBER 2018
NEWS
NAIC ELECTS 2019 OFFICERS Elections included zone officers
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AN FRANCISCO (Nov. 18, 2018) — Members of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) elected the following 2019 officers today during its Fall National Meeting:
President: Maine Insurance Superintendent Eric A. Cioppa President-Elect: South Carolina Insurance Director Raymond G. Farmer Vice President: Hawaii Insurance Commissioner Gordon I. Ito Secretary-Treasurer: Idaho Insurance Director Dean L. Cameron The newly elected officers will assume their duties on Jan. 1, 2019. Eric A. Cioppa was confirmed as superintendent of the Maine Bureau of Insurance in September 2011. Raymond G. Farmer was appointed by Gov. Nikki Haley to serve as director for the South Carolina Department of Insurance effective Nov. 13, 2012. Gordon I. Ito was reappointed by Gov. David Y. Ige to serve as commissioner of the Hawaii Insurance Division effective Jan. 1, 2015. Dean L. Cameron was appointed Director of the Department of Insurance by Idaho Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter. He took office on June 15, 2015.
About the NAIC The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is the U.S. standardsetting and regulatory support organization created and governed by the chief insurance regulators from the 50 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories. Through the NAIC, state insurance regulators establish standards and best practices, conduct peer review, and coordinate their regulatory oversight. NAIC staff supports these efforts and represents the collective views of state regulators domestically and internationally. NAIC members, together with the central resources of the NAIC, form the national system of state-based insurance regulation in the U.S. For more information, visit www.naic.org. DECEMBER 2018
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NOTABLE QUOTABLES IN THE NEWS WITH COMMENTARY
SAY WHAT? When They Talk About Nationalism...
practice of female genital mutilation. (FGM) Apparently, Twitter now wishes to ban criticism of elected officials - or rather liberal elected officials. You may come down on Donald Trump all day long and never worry about having it called “hate speech...”
T
eddy Roosevelt defined nationalism as just putting the national interest ahead of your own. JFK did the same thing. When did that become a horrible offensive idea?”
Yeah, Makes Sense...
A
mericans want an immigration policy which we control, not one where illegal immigrants Dr. Drew Pinsky, or “Dr. Drew” is an American control us. We are a nation of immigrants. We are also a kind and generous people. But celebrity doctor (board certified internist) Americans will not be played who hosted a nationally syndicated radio for fools.” talk show “Loveline” from 1984 to 2016. The answer to his question, of course, is Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on when President Donald Trump used the our current immigration crises word and liberals everywhere decided it which the Democrat leadership was equivalent to calling yourself a Nazi... seems intent on prolonging and exploiting for whatever Now The Truth Is Hate Speech? political advantage they feel they may gain by a pro-illegal immigrant stance sn’t it ironic how the twitter regardless of the damage to this country. moment used to celebrate ‘women, LGBTQ, and minorities’ is NASA’s Insight Mars Lander a picture of Ilhan Omar? Ilhan is pro-Sharia Ilhan is pro FGM. Under Sharia homosexuals Makes Remarkable Landing are oppressed and killed. Women are abused and forced to wear the hijab. Ilhan is antie hit the Martian atmosphere at Jewish.” 12,300 mph (19,800 kilometers per hour), and the whole sequence For this recitation of absolute and obvious truth, to touching down on the surface took only Jewish, conservative investigative journalist six-and-a-half minutes. During that short span Laura Loomer was PERMANENTLY BANNED of time, InSight had to autonomously perform from the Twitter platform. She was simply dozens of operations and do them flawlessly commenting on American Muslim politician — and by all indications that is exactly what Rep.-elect Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and the Islamic our spacecraft did.”
I
W
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the Moon, formed.
InSight project manager Tom Hoffman at JPL. after the successful landing of NASA’s latest Mars lander InSight on November 26th, 2018. InSight’s two-year mission will be to study the deep interior of Mars to learn how all celestial bodies with rocky surfaces, including Earth and
We Are Safe - For Now...
I
don’t wanna be president! … My path has never been politics. I just happened to marry somebody whose passion was politics. Just because he likes it doesn’t mean that I like it!”
Former President George W. Bush said in a statement announcing his father’s death. President Trump ordered American flags to be flown at half-staff for 30 days in honor of the 41st president.
Delusional Barack
Y
ou wouldn’t always know it, but it went up every year I was president, That whole — suddenly America’s like the biggest oil producer and the biggest gas — that was me, people.” Former President Barack Obama took credit once again for the U.S. oil-and-gas boom, even though critics noted Wednesday that the upswing in oil and natural gas production occurred in spite of his policies - some of the strictest anti-fossil fuel policies ever - most rescinded by President Trump.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama at a recent book signing for her best-seller “Becoming” when asked by a child why she didn’t run for president.
Storm Coming For Avenatti
F
or months I’ve asked Michael Avenatti to give me accounting George H.W. Bush Honored information about the fund my supporters so generously donated to for my eorge H. W. Bush was a man safety and legal defense. He has repeatedly of the highest character and ignored those requests. Days ago I demanded the best dad again, repeatedly, that he tell me how the a son or daughter could money was being spent and how much was ask for. The entire Bush left. Instead of answering me, without my family is deeply grateful permission or even my knowledge Michael for 41’s life and love, launched another crowdfunding campaign for the compassion of to raise money on my behalf. I learned about those who have cared it on Twitter.” and prayed for Dad, and for the condolences of Porn star and Avenatti client, Stormy Daniels, our friends and fellow dishing some dirt on her (former?) lawyer citizens.” who was also recently arrested for suspicion of domestic violence.
G
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BACK ISSUES
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BACK ISSUES
DECEMBER 2018
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35
NEWS
INSTEC BUILDS PREDICTIVE MODEL FOR INSURERS WITH MICROSOFT MACHINE LEARNING
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APERVILLE, ILL. NOVEMBER 29, 2018 Instec, the market leader in insurance software for commercial program and specialty writers, has created a predictive model that determines whether insurance policyholders are likely to renew. Built using Microsoft Azure Machine Learning, the model provides insurers with insights that can reduce churn.
policies through the model and specialty offerings from start to compared its predictions to actual first quote in as little as four weeks. renewals to validate its accuracy. With built-in bureau content and reusable business rules, Instec “We collaborate with Microsoft systems provide a platform for across our entire technology stack,” innovation with reduced risk. In said Kevin Mason, Instec Executive addition, cloud-based deployment Vice President. “The speed with and subscription-based pricing which we were able to spin up enable insurers to test new this proof of concept reflects the programs at a low cost of entry and close relationship between our scale up affordably as the business companies and the decades of grows. To learn more, visit instecinsurance experience that Instec corp.com. The cost to replace a lost insurance brings to the table.” customer is high. Some experts estimate it costs five times more Instec suggests that insurers could to acquire a new customer than use the predictive model to reduce to retain an existing one. Not customer churn. This could begin surprisingly, insurance companies with a simple communication to would like to know which determine issues that may lead the customers are on the verge of insured to shop for a new insurer. switching so they can take pre- With that knowledge in hand, emptive action. insurers could offer solutions to build loyalty. If insurers can prevent Instec applied Microsoft Azure even a fraction of insureds from Machine Learning to build a model switching, the positive effect on that predicts which insurance expense ratios could be significant. customers are likely to switch providers. It was constructed About Instec around a series of attributes Instec Instec’s unique approach to suspected were indicators of nonsystems for the insurance industry renewal. Drawing on decades of enables P&C carriers, MGAs and data, the company ran 65,000 MGUs to launch programs and
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TECHNOLOGY Continued From Page 5
2. Find Amazon coupons
The word “coupon” conjures up images of cutting apart newspapers at the kitchen table. Amazon coupons are much simpler video games and widescreen TVs than that. You don’t have to collect to smart watches and Bluetooth and organize little slips of paper the way your grandmother does. speakers. Instead, you can just visit Amazon’s You may shake your head at coupon site, collect the ones you the 20% savings that Amazon want, and redeem them with a Warehouse usually offers, but click. Your savings will be applied this percentages can add up. automatically to the final bill. For example, a Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 is a great point-and-shoot You can also use the coupons’ camera with 4K video capability. subscription service to keep the You could buy a new camera for discounts flowing. The word about $500. You could buy the “subscription” may sound suspect, same camera, slightly used, on but there is no additional fee. Warehouse for about $460. Those Amazon will help you keep track $40 savings could provide you of your coupons on products you with a bag, a memory card, or regularly buy. This is particularly convenient for cyclical household something else completely. items like diapers, toothpaste and This marketplace does have its tortilla chips. risks. On the one hand, the items aren’t in perfect condition, and Just like old-fashioned coupons, most electronics do not come Amazon offers a wide range of with warranties. Amazon does savings, and Prime members honor a generous return policy, receive especially appetizing offers and you can sometimes procure a that others do not. Click here to get warranty or protection plan from instant savings by using Amazon’s SquareTrade, depending on the coupons. item.
KIM KOMANDO
Amazon makes this process much faster and more predictable, and with so many holiday promotions running, it’s a great time to check for any possible rebates. When you request a rebate, you just enter your order number and your email address and the system will track the rebate for you. If you’re concerned whether the rebate will work, you can track the status instantaneously. It really makes it super simple to get a rebate. Click here to learn more about mail-in and online rebates available at Amazon.com.
4. Check for price drops Many customers don’t realize that many Amazon prices fluctuate, based on supply and demand. Unlike a brick-and-mortar store, there’s no banner over the front door to announce a major sale, so unless you’re paying close attention, a sudden drop in prices can be difficult to spot.
That’s where CamelCamelCamel comes in. The website tracks the ever-changing prices on Amazon. With a free account, you can set 3. Get mail-in and online up notifications on your favorite items. The moment a coveted pair Amazon Warehouse lets you use rebates Amazon Prime for free deliveries. Perhaps you remember when we’d of shoes or toy dips in value, you’ll You can also visit Amazon Outlet, send a slip of glossy paper bundled know when to place your order. a similar market for clearance with receipts to some random Click here to learn more about the and overstock items. Click here address and waited for weeks to benefits of CamelCamelCamel. to learn more about Amazon get a rebate. Those days are long Warehouse and Outlet deals and gone. See Komando Page 44 gotchas. 38
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INSURANCE & THE LAW Continued From Page 13
2018’S MOST DAMAGING STORMS
days in the Carolinas, dumping as much as 36 inches of rain in North Carolina and 24 inches in South Carolina, the most ever recorded there in after a hurricane.
Michael made landfall on Oct. 10 near Mexico Beach, Florida. to be on the ground, helping More than 85,000 of the 125,000to rebuild our customers’ plus claims Florida’s insurers livelihoods and economies received as of Nov. 16 as a result more broadly. Nonetheless, of Hurricane Michael were for these extraordinary hurricanes insured residential properties, highlighted for coastal residents and the total estimated insured and businesses the importance claim payouts currently are of disaster preparedness, estimated at $3.4 billion. building resilient structures and insuring properties against An average Atlantic hurricane both flood and wind-caused season produces 12 named damage.” storms and six hurricanes, A named storm is considered a hurricane when its sustained wind speeds are at least 74 miles per hour. Major hurricanes are those that are designated as a Category 3 storm or higher, with sustained wind speeds of at least 111 mph. Florence made landfall as a Category 1 storm on Sept. 14 near Wilmington, North Carolina. It was categorized as a major hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean, but the storm’s wind speeds diminished significantly before striking the U.S. coastline. The weather system lingered for DECEMBER 2018
including three major hurricanes. The 2017 hurricane season had 17 named storms. Ten of the 17 reached hurricane strength and six became major hurricanes, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
RELATED LINKS Issues Update: Catastrophes – Insurance Issues
FACTS AND STATISTICS Hurricanes Hurricane Fact Files and Market Share by State Flood Insurance Table of Contents
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NEWS Continued From Page 12
IOT COULD UNLEASH MORE INSURANCE INNOVATION
IBM QRADAR ADVISOR WITH WATSON EXPANDS KNOWLEDGE OF CYBERCRIMINAL TECHNIQUES New Algorithms Learn from Security Response Patterns within an Organization; Platform Now Leverages Open-Source MITRE ATT&CK Framework
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AMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -IBM (NYSE: IBM) Security today announced new capabilities Insurers should proactively talk for the company's AI-based with clients to review and assess all security platform, QRadar Advisor risks associated with IoT to provide with Watson, which expand them with advice on best practice the platform's knowledge of and appropriate risk solutions, cybercriminal behavior and allow thereby shaping the development it to learn from security response of the IoT ecosystem in which they activities within an organization. operate.” IBM Security also is embracing Dr Madeline Carr, Director of the open-source MITRE ATT&CK STEaPP’s Digital Policy Lab, said: framework, a playbook to help “Any large-scale technological analysts understand how an attack shift raises challenges to the status has evolved and what might quo and creates opportunities for happen next based on real-world those who see them early on in observations from the security periods of transformations. Early community. adopters, especially in markets, are afforded additional benefits, With some estimates predicting as as they can shape expectations, many as 3.5 million cybersecurity terms of engagement, and best vacancies by 20211, security practices in ways that address their teams today are struggling with interest. This report with Lloyd’s the capacity and skills needed provides a timely study of not only to effectively analyze and the challenges but also multiple respond to a massive amount of opportunities that the IoT will cybersecurity incidents and alerts. introduce into the sector.” The use of AI and machine learning 40
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technologies like QRadar Advisor with Watson, which learns from the latest research available in the external security community as well as activities happening within an organization, can equip analysts with the knowledge and automation needed to help them escalate critical threats faster and more effectively. As part of the latest release, IBM has developed new analytic and learning models which enable QRadar Advisor to identify long and slow attack patterns and adapt to the local client environment. This learning loop gets smarter with time based on additional interactions and engagement with analysts, allowing the tool to provide stronger recommendations on how to respond, as well confidence ratings based on how incidents align with historical data. "Standards like MITRE ATT&CK, See IBM Qrader Page 51 DECEMBER 2018
NEWS
FORMER MIAMI AREA POLICE CHIEF ORDERED FALSE ARRESTS TO IMPROVE CRIME STATS Former Biscayne Park Police Chief Sentenced for Conspiracy to Deprive Persons of Civil Rights by Ordering Officers to Make False Arrests
color of law as chief of police when on three separate occasions he ordered former officers Guillermo Ravelo, Charlie Dayoub and Raul Fernandez to falsely arrest and charge individuals with unsolved burglaries. According to court filings, Chief Atesiano intentionally encouraged those officers to arrest individuals .S. Attorney Ariana without a legal basis in order to Fajardo Orshan for have arrests effectuated for all the Southern District reported burglaries. This created of Florida, Assistant Attorney a fictitious 100% clearance rate General Eric Dreiband for the for that category of crime. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Miami-Dade State Attorney, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, and Troy Walker, Special Agent in Charge, Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), today announced that former Biscayne Park Police Chief Raimundo Atesiano was sentenced to 36 months incarceration for conspiracy to “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is deprive individuals of their civil committed to holding those individuals accountable who rights. abuse their positions of power to Former Chief Atesiano previously strip others of their civil rights,” pleaded guilty to acting under stated U.S. Attorney Fajardo
Orshan. “Today, former Police Chief Raimundo Atesiano stood before the court to answer for his crimes and the federal prison sentence that was imposed is one step toward justice for the victims and our South Florida community.”
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“For his own professional benefit, Chief Atesiano corruptly and disgracefully abused his authority and the power of his
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SPECIAL REPORT
HOW (AND WHY) TO WRITE A PRESS RELEASE By Ron Manera, Senior Editor
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he most overlooked source of free promotion for small to medium-sized companies? Press Releases. Those little info blurbs that strengthen your brand and inform your market can be powerful tools if employed effectively. With a press release, your company can inform the world of a new hire, promotions, a key person retiring, a new product, a merger or acquisition, a new office or a thousand other events positive and timely. But even more important: Getting your company name out in front of tens of thousands of your prospects and customers, (even competitors) often, and at little or no cost. As an editor of a couple of insurance industry specific journals, I am on the receiving end of dozens of press releases daily - all wishing a free ride in one of my next issues. I welcome press releases because they often provide valuable content to my readers. Because of space and relevancy limitations, I can’t run them all. As a matter of fact, only a small percentage of the PRs I review
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make it into the magazines. How do I decide what to run? I look first for relevancy. Is the information in the press release something likely to be interesting or valuable to my subscribers? I can discard 80% of the PRs I review simply because the content is not focused on my audience. Next, I look for length, style and format. Will the original PR take up two pages requiring radical editing for size? Can I easily move the content into my publication without extensive reformatting? Are there bulleted paragraphs or multiple hyperlinks to contend with? I look for a news-style press release. When I receive a PR that is 80% promotional and 20% news, I’m likely to pass it up. I don’t charge for news - I do charge for advertising.
Up The Odds Your Press Release Will Be Printed And Effective
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suspect most editors rely on criteria much like mine when reviewing incoming press releases for publication. Table of Contents
Here are eight tips to increase your odds of actually making it to the show: 1. Give me a compelling headline! Hint: Write your headline last after you review your entire PR. A good headline will not only get my attention, but that of my readers. 2. Don’t open with “ABC Company announced today...” because the PR may not appear for another 30 days. Include the actual date. 3. Keep your copy succinct! 375-450 words max. That’s an entire page, so you have plenty of room to cover your subject. I’m not going to give you more space - so if you run long, you are asking me to trim your copy and you may not like what I remove. 4. Learn to write like a journalist: Who, What, When, Why & Where. List those 5 categories out on a worksheet and work from it as you script your PR. To the ultimate reader, it should not read as if it were written by your marketing department but as if we sent a reporter out to cover your news story. DECEMBER 2018
Image Credit: Creative Commons
While larger operations use paid services like Businesswire, PRweb, PRNewsire and others to distribute their press releases, smaller companies can maintain a list of media outlets that make more sense for their target market. I review PRs from the big distribution houses all the time - but I am more likely to notice one emailed directly to me.
from a company officer. I 5. Important! Don’t often include company make your PR into an logos when they are made advertisement. First, it will available. lesson the chance I include 8. About (Your Company) your piece, (remember, I It’s good to include a short charge for advertising) but “About ABC Company” at just as important, it will lack the end of your PR. Keep it credibility to the readers if it short and within the word just looks like a puff piece. limit for the entire piece. It’s okay to sound enthused Include contact info for about the topic and your “further information.” company, but the ideal PR 9. Make certain to place a will look as if your company copy of each PR on your made the news because of company website under some newsworthy event. your NEWS tab. The practice 6. Give me at least one quote, will make your site more e.g. “Frank’s extensive relevant to search engines experience in restaurant and more valuable to risks will bring a new depth visitors. to our commercial insurance department,” said John ow that you’ve created Smith, CEO... the perfect press 7. If appropriate, include release, where should an image, especially if you send it? the PR involves personnel or a mention or quote
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In the insurance business, include every trade journal that covers your region. If you are introducing a new restaurant program, for example, you may wish to include some of the trade journals in that industry. If you are a local retail agent, by all means include local print media, especially neighborhood newsletters or city-wide newspapers. Build your list in a spreadsheet database so you can one-click mail-merge a personalized copy to each media outlet. Make it a habit! Find the best copywriter in your office and assign them the task of churning out one press release each month. You’ll be building your brand and status within your industry. Where to send at TUI? Send directly to me, Ron Manera at ron@insurmedia.com.
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TECHNOLOGY Continued From Page 38
KIM KOMANDO
5. Browse third-party sellers A new paperback book might cost you $15 or more. But a lightly used version of the same novel could cost one cent – basically just the price of shipping – if you find the right seller. Amazon started as a bookstore, and it’s still the reigning champion of book deals, especially if you browse alternative sellers. Underneath the official Amazon price, you’ll see a link that says something like “Used and New from $1.99.” Like Amazon Warehouse, these products cover a wide range of wear and quality, but they are required to report the condition of their wares. These lists can be very long, depending on the popularity of the book, and vendors include used bookstores, individual collectors and “friends” organizations, which help fund local libraries. Some things to keep in mind, in order of importance: (1) What is the seller’s rating? (2) How many reviews have rated it? (3) What is 44
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the claimed condition of the book? (4) Where is the seller located? (In other words, how long will it take for the book to reach you by regular post?) These sellers are almost never part of the Amazon Prime program, so you’ll almost certainly have to pay a shipping fee. Books are your safest bet, but you can often find top-rated sellers of other items as well. Find the right item from the right seller, and you can find the perfect gift for a song. What digital lifestyle questions do you have? Call my national radio show and click here to find it on your local radio station. You can listen to the Kim Komando Show on your phone, tablet or computer. From buying advice to digital life issues, click here for my free podcasts.
Copyright 2018, WestStar Multimedia Entertainment. All rights reserved. Learn about all the latest technology on the Kim Komando Show, the nation’s largest weekend radio talk show. Kim takes calls and dispenses advice on today’s digital lifestyle, from smartphones and tablets to online privacy and data hacks. For her daily tips, free newsletters and more, visit her website at Komando.com Table of Contents
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NEWS Continued From Page 41
EX-MIAMI AREA POLICE CHIEF SENTENCED TO 36 MONTHS office to create fictitious clearance statistics by falsely arresting individuals,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband. “This kind of abuse of power has no place in our nation and is contrary to American ideals, the rule of law, and fundamental fairness. The Department will continue to hold accountable officers who violate individual rights and betray the communities that they have been entrusted to serve and protect.”
Atesiano’s direction, Ravelo falsely arrested a victim identified as “C.D.” and another victim identified as “E.B.” C.D. was charged with two residential burglaries, and E.B. was charged with five vehicle burglaries, both without probable cause. In court filings related to his guilty plea, Atesiano admitted that he instructed Ravelo to falsely arrest and charge E.B for five vehicle burglaries based upon what Atesiano knew were false confessions.
In a prior hearing, it was disclosed that Chief Atesiano also instructed former officers Dayoub and Fernandez to unlawfully arrest and falsely charge “T.D.,” a juvenile previously known to Chief Atesiano and Dayoub. Dayoub and Fernandez complied with Chief Atesiano’s instructions and falsely arrested T.D. Fernandez wrote narratives containing fabricated information in support of “Every day, thousands of dedicated, able and the four arrest affidavits that falsely claimed an honorable law enforcement officers take to the investigation revealed that T.D. had committed streets to protect communities throughout South the four burglaries. Dayoub signed and attested Florida,” said George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, that the contents of the affidavits were true even FBI Miami. “It is on their behalf that the FBI seeks though he, like Chief Atesiano and Fernandez, to root out police officers, and other government knew that no evidence existed to substantiate officials, who violate the civil rights of our citizens.” the arrest. T.D. was subsequently arrested for the four burglaries. “Putting an arrest statistic above the rights of an innocent man instead of working to protect all Former officers Charlie Dayoub and Raul our citizens undermines the safety goals of every Fernandez were each sentenced to 12 months in Miami-Dade police department,” said State Attorney prison for their role in falsely arresting T.D., a 16Katherine Fernandez Rundle. “Miami-Dade’s year old juvenile. Former officer Guillermo Ravelo residents deserve honesty and integrity, qualities was sentenced to 27 months incarceration for that Raimundo Atesiano deliberately failed to his role in conspiring to deprive persons of civil deliver.” rights and, in a separate incident, depriving a motorist of civil rights under color law by using “Atesiano’s self-serving actions are contrary to the excessive force. law enforcement values that officers are sworn to uphold and deplorable to the citizens of Biscayne This case was investigated by the FBI, including Park and the men and women in law enforcement the FBI Miami Area Corruption Task Force, and who put their lives in harm’s way to keep us safe,” said FDLE, and assisted by the Miami-Dade State FDLE Miami Special Agent in Charge Troy Walker. Attorney’s Office. According to previous court filings, at Chief DECEMBER 2018
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2018 FAIA CONVENTION TRADE FAIR BOOTH IMAGES NOW ONLINE!
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ne of the biggest insurance events held each year in Florida is the Florida Association of Independent Agents (FAIA) Convention. This year was the 114th annual convention, making it not only one of the largest, but one of the longest running events in US insurance history.
We tried to get a shot of every booth, but frankly ran out of time. The trade fair is huge, with hundreds of exhibitors. Next year we may bring two photograpers, each starting at opposite ends and working towards the center. We sadly experienced some equipment issues this year as our preferred lens for such an event, a Nikon 18-300mm had taken a fairly stiff smack as it slipped out of it’s carry bag and hit the floor just as we were to begin shooting. Although it was not obvious on the camera’s (Nikon D-500) LCD screen, just about all the images taken at 50mm or wider were somewhat out of focus - some badly. Oddly, the closeups were fine. So there will be a trip to the repair shop for the lens and we will be more careful next year...
Click On The Image Below To View Booth Images
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DECEMBER 2018
2018 LAAIA CONVENTION TRADE FAIR BOOTH IMAGES NOW ONLINE!
T
he largest insurance trade fair in S. Florida, the Latin American Association of Insurance Agents pulled off another incredible event with their 47th annual convention and trade fair this August. This time no camera equipment issues and had time to shoot every booth.
Click On The Image Below To View Booth Images
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BECOME A CERTIFIED EXPERT IN CORPORATE PROPERTY INSURANCE AND A CERTIFIED EXPERT IN CORPORATE LIABILITY INSURANCE Now available from Illumeo and Barry Zalma!
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veryone involved in insurance – either as an insurer or as an insured – requires excellence in claims handling. Businesses need to deal with insurers who have an excellence in claimshandling mandate. Insurers who wish to profit need an excellence in property and/or liability claims-handling program. Everyone in business needs an insurer who has an excellence in property or liability claims-handling program in effect. Two comprehensive programs enabling insurance professionals to become Certified Expert in Corporate Property Insurance and/ or Certified Experts in Corporate Liability Insurance are available from Illumeo.com and https://www.illumeo.com/curriculum/certifiedexpert-corporate-property-insurance and https://www.illumeo.com/ curriculum/certified-expert-corporate-liability-insurance. The programs are complete courses of study providing education and training to allow insurance professionals, after completing the individual classes, to become a Certified Expert. The programs cover everything an employee, an officer, or a director of a corporation needs to know about the need to acquire proper insurance and to resolve any claim presented by the corporation to the insurer. Major topics of study include, but are not limited to: the importance of insurance; how to acquire insurance and understand an insurance policy; the methods used by insurers to investigate claims; the various types of insurance that corporations need; the duties and obligations of a public adjuster; and how The full curriculum of the courses and other courses from Barry Zalma are available at http:// www.ilumeo.com by entering in the search bar the word “zalma.”
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DECEMBER 2018
NEW INSURANCE CLAIMS BOOKS BY BARRY ZALMA The Making of an Insurance Claims Professional
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t is the insurance claims person - the adjuster - who meets with the person insured and works to keep the promises made by the insurance policy. The adjuster cannot, however, help the insurer keep the promises made unless he or she understands insurance, insurance claims, the types of claims presented and the law surrounding insurance and insurance claims. For the minimal cost of a paperback or Kindle book every insurer can place in the hands of their claims people information that will help them become professional, well trained, thoroughly educated claims professionals who are able to read and understand every insurance policy so that he or she is able to keep the promises made by the insurance policy. Read about these and many more insurance books by Barry Zalma at http://zalma.com/zalma-books/
• Construction Defects and Insurance • Zalma on Insurance Claims • Zalma on Insurance Claims Volume 101 • Zalma on Insurance Claims Part 102 • Zalma on Insurance Claims Part 103 • Zalma on Insurance Claims Part 104
• Zalma on Insurance Claims Part 105 • Zalma on Insurance Claims Part 106 • Zalma on Insurance Claims Part 107 • Zalma on Insurance Claims Part 108 • Zalma on Insurance Claims Part 109 • Zalma on Insurance Claims Part 110
VISIT ZALMA BOOKS NOW!
DECEMBER 2018
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NEWS Continued From Page 40
IBM QRADAR ADVISOR WITH WATSON EXPANDS KNOWLEDGE OF CYBERCRIMINAL TECHNIQUES which take advantage of the collective knowledge of the security community, are crucial to advancing the industry and helping security teams stay ahead of increasingly sophisticated threats," said Chris Meenan, Director of Security Intelligence Offering Management and Strategy, IBM Security. "Combining the ATT&CK framework of known adversary tactics with Watson for Cyber Security's ability to stay current on the latest security research, QRadar Advisor can help arm analysts of all levels with the knowledge needed to better respond to the threats they're facing."
industry, which defines step-bystep patterns and actions that a threat can take as it evolves. Using the ATT&CK framework, QRadar Advisor with Watson is moving beyond identifying the threat and providing external research on it, to now also shedding light on how external attacks and internal threats have progressed within the client infrastructure – for instance, whether a malware has just landed within an organization, or if it has collected data such as passwords or credit card information.
skills of analysts and help them connect the dots to see the full scope of an attack in a way that a higher-level analyst The initial or threat hunter could do. Advisor can release of also use ATT&CK to QRadar Advisor recommend a more decisive incident with Watson escalation process enabled Watson to analysts, helping to gather, read, them understand and understand the immediate next steps to take based structured and on where the threat unstructured falls in its lifecycle. the security data from Leveraging ATT&CK framework external sources, allows QRadar and bring the most Advisor to provide relevant information this context in an industry standard to analysts' that maps to fingertips to help company's incident them understand response playbooks.
what was already known and published on a specific threat.�
This added context also includes a confidence level as well as the relevant evidence for each stage of the attack. By helping analysts visualize how an attack has evolved, this capability allows analysts to Connecting the Dots for More understand immediately where an Decisive Threat Escalation incident stands in a threat lifecycle and what it might do next, which MITRE ATT&CK is an open- can significantly improve response source playbook of cybercriminal times and effectiveness. behavior developed with realworld examples and insights from These additional insights from cybersecurity experts across the QRadar Advisor can augment the DECEMBER 2018
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Applying New Learning Models to Threats within an Organization
IBM Security is also deepening the intelligence of QRadar Advisor with Watson by enabling it to learn and contextualize behavior of threats and security response actions happening inside an organization. The initial release of QRadar Advisor with Watson enabled Watson See IBM Qrader Page 52 www/underwritersinsider.com
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NEWS services. The portfolio, supported by world-renowned IBM X-Force® research, enables organizations to effectively manage risk and defend against emerging threats. IBM operates one of the world's broadest security research, development and delivery organizations, monitors 60 billion security events per day in more than 130 countries, and Cross-Investigation Analytics: has been granted more than 8,000 Within a company's Security security patents worldwide. For Operation Center (SOC), multiple more information, please check analysts may be working on www.ibm.com/security, follow @ different offenses which are related IBMSecurity on Twitter or visit the to each other, or alerts over many IBM Security Intelligence blog. to gather, read, and understand months might be part of a longstructured and unstructured term adversarial campaign. This security data from external sources, capability allows QRadar Advisor and bring the most relevant to find commonalities across information to analysts' fingertips investigations using cognitive to help them understand what was reasoning, and automatically already known and published on a group together investigations that specific threat. are related to avoid duplication of efforts, as well as provide fuller Now, QRadar Advisor is also learning context to aid in the investigation. from the actions being taken within Combining these new learning customers' environments – both models, which add context to events happening in real time, as activities within the network, well as what has happened with with Watson for Cyber Security's certain types of events historically. investigative capabilities and Two new capabilities IBM is ability to digest current research introducing for QRadar Advisor being published in the security include: community, analysts can now use QRadar Advisor to help drive deeper, Threat Disposition Models: QRadar more consistent investigations and Advisor uses new algorithms to respond faster and more efficiently. build a model for specific types of threats, based on the actions and outcome of previous similar About IBM Security events that have happened within IBM Security offers one of the most an organization. When a new advanced and integrated portfolios investigation comes in, this model of enterprise security products and Continued From Page 51
IBM QRADAR ADVISOR WITH WATSON EXPANDS KNOWLEDGE OF CYBERCRIMINAL
can be used to help rule out false positives, or help the analyst decide whether the threat should be escalated as malware, data exfiltration, or other specific types of threats. This capability becomes increasingly intelligent the more it's used, learning and adapting based on interactions with analysts.
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