Dear PIANY members,
I’m writing to you to discuss the recent announcements from Adirondack Insurance Exchange and AmGuard Insurance Co., regarding their decisions to withdrawal from specific insurance marketplaces.
When the announcement was made, an email was sent to all PIA members, which included a sample letter that we suggested our members send to every client who has an insurance policy with AIE or AmGuard. You can find links to additional resources in a related article on PIA Northeast News & Media.
As soon as we got clarity about what the New York State Department of Financial Services and these companies had decided to do, PIANY held an emergency meeting of its Industry Relations Committee, which focuses on carrier relations and carriers’ operations.
The agents who attended this meeting represented every region of the state, with a large number of agents from Long Island.
As a result of this meeting, PIANY will develop several additional resources to help members, including client-facing materials for members to utilize in dealing with their own clients (it will download as a Word document on your computer). In addition, your association will continue to work closely with the DFS, as it has on past issues that have impacted your agencies, from certificate of insurance abuses, to cyber security compliance. PIANY’s Industry Relations Committee will continue to monitor this situation, as well as the general state of the marketplace to ensure agents across the state are protected.
I know running an agency, managing employees and trying to replace business or write new business day-in and day-out is stressing you out, which can make it hard to plan your next move. PIANY understands!
We are here to help you regarding AIE and AmGuard’s withdrawal from the marketplace, or any other issues that is keeping you up at night—especially anything you may need to help run your business.
As a member you—or anyone on your staff—can call the Industry Resource Center for assistance. If you have an issue or concern let the Industry Resource Center help solve it. Recently, to help assist members further, we added more staff members to the Industry Resource Center.
I can testify to the benefit of calling the Industry Resource Center. I had a problem with a carrier, and I knew I didn’t have the time or resources to research the related Insurance Law. I called the Industry Resource Center, and 45 minutes later PIANY had supplied me with not only the related law, but the chapter and the section that offered me the information I needed to resolve the issue in favor of my client.
The Industry Resource Center telephone number is (800) 424-4244. Don’t forget to take advantage of this PIA-member benefit.
I’d love to hear from you,
Gary Slavin, president of PIANY
Gary Slavin, CIC, LUTCF, CLTC
Gary Slavin entered the insurance industry as a claims examiner. His desire to help people in designing insurance coverages prompted him to get his broker’s license and earned his CIC designation in 2002. To continue guiding his clients, Gary received his series 6, 63 and 7 licenses. Reach him at gslavin@financialguide.com.
