In recent years the retrospective market has evolved considerably, relieving (re)insurers of unwanted prior-year liabilities (PYL) in new ways and in greater volumes. Some recent transactions would not have been possible five years ago, yet the conditions now exist for further significant advances in the next two years. While retrospective solutions are many and varied, they … [Read more...] about Retrospective solutions: Where legacy and reinsurance meet
Toolbox
Beware the “Quadrigoof”: Avoiding Four Common Mistakes in Negotiations
Negotiation Strategies: Tips for Establishing Connection and Optimizing Results Series: Part 6 We all negotiate, every day. It runs the gamut from the boardroom to the bedroom and everywhere in between. People try to win over their counterpart with reasoned arguments, pithy anecdotes, or just plain emotion. Career negotiators feel they do it fairly well, making fewer … [Read more...] about Beware the “Quadrigoof”: Avoiding Four Common Mistakes in Negotiations
Understanding and Using Body Language to Improve Negotiations
“Let Me Hear Your Body Talk…”1 Negotiation Strategies: Tips for Establishing Connection and Optimizing Results Series: Part 5 See if you recognize this scenario: you're in a meeting trying to convince the other side to take your position. But something’s not right. You don't feel comfortable. The mood in the room is guarded and tense. You really don't know why: The sun is … [Read more...] about Understanding and Using Body Language to Improve Negotiations
From the Brink: Tips to Revive A Stalled Mediation
Negotiation Strategies: Tips for Establishing Connection and Optimizing Results Series: Part 4 Mediation is generally a useful way to slow negotiating parties down and open their minds to optional pathways to an acceptable settlement. Accompanied by a willing counterparty and qualified, experienced mediator, you can often move immovable issues, explore “win-win” propositions, … [Read more...] about From the Brink: Tips to Revive A Stalled Mediation
Drop Anchor or Anchors Aweigh? Making the First Offer In Negotiations
Negotiation Strategies: Tips for Establishing Connection and Optimizing Results Series: Part 3 Years ago, my wife and I took a trip to Mexico. The worker in me was ready to kick back and put down a tequila or two. But my inner negotiator was anxious to test his skills at a Mexican mercado (market). Who would win the test of wills between the novice American buyer and savvy … [Read more...] about Drop Anchor or Anchors Aweigh? Making the First Offer In Negotiations
Prepare, Prepare, and Also, Prepare.
Negotiation Strategies: Tips for Establishing Connection and Optimizing Results Series: Part 2 We all know the scenario: You’ve been chasing your counterparty for weeks, trying to get either payment, a meeting, or a substantive response. On your end, you reviewed the file and calculated how much you want and, perhaps, how much you might settle for, based upon YOUR analysis … [Read more...] about Prepare, Prepare, and Also, Prepare.
Getting to Yes: Where It All Began
Series: Negotiation Strategies: Tips for Establishing Connection and Optimizing Results We all do it every day: with our spouses and significant others, with our children, co-workers and counterparties, with people getting on and off of an elevator, and even while jockeying with other cars in traffic. The “it” is negotiation: exchanging verbal or non-verbal messages with a … [Read more...] about Getting to Yes: Where It All Began
Top 10 Issues for Effective Reservations of Rights Letters
The Keynote Speaker of the 2021 Summer Membership Meeting was Randy Maniloff. Randy is counsel at White and Williams LLP and the lawyer behind the well-known monthly newsletter “Coverage Opinions.” He presented on the Top 10 Issues for Effective Reservations of Rights Letters. Randy started the seminar highlighting the fact that insurance companies don’t provide enough … [Read more...] about Top 10 Issues for Effective Reservations of Rights Letters
MSAs Stalling Settlement? Proactive Strategies to Reduce MSA
Just about every workers’ compensation (WC) payer has them -- claims that remain unsettled due to high Medicare set-aside (MSA) allocation projections or an MSA counter-higher determination by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). In either instance, the result is the same: the workers’ comp payer is left holding the bag for continuing medical, indemnity, and … [Read more...] about MSAs Stalling Settlement? Proactive Strategies to Reduce MSA
Mysteries Underlying Black Lung Liabilities
Estimating future liabilities for even the most basic line of business involves in-depth analysis of data, expert knowledge of modeling, and professional application of assumptions. Black lung liabilities take reserving to an entirely different level. Black lung compensation is rooted in a complex regulatory and legislative history. The disease itself—pneumoconiosis—involves … [Read more...] about Mysteries Underlying Black Lung Liabilities
Negotiation Scene, Episode 2
Greg Gitter and Connie O’Mara provide us with a second installment of short stories that illustrate some real world techniques on how to deal with difficult claims. In our first episode (March 18, 2020), we depicted the resolution of a workers’ comp claim that hinged on “reading the room” and adding king-sized sheets to the negotiation to sweeten the settlement … [Read more...] about Negotiation Scene, Episode 2
Using a Letter Agreement to Strengthen the Confidentiality of Settlement Negotiations
Letter agreements are usually confidential. As a result, there is a dearth of practical guidance on when, and how, to use them. Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP helps fill that gap. Your settlement negotiation checklist should include this entry: “whether, and how, to use a letter agreement.” A letter agreement—if well-drafted—can … [Read more...] about Using a Letter Agreement to Strengthen the Confidentiality of Settlement Negotiations
Tips on How to Settle a Workers’ Compensation Claim
This will be the first in a series of brief articles by Greg Gitter with Legacy Claims Solutions; roughly based on the presentations he has given at AIRROC events, the articles portray the stories he uses to illustrate techniques he has developed to assist companies in resolving “old dog” workers' compensation exposures. The claimant’s wife is clearly not happy. … [Read more...] about Tips on How to Settle a Workers’ Compensation Claim
Eyeballing Excellence: Establishing and Executing an Effective Watch List Process/Policy
A well-executed watch list process can significantly benefit P&C insurance companies. From the initial establishment of the process, which includes identifying which exposures and claims to include, to the ongoing review of the process as new exposures and claim types emerge, actuarial, claims, and underwriting departments significantly impact the success of a watch list … [Read more...] about Eyeballing Excellence: Establishing and Executing an Effective Watch List Process/Policy
The Legacy Market: Innovation. Flexibility. Creativity. Capital Appeal. That Order.
The insurance industry has shown through the years that it has a remarkable ability to respond to challenges, and to adopt and adapt, whether this relates to a new financial or regulatory framework or to respond to demands for new products and solutions. One of the biggest challenges that the European industry faced in recent years was the implementation of Solvency II, the … [Read more...] about The Legacy Market: Innovation. Flexibility. Creativity. Capital Appeal. That Order.
Bygone Companies: Bannister’s Ballywick
It is an unusual name, Julius. Christened, by my idealistic parents in the later 1950’s, named after the Czech anti-Nazi journalist Julius Fučík, and now with my work offices about a mile from where the Roman Emperor, Julius Caesar, invaded Britain in 55 / 54 B.C.; that serves as an introduction. I write, looking over my shoulder: “Beware the Ides of March,” the soothsayer’s … [Read more...] about Bygone Companies: Bannister’s Ballywick
RX for Runoff: Four Experts Expound
Fred Pomerantz, Goldberg Segalla, and Connie O’Mara, O’Mara Consulting, had an opportunity to pose questions on the topic of rating run-off reinsurers to key players in the business: Gerry Glombicki, a Director of Fitch Rating Agency; Brian Johnston, a Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of SOBC Corporation; Andrew Rothseid, President and CEO of RunOff Re.Solve … [Read more...] about RX for Runoff: Four Experts Expound
Welcome to the New World of Run-Off. Part 2: New Restructuring Opportunities for the U.S. P&C Market
The global financial crisis of several years ago forever changed the way business looks at itself – as well as the way the public and regulators view business. The outlook of most business leaders has changed from the pre-2007 expected future of unlimited growth to a more somber and practical outlook – with more focus on potential loss of wealth, asset protection, increased … [Read more...] about Welcome to the New World of Run-Off. Part 2: New Restructuring Opportunities for the U.S. P&C Market
