texas connection november 2015

TEXAS CONNECTION

In This Issue

Social Media and the Liability Risks

Preventing Privacy Breaches

Why Stress is an Employer’s Problem

the

TEXAS PROFESSIONAL INSURANCE AGENTS DIGITAL JOURNAL NOVEMBER 2015

Presidents Corner …………………………

Meet the Member ………………………. Page 6

Social Media and Liability Risks ….……… Page 8

Classifieds ………………………..………… Page 14

Preventing Privacy Breaches………..….... Page 15

Why Stress is an Employer’s Problem .… Page 18

By The Numbers …...…….………...……… Page 20 Word Scramble ……...…….…………..…… Page 22 TDI Enforcement Actions …….……..……. Page 29

The Last Word ……………………………… Page 30

THE TEXAS CONNECTION - TEXAS PROFESSIONAL INSURANCE AGENTS DIGITAL JOURNAL Page 3

If you are reading this magazine, you surely have an interest in our industry. If you’re not already a member, I’d like to give you 3 good reasons to join us...

Reason #1: Errors & Omissions Texas PIA offers members quality coverage at very competitive pricing. PIA has exclusive deals with some of the best carriers in the United States.

Reason #2: Market Access

Find new markets to expand your business.

Reason #3: Continuing Education Texas PIA presents regular local CE meetings, including dinner and a relaxed atmosphere to get the CE credits you need. You get 4 hours of CE credit just for being a member.

There are many more…

Go to www.piatx.org

Shirley Almany

Shirley

Texas has a bit of every-

thing. Spanning 268,000

miles, we have plains,

swamps, forests, beaches,

and we have the Davis

Mountains. Located in far

east Texas, you’ll find

2,700 acres of scenic arid

beauty. Davis Mountains

State Park has an eleva-

tion from 5,000 to 6,000

feet above sea level.

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Questions? Contact Joe Tipton at [email protected] or (972) 862-3333.

Texas Insurance Professional Services

Ray Reyes or Bob Dixon

(214) 618-2365 (832) 375-0787

[email protected] [email protected]


Patti began her career in insurance in 1996 and

worked in customer service and ultimately be-

came underwriting manager for a large, multi-

state, insurance organization.

In 2007, she had an opportunity to help launch

a new company… Aggressive Insurance. She

says it was quite a challenge for her, but she

adds that working for Richard Asprey, Lauren

Moore and Robert Newton was the best career

decision she has ever made. The company grew

steadily, adding more products, launching

Meet Patti Romo, Marketing Director for Aggressive Insurance.

a new state and quickly becoming a brand name. She adds: Aggressive Insurance is

now one of the leading non-standard carriers in both Texas and Georgia.


Patti is married and has three daughters; two are

married and one is a high school senior.

She says she loves animals almost as much as she

does people. She has four dogs and she “face-

times” with them when she’s travelling. Her hob-

bies are shopping and decorating which, as she

says, “fit together” nicely…

It’s good to have you as a member, Patti.

(Continued on page 16)


Should you worry about the content of your teen’s tweets or your spouse’s Pinterest posts? All it takes is for one tweet to veer away from commentary to defamation, or one image to invade another’s privacy, and you could face a lawsuit.

The liability portion of a homeowners policy covers the homeowner for certain types of liability. The standard homeowners policy covers liability for property damage and bodily injury. If you have a cov-ered claim, your policy will pay for your legal defense costs and any settlements or awards you be-come legally obligated to pay. This means that if a covered household member unintentionally damage or destroy another person’s property, the homeowners policy would cover it. It would also pay if a member of the household un-intentionally caused physical harm to another person. For example, if a visitor tripped on a loose pav-er on the front walkway and broke his arm, the policy would pay his medical and lost work time costs plus any attorney costs, minus the deductible. In addition to bodily injury, a person can also suffer “personal injury.” These non-physical injuries can include wrongful eviction, false arrest, defamation and violation of privacy. The standard homeown-ers policy does not cover these claims. Once posted on social media, your words become public. If your postings cross the line from casual observation to defamation, your target might threaten a lawsuit. Likewise, anything you post that someone perceives as an invasion of their privacy could lead to a lawsuit. Since the target hasn’t suffered any bodily injury, your homeowners policy won’t cover you. Any legal defense costs, settle-ments or damages will come out of your pocket.

Empower Insurance Group & Texas PIA invited 30 agency owners to discuss forming a local chapter to serve agents in the Rio Grande Valley.


McAllen — October 14th

Thanks Janie Martinez!

Thanks Ed Lack!

Thanks Empower Group!

Quite a few became members, and provided a core group to allow formation of a local chapter to provide ser-vices to member agents in the area.

Houston — October 28th Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen

Colonel Roy Phillips offered a fine presentation on ethics

Colonel Phillips and Past President Tony Harper


San Antonio November 11th Dave & Busters


Texas PIA President Shirley Almany opened the meeting

Don Miller, Treasurer, talked about the many benefits of membership in Texas PIA

Patsy Hysquierdo from Aggressive Insurance taught the Ethics Class


Texas PIA Offers Members Satisfying E&O Solutions

“Fifteen minutes could save you 15%.... Everyone knows that… but did you know that not all E&O poli-cies are the same? E&O is like other types of insur-ance… you buy it hoping you’ll never need it… but if you do… E&O can be the difference in whether you stay in business or not. How about it? Do you know what your policy covers…. And more importantly, what it doesn’t? Texas PIA offers members, quali-ty E&O markets and coverage. And members say they have saved as much as 40% when they switch to exclusive PIA pro-grams. Call today and get an analysis of your coverage and a competitive quote from multiple markets. Call Texas Insurance Profession-

al Services:

Ray Reyes or Bob Dixon (214) 618-2365 (866) 577-7428 [email protected] [email protected]

Members...

Place classified ads here FREE

Buying? Selling?

Hiring? Looking?

This is your space… Use it.

Email your ads to:

[email protected]


Think about all the information you store on employees alone: Social Security numbers, addresses,

names of spouses and dependents, and possibly even medical information. Then there are custom-

ers—do you have names, addresses, credit card numbers and expiration dates? If any of this infor-

mation falls into the wrong hands, whether through error or theft, you have a liability exposure. The

following quiz can help you identify security gaps. Correct answers are in parentheses.

If you keep paper files, are they in locked cabinets? Are cabinets in an office with a locking door, inaccessible to unauthorized persons? (yes)

Do you keep the file cabinet key in the top desk drawer? (no)

Do you shred documents containing personal information before discarding? (yes)

Do you use Social Security numbers as employee ID numbers? Do you print Social Security numbers on paychecks? (no)

Do you train human resource, payroll and benefits staff not to disclose personal information about other employees? Do you include this requirement in job descriptions for employees who handle personal information? (yes)

Do you train customer service, IT and other staff who have access to customers’ personal infor mation (particularly credit card numbers) not to disclose this information? Do you make this a condition of employment? (yes)

Do you do background checks on any employee who will have access to others’ personal info? (yes)

Do you have appropriate firewalls, antivirus and malware detection software installed on your servers and networked computers? (yes) 3

Do you regularly scan your computers/networks, and keep your protection services updated? (yes)

Is your network password-protected? (yes)

Do you require employees to change their passwords regularly? (yes)

Do you encrypt sensitive data? (yes)

Do you require employees to report the theft or loss of any mobile device that might contain sensitive files immediately? (yes)

Does your insurance cover your organization for security breach liability? (yes)


(continued from page 8)

Defamation When defamation occurs in oral statements, it’s called slander. In print—as on Facebook or other social media—it’s libel.

Black’s Law Dictionary defines defamation as the injury of another person’s reputation by “false and malicious” statements. Note the “and” — to be defamatory, statements must be both false and malicious. If your daughter mentioned on Facebook that her classmate Sa-rah drives a blue car, when in fact it’s black, the statement might be false, but it’s not mali-cious. Sarah’s reputation wouldn’t suffer any harm. But what if your daughter said on Face-book that Sarah shoplifted a designer bag from the local department store? If it wasn’t true, your daughter would be defaming Sarah’s rep-utation. But if Sarah had already been tried and convicted as a shoplifter, posting that true fact on Facebook would not be defamation.

Invasion of Privacy What about invasion of privacy? Invasion of privacy can be literal — as when a landlord doesn’t respect a tenant’s privacy rights. Peo-ple also have privacy rights surrounding their likeness or photographs.

Laws vary by state, but you’ll have fewer legal repercussions photographing and publishing anything visible in a public space. If your neighbor decides to walk stark naked down Main Street at noon and you post a photo on Facebook? You’re probably safe. If he sun-bathes in the nude in his backyard and you take a photo through the fence? Invasion of privacy!

So you want to become a paparazzi (continued on page 25)

Short-lived or infrequent episodes of stress pose little risk. But when stressful situa-

tions go unresolved, the body is kept in a constant state of activation, which increases

the rate of wear and tear to biological systems. Ultimately, fatigue or damage results,

and the ability of the body to repair and defend itself can become seriously compro-

mised. As a result, the risk of injury or disease escalates.

We all know that continuous exposure to stress damages health. NIOSH, the National Institute

of Occupational Safety and Health, reports that it also creates increased risk of injury at work.

According to NIOSH, exposure to stressful working conditions (called job stressors) can have a

direct influence on worker safety and health. NIOSH defines job stress as the harmful physical

and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of the job do not match the capa-

bilities, resources, or needs of the worker. It cites the following as possible causes of job

stress:

Task Design. Heavy workload, infrequent rest breaks, long work hours and shiftwork;

hectic and routine tasks that have little inherent meaning, do not utilize workers’ skills, and

provide little sense of control.

Management Style. Lack of participation by workers in decision-making, poor communi-

cation in the organization, lack of family-friendly policies.

Interpersonal Relationships. Poor social environment and lack of support or help from

coworkers and supervisors.

Work Roles. Conflicting or uncertain job expectations, too much responsibility, too many

“hats to wear.”

Career Concerns. Job insecurity and lack of opportunity for growth, advancement, or

promotion; rapid changes for which workers are unprepared.

Environmental Conditions. Unpleasant or dangerous physical conditions such as crowd-

ing, noise, air pollution, or ergonomic problems.

(continued on page 28)



I thought about blowing this off until later, but then I realized that I would feel much better if I would just get it done. It turns out that procrastination in our society is getting worse. Let’s look at some numbers.

Statistics show that procrastination affects about 20% of the population.

According to some researchers, procrastination has quadrupled in the last 30 years.

In the late 70’s, 5% of the population admitted to being chronic procrastinators com-

pared to roughly 26% of the population today.

1 in 5 people procrastinate so badly that it may be jeopardizing their jobs, their credit,

their relationships an even their health.

In one study, a procrastination research group looked at 374 undergraduates and

found that students who put things off were more likely to eat poorly, sleep less, and drink more than students who do homework promptly.

Procrastination statistics suggest that 40% of people have experienced financial loss

due to procrastination.

Research suggests that procrastination predicts higher levels of consumption of alcohol among those people who drink.

In the immortal words of Victor Kiam, “Procrastination is the assassin of opportunity.”

So, let’s get out there and get it done. Oh yeah… Happy Belated Halloween.

ENROLL NOW:

Call Brett Fallert

Direct: 866-776-6574

[email protected]

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Upgrades available to ADT Pulse (home automa-

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Secure 24 offers your customer a special installation pricing.

Secure 24 pays you $200. when they install a system you refer.


Arrange each of the following anagrams to form a single insurance related word.

Keep in mind that the anagram is not a clue. It has nothing to do with the insurance

related word. Send us your answers to be entered in a drawing to win a fabulous

prize! Feel free to call us if you’re stuck.

972.965.2025 Email to: [email protected] or fax to 972. 307.7888

ROUT CAT CLAN

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MINI COSMOS

GOURMET PALS

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COY LIP

SURLIER GAB

MEND ME TIMBERS

TEST ME LENT

SINGULAR TOE

WOMEN TEND

SHARPEST COAT

Here’s the answers to last month’s puzzle. Remember there’s $100 prize for the first person

to submit the correct answers. (before the answers are published obviously.)

COMMISSION

PROMULGATES

MEDIATION

POLICY

BURGLARIES

DISMEMBERMENT

SETTLEMENT

REGULATIONS

ENDOWMENT

CATASTROPHES



photographer? You can generally publish images of “public figures,” including politicians and celebrities, as long as they are in a public place when you take the photo. If they are in a pri-vately owned space open to the public, such as a restaurant or shopping mall, look for signs. Unless the owner specifically forbids photography, you might be safe.

Private citizens have a higher expectation of privacy. Context matters. If you’re photographing a newsworthy public event, you have greater leeway. You could probably safely publish a photo of a group of women taken at a protest, for example, even if they are individually recognizable. The same group of women at the beach for a travel article? You’d be wise to make sure they weren’t recognizable, or to get their permission. And using the same shot of women on the beach for an advertisement? Absolutely not, unless you get permission.

Laws in most states protect the rights of children and others incapable of protecting them-selves. Whenever publishing photographs of children and mentally handicapped individuals, you should get a parent or guardian’s consent.

Insurance Coverage To protect your family from costly non-bodily injury liability claims, you can buy a personal inju-ry endorsement. This policy addition broadens your policy’s definition of bodily injury to in-clude personal injuries, such as false arrest, false imprisonment, defamation, invasion of priva-cy, malicious prosecution, wrongful eviction and wrongful entry.

Like the rest of your homeowners coverages, the endorsement will probably exclude coverage for business-related activities, such as defaming a business competitor on your business blog. It will also exclude coverage for claims resulting from and intentional or illegal activities. You can also buy an umbrella liability policy to add personal injury coverage. People buy um-brella liability policies primarily to obtain additional liability coverage, from $1 to $10 million, over their homeowners policy’s limits. When you have a costly claim that exhausts your home-owners policy’s limits, coverage under your umbrella will kick in.

The umbrella policy also provides coverage that the standard homeowners policy lacks. Most broaden the definition of bodily injury to include personal injury. It will also cover you for claims that exceed your personal auto policy.

Since children and teens are usually heavy social media users, any household with children or teens should have coverage for personal injury. Both the homeowners policy personal injury endorsement and the umbrella liability policy will cover family members living in your house-hold.

Personal umbrella policies don’t cover the everyday risks that homeowners policies do, so they cost a lot less for the amount of coverage you receive. You can often get limits of $1 million for around $200 per year.

The POWER of Numbers

As a Group, we have a Louder Legislative Voice (State & Federal)

As an Association, we help each other with agency management issues

Market Assistance

Website Design Help

Search Engine Optimization

Social Media Expertise

Advertising… Find out what works before you spend any money

Market Access

New Companies – New Products

What % of your business is Auto?

What if you could add more Homeowners, commercial auto, more General Liability,

Life products, to your book without reducing your auto book by 1 policy.

How would your bottom line look then?

Education Texas PIA Members get 4 hours CE Credit just for being Members

Regular Local CE Classes with dinner meeting make it easy to collect CE hours

Member get big discounts on web based CE Classes

Annual Convention offers 2 days of solid CE Classes

Quality E&O coverage

PIA Exclusive programs with Utica, Liberty Mutual, & other quality carriers offer some of the

broadest coverage available

Competitive Pricing – Several members have said they saved more than their Membership cost

by switching to PIA E&O programs.

BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP

IN TEXAS PIA


Business-building tools

PIA Branding Program: Add the PIA logo on your business card, website, stationery and signage.

Identify your agency with a national association of insurance professionals.

Hartford Flood Insurance: Special Program for Texas PIA Members

Website building for your agency: Cutting-edge website tailored specifically for your agency… by

the world’s largest insurance agent website provider. Offered at an incredible rate exclusively to

Texas PIA members.

Consumer brochures: PIA provides attractive brochures to answer customers’ questions

PIA Agents Umbrella Program: Excess insurance protection includes E&O and business liability

coverage, with available endorsements for EPL and personal coverage.

Cyber & Privacy Insurance: PIA and U.S. Risk Brokers have introduced a robust program exclu-

sively for PIA members.

Individual & Group Insurance for you Agency

Basic, voluntary, and dependent term life;

Long/short term disability;

AD&D;

Business overhead expense; and

Hospital income protection for you, your employees, and families.

Management Tools

Agency Agreement Review Service: Free to members and carriers

Agency Preparedness and Recovery Plan: The PIA guide to creating an agency-specific business

contingency plan.

Prescription discounts: Available to PIA members and their clients.

Employee profiling: Hire right people with skills & personality testing from OMNIA.

Discounts on UPS shipping



Exposure to stress sets off our natural “flight or fight” reaction. The nervous system is aroused

and hormones are released to sharpen the senses, quicken the pulse, deepen respiration, and

tense the muscles. While this reaction serves an important function in protecting us from im-

mediate danger, long-term exposure to stress can lead to health problems. Stress-related con-

ditions that could affect your workers include:

Musculoskeletal Disorders - On the basis of research by NIOSH and many other organiza-

tions, it is widely believed that job stress increases the risk for development of back and up-

per- extremity musculoskeletal disorders.

Psychological Disorders - Several studies suggest that differences in rates of mental health

problems (such as depression and burnout) for various occupations are due partly to differ-

ences in job stress levels. (Economic and lifestyle differences between occupations may also

contribute to some of these problems.)

Workplace Injury - Although more study is needed, there is a growing concern that stress-

ful working conditions interfere with safe work practices and set the stage for injuries at

work.

What Can Employers Do to Reduce or Minimize Job-Related Stress?

Individuals under stress often display several symptoms. Managers and supervisors can use

these as early warning signals of job-related stress:

• Headache

• Sleep disturbances

• Difficulty in concentrating

• Short temper

Factors that can help to reduce the effects of stressful working conditions include the following:

• Balance between work and family or personal life

• A support network of friends and coworkers

• A relaxed and positive outlook.

Employee assistance programs (EAPs) can help workers under job-related stress address their

problems and find a better work/life balance. A quality EAP can provide counseling and refer-

rals on a broad range of subjects, including personal problems such as substance abuse, finan-

cial problems and family conflicts that can also affect job performance.


• Upset stomach

• Job dissatisfaction

• Low morale.

Contact Us

Need more information on the

benefits of membership?

Have a question about member

services? Give us a call:

Texas PIA & Young Insurance Professionals

3632 Frankford Rd 200B

Dallas, Texas 75287

(972) 862.3333 [email protected]

www.piatx.org

Good judgment comes

from experience, and a lot

of that comes from bad

judgment.

- The Insurance Sage

THE TEXAS CONNECTION - TEXAS PROFESSIONAL INSURANCE AGENTS DIGITAL JOURNAL Pa ge 29

TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE ACTIONS

Nguyen, Charlie T Date of Action: 6/8/2015 Location: Houston Action Taken: Sentenced to 2 years deferred adjudication and 60 hours community service. Violation: Forgery, State Jail Felony

Gaona, Antonio Date of Action: 5/28/2015 Location: Houston Action Taken: Sentenced to 1 year deferred adjudication and 50 hours of community service. Violation: Insurance Fraud, Class A misdemeanor

Williams, Lorenzo E Date of Action: 5/21/2015 Location: Houston Action Taken: Sentenced to 5 years deferred adjudication, 100 hours community service and ordered to pay $60,733.24 in restitution. Violation: Theft, 3rd Degree Felony

Santos, Eidde Date of Action: 5/15/2015 Location: San Antonio Action Taken: Information Violation: Insurance Fraud, Class A misdemeanor

Lara, David Date of Action: 5/8/2015 Location: San Antonio Action Taken: Sentenced to 2 years probation and fined $2,000.00. Violation: Insurance Fraud, Class A misdemeanor

Muhlbeier, Makinzie M Date of Action: 5/8/2015 Location: Dallas Action Taken: Sentenced to 3 months deferred adjudication and fined $250.00. Violation: Theft, Class C Misdemeanor

Johnson, Cimmeyon Date of Action: 5/6/2015 Location: Dallas Action Taken: Sentenced to 3 years deferred adjudication, 120 hours community service, fined $1,500.00 and ordered to pay $3,400.00 in restitution. Violation: Insurance Fraud, State Jail Felony

: https://wwwapps.tdi.state.tx.us/inter/asproot/fraud/indictments/clips.asp

We try to remind you often of the many benefits

to Texas PIA Members. In this issue (pages 26 & 27) we listed many of them. Take a look… you may be surprised…

Also… I want to tell you about a new benefit we just added. If you do not write life and health lines in your office… why not? Many of us say: “It’s too complicated… I’ll just stick to property and casualty.”

But, we just added a new member that will help you make the transition, and increase your agency’s bottom line.

I suggest you give Ronnie Davis a call and let him explain how his program works. He will take all the “mystery” out of sell-ing life products and set you up with his EZ app system. I think you will be pleasantly surprised how easy it will be to get started.

Take a look at Page 17 for more information about Ronnie and Davis Insurance & Associates.

the Last word

Joe

Are you taking full advantage of your member benefits?

texas connection november 2015

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