New Insights Article! How Brokers and Agents Can Protect Themselves From Professional Liability

The 19th century American author Ambrose Bierce once defined “litigation” as “a machine which you go into as a pig and come out of as a sausage.”

Not much has changed about the pain of the United States court system since Bierce wrote those words. According to one recent study, for example, the cost of liability in the U.S. is 2.6 times that of the average level in Eurozone countries.¹ Further, after catastrophic events like Superstorm Sandy, insurance brokers and agents often find themselves essentially and unhappily converted into secondary insurers when disgruntled clients blame them for inadequate coverage.

I should know. I am a policyholder-side attorney, and my firm has brought more than its share of post-Sandy suits against brokers and agents for leaving their clients underinsured before the storm. But since I am among friends here, let me give you, the insurance professional, some advice from the dark side about how to stay out of trouble.