Private Risk Advisor

Too many insurance agents are happy to recommend a specific insurance policy without first helping consumers to examine and understand their actual risks. As always, buyers should beAware!

Savvy consumers should ask this question before purchasing an insurance policy: if I do not understand what my risks are, how can I possibly know if the policy that is being recommended provides the risk protection I need?

Helping consumers to first understand their risks is the cornerstone of a good private risk advisory practice. As a result, I am always on the hunt for tools that can help others better understand PERSONAL RISK.

The Consumer Risk Index documents the survey results complied by The Travelers that provides insight into the types of risks that individuals and families worry most about. The index provides some interesting insights and trends that can be used to help consumers take practical steps to better manage their risks. Check the link below to learn more, or simply send me an e-mail if you would like to receive a free a copy of the Consumer Risk Index report compiled by Travelers.
https://www.travelers.com/prepare-prevent/home/risk-index.aspx

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Following is a link to an article I authored for from the International Risk Management Institute, providing over 30 helpful ideas to manage a wide range of personal property and liability risks.  Be sure to check the links to MANY MORE helpful ideas from ACE Private Risk Services and Chubb Personal Insurance:

http://www.irmi.com/expert/articles/2015/obrien02-personal-risk-management.aspx

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The following anonymous critique about blogging could not be more sobering (or accurate): “Never have so many words been written by so many and read by so few.”  Ouch!

This blog has now been visited over 10,000 times. While that number has required over 5 years of monthly (or more often) posts, it is a big milestone for me. When I fret to others about wanting this number to be higher, I am often reminded the content is, after all, focused on insurance and personal risk.  Not exactly scintillating stuff for most, or so I am told. Many visitors have provided encouraging feedback over the years, some even un-intentionally. My favorite comment was one intended to mock me: “I see you’re still blogging….how much money is that making you?”

I have always been wary of anyone, in any vocation, whose efforts are focused solely on actions that will make them money. While I am very pro earning an income, the objective behind this blog was and remains a much more ambitious one: to educate consumers and those who advise them on strategies to better protect tangible and financial assets from uncovered property and liability losses.

The snarky “how-much-money-is-that-making-you” observer might be amused by this recent anecdote: at a recent industry event, I met a friendly competitor who chided me that he appreciates my blog because he monitors it for new sales ideas he can use. He explained he recently presented a strategy of mine to a prospective client, who liked the idea so well it helped him “win a great new account”.  I can also be snarky.  I congratulated my friend on the great new account he’d won using my idea, and invited him to continue visiting my blog so that could replace his tired and ineffective sales pitches with original and helpful solutions that actually offer real value to his clients.  While his clients won’t know the helpful ideas are mine, this friendly competitor knows.

Thank you for being one of more than 10,000 visitors to this blog. I will continue to try and offer real insights and helpful solutions on managing personal risk to any who may benefit from them. Even unoriginal competitors in need of good ideas.

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Ever wonder what would happen if “The Big One” — a really big hurricane — hit the New York City area?  A new study reveals if a hurricane similar to the one that battered the East Coast almost 200 years ago were to strike today, it would make the damage caused by Superstorm Sandy seem modest.

If the hurricane that ravaged New York and the Northeast two centuries ago was a “once in a hundred year event”, we are well overdue.  To learn more check this article in Property and Casualty 360 (http://fw.to/U4PQjQC)

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Was Your Gmail Account Leaked?.  Check this link to learn how to find out!

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I met the author of the blog post linked below after he wrote the following in a discussion thread on LinkedIn: “It does not matter what you know until you know what it means.”  

I reached out to the author to ask him for the source of this observation and to learn more about his work, and we had a nice e-mail exchange. These words are his own, and they struck me as profound and widely applicable.  Turns out the author, Don Shaughnessy, is a CPA who has had an accomplished career, and is a truly gifted story-teller.

Several days later I was honored to learn Don wrote of my efforts to suggest insurance practitioners take a different approach to guide consumers to making better informed decisions by posting this on his great blog: http://moneyfyi.wordpress.com/2014/08/22/price-and-cost-are-different/

Thank you, Don —– it does indeed “not matter what you know until you know what it means.”    

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Those who advise financially successful families understand the most cost efficient use of insurance is to transfer large risks that can present a significant financial loss, while self-insuring smaller risks that can be avoided or absorbed. Remarkably, however, many financially successful families do not understand they are taking the opposite approach by renewing insurance policies that feature protection from modest losses, often at inflated costs.

ACE Private Risk Services surveyed 600 independent agents and brokers, and has documented the ways in which affluent consumers commonly over-insure against minor threats and under-insure against major ones. The survey also identifies often overlooked opportunities to improve the cost efficiency of their insurance program. The results are eye-opening and worth sharing with those you care about.

This link to ACE’s website will direct you to the first of a 3 part video series that summarizes the key findings.  Each video installment is only about 3 minutes, and all are worth reviewing. Consider sharing this information with your clients, as at least a few may benefit from examining if they may be overpaying to be under insured.

ACE has also published a white paper to document their findings on this topic. Contact me if you would like to provide your clients with a hard copy of this white paper.

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