The Dowd Agencies

Frank Moskal Insurance Agency of 28 Parker Street, Indian Orchard, MA has merged with The Dowd Agencies of Holyoke, MA. The name of Frank Moskal Insurance Agency will change to Moskal-Dowd Insurance, Inc.  and the quality service and insurance expertise that Moskal clients have known for more than 70 years will continue under this new name.

Moskal Insurance was founded in 1930 by Frank Moskal’s father. Frank ran the agency until recent years and his son Gary J. Moskal successfully managed the firm until his untimely death in August of 2010. “We are very proud to partner with this locally-owned and highly respected insurance agency that has provided quality insurance sales and service to citizens in the Pioneer Valley for so many years,” said Robert W. Gilbert, Jr., President of The Dowd Agencies.

The Dowd Agencies represent over 20 A-Rated carriers and now have four offices throughout the Pioneer Valley including Holyoke, Amherst, Southampton and Indian Orchard..  A familiar face in the marketplace, Mary Ellen Metzger has joined the Moskal-Dowd Insurance Agency as an Account Manager. Her duties will include providing outstanding service to the Moskal Agency clients.

Mary Ellen Metzger joins the Dowd family.

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Massachusetts drivers have saved $480 million in car insurance premiums since a managed competition system was instituted three years ago this spring, says the state’s insurance commissioner.

Instituting competitive rates also brought 13 new insurers to the Bay State’s auto insurance market, and some consumers say they’re still reaping savings year-to-year as they find bargains thanks to careful comparison shopping.

It’s quite a difference for a state which once had some of the most expensive – and most highly regulated – car insurance rates in the nation.

Before April 2008, Massachusetts set rates that never varied from company to company. The state also set up discount programs that also never varied. Customers had very few options and even less incentive to shop around.

“What I can tell you there have been improvements in product design and savings,” says Robert W. Gilbert Jr., president and chief executive officer of the James J. Dowd and Sons Insurance Agency in Holyoke. “It’s hard to pin down, but our average savings is $100 to $500, depending on the customer’s exposures.”

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Allegations that some insurance companies were illegally using inflated motorcycle values to calculate premiums and failing to depreciate motorcycle values as policies renewed has resulted in settlements for over 100,000 policies.  Click here to read the release from Attorney General Martha Coakley.

If you purchased motorcycle insurance from Arbella, Hanover, Norfolk & Dedham, OneBeacon (Mass. Homeland), Liberty Mutual, Quincy Mutual, Safety Insurance Company, Plymouth Rock, Pilgrim Insurance, or Metropolitan Property & Casualty you can use the Attorney General’s Motorcycle Insurance Refund Lookup Website to see if you qualify for a refund and what that refund is.  You will need your policy number.

If you purchased motorcycle insurance from Safety Insurance Company you can go directly to to Safety’s site to apply for your refund.  You must have your policy number and the amount of the refund, which you will find from the site above, to apply.

IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR PEOPLE WHO HEAT THEIR HOMES WITH OIL

October 14, 2010

 

For homeowners and rental property owners of 1 to 4 family homes who heat with oil, Chapter 453 of the Acts of 2008 became effective July 1, 2010.  The law requires:

• The installation of either an oil safety valve or an oil supply line with protective sleeve on the systems that do not currently have these devices.
• Insurance companies that write homeowner policies offer coverage for leaks from heating systems that use oil.

 

In order to be eligible for the coverage, one of the upgrades referenced above must have been completed by a licensed oil burner technician.  (Homes built since January 1, 1990 are exempt from the upgrade, since these installations were required by building code.)

The new optional escaped liquid fuel coverage now offered will provide coverage for your property and also liability coverage for another person’s property.  Currently, there is no coverage for damage to your property and in some instances there is no liability coverage for damage to another person’s property for escaped liquid fuel from your oil tank.  A fact sheet to help you better understand the new law is enclosed.

Dowd highly recommends purchasing the coverage now offered for escaped liquid fuel.

 

Since each insurance carrier is offering different coverage options, it would be best to call our office to find out what options you may purchase or provide us with a phone number below where we can reach you.

 

Property Location:                             Policy Number:                                  

 

I wish to find out more about the new endorsement.____

My phone number is______________________ during the day.

 

I am not interested in purchasing coverage for escaped liquid fuel.

Signed___________________________________   Date___________________

                                                                                   

Please return in the enclosed postage paid envelope.  Thank you!

 

 Holyoke– The Dowd Agencies of Holyoke, MA announce that current Senior Vice President, David W. Griffin, Sr. CIC, LIA has been appointed Treasurer of the independent agency. Effective July 1, 2010, Griffin, Sr. will oversee various aspects of the company’s finances including accounting, cash flow, asset management, investment management and carrier management. In addition, he will ensure that policies and procedures are followed to maintain the financial health of the organization. Griffin has been with Dowd since 1994.

 

According to a 2008 study conducted by the Association of Certified Fraud, U.S. businesses lose about 7% of their annual revenues to fraud.  This equates to a staggering $994 billion loss each year nationwide to employee fraud.  Even worse, occupational fraud schemes are extremely costly to a company’s bottom line, with the median loss in the 2008 study coming in at $175,000!

The three most common categories of employee scams are: fraudulent statements; asset misappropriation; and bribery or corruption.  Two out of five businesses suffer more than five instances of fraud, and one in four loses at least $1 million as a result of fraud.  For these reasons, crime insurance is a wise purchase, extending coverage to you and your business for fraud-related financial losses.

In addition to covering employee fraud, most crime insurance policies also cover third-party scams including forgery, counterfeit currency, and theft of company property.  Many policies also cover money losses due to computer fraud by hackers who seek company funds, customer credit card numbers or other financial data.

Technology Makes Fraudulent Schemes Much Easier to Accomplish

In fact, as more and more business is done over the Internet, computer coverage and protection against unauthorized funds transfers or computer access are on the rise.  For example, with a simple scanner, it is easy to forge a check, and many fraudulent Web sites attempt to collect personal data from unsuspecting victims.

Not all fraud-related crimes involve money.  Some involve company goods that have no apparent value. Keep in mind, there are markets for many unusual items.  One insurance company tells of a meat packing plant where an employee was stealing animal fat, and selling it for personal gain.

Making Sure Your Business is Covered

Although many employees carry out such crimes because they are disgruntled, the most common motivations for employee fraud are greed, vindication against the employer, and financial need.  Regardless of motive, you need to be aware of the possibilities, and adequately covered.

When employees get caught for such crimes, they do jail time, but companies never fully recover the total amount lost.  That’s where crime insurance comes in.  With proper coverage, you can recoup your financial losses.

In addition to crime insurance, it is also recommended to maintain a strong system of checks and balances to ensure unethical employee behavior doesn’t pay off.  Such controls can affect your company’s insurability and premiums as insurers examine the extent of internal controls, as well as a company’s history of fraud losses when determining whether the company is a good risk.  With a combination of crime insurance as well as internal control procedures, you will protect your company as well as show dishonest employees that crime doesn’t pay.

Please keep in mind that several carriers have added a coverage to their crime package called ‘Funds Transfer Fraud’.  The coverage is inexpensive, but if you are doing a lot of banking via the internet, it will cover an exposure to your business that could be sizeable.  Unfortunately, hackers are here to stay and we must consider this exposure in developing your business risk management program.

Insurance buyers are both better educated about the insurance business and far more sophisticated in their insurance demands than ever before. Today, the buyer of insurance-whether an individual providing for a family’s needs or a risk manager of a corporation –knows that an integrated program of insurance protection consisting of property, casualty and liability, life and health insurance is needed. Liability, in particular, is an area that if not properly addressed can have an enormous impact on your company’s balance sheet.

Third Party Liabilities

There are many types of third-party liabilities that businesses should be covered against. In addition,  to property loss and personal injury, businesses should be protected against claims such as damage to the property of others, allegations of false advertising, cyber liability and legal liability stemming from employment practices. In the event that a claim is filed against you, liability insurance will provide you with a legal defense. Should the judgment go against you, your liability insurance will pick up the tab for covered damages up to the policy’s limits. Keep in mind that liability insurance can also serve as the collateral needed to post a bond appeal. Without the ability to post a bond, however, your company will not be able to start the appeal process.

What’s Your Risk Level?

Evaluating your level of risk is a complex issue. Although young companies generally have a low level of risk, you should buy coverage with an eye toward the future. This is especially important if you are developing products with the potential to impact a large number of people. The greater the potential impact, the greater the possibility your company will find itself as the defendant in a class action lawsuit. Other factors you need to consider include the size of your company’s operations, geographic locations, industry trends, organizational structure, amount of capital at stake, you and your staff’s degree of experience and expertise in the field, and any general industry hazards.

Determining the amount of liability coverage you need should be considered a work in progress. A review of your risk analysis should be done periodically, perhaps at each renewal. You should also review your insurance needs whenever your business changes in size, diversifies into new markets, or relocates.

Risk Transfer Program

Preventing a claim from being brought against you or deflected to another party provides a great amount of protection to your company’s assets. The insurance industry calls this process risk transfer. The basic foundation to this concept is: a contract with your vendor or contractor requiring an additional insured clause (you, added to their policy), a hold harmless or indemnification clause, an insurance required section and a properly executed insurance certificate, evidencing the requested coverage. At the very least these requirements should be inserted in your purchase order agreements as part of the terms and conditions found on the reverse side.

By adopting the risk transfer program you have enabled an extra measure of protection to guard against claims and lawsuits. The other party responsible for the incident, leading to a claim, provides their insurance coverage first. Should their limits be exhausted then you can fall back on your program of insurance thereby increasing limits available to your business.

Why You Need the Insurance Certificate

Do not underestimate the importance of the insurance certificate. When properly completed it provides valuable information about the other party’s insurance limits, dates of coverage, name of the insurance carrier, policy form, types of policies, policy numbers, cancellation clauses and any special additions or changes in coverage as necessitated by the contract. It should be signed by the issuing insurance carrier or insurance agent evidencing that the form has been reviewed for proper completion. If any information is missing it should be promptly addressed and returned to the contractor, supplier or vendor for reissuance. Your accounting department or accounting manager should not pay any invoices relating to the contract until such evidence of coverage has been received by you.

Remember that any of the coverages on the certificate represents what is in force on the day the form is issued. You should have in place a procedure for an annual follow up for reissuing the certificate. Coverages may be different should your vendor or contractor change insurance carriers at their renewal date.

Be sure to require your insurance representative to annually review your program of insurance. Today’s business climate often necessitates change to adjust to the economy. With good communication your agent should adopt your program for proper coverage and premium.

Fear is an important motivator when it comes to buying insurance. We worry about what will happen to assets like cars or homes if they are involved in a disaster, so we buy insurance to help us maintain their financial integrity if something should happen.

But in spite of the fact that insurance is designed for this purpose, sometimes it can’t give us the outcome we expect. That’s not because of something inherently wrong with the policy, but rather it is the result of human failure. When you bought your

policy, you failed to take into consideration the level of coverage you really needed, and what you have isn’t sufficient to restore your assets to pre-disaster condition.

Initially those low premiums will seem like a savings; but if the cost of an accident ends up being more than your policy coverage limits, the rest of the expense will be out-of-pocket. In addition, the other parties involved could sue you, and if you don’t have any coverage, you could end up losing a large part of your assets.

 There could be a legitimate instance in which you don’t pay on time. However, when you don’t pay, your insurance company isn’t required to cover you. To avoid a disruption in coverage, set up automatic payments through your bank or insurer.

There are limitations to the coverage a homeowner’s or auto policy will provide for high-ticket items. You should never assume that all of your possessions are covered. What you can do is add extra coverage to your policy with an endorsement, which gives you higher limits on these types of items.

 These policies got their name because they protect you from a financial downpour. They can be purchased separately or you can obtain one from the same company that insures your car or home. Buying from the insurer you already have usually entitles you to a premium discount on the liability coverage. Umbrella policies are usually sold in increments of a million dollars. Generally you would pay between $100 to $300 a year for the first million dollars worth of coverage and another $50 to $100 for each additional million. Keep in mind that when determining your premium, your insurer may take into consideration such factors as the number of traffic tickets you’ve received over the past few years, and your credit report.

 If you’ve added on to your home, or purchased an expensive sound system, you need to contact your agent to see if the policy you have still meets your needs. Your agent can also find ways to help you save money on premiums that won’t affect the quality of your coverage such as enrolling in a driver safety class, installing a home security system, increasing your deductible, , or taking advantage of multi-policy or good student discounts.

Holyoke/Amherst, MA – The Dowd Agencies, a locally owned independent insurance agency announces two new additions to its growing staff.  Diane LaFleche and Jim Lawton recently joined the agency and will be working out of the Cray-Dowd Amherst office. 

Diane will serve as Cray-Dowd’s Commercial Lines Account Manager/Marketer for the Amherst location. In this role Diane will work with new and existing business insurance clients. She will also assist Dowd’s producers on quoting accounts. Diane is a Certified Insurance Service Representative (CISR) and brings over 23 years of insurance experience to Dowd. She maintains insurance licenses in Massachusetts and Connecticut. She is also a Notary Public. Diane is a native of Amherst and currently resides in town.

Jim Lawton has joined The Dowd Agencies as an account executive, with an emphasis on commercial and personal lines sale of property and casualty insurance. He maintains an insurance license in the state of Massachusetts. Most recently, Jim was a property and casualty producer for a local insurance agency here in the Pioneer Valley. A graduate of Brandeis University, Jim served as President of the Business Network International. He is also a member of the Northampton Chamber of Commerce. A native of Western Massachusetts, Jim resides in Conway with his family.

“The addition of Diane and Jim will further strengthen our team of insurance professionals,” says John E. Dowd, Jr., Partner of the Dowd Agencies. “We are delighted to welcome them as part of our team and are confident that their enthusiasm and expertise in the insurance industry will be a great asset to our customers.”