Enter to win A $100 Southwest Airlines Gift Card!  Here’s how:

1. Simply go to VendorBillboard.com and sign up to be a user by clicking here.  It’s easy and it’s free.  If you are already a user proceed to step #2.
2. To win you must be a fan of Vendor Billboard on Facebook. Go to our page and click “share” on the link to this contest page.  If you are already one of our fans on Facebook, great! If not follow this link to become one.

Once you have completed both of these steps you are now entered into the drawing to win the $100 gift card.  Contest will run until June 4th with the winner being announced on June 7th.  The winner will be notified at the email they provide during the “sign up” process.  Good luck to all the entrants and if anyone has any difficulty feel free ask questions in the comment area below.

“The insurance industry is not as quick to adapt to change as other industries,” but independent insurance agents need to acknowledge that having “a Web presence is non-negotiable,” said Michael LaRocco, president and CEO of Fireman’s Fund Insurance Companies.

“Forecasting the future,” LaRocco told California insurance executives that consumers today — “tomorrow for sure, but also today” — already are sharing and gathering information about people, products and brands through social media, which influences their purchasing decisions. It’s not just the younger generation that is using social media as a networking tool. He pointed out a video about the social media revolution that states 55- to 65-year-old females are the fastest growing segment of Facebook users. Given its total number of users to date, Facebook would be the world’s fourth-largest country. That means an insurance agents’ kids, sisters, brothers, colleagues are using Web 3.0, he said.

Yet LaRocco lamented that only 48 percent of independent insurance agents have Web sites, and of those, only about 20 percent keep the sites updated. “This is not good,” because having a Web presence is going to become a necessity as a networking tool throughout the world, he said. “We have to leverage opportunities to make us more efficient and effective.”

Leveraging social media tools is relatively easy, once you start, he said, noting it doesn’t require someone to write new computer code. “The cost of entry is low, and you can get into it in a very efficient manner if you have one staff person who understands and uses social media. … Once you spend some time with it, you’ll see rewards many times over.”

Social media can be used for discussions, rather than be used as a sales tool. Independent agents can use social media to become known as the “best source” for advice, LaRocco suggested. For instance, an agent could use social media to educate consumers on insurance topics, or provide a forum for disaster preparedness and recovery information. For agents who write personal lines and have customers who are going to college and coming off and on their parents’ policy, social media can be used as a tool to discuss family and social issues.

“You can get to a lot more people this way than on the gold course,” he said.

Putting up a picture of his 18-year-old daughter, LaRocco said the next generation of insurance buyers like her won’t want to communicate with their insurance agents in the same way as previous consumers. While Geico spent $800 million last year on advertising, independent agents can compete with that if they build the right relationships with their customers.

“(Customers) aren’t going for geckos, it’s a lifestyle choice,” he said. “That’s how they want to interact; they’re choosing an approach, not a company.” Thus, he said there’s no reason why an independent agent couldn’t also provide an online channel for customers to come through, but then provide an added bonus of professional advice when and how customers need it. The Internet also can help agents better target customers, such as to an association of dry cleaners, or potential customers in the immediate vicinity of a college.

(READ MORE)

Although their claim forces have been reduced by 16 percent, a majority of insurers still say that hiring qualified claim adjusters is a priority for them, according to a recent study conducted by GreatInsuranceJobs.com.

The whitepaper, titled “2010 Insurance Industry Hiring Outlook,” consists of information that the company compiled from 131 insurance entities, including insurance companies; agents and brokers; third-party administrators; and managing general agents.

Its goal was to find out who is currently hiring and for what positions, as well as hiring forecasts and challenges for the insurance industry in 2010.

According to results, more than 60 percent of the surveyed companies plan on hiring claim professionals in 2010. However, the job openings will require specific experience, training, and education. The report concludes that companies are being very picky and have a large pool of candidates from which to select.

The study also said that big companies are doing a majority of the hiring. Organizations with more than 5,000 employees (18 percent of surveyed companies) are, in total, hiring 67 percent of the current jobs open, or 5,923. The top jobs with large and small employers are the same, though, and include claims, customer service, call center, sales, and underwriting.

(READ MORE)

Contractors should beware of strings attached to stimulus funds from the American Reinvestment & Recovery Act. Both contractors and subcontractors receiving stimulus dollars must comply with Davis-Bacon Act requirements for paying wages and fringe benefits not less than the minimums established by the U.S. Dept. of Labor.

Under Davis Bacon, contractors are strictly liable for subcontractor reporting. So, if the subcontractor is reporting it paid $10 per hour and really paid only $5 per hour, the DOL will require the government agency that hired the contractor to collect the difference. Additionally, contractors and subcontractors receiving stimulus dollars are subject to the federal False Claims Act, which includes criminal penalties for false statements connected with grant applications and use of funds, and encourages whistleblower suits.

Davis Bacon Act

Davis-Bacon applies to all contracts over $2,000 to which the federal government is a party. ARRA has expanded Davis-Bacon to apply to contracts with state, local and private parties who receive stimulus funds from the Feds. The most significant provision of the act requires all contractors to pay their employees at least the prevailing wage. This means the same wages paid by union and non-union shops in the geographic area.

(Read More)

The Combined Claims Conference is only a week away!  This year’s conference will once again be held in Long Beach, California.  From April 5th – 7th your peers in the insurance industry will have the opportunity to take part in continuing education courses, vendors will be showcasing their companies and we may even squeeze in some golf.

Vendor Billboard is no exception, we will be set up in booth #500.  We would love for you all to stop in and say hi.  Too often we don’t get to put a face to the name anymore, we would love to meet all of the people that make Vendor Billboard great!

We’d also like to take a moment to recognize our own Megan DuBois, who once again this year has done a great job sitting on the board for the CCC.  We are so proud of her.  She will be buzzing around the conference all week, so be on the look out for her.

Also if you are taking part in the golf tournament, be sure to stop at our tee box and have yourself a drink.  The sun can be brutal, so we will do our best to make our stop refreshing and fun.

Take weather predictions with a grain of salt, but if meteorological experts are correct, this year’s Atlantic hurricane season could be costly for insurers, especially along the Atlantic Coast.

Since late 2007, Guy Carpenter has collaborated with WSI Corporation, a provider of weather-driven business solutions, to provide pre-season hurricane landfall forecast rates for different regions in the U.S. Its report, “GC ForeCat,” is published monthly up until the start of the hurricane season, which begins on June 1, 2010.

GC ForeCat’s approach is a bit different from other estimates in that the forecast estimates rate the risk of tropical storm landfall according to region rather than just focusing on overall activity. The four regions include the Gulf, Florida, Southeast, and Northeast.

According to the March update, the Southeast region remains most vulnerable to tropical cyclones coming shore in 2010. The report states that the rate of 0.74 for the Southeast represents the mean number of land-falling tropical cyclones in that region for the forthcoming hurricane season, higher than the 1951-2007 average landfall rate of 0.41 but a decrease on February’s forecast rate of 0.96.

Notably, the forecast landfall rate for the Northeast region jumped from 0.29 in February to 0.62 in March, more than double the average landfall rate of 0.29. Meanwhile, the forecasts for Florida and the Gulf regions were unchanged and continue to show landfall rates of 0.60 (above average) and 0.59 (below average), respectively.

*This article originally appeared on claimsmag.com

The deadly El Nino weather anomaly should dissipate by early summer in the northern hemisphere, but there is a chance a weak version will linger for the rest of 2010, according to a U.S. government report issued Thursday.

The federal government’s Climate Prediction Center (CPC), a unit of the U.S. National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, said in a monthly update that the warm waters which are a hallmark of the phenomenon are slowly easing, and this indicates “a transition to … neutral conditions” in June or July.

But the CPC said there are “several models (which) suggest the potential of continued weak El Nino conditions through 2010, while others predict the development of La Nina conditions later in the year.”

El Nino means little boy in Spanish, and results in an abnormal warming of waters in the equatorial Pacific. It also normally disrupts hurricane formation in the Atlantic.

The anomaly wreaks havoc in global weather patterns, especially the Asia-Pacific region, and was first noticed by Latin American anchovy fishermen in the 19th century who named it after the Christ child because it normally appears during Christmastime.

La Nina has the opposite effect of El Nino. It leads to cooler waters in the Pacific Ocean and is said to spur storm formation during the annual hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean.

This year’s El Nino was moderate to strong, according to the CPC, as sea surface temperatures stayed warm through February. But it was linked to the severe winter storms which have lashed the eastern United States.

It was also blamed for the weak monsoon which badly damaged the cane crop in India, forcing the world’s biggest sugar consumer import larger amounts of the sweetener and sparking a rally that drove prices to a 29-year high.

A severe dry spell has also hit the archipelago countries of Indonesia and the Philippines, forcing the latter to book large orders of rice. The Philippines is the world’s biggest rice importer. Manila booked a record 2.6 million tons of the food staple for its 93 million people in 2010.

CPC said the effect of El Nino this spring would include drier-than-average weather over Indonesia.

In the United States, there should be above-average rain in the Southwest, the south-central states, and Florida, and below-average precipitation in the Pacific Northwest and Great Lakes region, CPC forecast.

If El Nino persists into June, that would bring the weather pattern into the start of the annual hurricane season in the Atlantic, raising the prospect it may again hinder the formation of storms in the area.

The last major El Nino struck in 1997/98, killing scores of people and causing billions of dollars in damages around the world through floods in Latin America and drought in Asia and Australia.

(This article originally appeared on Insurance Journal)

Stress – it’s a knotted feeling in your stomach…. a headache that won’t go away…. anxiety that you can’t escape even at the end of an exhausting day.  Focus and concentration are off and errors in your work are mounting.  Your significant relationships with family, colleagues and friends are experiencing distress.  It may come from difficult work or personal circumstances, or you may not even know it’s source.  YOU FEEL OVERWHELMED, FRUSTRATED, literally burned out as the cumulative effect of stress mounts.

The impact of stress on your life can be crippling, affecting you mentally, emotionally, and physically.  Performance and productivity suffer, directly impacting your professional life.  The negative cycle of mounting stress creates imbalance in your mind, body, and spirit that endangers every aspect of your life.  We cannot eliminate stress.  However, we can learn to live with stress encountered in our professional and personal lives, thus leading a healthy and productive happy life.

We are excited to be able to offer you an educational opportunity that doesn’t come around often outside of the PLRB conference.  Vanderbuilt Construction along with Restoration Management Company has arranged for Ray Shelton to teach his Managing Stress in the Claims Profession / Achieving Balance in Mind, Body, and Spirit workshop for one day at the CSAA training facility in Sacramento on Tuesday, March 30th.  There will be a morning session and an afternoon session – details of the event and how you can register are in the attached flyer. This session will explore stress in everyday life, uncovering the ways it disrupts your smooth flow, blocking happiness, peace, harmony and your competitive edge.  We hope you can take advantage of this life changing opportunity!

If you have questions about this educational seminar please contact Traci Dorsey at 510.22.5939.  Email inquiries should be mailed to TDorsey@Vanderbuilt.net.

We at Vendor Billboard are always looking for great tips to pass along to our users.  One of our vendors, Baldwin Construction, recently partnered with us to help share some tips for avoiding water damage in your home.  We hope you all find this helpful and that you take the time to visit the web page of Baldwin Construction to find out more about them.

Water damage to your home is often avoidable through routine maintenance. Simply taking a few extra moments each week to check on potential problem areas can mean the difference between easy clean up work and major home repairs.

In general, it is a good idea to know where your main water shut off valve is, and to check it often to make sure it is working properly. To check for hidden leaks, turn off all water-using appliances and faucets, and don’t flush any toilets for an hour. Then, record the water meter reading. If it changes while no water is being used in the house, you might have a leak. The most common places to find leaks are bathrooms, kitchens, and laundry rooms.

In the bathroom, check under the sink for signs of leaks. Discoloration or soft areas around on the walls or floors around your shower or bathtub may indicate a problem. Check the caulking where the walls meet the floor and the bathtub, and be on the lookout for mold or cracks. Mold can be a serious problem, so if you find it, call a professional mold remediation contractor.

In the kitchen, the dishwasher, refrigerator, and sink are the problem areas you want to keep an eye on. Make sure you check periodically under the sink to make sure the hose connection of your dishwasher to the water supply line is secure and not leaking. Look around the base of the dishwasher for discolored or warped flooring. If your refrigerator has an ice maker, make sure that hose connection is also securely attached to the water supply line.

In the laundry room, check the washing machine hose regularly for signs of cracking, fraying, or bulging. As part of a preventative maintenance plan, replace the hose every three to five years. Other appliances to keep an eye on are your water heater and air conditioning unit. Water heaters generally last 10 to 15 years, and should be placed on the lowest level of the house near a floor drain. Keep an eye out for a rusted tank or wet spots on the floor. Have your air conditioning system serviced at the beginning of each cooling season and change the air filters regularly to avoid problems.

When water damage does happen, it can cause a great deal of harm in a short period of time. Prompt action is essential when you discover water damage in your home, and you want to know you’re being taken care of by qualified professionals. We at Baldwin Restoration have over 20 years of experience in the industry, and are available 24/7 to help you through any water-related emergency. We provide full-service water restoration and mold remediation services across Southern California, Colorado, and Arizona.