Blog

  • Legal Liability and the Pandemic

    Legal Liability and the Pandemic

    People are talking about lawsuits these days, even more fervently than usual. Why? Because the big question is: What will happen if a person claims he or she contracted COVID-19 at a restaurant, or store, or at work … and then sues the business owner? Will the business’ insurance policy pay the claim?

    At the moment, it’s impossible to answer that question with any certainty because we have no precedent to follow. In other words, we’re in uncharted waters.

    One of the first things to remember about insurance claims (with or without associated lawsuits being filed) is that liability insurance only pays if the insured was legally liable for causing bodily injury or property damage. And legal liability can only be determined by the courts.

    It’s true that many insurance companies settle claims without lawsuits being filed or trials having to be undertaken. And that’s because the facts associated with the claim are so clear cut the insurance company is confident that if the matter went to trial, their policyholder would be deemed negligent and, therefore, legally liable.

    Nothing about COVID-19 is especially clear right now. Therefore, how can we determine whether an individual or business exercised due diligence in preventing its spread?

    My best guess is that if every business follows federal, state, and local guidelines about social distancing and preventing the spread of coronavirus, proving it was negligent is going to be very difficult. However, many believe some guidelines are not feasible, or reasonable. What then?

    Only time will be able to answer these questions. However, I do talk more about this topic on Episode 8 of my podcast, so take a listen here.

  • Writer’s Voice Guest: Connie Johnson Hambley

    Writer’s Voice Guest: Connie Johnson Hambley

    Connie Johnson Hambley is the author of tense, twisting thrillers with a strong moral code. She visited with me earlier this week on The Writer’s Voice podcast to discuss writing and the community of writers.

    Connie currently serves as the president of Sisters in Crime New England and two her award-winning books, which are part of The Jessica Trilogy, won the Best English Fiction literary award at the EQUUS International Film Festival in NYC.

    You can listen to Connie’s appearance on my podcast here, or watch the YouTube video of that conversation here.

  • 9 Steps to Achieving Success

    9 Steps to Achieving Success

    You can ask 10 different people what “success” is and you’ll get 10 different answers. However, most people agree about how you arrive at success, the destination, regardless of what your definition of the term is.

    In my 40+ years working in the insurance industry, I’ve made my share of mistakes and learned my share of lessons. I’ve been mentored by some wonderful people and watch a boatload of people succeed. I’ve seen people fail to achieve their desired outcomes, as well.

    Eleven years ago, I made a list of what I believed to be the required elements of success. That list included:

    • Attitude
    • Research
    • Resources
    • Essential knowledge, based on your goal(s)
    • Relationship
    • Organization
    • Time management
    • Money
    • Paying attention to other people

    Some people will tell you luck plays a role in success. And maybe they’re right. But I tend to believe my father’s take on that perspective:

    Why is it that successful people seem to have a lot of good luck? Successful people make their own luck by putting themselves in so many good situations good luck seems to follow them. Ergo: the harder you work, the luckier you are.

    Donald F. McHenry

    I believe a person’s mental attitude and relationships are the two most important elements of success. But I have an opinion about all 9 of those elements.

    The nature of your job, occupation, or profession doesn’t matter. Your tenure at what you do doesn’t matter either–whether you’re a newbie or an expert. What matters is that you can take these 9 components of success and apply them to your job, occupation, profession, or task and accomplish your goals.

    Launching a marketing campaign? They apply to you. Starting a new business. Ditto. The same holds true if you just want a fresh perspective on what you’ve known all along.

    I discuss these 9 elements of success in my book, Taking the Mystery out of Business. The book is available right now on Amazon in both eBook and paperback.

    What do YOU view as the fundamentals to success?

  • Writer’s Voice Guest: Sarah Smith

    Sarah Smith joined me on the first episode of my podcast, The Writer’s Voice. Take a listen!

    https://episodes.castos.com/5e6ccb9ab4cf97-55025247/Sarah-Smith-mp3-MR.mp3

    Her latest book is Crimes and Survivors; you can learn more about it on her website at www.sarahsmith.com.

  • Podcast Guest: Barb Gavitt Talks Insurance Licensing in a Pandemic

    Podcast Guest: Barb Gavitt Talks Insurance Licensing in a Pandemic

    Barb Gavitt is Vice President of Product Development and Education at A.D. Banker & Company, one of the leading insurance pre-licensing and continuing education providers in the country. She is also the 2020 president of the Securities & Insurance Licensing Authority.

    Barb sat down with me recently to discuss the challenges many have been facing, and continue to face, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown. Although the insurance and financial services industries have been deemed “essential” during shelter-in-place orders, the licensing test centers were not.

    This means that individuals who were already hired to work in the industry could not obtain their licenses, despite having paid significant fees and devoted tremendous amounts of time studying. Similarly, those wanting to be hired or wanting to obtain an additional license or line of authority on an existing license find themselves equally frustrated and stymied.

    On Episode 6 of my podcast, Taking the Mystery out of Insurance, Barb explains what’s been happening to date, how the states are opening up now, and what she anticipates in the future.

    A video of our chat will appear on the podcast’s YouTube Channel later in the week.