Surplus lines or lloyds policy alert !
 

So Lloyds has about the highest financial rating of any insurance company anywhere. What is the real risk?

Or are you saying there are fake policies out there?

LLOYDS is an insurance marketplace.The individual groups are called syndicates and on occasion these syndicates do go bankrupt due to catastrophic claims or poor loss history.I stated before that your state insurance department will not help you and everything I stated previously about filing,special licenses,and tax payment is correct.The claim process will not be easy and could be a long drawn out affair. There is also a problem with some agents not filing these policies with the state and keeping the tax money as an easy profit source.I would also like to point out that some boat loan sources will not accept a surplus lines policy. I stated before,check with your state if you have a surplus lines policy.

Surplus Lines
 

Still looking for my policy. My State Insurance Dept. said they would investigate. They need my policy number which was never provided. I have no idea where my policy is or what has happened to my tax money is since it has not been reported. Any advise at this point?
Jimmy Mac

I have been contacted by 12 people so far about their SURPLUS LINES/LLOYDS policies after they found out that the state had no record of their policies as required by insurance law.I'm sure there are more people with the same problem.I can only advise that the policy holder keep checking with their agent or company to see why the policy has not been filed and try to find out who has the tax money that has to be sent to the state with these type of policies.I only wrote a few of these policies and my agency had a SURPLUS LICENSE for the state or we hired a service to do the filing and forward the tax money.

5 more people with these policies and no record with their state insurance department.

Sy, you got my insurance for me on my 1997 Powerplay 10 years ago and were great to deal with. I'd call you first when I buy another boat!

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After checking with MY State insurance Dept, there is no record of any policy in my name. The policy has not been filed or any of the tax money paid has been applied. I have a feeling the tax money has disappeared.
I am going to report my agent and insurance company to my State Insurance Dept.

I would suggest any other boater in the same situation to look for better coverage . My new hi performance boat will be insured by Sy where I can get a policy from a legitimate company and a Licensed US Insurance Carrier.

Lastly, on July 31. 2018, I read that Lloyd's has just lost 2.6 Billion Dollars, their CEO has retired and most of their claims for destroyed homes in Hawaii have been denied. They were covered for lava flows. The lave rolled next to these homed burning them to the ground. Lloyd's agreed the losses were total but denied claims because the damage was done by fire not lava which set the houses on fire. Naturally they are in litigation. Lloyd's is reviewing all aspects of all their policies to help cover these losses. This is not the way I want to deal with an insurance company. I want a licensed US Insurance Carriers protection on my new boat.

jimmac,let me know how you made out with your insurance department after you reported your agent.I guess that the surplus lines tax money is being used to fund some insurance agents kid's college tuition bills.I will have someone at TOTAL DOLLAR INSURANCE provide a quote for you when your new boat is close and the insurance company will be a U.S.,A rated licensed and admitted carrier so you will not have to worry.I will get your name and underwriting info and make sure that the right person handles your business.

Thank you for the education

Sy what carrier do you have or use?

STATE NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY. They are a U.S. A rated,licensed in all states,and are admitted (NOT SURPLUS LINES OR LLOYDS).I'm hearing rumors that TOTAL DOLLAR will soon have another company shortly with the same features.

Ok, since State National Insurance Company is purely a fronting company and bares no risk you rely on 100% Reinsurance and i was almost positive that Total Dollars book was 100% Reinsured by Lloyd's syndicates so i am curios if that's true how do they differ from Lloyd's syndicates you are bashing?

I am on vacation and will respond when I return

I will return on 9/12 and will respond shortly after with reality and a new more important question ,

And then he will delay because Florence is hitting and then something else.....

It's like when the news says "don't do _______ because it could kill you, tune in next week to see what it is"

Like when he had a big reveal for the Rice Hauler story..............and it never was reported.

9/17 I personally am Still waiting to get educated and hear what the difference is between the two.

My apologies for the delay, being retired allows me to extend my vacations.
First and foremost the thread was regarding Surplus Lines, but if y ou would like to know about the Total Dollar product there is nothing to hide. We are underwritten by an ADMITTED insurer which, as such, had been scrutinized by every State Insurance Department to make sure that policyholder surplus exists to pay claims. They, like every other insurer in the world purchase reinsurance. Where that reinsurance is purchased could be a Lloyds syndicate or could be from any number of reinsurers in the world. Currently it is backed by one of the largest reinsurers in the world.

State National carries a Financial Rating of A by AM Best, which is considered Excellent and a financial size rating of IX (AMBEST.COM) Additional great news about State National is that they were purchased by Markel at the end of 2017(Attachment 576012). The Markel Corporation carries a rating of A Excellent and has a financial size rating of XV, which means its assets are $2B or better in surplus. This further strengthens the security of our product and we were excited for the news as well as to share it.

Now, back to the original point of this thread. Surplus lines policies are written on a NON-ADMITTED basis through carriers that are NOT protected by either your State Insurance Department nor the State Guaranty Fund. Should you monitor who backs your non-admitted policy and you are happy with their financial strength, maybe the Guaranty Fund is not a big deal, but you are also losing the protection of your State Insurance Department. Additionally, most states have laws that require our policy be written through an admitted carrier IF AVAILABLE, and they generally charge a surplus line tax that is to be paid to the state via a LICENSED SURPLUS LINES BROKER. Your broker has a responsibility to collect and pay that tax, and if they do not pay that tax, it is theft plain and simple.

In the end, Total Dollar has been the premier provider of admitted products in the Performance Powerboat Community for many years, and expect to be for many more. We are constantly monitoring trends in the industry and making sure we provide a stable platform for this community from both an insurance rate and coverage standpoint. We are the only ones that give a $50K Personal Accident which covers the insured's bodily injury or death should something happen to them on the water besides just damage to their boat.


Back to my original point--Check to make sure your premium tax on your surplus lines policy was paid, that your are dealing with a qualified Surplus Lines broker who is properly licensed in your state or at least prtnered with someone that is and anyone telling you not to share your policy information should be questioned on what are they hiding? We will never tell you that.

This is directed to the moderator that deleted my non-spam useful, and truthful post. Not sure what he's paying you, but you too will get burned in time........

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA, why not ban me? He doesn't have that much power over you? Weak, very weak moderation.

I had wanted to avoid contributing to this thread since its original posting in April by Sy Goldberg. The reason being that the original posting contained many inaccuracies and was clearly started to spread misinformation, rather than serve as an informative contribution to readers. Further, a lack of interest and commentary led me to believe any contribution would simply go unnoticed. However, I have been writing high performance boat insurance for more than two decades through admitted and non-admitted carriers, and my expertise could clearly be used on this matter.


1. Non-Admitted Carriers represent a very large portion of the insurance premiums written here in the U.S. and abroad. Non-admitted carriers have to receive approval to write business in the U.S. and they must maintain large escrow accounts, as a means of demonstrating liquidity and providing a “guarantee fund” for their insureds. The non-admitted market is more capable of providing tailor made coverages, as they are able to offer terms and pricing to insureds without approval from the states they are doing business in. This allows for non-admitted markets to operate more nimbly and adjust to market conditions more freely.

2. What is Lloyd’s of London? Lloyd’s is the largest and longest standing insurance marketplace in the world. Lloyd’s is comprised of insurance syndicates that are conducting business on a global scale. These syndicates are comprised of household names, such as Travelers and CHUBB, along with some of the largest marine insurers in the world: Markel, Amlin, Brit, MunichRE, Navigators and Tokio Marine. Lloyd’s acts as a governing body for the syndicates and provides oversight on performance and profitability. Lloyd’s also acts as a reinsurance marketplace for many domestic, admitted insurers. Lloyd’s has never had a syndicate become insolvent. They maintain an A-Rating from AM Best.

3. Fronting Companies: Check out the website from State National and National Specialty: https://www.statenational.com/fronting/. In their own words, “Fronting is a contractual arrangement in which an insurances carrier allows policies to be issued in its name, with all or most of the risk reinsured by a third party”. In the instance of Sy Goldberg and the policy he is touting, 100% of the risk is reinsured through one of the syndicates I note above at Lloyd’s. They are 100% responsible for claim handling and settlement. Any attack on Lloyd’s or non-admitted markets would go against the company paying claims submitted under his own policy. It should be noted that I have no issue with the use of fronting companies or the use of Lloyd’s as a reinsurance marketplace, these are simply the facts surrounding the structure of this arrangement.

4. State Guarantee Funds: State Guarantee funds are meant to protect consumers from an insurer becoming insolvent. However, it should be noted that most guarantee funds come with a limit per policy holder, often $250,000, although this varies by state. It should also be noted that an insolvency would almost always be accompanied by a catastrophe in a geographic area. These guarantee funds are intended to protect lower value assets and would almost certainly be deployed to provide coverage to primary residences and other more “necessary” assets, before dispersing funds to cover damaged high performance vessels. Long story short, if you are banking on a guarantee fund then I wish you luck.

5. On an non-admitted policy, you will be charged surplus lines taxes and fees. These taxes and fees vary depending on the state they are filed in. The filing state will depend on vessel registration, mooring location or the residency of the insured. Often the overriding combination of these factors will determine the filing state. The placing broker will need to carry a resident or non-resident surplus lines license in the state the filing occurs in. Our insureds know how transparent we are about these fees and they are always filed with the appropriate state. Obviously, I am unable to speak on the practices of other agencies.

6. Price alone should not be the driver to a non-admitted market, but many other factors come into play when selecting an insurer. Differences in coverage, deductible levels, approval of operators, available navigation, reputation and many other reasons may lead an insured to select a non-admitted market or broker representing a non-admitted product.



My overall message to insureds has always been, do business with an agent you trust and one that represents a product they understand. Feel free to contact me directly with any other questions or comments you might have.

Devin Wozencraft
www.wozencraftinsurance.com

Great reply Devin and very informative and to the point.

A. I buy coverage from Non admitted carriers all the time. It is good paper if the company has solid A ratings and is properly capitalized. The whole issue on this topic is fear driven to steer business to one company.

NOTE: I know all the parties in this thread and consider them to be resources for insurance quotes.

B. Lloyds is a great company but the real issue none of the insurance reps discuss is claims made? How well does the carrier pay claims made by insured or is it notorious for denial of claims. For me it doesn't amount to a hill of beans if you have a HUUUGE claim policy limits or similar claim and the alleged A+ carrier denies coverage. I want to know that a company will pay on a claim? I know of at least two boating claims by this alleged A- company mentioned in this thread...wherein denial of coverage was the position taken on the pending claim. What the hell does that mean? It means you now need to retain coverage counsel to sue the carrier to pay or provide coverage for the claim either partial or complete. All of this out of pocket attorneys fees by the insured a eye opening nightmare to the lay person. So you never made a claim and when the feces hits the fan they tell you one reason or another it's not covered and your like what the hell? Yeah so much for them being an admitted carrier and listed and the like pffft.

READ your policy from front to back especially the exclusion parts and you might be shocked at how little you are covered and some sneaky exclusions. For example if your found to have alcohol in your system [greater than legal limit some say any alcohol] all coverage is null and void even if the fault is 100% the other parties.

Now one thing about requesting a declaration page strikes me as particularly asinine. No one needs a dec page they can do the work and quote without it.

If you have a current policy DO NOT provide the other company with the declaration page without redacting the prices paid for coverage. Your shopping for the best price and service if they are good they don't need the declaration page. Let each one of them provide you with the price and check bid them on both amounts of coverage and agreed value including separate quote for trailer. I have previously shopped my boat coverage to all three people on this thread and made a decision. Note: If boat is destroyed or totaled most policies won't pay you for the trailer...what is a trailer worth without a boat...nada nothing. Check your policy and discuss with your agent/broker.

Now all this bickering between the companies is nonsense as a consumer shop them out and don't believe disparaging remarks if anyone makes them about another company steer clear of that rhetoric. In the end you want the best company from a perspective of paying when a claim is made, agreed value, good coverage amounts and reasonable deductibles. Don't let insurance companies change the deductible to get you closer to a competitors price that is gamesmanship and bull chit.

Interesting thread I will disclose I am covered by Wozencraft insurance on all three of my boats. I did shop the policy to both the other parties in this thread and it wasn't even close in terms of coverage for the price. I don't take sides when it comes to quotes and business... friends are friends but business is business goes the cliché and life for that matter.