Happy Wednesday! In this week's Big I Buzz we are highlighting tips you can share with your clients for BBQ Safety Month and information on today's virtual event that you won't want to miss. 

Barbecue Safety Tips for National Grilling Month

July is National Grilling Month and it's the perfect time to remind your clients about grilling safety tips to keep them and their belongings safe. According to the U.S. Fire Administration, "There are around 5,700 grill fires on residential property each year, causing around $37 million in damages, 100 injuries and 10 fatalities." NU Property Casualty 360 has listed these 8 safety tips: 

1. Always operate your barbecue on a level surface.

2. Keep a fire extinguisher nearby when grilling.

3. Don't move the grill once it is lit. 

4. Keep children and pets away from the grill. 

5. Protect whoever is grilling with a heavy apron and oven mitts that extend over the forearm.

6. Only use lighter fluid specifically designed for grilling. 

7. Never grill indoors or in enclosed areas.

8. Wait until the grill has cooled before storing/covering it. You should also soak charcoal briquettes with water to ensure they are inactive before disposing of them. 

2022 Sales & Leadership Summit Preview Webinar

Today at 1 p.m. MarshBerry's Don Folino will give a preview of what you can expect when you attend the 2022 Sales & Leadership Summit in Neenah, WI on August 23-24. Don will highlight how the summit focuses on the skills and knowledge needed to maximize your potential and start generating more revenue. In addition, Don will highlight MarshBerry's proprietary tool that's designed to enable your leadership team to increase sales, provide perspective on what's working and help drive predictable, profitable organic growth in your organization. Don't miss this preview webinar and learn more about the 2022 Sales & Leadership Summit. Click here to register. 

For more news, check out the Action News section of our weekly e-newsletter, Big I Buzz. If you aren’t subscribed, click here to add your email to our emailing list. Additionally, we send out monthly newsletters with content curated just for you and your role. Make sure you're on the list to receive our communications by heading to bit.ly/industrynewsforyou to stay in the loop!

Happy Wednesday! We hope that everyone enjoyed their Fourth of July weekend and using information last week's Big I Buzz, you were able to avoid some of the holiday travel! 

This week we are sharing information about Wisconsin State Law license plate regulations, what's driving the cyber insurance market and how the federal interest rate hike can affect the insurance industry. 

License Plate Reminder

Now is a great time to remind your clients about Wisconsin State Law license plate regulations to help them avoid unnecessary tickets. Feel free to share the below image and copy on your social media pages. 

Did you know that per Wisconsin State Law if you are issued two license plates you must attach both to your vehicle? Your license plate must be kept in a legible condition, which means no plate covers. This also means that your registration plate lamps, wiring and connections must be maintained in a proper working condition. Finally, if you are given two license plates you must attach the validation sticker to the rear plate as shown below. Connect with your local Trusted Choice independent insurance agent to make sure you've got the coverage you need when it comes to your vehicle! 

Evolving Risk is Driving Cyber Insurance

According to the 2021 NetDiligence Cyber Claims Study, the top five causes of loss for samll and medium-sized enterprises over the last five years based on number of claims was: ransomware, hackers, business email compromise, staff mistakes and phishing.  The increase in ransomware attacks since 2016 has encouraged underwriters to focus on cybersecurity and putting controls in place to help mitigate the impact of cyber events. While there's no way to eliminate cyber risk, insurers are applying minimum requirements on risk controls to obtain cyber coverage like multifactor authentication, endpoint protection and firewalls. Read more about upcoming regulatory enforcement and prevention and resilience here. 

What Fed's Interest Rate Hike Means for Insurance

The Federal Reserve again hiked interest rates Mid-June by 0.75%. Insurance Business reports, that Mark Bernacki, Amwins Chief Underwriting Officer believes,  "Insurance agents should be talking to their clients to make sure they have "sufficient insurance" against a backdrop of soaring loss costs as the Fed seeks to dampen the effects of inflation. They should also be educating them on what the interest rate change means for the insurance market." So, what does this mean for the insurance market? Bernacki stated to Insurance Business Mag, "Obviously, there's the expectation that this could have some short-term pain, both for the economy as well as the insurance industry, but long term this should ultimately be good for both the economy and the insurance industry and also strengthen the labor markets that we're seeing." Read more from the report here. 

For more news, check out the Action News section of our weekly e-newsletter, Big I Buzz. If you aren’t subscribed, click here to add your email to our emailing list. Additionally, we send out monthly newsletters with content curated just for you and your role. Make sure you're on the list to receive our communications by heading to bit.ly/industrynewsforyou to stay in the loop!

Happy Wednesday! In this week's Big I Buzz, we are discussing the educational opportunities available for IIAW members, home renovation risks and the number of Americans facing health care debt. 

IIAW Educational Opportunities

The IIAW is an honored recipient of the Big "I" National 2022 Excellence in Insurance Education (EIE) Diamond Award. This award recognizes state associations and staff who have made significant contributions to insurance educations for their members and the industry. The IIAW offers various traditional and cutting-edge professional development programs! IIAW members have access to our educational opportunities. 

First, we offer in-person and online prelicensing options for Wisconsin insurance professionals. The in-person and online insurance licensing course is led by Gabrielle O'Brien, who has taught more than 20,000 prelicensing students! The IIAW prelicensing course is designed to help you pass your state licensing exam by the quickest method of meeting the WI educations hours requirement. 

Next, we offer online continuing education courses. The WI OCI requires insurance agents in Wisconsin complete 24 hours of continuing education credits with three of those being in ethics every two years. The IIAW provides unique and attention-grabbing courses through our partnership with ABEN. ABEN offers high-quality CE and professional development online webcasts. Now through the end of the month, you can receive 20% off online CE through ABEN with code SUMMERCE. 

Last, but certainly not least, we offer employee training through MyAgencyCampus. MyAgencyCampus offers employee training ranging from insurance basics, specific job roles or even specific business skills. A few bundles we'd like to mention are the Commercial Lines Coverage Basics which includes 25 courses in one bundle, their Introduction to Employee Benefits Insurance Basics and the Personal Lines Coverage Basics. MyAgencyCampus has these bundles and so much more (four pages worth of courses) that you can take to enhance onboarding new employees. 

To learn more about the educational opportunities we offer IIAW members, visit iiaw.com/education.

Insureds Need Help Avoiding Home-Renovation Risks

According to NU Property Casualty 360, "Over a third of homeowners in the U.S. and Canada embarked on renovations during the last year." With the number of homeowners starting home renovations, it's a great time to help them avoid the risks of renovation. [Home renovation projects] "are a chance for home insurance agents to step up for their clients, who may not realize the high chance that their property may sustain water damage during a renovation, or that certain updates, such as finishing a basement or installing a swimming pool, will require additional coverage. One great way to put yourself front-of-mind for your clients is by utilizing your social media sites. IIAW members have access to Trusted Choice's Content to Share. Trusted Choice puts together graphics and captions that you can use on your social media page, and they have great reminders for your social media followers to reach out to you when considering home renovation.

100 Million People in U.S. Saddled With Health Care Debt

Benefits Pro has reported that, "6 in 10 working-age adults with coverage have gone into debt getting care in the past five years, a rate only slightly lower than the uninsured." A nationwide poll from KFF found that about 1 in 7 people said that they've been denied access to a hospital, doctor or other provider because of unpaid bills. "Patient debt is piling up despite the landmark 2010 Affordable Care Act. The law expanded insurance coverage to tens of millions of Americans. Yet, it also ushered in years of robust profits for the medical industry, which has steadily raised prices over the past decade," according to Benefits Pro. This article from Benefits Pro goes in depth about the the KFF Health Care Debt Survey and additional research conducted by the Urban Institute. Read more from this article here. 

For more news, check out the Action News section of our weekly e-newsletter, Big I Buzz. If you aren’t subscribed, click here to add your email to our emailing list.

Good morning & happy Wednesday! In this week's Big I Buzz, we are discussing the free for members report you must see, why you need to register for an upcoming webinar and a look at OSHA's top 10 safety violations.

Are you taking advantage of the Trusted Choice content library? 

As we move into a new season, don't forget to access the new content to share from Trusted Choice. They have a variety of graphics for you to share with your customers (or potential customers) on your social media pages with everything from summer safety tips, holiday graphics and good reminders for your clients to see. If you didn't know that Trusted Choice had a content library for you to use on your social media pages, this is a great time to register for the Intro to Trusted Choice Webinar at 1 p.m. on June 14th. Trusted Choice has much more than just social media posts. They also have a marketing reimbursement plan, they offer free digital reviews and so much more. Make sure you're accessing all of your IIAW benefits and take full advantage of all that Trusted Choice has to offer. 

NEW! The 2021 WI P-C Marketplace Report is Here

IIAW members can access our annual 2021 WI P-C Marketplace Report for FREE (a $399 value). 

A Look at OSHA's Top 10 Safety Violations

Each fiscal year OSHA lists the top 10 workplace safety standards violations that employers should pay attention to. Share this list with your workers' compensation policyholders to better their workplace safety. According to OSHA as published in the National Safety's Council's Safety + Health Magazine here are the top 10 most common violations: 

1. Fall protection - this issue is back at the top of the list for the 11th year in a row. According to Insurance Journal, "Some 5,271 violations were issued to framing contractors, roofing contractors, masonry firms and housing construction contractors. The main cause for citations was a lack of protection near unprotected edges or sides and on steep roofs or lesser-sloped surfaces."

2. Respiratory protection. Insurance Journal reports that, "The chief culprits were auto body refinishing companies, painting contractors, wall covering contractors and masonry contractors. They were cited for absence of a protection program, failure to perform required fit testing and/or lack of medical evaluations."

3. Ladders. "Violations included structurally deficient ladders, a lack of siderails extending three feet beyond a landing surface and the use of ladders for purposes which they're not designed. Another issue: allowing workers to use the top step of a ladder.

4. Scaffolds. "The causes included proper or inadequate decking, failure to provide adequate scaffold support on a solid foundation and lack of safety guardrails," as reported by Insurance Journal. 

5. Hazard communication. According to Insurance Journal, "The main causes were lack of a written hazard communication program as well as inadequate training and/or failure to develop and maintain data safety sheets."

6. Lockout/tagout. This is a category of safety related to the control of hazardous energy. Violations for this category included failure to conduct procedure evals, a lack of established energy control procedures and not providing adequate training. 

7. Fall protection training requirements. This is a separate category from #1, as the failure to give required fall protection training and failure to certify fall protection safety were the main causes of 1,660 violations, according to Insurance Journal.

8. Eye and face protection, in the category of personal protective and lifesaving equipment. 

9. Powered industrial trucks, including forklifts and motorized hand trucks. "Main causes were failure to operate safely, lack of refresher training and evaluation, absence of certification of training and evaluation and failure to examine equipment for adverse conditions."

10. Machine guarding standards, which covers guarding of machinery to protect operators and other workers from hazards. "Main causes were violations of the types of required guards, lack of guarding at point of operation, not properly anchoring machinery, a lack of secure attachment of guards to machinery and improper guarding of fan blades." Read more here. 

For more news, check out the Action News section of our weekly e-newsletter, Big I Buzz. If you aren’t subscribed, click here to add your email to our emailing list.

Happy Wednesday! In this week's Big I Buzz, we are discussing our August Sales & Leadership Conference, the Memorial Day weekend travel forecast and states hit hardest by inflation. 

AAA 2022 Memorial Day Travel Forecast Shows Pre-Pandemic Travel Levels

AAA has released their 2022 Memorial Day Holiday Travel Forecast, and it seems as though travel through this holiday is full-steam ahead! Travel for the holiday weekend is nearing pre-pandemic levels. 

Highlights from the forecast: 

• Memorial Day travel to increase 8.3% over 2021 to 39.2 million. Rising prices are not deterring travel's resurgence this Memorial Day weekend, with travel volumes expected to reach 92% of pre-pandemic levels in 2019. 

• Car travel to increase 4.6% over 201 to 34.9 million. Despite historic highs in gas prices that began in early March, car travel remains a popular choice and will approach 93% of 2019's volume. 

• More than 3 million people will fly this holiday weekend. Air travel continues to rebound, up 25% over 2021 and will make up 7.7% of all holiday weekend travelers, the highest share for air travel since 2011. 

• Travel by other modes will triple from last year's level, with 1.3 million people using transportation like buses, trains and cruise ships. 

The IIAW has shared a graphic outlining the forecast highlights on our Facebook page and in our Big I Buzz email. Feel free to share this with your clients to encourage safe & alert travel this holiday weekend. 

2022 Sales & Leadership Summit  - An IIAW & MarshBerry Partnership

Join the IIAW on August 23 & 24 in Neenah, WI for our 2022 Sales & Leadership Summit, a partnership with MarshBerry. MarshBerry is a nationally recognized advisory firm and top growth consultant for insurance agents, brokers & carriers. MarshBerry instructors will deliver an action-packed 1.5-day summit filled with fantastic topics you won't want to miss. Whether you are looking to train a new sales producer or develop a sales management team, this summit will provide solutions to build and maintain sustainable sales practices and strategies. Stay tuned for our June magazine, where we'll be giving an in-depth look at the different topics that will be covered throughout the summit. 

Registration is $249 per person and includes your ticket and dinner for the Timber Rattlers game. We have limited space available for the event and we encourage everyone to sign up early to secure your spot. Learn more about the event here. 

QuoteWizard: States Hardest Hit By Inflation

A recent study by QuoteWizard, an insurance shopping website, compared the impact of inflation in 2021 versus 2022. Their study found that these are the top 10 states affected (spoiler alert: Wisconsin is among the top 10 states impacted!).

10. Idaho - 5% of people had a "very difficult time" in June 2021 vs. 12% in May 2022. 

9. Montana - 5% of people had a "very difficult time" in June 2021 vs. 12% in May 2022. 

8. Maine - 6% of people had a "very difficult time" in June 2021 vs. 15% in May 2022. 

7. Washington (tie) - 4% of people had a "very difficult time" in June 2021 vs. 10% in May 2022. 

7. Louisiana (tie) - 10% of people had a "very difficult time" in June 2021 vs. 25% in May 2022. 

6. Wisconsin  - 5% of people had a "very difficult time" in June 2021 vs. 13% in May 2022. 

5. New Hampshire - 5% of people had a "very difficult time" in June 2021 vs. 13% in May 2022. 

4. Indiana - 5% of people had a "very difficult time" in June 2021 vs. 13% in May 2022. 

3. Missouri - 6% of people had a "very difficult time" in June 2021 vs. 16% in May 2022. 

2. Florida - 8% of people had a "very difficult time" in June 2021 vs. 22% in May 2022. 

1. Arkansas - 5% of people had a "very difficult time" in June 2021 vs. 15% in May 2022. 

For more news, check out the Action News section of our weekly e-newsletter, Big I Buzz. If you aren’t subscribed, click here to add your email to our emailing list.