Happy Wednesday! We hope that everyone had a great Labor Day. In this week's Big I Buzz, we are discussing the states with the most auto thefts and why you should register for Trusted Choice's upcoming webinar. 

Hot Spots for Hot Cars: Colorado Leads U.S. In Vehicle Theft Rate, California in Overall Thefts

A new report from National Insurance Crime Bureau found that Texas, California, Florida, Illinois and Colorado are all places where your car is most likely be gone in 60 seconds. Insurance Journal reported, "Nationwide, 932,329 vehicles were reported stolen to law enforcement in 2021, a 6% increase over 2020, and a 17% increase since 2019. The top five states by volume - Illinois, Florida, Colorado, California and Texas - account for 44% of all vehicle thefts nationwide. Colorado led the nation in 2021 with the highest overall theft rate at 661.21 thefts per 100,000 people, up from 502. 12 in 2020 and an increase of 32%.

Read more here. 

Register Now for the Intro to Trusted Choice Webinar

Get to know Trusted Choice and all the free programs and resources available to you as part of your membership. The webinar is happening on Wednesday, September 14th at 1:30 CST. Here are some reasons why you should take advantage of this IIAW member benefit:

Trusted Choice has a Marketing Reimbursement Program available to assist agents with branding efforts, website upgrades and securing more leads.

They also offer a free Trusted Choice Digital Review which analyzes your website and social media channels and gives you actionable feedback you can use to strengthen your online presence.  

Trusted Choice has a content library with content to share on your social media channels. Additionally, they have FREE customizable marketing campaigns. 

This is just a glimpse of the programs and services Trusted Choice has to offer. Register for the upcoming webinar to learn more. 

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 reminding you about your last chance to register for FREE continuing education credits and the latest prediction for auto premiums in 2023. 

Free CE Classes Brought to You By PuroClean

The IIAW's Gold-Level Supporting Company member, PuroClean, will be hosting FREE continuing education courses on Friday, September 16th at the Machine Shed in Waukesha. 

Earn three credits for their Errors & Omissions course from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. This course is not eligible for premium credit. And, earn another three credits for their Toxic Mold Remediation course from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Lunch is provided during this event. Fill out the registration form and send it over to Abby Coffey by September 9th to attend. Click here for the registration form and submission instructions. 

Auto Premiums Could Climb Another 12% in 2023

A new report from Insurify predicts that insures could pay an average of $1,846 for auto premiums, which would be an increase of 12% from the previous year. The prediction is a result of rising car prices from COVID-19. Between 2020 and 2021, new car prices had spiked 17.2% over previous years. According to a report from the Zebra, "In 2019, the average new car cost was $36,824 and is projected to climb over $47,000 by the close of 2021. Used cars have followed a similar trend, with the average price of a preowned vehicle increasing from $19,863 in 2019 to $28,205 in 2021. Read more from NU Property Casualty 360 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 your last call to register for the event of the summer, new requirements for TPMO when selling Medicare Advantage and/or Part D Plans and findings from the Big "I" 2022 Market Share Report! 

Last Chance to Register 

Don't miss out on this year's Sales & Leadership Summit happening in Neenah, WI on August 23-24. MarshBerry instructors will deliver an action-packed 1.5-day workshop filled with topics focused on building your strong sales culture. To know where your agency stands, you need to benchmark your sales culture in four key areas: sales leadership, performance management, people development and technology. PLUS your registration includes access to the 1.5-day workshop, meals and ticket to a Timber Rattlers baseball game on August 23rd! Registration closes tomorrow at 5 p.m. Save your spot before registration closes now: https://bit.ly/SalesLeadershipSummit.

New Requirements for TPMO When Selling Medicare Advantage and/or Part D Plans

Recently, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule that will affect all agents & brokers who sell Medicare Advantage and Part D plans. The IIAW has put together an informative brochure created by your team at the IIAW to help you navigate these mandatory requirements. The agency will need to update disclaimers (written and verbal) and will also be required to record specified phone conversations as part of this change. All requirements must be implemented by October 1st, 2022. View the brochure outlining the necessary steps to become compliant with the new requirements here. 

Independent Agents Place Majority of U.S. P&C Insurance: Big I

Big "I" has released their 2022 Market Share Report, and the findings show that the independent agency channel places 63% of all property-casualty insurance written in the U.S. According to Insurance Journal, "Based on 2021 data, this year's report points to independent agencies' dominance in commercial lines, finding that nearly 88%% of all commercial lines written premium is placed by the independent agency channel. The Big "I"'s 2022 Market Share Report summary emphasizes direct premiums, direct losses and the associated direct underwriting results before reinsurance. Read the article from Insurance Journal here. IIAW members have access to the 2022 Market Share Report. If you need assistance with your login information to access the report on the independentagent.com, please feel free to reach out to info@iiaw.com and we would be happy to assist you with getting access! 

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 have news about what sports analytics & insurance have in common and a new way to get involved with the IIAW.

In 2002, the Oakland Athletics were an underdog to long-standing industry titans like the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants. The odds were stacked against the franchise, but the A’s were still intent on trying to win. To do so, they had to get creative and consider defying convention.

What does this have to do with insurance? Every industry starts somewhere with data.

What General Manager Billy Beane and Assistant General Manager Paul Depodesta (“Peter Brand” in the movie) unlocked was the true power in the data as it came to the object of the game — scoring more runs than the opponent. The vast majority of what they believed in aligns with conventional wisdom (home runs are good), but some of it did not and it was in those margins, through the data, that Oakland won.

Twenty years later, we have reached commercial insurance’s Moneyball era. Like baseball, insurance is also a tremendous generator and consumer of data, with some information dating back more than a century. It has legacy titans and legacy thinking that are ripe for disruption. It even has “losses.”

There are three ways commercial insurance is primed for its Moneyball era. 1. The principle of 'one number'. 2. Every attribute matters. 3. Start with the box score. 

You can read the entire article here!

Get Involved with IIAW's Task Forces & Councils 
Educate • Network • Plan

The IIAW is excited announce new Task Forces and Councils! Each Task Force or Council will have 3 virtual meetings per year and act as a sounding board for planning IIAW education, events and other member benefits.

All agency employees and the following Supporting Company Members: Silver, Gold, Diamond & Exclusive are welcome to participate in one or more groups!

Learn more here!

2022 Sales & Leadership Summit

Who: Insurance professionals, agents, company and other industry employees.
When: August 23-24th, 2022
Where: Bridgewood Resort Hotel & Conference Center, Neenah, WI

MarshBerry instructors will deliver an action packed 1.5-day workshop filled with fantastic topics you won't want to miss!  Our 2022 Sales & Leadership Summit will be led by Don Folino, MarshBerry Sales Performance Consultant, and Eric Kuhen, MarshBerry Senior Strategy Consultant. Register Here!

By: Misha Lee, IIAW Lobbyist

Get ready Wisconsinites for yet another closely watched, competitive election year. That’s according to the latest results from a new Marquette University Law School poll released earlier this month. The poll of 803 registered voters suggests that the high profile primary races among Republicans for the job of Governor and for the coveted position of United States Senator among Democrats are equally shaping up to be tight contests with just less than a month and a half to go until the August 9 primaries and the general election to follow on November 8. These two races, in particular, are important politically because they could ultimately decide who controls the U.S. Senate and/or whether the state of Wisconsin will continue with split party governance or have one party control of the legislative and executive branches next session.

In the now, five-way Republican gubernatorial primary that determines who will face off against first-term, incumbent Democrat Governor Tony Evers, business owner Tim Michels and former Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch are running in a neck-and-neck race with Michels having a slight lead of 27 percent among Republicans and Independents who say they will vote in the GOP primary. Kleefisch received support from 26 percent of primary voters, Kevin Nicholson had 10 percent, Tim Ramthun 3 percent, and relative unknown Adam Fischer with less than .5 percent.

Tim Michels’ candidacy is a late entry into the race since April 22 and yet already he has made a name for himself (aside from his well-known Wisconsin construction business - Michels Corporation), most notably receiving the much-sought-after endorsement of former President Donald Trump, who continues to carry significant sway in Wisconsin and nationwide among Republican voters. Michels returns to the political stage having last ran for public office nearly two decades ago in 2004 when he won a four-way Republican primary for U.S. Senate. He ultimately lost in the general election to former U.S. Senator Russ Feingold. Kleefisch, who is most known for serving alongside former Governor Scott Walker for two full terms as Lt. Governor from 2011 to 2019, has been campaigning for the better part of a year now and leads slightly in favorability ratings among her GOP rivals with 44 percent favorability versus 10 percent who had an unfavorable view of her. Candidate Michels was close behind with 42 percent favorability and 7 percent unfavorable; Nicholson at 27 percent; and Ramthun with 3 percent. The most noteworthy statistic in this race taken from the latest poll results is that a substantial 32 percent (nearly one third) of Republican primary voters remain undecided in this contest, meaning this race is a toss-up as each of the candidates try to convince the large swath of undecided voters to support them as the Republican nominee. For someone like Kleefisch, who is a pretty well-known commodity among GOP voters and who has been campaigning longer and harder than the rest of the field, it will likely be more difficult for her to pick up significant votes from this group of undecideds unless her campaign is able to convince them that she is the only candidate in the GOP field that can defeat Evers in November.

The Marquette poll also revealed a close race in Wisconsin’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary that will determine who will challenge incumbent U.S. Senator Ron Johnson who is running for another 6-year term despite having initially said that he wouldn’t run again. Current Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes, who is widely seen as the primary race’s frontrunner, leads the rather large, eight-person field with 25 percent of Democratic primary voters who say they would vote for him. Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry, received 21 percent with the four-point differential between him and Barnes falling within the poll’s margin of error making the race a virtual tie. In a distant third and fourth place and not gaining much ground from previously conducted polls is Wisconsin State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski who received just 9 percent and Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson who received 7 percent support. The other remaining candidates received 1 percent or less. At some point it is possible one or both of these primary candidates (Godlewski and Nelson) may decide to suspend their campaigns due to lack of momentum and possibly throw their support behind another candidate which could dramatically alter who leads the field. Similarly as in the Republican gubernatorial race, a significant 36 percent of Democratic U.S. Senate primary voters still have not made up their minds on who to support in this wide open contest. More than one-third of primary voters are still up for grabs in this primary battle. It will be a close race to the August 9 finish line for sure, but the campaigns for Mandela Barnes and Alex Lasry have clearly established themselves as the two leading Democratic candidates in this Senate primary.

The poll also previewed early head-to-head general election matchups between incumbent Governor Tony Evers and his potential Republican challengers, as well as U.S. Senator Ron Johnson against his potential Democratic rivals. The poll results revealed some initial positive news for Evers in that he leads all of his potential challengers regardless of who might emerge in the primary.

While it is still very early to make any assumptions about these results and the mood of the electorate is certainly volatile heading into November, Evers’ lead over his potential challengers highlights the advantages of incumbency and having the bully pulpit, especially if the incumbent hasn’t given voters a real strong reason to send him packing. The closest general election matchup in the poll is between Evers and Kleefisch where he has a slight lead of 47 percent to 43 percent and it was the only matchup that fell within the poll’s margin of error. However, unlike Evers, U.S. Senator Ron Johnson trailed all but one potential challenger in a head-to-head matchup, according to the poll revealing his vulnerability as an incumbent seeking re-election. The only candidate where Johnson led was against Alex Lasry by just three percentage points and all matchups fell well within the poll’s margin of error meaning this will be a very tight race in November no matter who emerges from the Democratic side. Some observers highlight that Sen. Johnson is the number one target nationally for Democrats as a seat to pick up in November. Johnson has trailed in the polls before and somehow managed to win. It remains to be seen whether or not he can continue that streak in an off-presidential election year where turnout and how independent voters break will be a determining factor.

The Marquette Law School poll interviewed 803 registered Wisconsin voters by landline or cell phone from June 14-20, 2022. The margin of error is +/-4.3 percentage points for the full sample. The margin of error for 369 Democratic primary voters is 6.2 percentage points and for 372 Republican primary voters is 6.3 percentage points.

See the official poll results at bit.ly/MarquettePollResults.