We are back with another Big I Buzz. This week, we are discussing why Hyundai owners are being advised to park outside and a new Century 21 lawsuit. We are also covering some important dates that you'll want to add to your calendar from the IIAW. 

Hyundai Warns Owners to Outside, Recalls 180,000 SUVs

Hyundai SUVs could catch on fire because of an electrical short in a computer. Hyundai is telling some SUV owners to park outdoors. With the fire hazard, Hyundai is recalling 180,000 Tucson SUVs in the U.S. from 2019 through 2020. As of September 9th, Hyundai knew of a dozen engine fires caused by the problem, luckily without any injuries. In addition to the computer shortage, Hyundai says if the anti-lock brake warning light comes on, the SUVs should not be driven and owners should disconnect the positive cable on the battery. If needed, owners should contact a Hyundai dealer who will provide a loaner vehicle. 

For more information on the recall, click here. 

Century 21 Lawsuit Against Allianz, Liberty Mutual, Others Just One of Many

According to Insurance Business Magazine, "The battle against business owners and insurance companies over denied business interruption (BI) insurance claims has entered a new stage, as smaller businesses face insolvency and much larger companies prepare to sue insurers. Bloomberg reported that over 1,000 companies have sued because of denied business interruption claims related to COVID-19. 

Read more about the lawsuit here. 

 IIAW Calendar Reminders

1. Add our October 1st webinar, "Impact of COVID-19 on the Insurance Industry" to your calendar. Starting at 10 a.m. on October 1st, our featured speaker, Dr. Steven Weisbart, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist from the Insurance Information Institute will cover how COVID-19 has impacted the insurance industry. Dr. Steven Weisbart oversees the Institute's program of economic research and analysis, preparing studies in support of the organization's communications mission, speaking to media and conducting briefings for member companies, industry organizations and public policymakers. He is a specialist in annuities, pensions, and life, disability and long-term care insurance. Additional, Dr. Weisbart has authored several significant research papers and articles of insurance issues, including the threat of an avian flu pandemic and the effect of U.S. population on the property/casualty insurance industry. 

Register for the webinar here. 

2. Our Online Community is launching on November 1st. IIAW's Community will help our members, vendors, sponsors and IIAW staff to connect. In addition to this new benefit, we have a big incentive for members to participate: top contributors of our Community will receive gifts and prizes that will give back to their local communities, simply for participating!

We are excited to offer our members this free and valuable benefit, and we are eager that together, as a community, we can support your local communities. If you haven't already, read more about how we are supporting you and your local communities in our September magazine here. 

If you or someone within your company would like to be a part of our Online Community but don't have an account through our website just yet, please click here. Once we receive your information, we will get an account set up under your company's membership.

3. The first of the Big "I" Wisconsin CE Days is quickly approaching. On September 29th and November 2nd, you can earn up to eight P&C continuing education credits online in just one day. Big "I" Wisconsin CE Days are being offered by the IIAW in partnership with the Big "I" Virtual University. You can register for as many or as few classes as you'd like, and you can save 25% off with promo code BIGIWICEDAY!

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. We hope that everyone has a great rest of their week! 

In this week's Big I Buzz, we are discussing how an exotic dancer received a $8.6 million insurance payout, new PPP rules from SBA aimed at clarifying loan forgiveness and increase in reports of cyberattacks since the start of the pandemic. 

Exotic Dancer Gets $8.6 Million Insurance Payout

This news strikes close to home as a Middleton, WI-based insurance company has paid a former exotic dancer, Kailee HIggins more than $8 million over a contentious liability claim. In 2010, the exotic dancer was served as many as 15 shots by the Centerfolds Club staff (located in Worcester, MA, she was escorted to her car and drove off resulting in a collision with an off-duty police officer. The dancer later sued the club alleging that they were liable for serving her alcohol and letting her drive under the influence of alcohol. Higgins was awarded $5.4 million initially but it was increased to $8.6 million in consideration of attorney's fees and interest calculations. 

New PPP Rules From SBA Aimed At Clarifying Loan Forgiveness

The U.S. Small Business Administration released an interim final rule this week. What has changed in the PPP rules? "The new guidelines state that an owner-employee or a C- or S- corporation who has less than a 5% ownership stake will not be subject to the owner-employee compensation rule, which caps the amount of loan forgiveness on owner-employee compensation," according to Forbes. Previously, the owner-employee compensation rule stated, "anyone with stake in a company - no matter how small - that took out a PPP loan was eligible for forgiveness of the lesser of $20,833 or 20.833% of their 2019 compensation or $15,385 or 15.385% if the borrower elected to use an eight-week covered period." Read more about the new rule here.

FBI Sees A 400% Increase In Reports Of Cyberattacks Since The Start Of The Pandemic

Since the start of the pandemic, as more people work from home there has been a rapid increase in cybersecurity incidents among small- to mid-sized business. According to cybersecurity firm DIGIGUARD, here's three steps that small to mid-sized businesses can take to protect their systems from cyber intrusion,

"• Secure and update network perimeter defenses along endpoints taht access the network, such as computers and mobile phones

• Back up and secure business data for recovery in the event of a cyberattack or system failure

• Train employees to recognize and avoid cyber threats like phishing attacks and malware"

Because there has been a 400% increase in reports of cyberattacks, ransomware attacks are increasingly targeting small- to medium-sized businesses. 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. We hope that everyone has a great rest of their week! 

In this week's Big I Buzz, we are discussing new changes coming to IIAW Committees, how agents can adapt to the "new normal" and how major US insurers see lower coronavirus costs than expected. 

New, Exciting Changes to IIAW's Committees

The IIAW Committees are more important than ever! With the launch of our Online Community on November 1st, we will be moving our current committees online, and committees will now be called "Groups".

Group participation in our Online Community with be recognized and awarded! Earn gift certificates to your hometown restaurants, donations for your favorite local charity, IIAW swag and prizes.

If you're new to the Association or have thought about joining a committee in the past, now is the time to join as a Thought Leader on our new Online Community. A "Thought Leader" is an industry leader for topics within a Group. If you want to join a Group without being a Thought Leader, you can! Three is no limit to the number of Groups you can be a member of. The invitation to join a Group as a member and not a Thought Leader will be sent at a later date. Learn more about the Online Community, its Groups and Thought Leaders here. 

Digital, Accelerated: How Agents Can Adapt to the New Normal

With easy, instant, online buying experiences now the norm, consumers have come to expect the same from every company they do business with. COVID-19's impact on our everyday normal has accelerated the shift towards digital. Foundational tools for a digital shift internally include agencies setting up a virtual private network (VPN), investing in a cloud-based agency management system (AMS) and also, setting up a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone system to let your staff make and receive calls from your office number even if they are working from home. Read more from Independent Agent here. 

Major US insurers see lower coronavirus costs than expected

A new Q2 2020 report of five insurers that have large US operations shows what they call a 'relatively modest $2.5 million blow'", according to analysts cited by Reuters. "The $2.5 billion loss is lower than was initially feared and the loss has been absorbed by the industry without insurers resorting to more bad tidings in the form of major claims just around the corner, considering that the coronavirus continues to spread," according to Insurance Business Magazine.

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 mailing list. We hope that everyone has a great rest of their week!

In this week's Big I Buzz we are covering Allstate's push into the independent space, pro sports players associations stance on the Senate Republican stimulus proposal and we look into the states ranked by uninsured rates. 

Allstate's $4 billion push into the independent space

Allstate has announced that it will acquire National General Holdings for $4 billion in their attempt to step into the independent agent channel. According to Insurance Business America, "There is talk that Allstate is in the middle of a major restructuring that would see thousands of staff being laid off. News of a major acquisition deal despite Allstate's alleged internal issues raises more questions than answers, and some may wonder why the insurer went through with this deal."

Pro sports players associations come out against key McConnell stimulus priority

The executive directors of the NFL, NBA, NHL Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer players associations signed onto a letter raising concerns about the liability protections included in the Senate Republican proposal introduced last week. Read more about the proposals from both the Republican and Democratic parties here. The players associations were opposing the structure of the proposal because the legislation does not explicitly provide liability protections for those who engage in willful misconduct or grossly negligent behavior, providing a tighter scope on the bill's safe harbor than the players association asserts, according to CNN. 

States ranked by uninsured rates

Becker's Hospital Review has ranked the states by their uninsured rates. This report compared uninsured rates in 2018 to rates in May 2020 with information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Urban Institute. Texas ranked at the top with the highest uninsured rate in the U.S - with 29 percent of adults uninsured as of May, according to a report from Families USA. The total number of uninsured in the U.S. climbed to 21 percent due in part to layoffs tied to the COVID-19 pandemic in recent months, according to Becker's Hospital Review. Wisconsin's uninsured rate sits at 10 percent at the time of this report. 

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 mailing list. We hope that everyone has a great rest of their week!

On this week's Big I Buzz, we're discussing the workers' comp rate decrease, a COVID-19 liability update from WCJC and how wearables have become important to doctors throughout the pandemic. 

Workers' Comp Rate Decrease

The Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance approved an overall workers' comp rate decrease. See the Wisconsin Compensation Rating Bureau's Circular letter here. 

Wisconsin Civil Justice Council COVID-19 Liability Update

The Wisconsin Civil Justice Council released a new COVID-19 liability update. The updated discussed a Wisconsin Legislative Council brief on businesses' use of COVID-19 liability waivers. The mentioned brief reported that Wisconsin courts are "generally skeptical of liability waivers" and would likely refuse to uphold them in future cases. "With individual liability waivers likely off the table, it is even more important for Wisconsin to enact state-level liability protections for Wisconsin businesses facing COVID-19 lawsuits," the WCJC update read. 

The Future of Staying Healthy is Sitting on Your Wrist

As COVID-19 continues to spread throughout the U.S., many people are choosing to stay at home instead of seeing their usual doctors for annual check-ups. Instead of heading to the doctor's office for their appointments, people are turning to telemedicine. Prior to COVID-19, doctors couldn't do much with the information pulled from smart watches but now, the FDA has allowed certain Apple Watch models to take EKG for diagnosis on a telemedicine call.  According to protocol, "In the future, wearables will likely help us realize that we're sick even before we do - and help us prevent illnesses rather than treating them after the fact. Even with COVID, some early trials have suggested that data that existing wearables can collect could be enough to help people know when they've contracted the virus." 

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. We hope that everyone has a great rest of their week!