One of the struggles that agents have in a hard market is finding markets for risks that they traditionally didn't have a problem placing. That's where the E&S market can come to play. In this session, Joe Harrington brings his perspective on the challenges that come along with working with E&S carriers, including the need to work through a broker and those pesky non-standard policy forms.

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Driven away from standard carriers by hard market conditions, many insureds (and even some insurance professionals) are encountering the excess and surplus lines market for the first time. This fast-paced hour is designed to remove some of the mysteries of the E&S market and deal with wholesalers and brokers. Join us as Rick Pitts and Diane Smith bring us up to date on how to best work with the E&S market.

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When the market is hard or the risk is hard to place, the surplus lines market is often a viable alternative to placing a risk with an admitted carrier. That isn't to say that it isn't complicated. It's very complicated. It's not like picking between two personal auto carriers, whose rates and forms are so similar that they would require hours of painstaking review to determine the differences. Join us as Chris Burand brings his take on working with the surplus lines carriers and brokers and what the implications for an agency might be.

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Working with E&S carriers and brokers is not just business as normal, nor is it so out of bounds that the retail agent should be scared away from doing it. Approaching an E&S carrier is potentially a viable option as the market hardens for each line of business. Risks that would normally be placed with an admitted carrier may entertain an E&S quote. Join us as Casey Roberts brings this timely session.

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When agents and brokers sell based on how an insurance company responds with fair coverage language, you cannot be beaten. Over the last five years, over 280 appellate decisions have come down either expanding coverage or, more frequently, narrowing the scope of coverage dramatically. As is often said, the devil is in the details, which is exactly what this class will examine. This course will examine specific appellate decisions with respect to language in specialty line policies that can create error and omission claims for insurance brokers. Join us as Fred Fisher brings helps us to understand what recent court decisions may mean to us and how we can avoid these suits altogether.

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What's going on in the surplus lines world? Is it still the wild-west or does it calm down sometimes? Are prices on the rise? Is that market hardening, like others are? Join us as Chris Behymer helps us to understand the surplus lines sector better.

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Let's face it. Hard markets come and soft markets go, but no matter how loose or tight the underwriting guidelines get, there will always be risks that the standard market will look at and reject. They are too out of the box, too new, or too far from their underwriting appetite. Effective use of the surplus lines marketplace can increase revenues and assist in retaining key clients. Join us as Chris Behymer helps us to understand what's going on in this vital segment of the insurance marketplace.

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So who do wholesale brokers work for? That's the question we plan to answer in this session. Join us as Fred Fisher cuts through the mythology surrounding the role of the wholesale broker and helps us to better work with those in that space.

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As risks become more complex and the underwriting of less complex risks becomes more automated, the role of the wholesale agent becomes more important.

Join Richard Faber as he guides us through the role of the wholesale agent in the 21st-century insurance market.

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