TEXAS LAWYERS' INSURANCE EXCHANGE
It's a high fly BAAaaaalllllllllllll!
It's baseball season, and it is also reinsurance renewal season for TLIE.
By way of analogy, there are times when the bat connects with the ball and it
looks and sounds like a great hit! But most of the time it is a high fly ball,
which will be caught, and the batter is out. On to the next batter or next
inning, or even the next game.
That is basically the current situation concerning insurance rates:
after an extended run of stable rates, the predictable rate increase is upon us.
Carriers in every facet of the insurance industry have been affected by the
impact that September 11, Enron, and LPL issues have had on the reinsurance
carriers. TLIE is no exception - an increase in negotiated reinsurance
rates seems inevitable, even though TLIE presently has the highest surplus
since its 1979 origin, and a rating of "A" (Excellent) from A.M. Best.
In short, TLIE's sound and stable condition is not enough in itself to
avoid increases in the reinsurance rates this season. Other carriers without
the stability and financial soundness of TLIE have not been so fortunate, as
they are already completely out of the game.
With some baseball teams, managers are constantly trading one set of
players for another, trying to keep the fans (and the owners) happy.
Unfortunately for the fans this happens so often, it's hard for them to know
"who's on first," much less on second or third.
So it is with certain managing agencies and their agents - they try to
preserve their commission by constantly trading carriers. Often, they
disregard the stability or dependability of the carrier, and the significance
of maintaining continuous coverage in claims-made policies.
Unlike those agents, TLIE writes its own policies - all quotes and
policies are issued directly by TLIE. With us, there is no middleman and no
commission due to an agent who might increase your risk by compromising
(or completely overlooking) the protection of your interests while forfeiting
continuous coverage under your professional liability policy. With TLIE,
there are no outside "owners" to be satisfied either, since TLIE is a
reciprocal exchange, "owned" by our insured members.
The good news is, even if this year is like the proverbial "fly ball"
and predictably, our rates go up somewhat, TLIE is certainly not "out" of
the market -- as are some other professional liability carriers. Our team
is still very much in the game and still swinging the bat. And, again next
year, TLIE will go to bat for our members in an attempt to negotiate favorable
reinsurance terms and help keep the rates our members pay as low as
realistically possible. At TLIE, our mission is to serve the attorneys of
Texas, and keep on serving them year after year - you ARE the fans we
aim to please.
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