News & Events
Profax 2/1/2010 - 2/1/2010
DOUBLE WHAMMY! Farmers, crop insurance companies and crop agents will be seeing a double whammy if the current
SRA Negotiations become law. Actually it could be a triple whammy if House Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson
gets his way in the 2012 “next” Farm Bill. He has announced plans to begin hearings this spring and then hold “listening
sessions” around the country this summer. What are the “whammys”? Budgeting processes work off a “baseline”. The
USDA baseline for crop insurance was reduced by nearly $6 billion in the 2008 Farm Bill [whammy #1]. Now the current
SRA proposal by USDA and RMA is to cut another $4 billion in just 4 years which takes the baseline even lower [whammy
#2]. Here is whammy #3 for agents: During a speech to the National Wheat Growers last week, he said, “ . . .paying
agents a specific fee for each policy written may be a better system of compensation.” He is joined by Nebraska’s Senator
Johanns. Guess who’s getting all this lost “whammy” money”---it’s still in the USDA budget but it is in nutrition—a
whopping 70% of the USDA budget now goes to nutrition. The farmer will be getting EVEN less. There is also talk of
cutting subsidies to farmers including direct payments, loan guarantees, ACRE, CRP and crop insurance subsidies in the
next farm bill. The only salvation might be the November 2010 elections?
DUMB IDEA: President Obama announced his plan to impose a “Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee” [tax] in seeking “every
dime” back from the failing financial services industry. Noble idea but dumb process by assessing the fee [tax] against ALL
financial service firms including property/casualty insurance companies! Guess who’s exempt—Fannie Mae, Ginnie Mae
and Freddie Mac! The non-exempt companies will be required to pay the fee even if they have paid back the TARP loans,
with interest and even if they never received any federal money at all—dumb! While the fee will apply only to banks and
insurers with over $50 billion in assets, supporters say everyone should contribute and they will. The fees are a pass
through to smaller banks and insurers who have to borrow from the big banks. Reinsurers will be tapped and have to do
a pass-through to the smaller banks and insurance companies. Dumb idea.
IS NEW TECHNOLOGY IN YOUR AGENCY’S FUTURE? A recent survey by RingCentral found that small offices do much of
their work AWAY from their physical office. Here are some interesting results. Almost half [45%] of these small
businesses work AWAY from their offices 75% of the time. That’s significant! Eighty percent [80%] try to give the
impression to their clients that they are IN their offices. Over half [57%] reported having some employees working from a
virtual office—somewhere—NOT in their conventional location. This is quickly becoming a common trend. Owners,
producers and even some CSRs can easily work from anywhere with real-time access to the office files, dual or triple
screens, easy communication routing—all for free or very little cost. No “t-lines”, no fancy servers, and no time
consuming training—but merely accessible Internet. Learn more about this phenomenon and much more from national
“techie guy” Steve Anderson during the PIAND “Tech Day” on March 30 and 31 in Bismarck and Fargo.
WET FALL + SNOW = FLOOD? Due to the wet Fall and snow this winter the National Weather Service is predicting an 80%
chance of major Spring flooding in many areas of ND. PIAND is helping agents prepare by holding Flood Seminars in
Minot, Jamestown and Fargo the week of February 9th. With the recent changes in the NFIP, the client questions that are
sure to come, and the in-depth look at the elevation certificate provided by this seminar – this is a must-see for all agents
who deal with flood insurance even if you have attended a class in the last year or two. Registration form is available at
www.piand.com
SPECIAL L&H PRE-LICENSE CLASS: Executive Director Steve Becher will lead a two-day Life & Health pre-license training
class in eastern North Dakota on February 22nd and 23rd. If you or someone in your agency needs the training for Life &
Health licensing contact PIAND.
CROP INSURANCE OPPORTUNITY: First International Insurance, Minot, ND has a position for a full-time Multiple Peril
Crop Insurance Specialist. Must have a ND Property/Casualty and Crop Hail Insurance License (or must be willing to
obtain license within 6 months of hire date). Minimum of 2 years MPCI experience is preferred. For more information
and to apply online, go to http://www.firstintlins.com/employment.aspx
