New Associate Members
SCS Safety Health & Security Associates LLC – Leesburg

Sherry Beachum, Nusbaum Insurance, Norfolk

The toolkit provides resources for mastering AI prompts, using AI for search engine optimization (SEO), auditing an AI chatbot, ethics and best practices, and more. Discover how AI can be your ultimate partner in delivering personalized client experiences and make data-driven decisions that set you apart from the competition.

The Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission (VWC) is pleased to announce the release of its 2023 Annual Report, detailing key statistics and insights into the Commonwealth's workers' compensation landscape, as well as other programs administered by the Commission.

Effective July 1, 2024, § 38.2-5206.1 of the Code of Virginia requires, within 60 days of filing for a rate increase providing long-term care insurance policies in Virginia, insurers to issue a written notice to each policyholder and certificate holder (as outlined in the BOI guidance) subject to the filed rate increase.  The requirements of this section only apply when the individual or group policy issued or issued for delivery in Virginia and do not apply to certificates delivered in Virginia under a group policy issued outside Virginia. 

 

The Bureau of Insurance of the State Corporation Commission has provided guidance to insurers for these notices and a template that all insurers subject to this statute must use for their notices. This communication and the attached template may be found on the SCC’s website here.

 

Please review the guidance document and utilize the template when developing the required notice.

Questions related to this communication should be directed to: Greg Smith, Manager, Health Rates, at Greg.Smith@scc.virginia.gov.

Single and multi-family housing starts fell in May to their lowest point since June2020. Overall housing starts fell 5.5% in May from the April estimate to a rate of1.28 million units. Compared to May 2023housing starts declined 19.3%. Most analysts credit the slow in starts to the high interest rate environment preventing many buyers from entering the market.

 

Single-family housing starts decreased to 5.2% from April and 1.7% below last May. Multi-family starts declined 6.6% to an annualized 295,000 pace, representing the slowest pace for multifamily construction since April 2020. As many industry experts predicted, multifamily development deceleration continues and will likely continue throughout this year. This is partly attributable to the already large number of apartment buildings that have been completed or will be completed.

 

Compared to May 2023, housing starts declined everywhere except the West, which saw a 2.6% increase. The sharpest decline was in the Northeast where combined single-family and multifamily starts were 22.2% lower. Overall, permits decreased 3.8%, the slowest pace since June 2023.
_{^{Photo by Tierra Mallorca on Unsplash}}

 

Honorable Wesley G. Marshall has been elected to a three-year term as Chairman of the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission (VWC), effective July 1, 2024. He succeeds Commissioner Robert A. Rapaport, whose term ended June 30, 2024. Chairman Marshall, Commissioner Rapaport, and Commissioner R. Ferrell Newman, serve as appellate-level judges at the Commission and direct its operations and staff of 292. 

By Nicholas Ritchie
As we enter the second half of 2024, several trends in traditional and non-traditional benefits are poised to transform the HR and benefits landscapes.

By Mel Tull
On July 3, a federal court judge in Texas temporarily blocked the Federal Trade Commission’s non-compete ban from being enforced against the plaintiffs in that case.  As you may recall from my May 8 article, “FTC Non-Compete Ban: What Insurance Agencies Need to Know”, the FTC’s rule banning non-compete agreements is scheduled to become effective on September 4, 2024. Immediately after the rule was issued, several plaintiffs filed lawsuits in Texas and Pennsylvania to block the non-compete ban from going into effect claiming the FTC overstepped its authority.
_{^{Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash}}

A customer has requested a policy and you have procured a quote. The coverage looks good. The deductible looks good. Most importantly to your customer, the premium looks good. Coverage is bound.
Time goes by, a year or two. Maybe 10. Then there’s a loss. A claim is filed and fortunately, there’s coverage. But there’s a snag: The policy limits don’t cover the full loss amount — or what your customer thinks is the full loss amount—and a straightforward claim suddenly becomes an errors & omissions claim,

Question: We are about to hire an independent contractor but want to run a background check on him before we hire him. Can we run a background check on an independent contractor and make the contract contingent on the results?

 

Answer: Yes, you can run a background check on an independent contractor, especially if the contractor will have access to sensitive materials or if the nature of the work requires a clean background check. You can also make the contract contingent on the results of this background check.

 

Additionally, it is important to include language in the contract regarding the confidentiality of information and non-solicitation. However, the most critical component of your contract should be to ensure it clearly states that the agreement does not establish an employee-employer relationship.

It's crucial to ensure that you are classifying the worker correctly. Many independent contractors might be considered employees if the Department of Labor (DOL) were to investigate the work relationship. To verify proper classification, refer to the DOL’s fact sheet on Independent Contractor classifications here.

During the 126th Annual convention of the Independent Insurance Agents of Virginia (IIAV), Tommy Via, CIC, with the Leonard L. Brown Agency in Blacksburg, was recognized for his excellence to the industry by receiving the association’s highest award — the Golden Eagle Award for the Agent of the Year.

Described as one of the industry’s best, Jamey Walthall, Virginia Field Sales Operations Manager for Main Steet America, was announced as the 2024 Independent Insurance Agents of Virginia Company Person of the Year.