Differences - claims, frogs and no bouncing please we're American.
Nobody who is working in insurance needs to be told about the importance of using clear, accurate and unambiguous language.
Fortunately, it is not quite so critical in a social setting as you have the chance to explain yourself when confronted with a look of puzzlement on the face of others. So when a New York broker who will remain nameless (ssshhh, it’s Tonya Sewell) told me she was “as happy as a clam”, I wondered:
1. What could this mean?
2. What does a clam have to be so happy about?
3. How do I respond without laughing?
It’s just as well that I know the broker well enough to get away with a snigger and a comment that such an expression was “as mad as a box of frogs”, a metaphor which said broker loved so much she’s now using it herself. It turned out that a clam simply has a happy expression (shape of its shell rather than a superior sense of psychological adjustment or well-being to my own - which came as a relief). Aside from the obvious amusement, it did get me thinking about how well the London Market does to support and understand America’s requirements when its own market feels unable to offer coverage because of concerns over wording and risk.
For those of you who have not ventured into North American business or the US domestic insurer personal lines market, of which I am now a client, it’s worth mentioning a few differences from the UK:
1. Policy wordings in Massachusetts (where we are) and in other States are determined by the individual State Government.
2. Massachusetts’s insurers are required to demand an annual certificate of roadworthiness even on new vehicles.
3. Flood & earthquake cover is not standard so make sure your home is not in an area prone to flooding (ABI members will appreciate that one) or indeed on a major fault line.
4. And most importantly for my little clan…our broker could find only one insurer who was willing to cover liability for our kids’ trampoline (at a premium increase on our annual homeowners cover of $600!) and only then if the trampoline was fully netted. A bit tricky that one, as you don’t want your kids growing up feeling deprived and thinking you’re a tight-fisted miser but then you don’t want to get sued without cover because the kid next door thought it would be fun to bounce on little Brad Princeton III’s head. (All characters are fictitious and not meant to portray actual events – i.e. please don’t sue me for libel or advertising injury either)
On careful reflection, think we’ll just have to pay that insurance bill and live with it (with added umbrella liability coverage of course).
John Turner, vice president and executive general adjuster at MYI, moved to the company's Boston office earlier this year.
