The Renewal Trap What’S the Value of Your IBAA Membership?
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THE ALBERTRT A page 6 Why Did I Become an Insurance Broker? The Renewal Trap What’s the Value of Your IBAA Membership? October - November 2011 Cdn Publication Mail Registration 40018149 out the province suddenly realize that licence renewal is upon us and hours must be secured. As a result, there is a mad dash by some to meet the requirement without much thought about the quality of the education they are receiving. Dean Bailey What if we all took the time to plan our education for the upcoming year ahead of time? We would be able to take courses that are of interest and relevant to our job rather than Message from focus on how many hours each course will provide so we can meet the licence requirement. The strength of the broker distribution channel is the people working within it. Our pro- the President fessionalism is what sets us apart from other distributors and why the majority of consumers choose our channel for their October and November are two of my favourite insurance needs. In order to maintain our dominant position, months of the year. The CFL is winding down with each of us must obtain the best education available to further playoffs on the horizon, the NFL is in full swing and develop our skills. my Giants are still in contention. The NHL is up and running and the Flames and Oilers are battling for first What if we all took the time to plan overall. (Please note that this article was written a while back and the previous sentence may not be entirely accurate.) our education for the upcoming year Major League Baseball’s fall classic is upon us with hope- ahead of time? fully my Yankees destroying whoever the National League pennant winner might be. The leaves are changing and the The IBAA professional development (PD) department of- fall colours and crispness in the air can only mean one thing: fers courses that meet the needs of all brokers in the province, soon the ski hills will be opening as the first flakes of a new delivered in the manner of your choice. My brokerage is winter appear. You may be wondering why I am so focused located 120 kilometres from Calgary, and we use a combina- on all things non-insurance related? tion of webinars, online courses and attendance at seminars I can because I planned ahead and have already secured my to meet the training needs of our staff. Each staff member educational hour credits before the October crush. It seems determines what courses and seminars he or she wishes to that every year, as October 31st approaches, brokers through- attend, and we map out an action plan for each staff member continued on page 4 October - November 2011 IN THIS ISSUE The Alberta Broker is the official publication of the 3010 Calgary Trail, 3 Message from 22 The Advocate Edmonton, AB T6J 6V4 T: 780.424.3320 •1.800.318.0197 the President What Does Your Membership F: 780.424.7418 • www.ibaa.ca Do For You? President Dean Bailey 4 Message from the Editor Chief Executive Officer George Hodgson 6 Score with the Bipper 24 PYIB Perspective Why Did I Become Published six times annually by: 12 Legal-Ease an Insurance Broker? Court Rules Replacement of Defective Concrete Not Covered 26 Know E&O The Renewal Trap 9249-48 Street Edmonton, Alberta T6B 2R9 14 WICC Alberta T: 780.448.0936 • F: 780.465.6201 Commercial Break E: [email protected] Fanning the Flame 28 An Event to Remember Publisher and Editor Annette Hubick 16 The Tax Man Printing McCallum Printing Group 30 Chinook Country Report Design and Layout Ron Leckelt 20 The Anatomy of Advertising Michele Schuldhaus 780.448.2890 [email protected] 32 Education Update a Complaint The Alberta Broker welcomes articles about the insurance industry Working Hard to Earn Your Business and its people. Letters to the Editor are welcome.The opinions and viewpoints expressed in The Alberta Broker may not necessarily be 34 Who’s Next? those of the association and its members. IBAC to Focus on Broker Perpetuation Material in The Alberta Broker may be reproduced with the credit to the author and the following: “Reprinted from the Insurance Brokers Cover Story: Association of Alberta’s magazine - The Alberta Broker (date).” 6 Score with the Bipper Please send a copy to the publisher. The Alberta Broker October - November 2011 3 Message from the President continued from page 3 in November for the upcoming year. This allows the office to what brokers would look like in the future and most impor- manage staffing levels throughout the year while enabling all tantly, what IBAA needed to do to meet the changing needs employees to arrange quality education that is relevant and of brokers. I want to thank all who attended the focus groups interesting to them. for their participation in this important project. Your board Lori Bartlett and the IBAA PD department can assist bro- of directors and the IBAA staff are currently reviewing the kers with mapping out their own plan, either individually or focus group’s findings and drafting strategies to help adapt the at a brokerage level. I encourage all members to take a look at association to the changing needs of our members. the IBAA courses that are available. You will find them to be Throughout the remainder of this year, I will be travel- exceptional in quality and competitive in price. ing around the province to meet with the local councils to update our members on what the focus groups revealed and Member Input to validate that these findings are what our members want the In late August, IBAA conducted a series of focus groups association to focus on over the next few years. I encourage all with leading brokers in Alberta. We wanted their advice on members of IBAA to take an active role in these discussions, what changes they saw for the industry in the next five years, and I look forward to meeting all of you during my travels. Annette Hubick “Northern Exposure” will be back next issue. • Lori Bartlett who has added “write magazine column” to her task list as the IBAA’s new professional develop- Message from the Editor ment manager. She updates you on what IBAA has been up to in its effort to serve your education needs (page 32). It’s October and hockey season MacWilliam, John Knotek and the These fine people regularly deliver the is upon us – an exciting time people at Swiss Re who dispense magazine’s editorial content and I hope for fans of hockey action. invaluable advice and share their you’ll join me in thank them for their (Personally, I’ll be spending knowledge about the law, taxes/ time, effort and energy. more time watching my five-year-old accounting, commercial insurance, I’d be remiss if I did not thank the Timbit-er than the Oilers as I’ve banking/finance and E & O risk others on the The Alberta Broker produc- recently joined the hockey mom ranks.) management respectively. tion team: our graphic designer, Ron How many times have you heard, “He • An organization like WICC that is Leckelt, and the fine folks at McCallum scored the insurance goal,” and doesn’t championing the cause of finding a printing who, year in, year out do their a tie-in with the insurance brokerage cure for cancer. Find out what they’ve best to deliver a great product, usually industry seem like such a natural, “I been up to on “our” behalf (page 14). with me rushing them along. can’t believe no-one has done this • George Hodgson, who shares our Last, but not least, the magazine before!” no-brainer idea? That’s what passion to create a valuable reading could not exist without the support and I thought when I heard about the Insur- experience for you – an extension of investment of our advertisers — and the ance Goal of the Game, a program that the IBAA’s goal to deliver value to tenacity of our advertising sales guru, originated in Manitoba and is being its members as George outlines in his Michele Schuldhaus, who makes sure we replicated by IBAC, IBAA and possibly, column (page 22). have them. by you. Find out how you can “Score • Young brokers like Chad Hudson who Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! with the Bipper” with this program and take the time to offer their unique more in our cover story (page 6). perspective about their industry. This October is the time of year when we issue Chad answers the question of Win $500 for Charity take time to reflect on all we have to “Why did I become an insurance Enter the “Making a Difference” contest be grateful for. Even just in my role as broker?” (page 24) by October 31, 2011 and you could win the publisher and editor of The Alberta • Darrell Verbonac and Chris Lewis $500 for your charity and be featured in Broker, my gratitude list is plentiful. I’m who keep us all in tune with what the the February/March 2012 issue of The thankful for … people in this people industry are up Alberta Broker. Go to www.ibaa.ca under • Experts like Terry Williams and to. Darrell’s “Chinook Country Community Relations for information and the entry form. Shelley Miller, Bob McColl, Karen Report” is on page 30 and Chris’s 4 The Alberta Broker October - November 2011 By Annette Hubick The Insurance Goal of the Into its second year of sponsorship Game (IGG), a new Bipper- with Manitoba Junior Hockey, the IGG branded program takes aim at will be announced at 300 games and Canadians where they live: the ing out advertising will be on the league teams’ that, “Thirty rink boards and in programs across the hockey arena.