KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ
ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE
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why pick one carrier over the other / comment on insurance for alarm companies March 18, 2017
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Next webinar March 28, 2017 - see schedule below
TitleAll You Need To Know About Alarm dealer program contracts - getting in and getting out
Register here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7359323076355955715
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why pick one carrier over the other
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Ken, 
    Just curious, in your February 27, 2017 article why do you say stay away from Hartford and First Mercury?  Are they difficult with claims or just super expensive?
Robert 
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Response
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    My recommendation for an insurance carrier offering alarm general liability with errors and omission insurance coverage would not be influenced much by premiums.  A carrier offering its policies with out- of -whack premium demands is not likely to understand the alarm industry anyway.  I don't really consider the premium.
    I am more involved in the claims end which also includes at times determining if the policy covers the particular loss claimed.  So for example one carrier got a claim from an alarm company and didn't think the burglary loss claim was covered by the alarm E&O because there was no "occurrence that included property damage or personal injury".  How can you explain to someone who is blind that the sky is blue?  And that's being kind.  Or a carrier who wants to exclude a claim blamed on monitoring services?
    How about getting claims, being assigned the defense, and being told that you can only charge 25% of your customary rate, only do legal work that is approved by the claims rep [who is typically not a lawyer or legal expert or who may be on-the-job right out of school - or prison or nut-house, who knows - for weeks], that you can't do legal research for more than 2 hours on any topic, or spend more than an hour preparing papers or not allowed to do a memorandum of law without permission - the list goes on and on -- all the things you can't do.  How can this carrier possibly think it is engaging the best lawyers for their insureds [which would be you] or handling the defense of the case in the best possible way[which would be by me]?  Finally, we get, how much will it cost to defend and what can we settle for now?  Doesn't matter that a settlement might encourage the plaintiff's attorney and every other attorney he knows to start suing alarm companies.  Keep in mind that most alarm defense cases are started by other insurance companies hiring subrogation attorneys, so these guys have lots of these opportunities to sue alarm companies.  
    If your carrier has assigned lawyers that you know very well don't understand the alarm industry, don't understand that alarm defense matters are not handled in the traditional "defense" strategy way, don't bother contacting you for your participation, don't even ask for the subscriber contract, etc - long list of what they do wrong - then you need to get a new carrier.  And you need to start looking before your carrier and its defense attorneys screw up your defense case.  They may involve you in the defense and you have to cooperate; your complaints falling on deaf ears.  In the end, you either find another carrier and insist that the carrier allow you to engage your counsel of choice [which would be K&K] or suffer through your case and wait for the next one.
    Want to experience first hand what I am talking about, go with First Mercury or Hartford [maybe they've changed, but I doubt it].  They are not the only ones.  Choosing an insurance company usually takes an hour of your time.  Getting sucked into a defense case that is mishandled can take years of your time and risk your company.
    Check out brokers and carriers on The Alarm Exchange in the insurance category.
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comment on insurance for alarm companies re article on Feb 27, 2017
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Ken,
    I can’t agree with you more.  We have found many alarm and security dealers that are not properly insured and their personal lines insurance agent tries to fit them into a carrier that doesn’t specialize in the alarm industry.  The premium may be very cheap… but you get what you pay for.  Typically, we have found that those insurance carriers do not offer E&O and don’t understand the alarm industry risk.  In the event of a claim with one of those inexperienced insurance carriers, may result in a denial letter. 
    Ken, the carriers you mentioned all understand the alarm industry and will be a good fit for a monitoring company as well as an alarm dealer. 
Shawn Iverson, CIC
The Insurance Center
Ogden, UT 84401
801-622-2626 ph
www.AlarmInsuranceCenter.com
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WEBINARS:  Sign up for any or all of the webinars that interest you.
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FREE Webinar Series "All You Need To Know About" alarm industry issues. 
Register for one or all.  Each presentation scheduled for half hour to hour.  Not recorded.
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TitleAll You Need To Know About Alarm dealer program contracts - getting in and getting out
When: March 28,  2017 noon EST
Where: Your computer for power point, live video and call in on computer or phone
What will be covered: General discussion about honeypots/trappings of dealer program contracts and how difficult they are to get out of. 
Who should attend: Alarm company owners.
Presented by: James Babbitt, Esq. General Counsel, RMR Capital Group jbabbitt@rmr-capital.com; 952 467 8610
Register herehttps://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7359323076355955715
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TitleAll You Need To Know About Getting Top Dollar for your  Alarm Business -sale or financing
When: April 11, 2017 noon EST
Where: Your computer for power point, live video and call in on computer or phone
What will be covered: General discussion about how to maximize the value of your alarm business and position yourself for sale or financing
Who should attend: Alarm company owners.
Presented by: Rory Russell, Acquisition Funding Services, www.afssmartfunding.com 888 551 0476
Register here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3874048237745402369
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TitleAll You Need to know about Internet security and why is it relevant for the alarm industry 
When: April 25,  2017 noon EST
Where: Your computer for power point, live video and call in on computer or phone
What will be covered: Discussion of securing Internet devices.  Attacks by Mirai and other botnets and disruption to Internet services around the world made possible because of the millions of poorly secured cameras, DVRs and other installed network devices. 
Who should attend: Alarm company owners, general and technical managers
Presented by: Securifi, a leading router and smart home hub company, soon to be offering its own comprehensive Total Security Solution (Monitored Security + IoT Security + Parental Controls + Malware Blocking) to the alarm industry.  Rohit Somani     rohit.somani@securifi.com    855 969 7328  
Register here:  https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6899604070803705091
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THE ALARM EXCHANGE

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Ken Kirschenbaum,Esq
Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum PC
Attorneys at Law
200 Garden City Plaza
Garden City, NY 11530
516 747 6700 x 301
ken@kirschenbaumesq.com
516 747 6700
www.KirschenbaumEsq.com
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