Ep. 226: Dan Maher, Lorenzo Houston, Brian Allen: The Surplus Line Market: Current Trend & New Resources

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Dan Maher is the Executive Director at Excess Line Association New York (ELANY), a non-profit industry advisory association. The services of ELANY are focused on helping their clients stay compliant with excess line law. Lorenzo Houston is the Tax Compliance Manager at ILSA, where he is responsible for compiling and reviewing tax returns on behalf of a client. Brian Allen is the Special Projects Administrator for ILSA. His responsibilities include working with developers and regulatory representatives to develop and enhance online tools for the industry.

Dan, Lorenzo, and Brian join us today to discuss how our companies adapted to the rapid changes in how we worked during the pandemic. We discuss how Dan’s team was gearing up with a work-from-home system just before the quarantines began and how Project CATT helped ILSA’s clients cope with online work efficiently. We discuss how small and large agencies struggle with surplus lines regulations differently. Dan explains the training they gave ELANY’s staff members regarding cybersecurity and how non-official emails are considered a cyber risk. We also discuss why surplus line outsourcing has become more critical in light of the pandemic and its mandatory health protocols.

"As premium increases and the market hardens, the need to outsource surplus lines becomes even more invaluable." - Lorenzo Houston

Today on Spot On Insurance:

• How cloud systems allowed ELANY staff to work remotely
• What it was like to create a work from home solution on the fly
• The recent system changes ELANY applied that made their services more seamless, efficient, and automated
• What Project CATT is and how Brian made it work for ILSA's clients in 2020
• The challenges faced by smaller and more prominent agencies in the area of surplus lines
• Why compliance is often overlooked by agency executives
• How ILSA fared during the pandemic
• How ELANY supports and educates its members with the challenges in cybersecurity regulation
• How ELANY teaches their employees to be on the lookout for potential cybersecurity risks
• ILSA's cybersecurity measures and the solutions they are working on
• What ELANY did at the height of the pandemic and how it affected them as an organization
• The politicians that helped the insurance industry during the pandemic
• Why surplus line outsourcing has become more invaluable today
• The impact of ELANY's charitable acts in 2020

Key Takeaways:

• Companies who used cloud-based software before the pandemic were businesses that had little problems transitioning to a work-from-home setup.
• Cybersecurity risks are at its highest when employees open emails that appear to be official or sent by someone within the organization.

Resources Mentioned:

• Renaissance Systems Inc.

Connect with Dan Maher:

• The Excess Line Association of New York
• Email: [e-mail]
• Phone: [phone]

Connect with Lorenzo Houston:

• Email: [e-mail]
• Phone: [phone]
• LinkedIn

Connect with Brian Allen:

• Email: [e-mail]
• Phone: [phone]
• LinkedIn

This episode was brought to you by…..

Insurance Licensing Services of America (ILSA), America’s Premier Insurance Compliance and Licensing experts. To learn more about ILSA and their services, visit ILSAinc.com.

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