b'DAYTODAYINSURANCE SOLUTIONSBrian H. Merriam, CPCU, ARM, AAIIncrease in Liability Premiums The result of nuclear verdictsL iability premiums are going up, and here isdamages to be paid by the cable company. I will at least one very big reason why. Generalnot attempt to suggest that that figure is fair com-liability is the term that the insurance in- pensation against the value of the life lostwho dustry uses to describe the line of protection thatcan put a dollar value on a life? But in addition to responds to allegations of negligence of its policy- this award, the jury also ordered the cable com-holders. A nu- pany to pay $7 billion in punitive damages!clear verdict isSo what can you do in light of an increasing the term usednumber of nuclear verdicts in our evolving legal to describe juryclimate? You should seek to demonstrate to your awards that ex- insurance company the following:ceed $10 mil-All staff and regular volunteers have lion. Accordingcompleted an application for service with to Verisk Ana- your ministry and that these applications lytics, Whenare reviewed and even verified. considering verdicts of Criminal background checks are completed more than and updated. $1 million, the average size increased nearly 1,000 percent from All incidents of questionable and bad behavior 2010 to 2018rising from $2.3 million to $22.3by staff and volunteers are recorded in writing million. In 2019 alone, there was a 300 percenton an incident report, handled with proper increase in verdicts of $20 million or more whenconfidentiality and acted upon as is appropriate. compared to the average from 2001 to 2010. Early in the process, the appropriate insurance Monetary verdicts are awarded primarily forcompany will receive notification and counsel two purposes: (1) to pay for the actual damageswill be sought in an effort to mitigate an inci-that the victim has sustained because of the negli- dent before it grows in scope. Some insurance Brian is area senior vice presi gence of the at-fault party, and (2) to punish thecompanies provide a couple of hours of dent of The Merriam Group behavior as a deterrent against repeated incidents. a Gallagher company, and theCase in point: In 2019, an employee for a cablefree counsel to help you handle matters in official insurance consultant fora non-escalatory manner. Citygate Network. The Merriamcompany in Texas sent one of its technicians to Group offers property, casualty,visit a customer. The following day, off the clock,Increasing insurance costs affect all ministries, auto, directors and officers,he returned wearing the company uniform andespecially those with bad histories and poor loss and workers compensation coverages tailored to the needskilled that customer. The jury convicted him tocontrol; let the reality of nuclear verdicts prompt of Citygate Network members.life imprisonment for the crime and awarded theyour ministry to plan before you are the subject You can email Brian atvictims family $375 million in compensatoryof litigation.\x03brian_merriam@ajg.com.58 WWW.CITYGATENETWORK.ORG NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2022'