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Reserve Your Room For Young Agents Conference
IIABW's Young Agents will be hosting a Conference for all industry professionals OF ALL AGES at Campbell’s Resort on May 6-8. Campbell's resort is almost sold out so be sure to reserve your room (at 25% off the regular rate) ASAP. To register for the event, click here.
IIABW Member News
IMA Financial Group (Parker Smith & Feek) and Liberty Mutual has been named to Newsweek's 2026 "America's Greatest Workplaces for Mental Well-Being" list for creating holistic support systems that prioritize employees' psychological well-being and cognitive health.
WA Receives Aid for December Flooding
FEMA approved federal disaster funding for Washington state to aid recovery from December’s floods. 100,000+ Washington residents were under evacuation orders during the storms, one person died and 4,000 homes were damaged. FEMA dollars will partially reimburse the state and local governments for cleanup, debris removal and repairs to roads, levees, utility equipment and other damaged public infrastructure.
State Budget on Shaky Ground
A new policy brief from the Washington Research Council describes how the Legislature continues to widen the gap between revenue and spending while relying on one-time budget fixes. Even the newly enacted income tax won’t close the gap if the state continues to spend beyond its means, the Research Council writes.
Business Trends in Washington
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Employment Declines: In January, the Puget Sound Regional Council reported that the region lost 12,900 jobs last year — the first annual decrease in jobs since 2009 (outside of the pandemic). AWB’s latest employer survey found 86% of businesses are not planning to expand in Washington in the next year or two.
- Washington's Cost of Living Rising Fastest in U.S.: A new report from the Washington Roundtable highlights how Washington’s cost of living has increased faster than any other state over the past decade. Our state now ranks the fifth most expensive state in the nation and all 12 of our metropolitan areas rank in the top 25% priciest nationally. (Source: Association of Washington Business)
NFIP Challenges
Here are some facts on the financial challenges of the National Flood Insurance Program. NFIP:
- has required 35 short-term reauthorizations since 2017, impacting 1,300 property closings per day nationally the program is shut down because of Congressional inaction.
- carries $23 B in Treasury debt, with $2 M in interest accruing every day - 11 cents of every dollar paid in premiums. This does not count the $16 B in debt that Congress forgave in 2017.
- Risk Rating 2.0 is transitioning NFIP pricing toward actuarial accuracy, but the GAO estimates it will take 11 more years for policies to reach full-risk premiums.
- has dropped from 5 million policies at its 2009 peak to fewer than 4 million today.
Big I Technology Trends Report
The gap between agents who are leveraging technology and those still playing catch-up is widening fast. The Big I Agents Council for Technology (ACT) surveyed independent agents, carriers, and tech providers for their 2026 Tech Trends Report.
NIPR Phishing Emails
The OIC recently warned agencies about a recent phishing email campaign. Fraudulent emails appear to come from National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR) reference past due invoices and request payment. Any unexpected or unsolicited invoice should be viewed as suspicious.
Snowpack Drought in WA
Because the Cascades have half of its usual snowpack, Washington declared a statewide drought emergency. This year’s “snowpack drought” is expected to be a more severe version of conditions seen in 2025, when the state declared a drought in the Yakima River Basin in early April and expanded it in June to cover half the state.
Trump Targets Insurers over LA Wildfires
President Trump criticized insurance companies' handling of the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires. In a Truth Social post, he wrote, "It was brought to my attention that the Insurance Companies, in particular, State Farm, have been absolutely horrible to people that have been paying them large Premiums for years, only to find that when tragedy struck, these horrendous Companies were not there to help!" “State Farm, and others, should get their act together, and treat people fairly. The Government is looking into this matter as we speak!"
Public Homeowner’s Reinsurance Proposal
The conservative Brookings Institution has proposed creating a federal reinsurance company to cover U.S. home insurers. They argue a U.S. government-run reinsurer would have the cheapest capital costs, lower reinsurance premiums and could withstand damage from multiple mega-disasters. A possible model is the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, which is a state-backed reinsurer set up in 1993 after Hurricane Andrew.
E & O in Agency Acquisitions Webinar 4/14 or 16
On April 14 and April 16 at 11 am, IIABW members can join a free webinar put on by the Big I's professional liability program and Swiss Re. This webinar will discuss why E&O risk exists in every merger deal, the importance of scalable due diligence, and the value of engaging E&O carriers early.
Insurance Agents Hurt by AI
The Washington Post recently published an article that predicted insurance agents are in the unfortunate position of having a job that is more likely to be replaced by AI and also are less adaptable to shift to other good-paying work. According to the article, the jobs that are most exposed to AI and least adaptable include:
- Insurance agents
- Insurance claims and policy processing clerks
- Payroll, court, license, and billing clerks
- Tax examiners and preparers
- Interpreters
- Legal and medical secretaries.
Rebuilding to Wildfire Safety Standards
A new analysis from the California Department of Insurance and the NAIC shows that rebuilding the communities destroyed by the Palisades and Eaton fires to a standard set by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety could reduce projected wildfire losses by one-third.
Insurers No Duty to Defend Meta
Meta Platforms is defending itself against thousands of lawsuits that allege its social media platforms (Facebook and Instagram) cause serious harm to children. The suits allege that Meta deliberately designed its platforms to exploit psychological vulnerabilities which caused depression and self-harm in young users.
The insurers argued their policies require them to defend Meta only against suits seeking damages caused by an "occurrence", which is synonymous with "accident" under California law. California law defines an accident as "an unexpected, unforeseen, or undesigned happening or consequence from either a known or unknown cause."
The court ruled that Meta's insurers do not have a duty to defend Meta in the underlying California lawsuits.
Big I Hires
Big I Hires is a robust online recruiting platform developed to help insurance agencies of all sizes hire top-performing sales and service staff. As an exclusive benefit, Big I members can access a free, limited-access account and benefit from core platform features. An array of tools and resources are available to find the right candidate with a few simple clicks and manage the entire process in one online location.
25% off Big I CE Webinars
Aben Winter CE sale! Save 25% with code SPRING (use code at checkout) on over 50 webinars,
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