Join us for a Special Education Session on the Ohio Insurance Legal Climate – Past, Present and Future
Fortunately for insurance consumers, agents and carriers, a lot has changed in the Ohio civil justice system since the Scott-Pontzer decision was overturned in 2003 along with a plethora of other activist rulings that plagued our judicial system, state economy and insurance marketplace. The Scott-Pontzer decision expanded coverage from an employer’s business auto and commercial umbrella policies to an employee who was killed while driving his wife’s private automobile outside the scope of his employment.
Because of this case and other outrageous decisions handed down by the Court involving UM/UIM that expanded coverage beyond its intent, insurance companies understandably took action. For example, they suspended the writing of any new commercial auto and umbrella policies in Ohio, raised UM/UIM premiums between 50-100 percent and excluded this coverage at renewal.
This created a real crisis of affordability and availability of UM/UIM for Ohioans in the early 2000s. This took several years to correct through legislative action and an immense effort by the insurance and business community to get new justices elected who would act like judges, not policymakers. We bring this up to express the importance of the upcoming election of the Ohio Supreme Court this November.
OIAPAC has a track record of supporting judicial candidates who practice judicial restraint and strict constructionism, focusing their legal opinion on the constitutionality of Ohio’s laws and deferring policy matters to the legislature. Justices Pat Fischer and Pat DeWine are running to retain their seats on the Court and Justice Sharon Kennedy is running for the highest position on the court, chief justice. These races are of the utmost importance to independent agents as the philosophical makeup of the Court is in jeopardy this election.
On Tuesday, June 14th OIA PAC is hosting a fundraising event for the Ohio Supreme Court candidates. This is an opportunity for you to meet the candidates and learn their judicial philosophy and why it is so essential to maintain the current balance on the court this November. Click here to register for the Supreme Court Reception. If you are unable to attend in person, please consider visiting their websites and donating as well as connecting with those in your agent and local community to share the importance of the Ohio Supreme Court election.
Prior to the evening reception, we will be hosting a two-hour continuing education (CE) course focusing on the Scott-Pontzer case and where we are heading twenty-three years later. We will also be hosting, for the first time, an E&O Mock Trial to call attention to issues that lead to E&O claims against insurance agencies. Click here to register for the CE event.
You do not want to miss out on these events all happening on the same day at Wedgewood Country Club in Powell!
