A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property CI_URI::$config is deprecated
Filename: core/URI.php
Line Number: 101
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property CI_Router::$uri is deprecated
Filename: core/Router.php
Line Number: 127
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property Home::$benchmark is deprecated
Filename: core/Controller.php
Line Number: 82
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property Home::$hooks is deprecated
Filename: core/Controller.php
Line Number: 82
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property Home::$config is deprecated
Filename: core/Controller.php
Line Number: 82
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property Home::$log is deprecated
Filename: core/Controller.php
Line Number: 82
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property Home::$utf8 is deprecated
Filename: core/Controller.php
Line Number: 82
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property Home::$uri is deprecated
Filename: core/Controller.php
Line Number: 82
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property Home::$exceptions is deprecated
Filename: core/Controller.php
Line Number: 82
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property Home::$router is deprecated
Filename: core/Controller.php
Line Number: 82
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property Home::$output is deprecated
Filename: core/Controller.php
Line Number: 82
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property Home::$security is deprecated
Filename: core/Controller.php
Line Number: 82
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property Home::$input is deprecated
Filename: core/Controller.php
Line Number: 82
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property Home::$lang is deprecated
Filename: core/Controller.php
Line Number: 82
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Return type of CI_Session_files_driver::open($save_path, $name) should either be compatible with SessionHandlerInterface::open(string $path, string $name): bool, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice
Filename: drivers/Session_files_driver.php
Line Number: 132
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Return type of CI_Session_files_driver::close() should either be compatible with SessionHandlerInterface::close(): bool, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice
Filename: drivers/Session_files_driver.php
Line Number: 294
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Return type of CI_Session_files_driver::read($session_id) should either be compatible with SessionHandlerInterface::read(string $id): string|false, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice
Filename: drivers/Session_files_driver.php
Line Number: 168
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Return type of CI_Session_files_driver::write($session_id, $session_data) should either be compatible with SessionHandlerInterface::write(string $id, string $data): bool, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice
Filename: drivers/Session_files_driver.php
Line Number: 237
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Return type of CI_Session_files_driver::destroy($session_id) should either be compatible with SessionHandlerInterface::destroy(string $id): bool, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice
Filename: drivers/Session_files_driver.php
Line Number: 317
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Return type of CI_Session_files_driver::gc($maxlifetime) should either be compatible with SessionHandlerInterface::gc(int $max_lifetime): int|false, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice
Filename: drivers/Session_files_driver.php
Line Number: 358
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: Warning
Message: ini_set(): Session ini settings cannot be changed after headers have already been sent
Filename: Session/Session.php
Line Number: 282
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: Warning
Message: session_set_cookie_params(): Session cookie parameters cannot be changed after headers have already been sent
Filename: Session/Session.php
Line Number: 289
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: Warning
Message: ini_set(): Session ini settings cannot be changed after headers have already been sent
Filename: Session/Session.php
Line Number: 304
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: Warning
Message: ini_set(): Session ini settings cannot be changed after headers have already been sent
Filename: Session/Session.php
Line Number: 314
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: Warning
Message: ini_set(): Session ini settings cannot be changed after headers have already been sent
Filename: Session/Session.php
Line Number: 315
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: Warning
Message: ini_set(): Session ini settings cannot be changed after headers have already been sent
Filename: Session/Session.php
Line Number: 316
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: Warning
Message: ini_set(): Session ini settings cannot be changed after headers have already been sent
Filename: Session/Session.php
Line Number: 317
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: Warning
Message: ini_set(): Session ini settings cannot be changed after headers have already been sent
Filename: Session/Session.php
Line Number: 375
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: Warning
Message: session_set_save_handler(): Session save handler cannot be changed after headers have already been sent
Filename: Session/Session.php
Line Number: 110
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: Warning
Message: session_start(): Session cannot be started after headers have already been sent
Filename: Session/Session.php
Line Number: 143
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property Home::$session is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 1283
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property Home::$email is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 1283
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property Home::$pdf is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 1283
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property Home::$db is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 396
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property CI_DB_mysqli_driver::$failover is deprecated
Filename: database/DB_driver.php
Line Number: 371
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property Home::$form_validation is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 1283
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property Home::$adminmodel is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 358
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property Home::$leadmodel is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 358
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property Home::$clientmodel is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 358
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property Home::$pagination is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 1283
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/models/Pagemodel.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property Home::$pagemodel is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 358
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property CI_Loader::$load is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 931
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property CI_Loader::$benchmark is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 931
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property CI_Loader::$hooks is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 931
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property CI_Loader::$config is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 931
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property CI_Loader::$log is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 931
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property CI_Loader::$utf8 is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 931
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property CI_Loader::$uri is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 931
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property CI_Loader::$exceptions is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 931
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property CI_Loader::$router is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 931
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property CI_Loader::$output is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 931
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property CI_Loader::$security is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 931
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property CI_Loader::$input is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 931
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property CI_Loader::$lang is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 931
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property CI_Loader::$session is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 931
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property CI_Loader::$email is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 931
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property CI_Loader::$pdf is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 931
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property CI_Loader::$db is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 931
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property CI_Loader::$form_validation is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 931
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property CI_Loader::$adminmodel is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 931
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property CI_Loader::$leadmodel is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 931
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property CI_Loader::$clientmodel is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 931
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property CI_Loader::$pagination is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 931
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: 8192
Message: Creation of dynamic property CI_Loader::$pagemodel is deprecated
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 931
Backtrace:
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/application/controllers/Home.php
File: /home/agentsof/public_html/index.php
Avoiding E&O: Assisting the Insured in the Claim Process
Avoiding E&O: Assisting the Insured in the Claim Process
By Matthew S. Marrone, Esq.
Sometimes people just don’t follow instructions. Every insurance policy I’ve seen tells the insured where and to whom a claim should be reported. This makes perfect sense – how else does an insured know what to do when he has a claim? But, in spite of these generally clear policy instructions, I’m willing to bet you’ve had insured clients contact you instead of the carrier to report a claim. How should you respond?
Send him on his way
The first option is to refer the insured to the policy, and advise him to report the claim in accordance with the policy instructions. There are risks to consider with this approach. First, the insured may not be pleased with your apparent unwillingness to assist him. He likely views you as someone who is supposed to help him in such a situation, and as part of the client service you are there to provide, it makes good business sense to do so. Depending upon your relationship with the insured, carrier, wholesaler or MGA involved, you may even have an interest or ability to advocate for him during the claim process (but see below).
Another risk with sending the insured on his way is that you don’t know if he will actually follow through and report the claim. If he fails to report it, or misunderstands your instructions, and the claim is later denied due to a failure to timely report, you can expect he will blame you. Thus, if you’re going to follow this approach, be sure to have your file documented with a letter to the insured that advises him to follow the policy instructions.
Lend a helping hand
Most of the time, it will likely be easier for you and make better business sense to assist the insured and pass the claim along for her. However, if you’re going to do this, there are several important considerations to keep in mind.
Do it quickly
Insurance policies generally require “prompt” notice of a claim as a condition for coverage. If an insured reports a claim to you, don’t let it get buried on your desk. Make sure you forward notice of the claim to the appropriate carrier representative within 24 hours of receiving it from the insured. Time is of the essence in every situation, but depending upon the jurisdiction and the type of policy which may respond to the claim, even a minor delay could result in denial of the claim. Notice requirements of a “claims made” policy are very different from those of an “occurrence-based” policy. Depending upon the jurisdiction, late notice of a claim may only preclude occurrence-based coverage where the carrier has been prejudiced. However, a late report under a claims-based policy will void coverage even in the absence of prejudice.
Tell everyone
Quite often an insured will report the claim to you because she frankly isn’t sure what coverage she has or even where her policy is. Should you accept the responsibility of helping her, it will be your job to figure this out.
In most cases it will be pretty easy for you to determine which insurance policy will respond to a given claim. However, as Murphy’s Law tells us, it is entirely possible for an apparently simple situation to quickly turn complex. Consider the following real life scenario.
You write insurance agents’ E&O business. One of your insureds notifies you he has just been served with a complaint seeking $3 million in damages due to his alleged failure to provide appropriate coverage for one his clients. You report the claim to his current E&O carrier, which has the coverage on a “claims made” basis. The only problem is that the circumstances related to his alleged negligence all pre-date the retroactive date in the policy, so the carrier denies coverage. You apologize to the insured and tell him there’s nothing more you can do.
A couple years pass, the litigation has been ongoing, and the insured is doing the best he can to defend on his own dime. Desperately seeking coverage, his attorney closely reviews every insurance policy the insured has, which includes a $3 million umbrella policy. Lo and behold, there’s a provision in the umbrella policy that suggests it can be deemed “primary” coverage in situations where there is no other available insurance, and it does not specifically identify any policies over which it is to be considered excess. “This can’t possibly be correct,” you think to yourself, but you report the claim to the umbrella carrier anyway. The umbrella carrier denies coverage because the report is extremely late. What’s worse, the carrier also issues a coverage opinion stating it would have in fact provided coverage had it been timely notified. Your agency and your E&O carrier just bought a $3 million claim.
VIEW RATINGS FOR INSURERS
Enter name of Insurance Company and press GO button.
© 2026 AGENTSOFAMERICA.ORG. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
