Insurance defense attorney Janet Brown founded a valuable organization and conference for the windstorm insurance industry where ideas and lessons are shared every year. The 12th Annual Windstorm Insurance Conference will be held in Houston on January 24-27, 2011. For claims adjusters and those involved with hurricane or tornado losses, this is a "can’t miss" event.
Workshops are the heart of the Conference. This year’s workshop topics are extraordinarily relevant and timely. If you cannot find something interesting among the following list of workshops, you are not in the windstorm business:
- Adjusting Siding, Roofing, and Flooring Claims
- Appraisal, Mediation or Litigation?
- Building Code Updates and Code Required Upgrades
- Catastrophic Modeling and Reinsurance
- Caught in the Middle: Prosecuting and Defending Claims Against Insurance Agents, Brokers, and Adjusters
- Code Upgrades and Their Effect on Business Interruption Claims
- Examining Examinations Under Oath
- Effective Trial Techniques in Windstorm Cases
- An In-Depth Look at Garment Restoration
- Florida Property Insurance Law Update: Wind and Related Cases
- Green Building Claims Evaluation and Why It Is Coined as the Next Industrial Revolution
- Handling Large Commercial Losses: Challenges, Expectations and Considerations
- How to Settle the Claim before Litigation or Appraisal
- Insurance Fraud from All Perspectives
- Law and Ordinance Coverage: Policy Provisions, Application, and Recent Developments and Issues
- Life, Health, and Safety Issues in CAT Claim Adjusting
- National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Adjuster Certification
- Professional Appraisers Designation (PAD)
- Scientific Proof of Wind vs. Water in Slabbed Situations
- Software Training: IntegriClaim Beginning
- Software Training: IntegriClaim Advanced
- Software Training: Xactimate 27: Sketch Roofing I: Getting Started
- Software Training: Advanced Estimating/Evaluation of Property Damage by Simsol
- Storm Damage Evaluation of Stucco and Trusses
- Texas Discovery for Both Laymen and Lawyers
- The Lone Star State vs. the Sunshine State: Dueling Bad-Faith Perspectives
- The Nitty Gritty of Property Policy Conditions
- The Wild Wild West of Appraisals: Examining Ethical Issues in Appraisals
- Timing Water Damage: Building Material Interpretations
- Top Ten Mistakes of CAT Adjusters
- Using Experts in Windstorm Claims
- What Works, What Doesn’t: What Mediators Want You to Know: A View from the Fence
- When Is the Claim Really Over: Statues of Limitation and Supplemental Claims
- Where Is the Appraisal Provision Heading? Developments in Case Law, Policy Language, and the Implications Thereof
- Windows and Doors: Sorting Out the Problems
- Windstorm Insurance Coverage 101
- WIND Umpire Certification
- WIND Umpire Recertification
There is a workshop with an outstanding faculty that you should register for before it reaches capacity:
Gulf Coast Case Law Update: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama
This workshop will discuss and review recent property-insurance case law from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. It will include interpretations of how courts in the various states are ruling on insurance-related issues. Developments in the western Gulf states will become more and more important as the impacts of storms such as Ike, Gustav, and even Rita and Katrina become important on the legal landscape. This panel, composed of a policyholder and a carrier’s attorney, will update you on the latest legal developments and also provide a lively debate on whether the trends are pro-insured or pro-carrier. Faculty: William “Chip” Merlin, Jr., Esq., Merlin Law Group; Barclay Nicholson, Esq., Fulbright & Jaworski, LLP
Seriously, most significant "players" in the windstorm claims industry make this conference every year. After reviewing the panelists and workshops, it is obvious that this Windstorm Conference was very well thought out in terms of cutting edge issues that have many of us scratching our heads and debating among ourselves. The learning opportunities, as well as the networking opportunities because of the large attendance, make this entire event special. Do yourself a favor by placing this on your calendar and registering now.
