Welcome!
LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
I
am thrilled to welcome to the
JGS family, the team at the John
Manougian Insurance Agency (JMI)
located in Silver Spring, Maryland!
In September, JGS Insurance
acquired the agency and will be
expanding our footprint in the metro-
Washington, DC, region. The team will
be led by Chris and Robin Manougian as
practice leaders.
JMI was founded in 1970 by John
Manougian and is currently serving the
needs of more than 600 community
associations throughout the metro-
Washington, DC, area. Both JGS and JMI
have developed a specialty over the past
four decades in community association
business insurance, and both are family-
owned businesses whose principals have
known and respected one another for
more than 25 years!
“This is a terrific marriage of two strong
agencies,” stated Robin. “JGS brings
the strength of a larger infrastructure,
additional markets, and a similar strong
philosophy on service that will allow us
to represent our clients more efficiently
in an ever-evolving industry climate. JGS
understands the unique and complicated
nature of community associations and
the importance of keeping ahead of
coverage exposures and trends. Our long-
held goal—to be the most knowledgeable
insurance practitioners and to offer
unparalleled service to our clients—
perfectly aligns with JGS Insurance.”
We are excited they elected to join
JGS! You can check out Robin’s first
contributing article—on Tree Liability—
on page 6.
I mentioned in my last note that we were
starting to see slight increases in the
marketplace for property insurance and
double-digit increases for commercial
automobile. More and more reports are
coming out indicating that the insurance
market is “hardening.” A “hard market”
in the insurance industry is defined by
the International Risk Management
Institute as “the upswing in a market
cycle, when premiums increase and
capacity for most types of insurance
decreases.” While I don’t anticipate large
fluctuations in the marketplace (20%–
50%) as we have in past hard markets
(2002–2004), we are certainly seeing
consistent pricing increases. In addition
to property, we are now experiencing
increases in liability, directors and
officers liability, and other lines.
If you are looking at your budget for 2020
insurance, I would expect a minimum
rate increase of 5–10% overall for
those businesses with little to no loss
experience. For those accounts that have
had some losses, or aging buildings that
have not been updated, you will probably
be looking at 10%–15% rate increases
in 2020. We are also seeing a decreased
capacity for some lines of business for
high-limit umbrellas.
There are certainly steps you can
and should be taking to mitigate
some of these increases and make
your organization a better risk to the
insurance carriers. Often times, you
are making changes and upgrades
to your buildings, mechanics, staff
training, and safety training as part of
your normal course of business. Are you
communicating these changes to your
broker? Any updates or preventative
measures you are taking should be
communicated to your broker so that it
can be presented when marketing.
I wish you all a wonderful holiday season
and a healthy and prosperous 2020! +
Vinnie Hager, President
JGS Insurance est. 1919
JGSINSURANCE.COM
3