Independent Financial Brokers of Canada (IFB) today announced a new errors and omissions (E&O) insurance solution for life insurance agencies.

Corporate E&O coverage is a mandatory requirement for entities such as Managing General Agencies (MGAs), personal corporations, and Associate General Agencies (AGAs) in some jurisdictions. Many small to mid-sized corporate entities, however, have found the cost of purchasing such coverage to be prohibitive, with price tags often in the thousands of dollars.

As was noted in a Notice (ICN#-7-007) circulated by the Insurance Council of British Columbia on Sept. 11, 2007, some agencies may have relied, inappropriately, on the individual E&O policies held by their licensed agents in order to meet the requirement for corporate coverage, but that “these coverage extensions may not apply in certain situations, resulting in the potential for an uninsured E&O loss.”

IFB has worked with its broker, The Magnes Group of Oakville, Ont., to develop a corporate E&O program that will provide high quality coverage for insurance agencies at a price that is commensurate with the size of the corporate entity.

“The missing piece of the puzzle,” says John Whaley, executive director of IFB, “has been an insurer who truly understood the nature of the life insurance industry and the many different corporate structures that exist within it. One-size- fits-all solutions simply don’t work in this marketplace. We were delighted to find that insurer in Echelon.”

The newly launched Corporate Coverage Solution is underwritten by Echelon General Insurance Co., and offers premiums starting at only $500, with limits up to $2 million. The program, which is designed to work in tandem with the long-established IFB individual broker plan, is individually underwritten; each individual policy issued will have its own aggregate limit and no program aggregate limit applies.

More information on the IFB Corporate Coverage Solution can be found on the Association’s Web site.

IFB represents approximately 4,000 independent life insurance and mutual fund advisors,