Issues & Answers Special Advertising Section:
April 2021

Issues & Answers: Protecting the Most Vulnerable

Andy Shockey, Assistant Vice President for Philadelphia Insurance Companies, says when it comes to mitigating abuse and molestation, there are best practices agents should make their clients aware of. “It starts with the culture that is set by the CEO and moves through the organization through policy and procedure, just like any other topic, but this one has that nuclear potential to wreck a mission of an organization,” he said. Following are excerpts of an interview.

Andy Shockey

Andy Shockey
Assistant Vice President
Philadelphia Insurance Companies

“Our risk management and claims staff are knowledgeable and experienced in dealing with these issues and are here to support our agents and customers.”

What can agents do to help clients address abuse and molestation risk?

If they haven’t had a conversation with their clients, or if it’s been a while, schedule the time to have that conversation. It might look as simple as reviewing a crisis management plan to see if this incident even appears specifically. And determining if an allegation is aired or if an employee is arrested and charged with this type of incident, what happens? Is there a victim-centric approach in that crisis management plan? Agents should also encourage clients to use support resources that might be available from their carrier. A lot of times, they’re at no cost, and can help prevent this type of incident. Finally, it’s important to understand state laws are changing, and that is where it is imperative to pay attention to the venue that you’re operating in.

How does PHLY support its policyholders that face abuse and molestation risks?

We’re continuing to educate our agents and our policyholders on strategies that they can reasonably undertake to reduce the potential, and raise the barrier to this event happening in their business. Most importantly, we have people who can help. When an agent is asking questions, we have the experienced personnel getting those questions answered. We have staff and personnel across our company that can have the conversations that need to be addressed before there’s an incident. Should an incident happen, we have claims professionals who understand the magnitude of this, how serious it is and the very sensitive matters across the board. Making sure we continue to position our clients in a very victim-centric approach and to provide the care, despite the circumstances, once that allegation or that charge is made.

What new developments are you seeing with the risk today?

There has been and will continue to be new legislation at the state level, possibly at the federal level, but it will stay in the news and on people’s minds. Organizations need to consider that while some steps might not be required by law yet, there are reasonable steps that can be taken to prevent an incident. One is asking for proof of training records. Certainly, the reason to ask those questions is first and foremost to prevent this type of incident in an organization from happening, that irreparable harm from taking place to the victim. It’s important to realize that later is too late to have some of these conversations in the middle of a crisis.