Bill Wilson

The National Association of Public Insurance Adjusters is hosting a premier insurance policy interpretation expert, Bill Wilson, at its December meeting in Orlando on Friday, December 13. Bill Wilson will provide the keynote speech about “Policy Language Interpretation.” This is a cannot miss opportunity to learn from a person that is truly an expert about how to find coverage in a policy and then discuss it in a manner that insurance company adjusters will pay their customers’ insurance claims.

In Insurance Commentary with Bill Wilson is a Good Insurance Coverage Read, I noted that every public adjuster and insurance coverage advocate should read Wilson’s commentaries on insurance coverage interpretation. Here is link to his blog.

I have endorsed his book, When Words Collide: Resolving Insurance Coverage and Claims Disputes, and explained how Bill Wilson’s book helped me win a multimillion coverage case in Wear and Tear Exclusions Versus Depreciation For Resulting Damage To Worn and Torn Older Parts of a Structure.

Amazon.com’s About the Author webpage says this about Wilson:

Bill Wilson is a professional speaker and writer who specializes in the property and casualty insurance industry. He has conducted hundreds of seminars, workshops and convention keynotes — from Hawaii to Maine and Alaska to Florida — including programs on time management, presentation and public speaking skills, seminar development, and many others. He has spoken to groups as large as 7,000 and has been the top-rated speaker at a number of conventions around the country.

Bill has researched, developed, written, and published hundreds of articles, manuals and CDs/audio tapes, and has authored articles in business and industry trade periodicals, from Presentations magazine to the CPCU Society Insights journal.

He has been quoted as an expert in a number of mainstream publications, including Readers Digest, Kiplinger’s, and Money magazines and the Wall Street Journal, and he has been cited as an expert resource/interviewee for local television and radio media.

Bill now blogs on insurance industry issues at InsuranceCommentary.com and delivers keynote presentations in conjunction with a consulting practice. For information about his presentation topics and fees, go to the Speaking page on his web site at www.InsuranceCommentary.com.

A recent example of Wilson’s coverage instruction is found in his post, Language vs. Logic, where he stated:

Litigation success in coverage disputes following claim denials is often based on which party can make the most compelling case for or against coverage. Bob Smith was a legendary educator for the Florida Association of Insurance Agents. Bob had a saying when it came to arguing coverage:

‘If you can’t argue the form, argue logic; if you can’t argue logic, argue the form.’

Where policy language is clear and unambiguous, it usually rules, regardless of whether it makes practical sense or not. There are some exceptions to this general rule, ranging from illusory coverage, policyholder reasonable expectations, violations of public policy, and other legal or contractual doctrines to, frankly, bad judicial decisions derived from incompetent counsel or expert witnesses.

NAPIA officers and the education committee should be congratulated for getting such a featured speaker at this year’s mid-year event in Orlando. As a father and now grandfather living close to Orlando, I recommend Disney World’s special Mickey’s Very Special Christmas Party Night celebrations for families on weekends from 7 pm until midnight which is something else enticing if you need additional reasons to register.

If you are a public adjuster or insurance coverage educator, want to learn something new about what you do for a living, and want to make yourself better at what you do, do not miss Wilson’s speech and a chance to meet and speak with him at NAPIA’s fall meeting.

Thought For The Day

Whatever you do, do it well.
—Walt Disney