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News and Views: Ice Breakers
Newsletter – Tuesday, February 1, 2022
I don’t know about you, but I have a love/hate relationship with icebreakers. When I’m in a meeting and someone says, “Let’s start with an icebreaker”, I inwardly groan. But the truth is almost every time I break the ice with people, I learn new things and lots of fun facts.
Recently I was hanging around the water cooler (aka the water bottle filler) when Mike K. from our personal lines team asked me an ice breaker question! He said, “Rob, would you share a boring fact about yourself?” That was a little off-the-cuff, but I was game. The problem I had was the things that came to mind didn’t fall into the boring category! And don’t even think about saying – Duh, you work in insurance!
I don’t know if I would call this a boring fact about Rob Tuscano, but about 30 years ago, I almost bought a bar. It sat at the end of my road on U.S. Route 30, so it was perfectly convenient to stop for a beer on the way home from work. This was a very small establishment; some would even call it a ‘dive bar’. On most days, there were around six people hanging out and 2 of them were the owner and former owner. At one point the bar was for sale and I fancied I could run this place and maybe even turn it into a destination dive bar! You know me; I have always had a fascination with eating and drinking establishments!
Fast forward 30 years and even though I still love to eat a great meal, I am now well aware that running a bar or restaurant should be left to the professionals! The bar owner wannabe’s like myself should steer clear!
Writing insurance on bars and restaurants is not as difficult as running one, but it’s no walk in the park either! This is why you should call us when you have a hospitality account you need to place. Tuscano specializes in this class and we have a dedicated team that knows the market, which it seems, is always changing! One day your standard markets will love this business and the next they won’t be able to get off an account fast enough! Sound familiar? This is where Tuscano can help! Whether it’s a cigar bar, a nightclub, or a neighborhood pub, we are happy to work with you on it. We have markets that can package the account and include liquor or, if needed, we can place the coverages monoline. Your go-to underwriters on the hospitality team are Lily Tuscano and Betsey McCreary, so give them a call the next time you have an account you’d like to write.
At Tuscano we are all about being helpful and building helpful tools for writing business. One such tool that can be truly invaluable is our Cost Estimator for both Commercial and Residential valuations. We have built a direct connection to a national property risk data web service. With only a name, property location, and square footage, you can get a basic property valuation including a replacement cost estimate. You can even tweak it a bit with additional risk details for a more accurate valuation. Look for the link on the Tuscano Toolbox, where you can find all manner of helpful tools for your business!
Insurance is anything but boring, but if you want to share a boring fact about yourself, feel free to add it to the cover letter of the next submission you send in. It’s a fact you’ll get top-notch service on all the business you send us!
Stay warm and write more insurance!