PIA is excited to announce that ACORD will once again be providing qualifying PIA member agencies with a complimentary license to use ACORD forms in 2021, when PIA members access these forms through a vendor such as an AMS or AVYST eForms Wizard. PIA members will need to go to the ACORD website to accept the 2021 end user license agreement (EULA).

PIA will be verifying agencies' PIA membership with ACORD again in 2021. If you requested that we verify your PIA membership in 2020, and have maintained an active PIA membership, then we will confirm your current PIA membership directly with ACORD for your 2021 license—you do not need to contact PIA unless ACORD specifically requests that you do so.

ACORD links:

• Forms Subscriptions & Licensing web page: General description of available programs for agents to use ACORD Forms. For your free license, please scroll down to "PIA Forms End User License."
• Forms End User Licenses web page: This is where PIA members will access the PIA Agency Vendor-Supplied Forms License (2021) to accept it for 2021.

For more information and updates on this PIA member benefit, please visit https://pianet.com/benefits/memberdiscounts/acord.

If PIA National has not previously confirmed your PIA membership with ACORD, and you would like us to do so, or if you have questions about this PIA member benefit, please email us at membership@pianet.org.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has secured $1.153 billion of flood reinsurance for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for 2021, at a premium of $195.8 million. It was announced in September 2020 that FEMA had returned to the traditional reinsurance market and commenced the procurement of reinsurance for the NFIP for 2021.

After securing $1.33 billion of traditional reinsurance from a panel of 27 reinsurers at the start of 2020, it was suggested that FEMA could increase the size of the program for 2021, dependent on both appetite and price. However, FEMA revealed that for 2021 the amount of risk transferred to the traditional reinsurance market stands at $1.153 billion, which represents a decline of more than 13 percent from the previous year.

FEMA has been leveraging reinsurance for the NFIP for a number of years, after testing the market with a limited placement in 2016, before securing its first full placement ahead of the Jan 1st, 2017 renewals.

Twenty-two separate billion-dollar weather disasters impacted the United States in 2020, by far a record number of such events in any year, according to a report released Friday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The 22 disasters with damage estimates of at least $1 billion obliterated the previous record number in any year, 16 in both 2011 and 2017, in NOAA records since 1980.

All but two of the disasters occurred east of the Rockies, including seven hurricanes and tropical storms, and 13 separate severe weather events. Only the record-breaking wildfire season and the expansive drought made the billion-dollar list out of the West in 2020.

The costliest 2020 disasters included Hurricane Laura ($19 billion), the Western wildfires ($16.5 billion) and the massive Midwest derecho ($11 billion).

Research shows it's great to build in breaks into your day while working. So stop whatever you're doing, make yourself a fresh cup of coffee or tea, and hop onto our video call to meet other PIA members across the country for PIA's monthly coffee break.

On Tuesday, January 26, at 3 PM ET, PIA will host an informal, virtual coffee break for PIA members. This meetup is the perfect chance for you to connect with other independent insurance agents, talk about your goals for 2021, bring your questions, share your frustrations, and seek advice.

We hope to see you there!
Register Now.