HAPPY 2007! As Buffalo Bob used to say, “What time is it, kids?” Why, it's New Year's Resolutions Time! So let's get right to it with our first resolution.

Read your forms! OK, I admit it–this is always my first resolution. Alas, what tangled webs we weave when first we fail to review and perceive. It's frustrating to read of problems–in the court cases published in this and other magazines, in insurers' errors and omissions case studies, in e-mails that arrive at my office and in postings on online forums–that could have been avoided had someone only taken a few extra minutes to read the applicable form language before proposing coverage. Some swear on their mothers' souls they do not have time for such diligence. But as our own dear mothers used to say, “If you can't find time to do it right, when will you find time to do it over?” In our industry, “do over” is often abbreviated “E&O.” Which leads us to resolution No. 2:

Be good, not lucky! The November “Down to Cases” article included a claim that a carrier paid and for which it then sought reimbursement from a clearly negligent agency. If you want to know just how “clearly negligent,” one quote should suffice: “While the agent indicated on the application that she had inspected the truck, she later testified she had simply viewed the truck through her office window.” According to the article, the truck in question was parked in a lot across the street from the agency. Now, I don't know how your dictionary defines “inspected,” but the Encarta English Dictionary's definition is: “to examine something carefully in order to judge its quality or correctness.” One issue in the case was that the insurer accepted the vehicle because the agent told the carrier that it was a standard pickup. The truck, however, had six wheels. If this were a movie, the soundtrack would now swell ominously, foreshadowing the great calamity just over the horizon.