It was a meeting of common interests at the Florida Insurance Council (FIC) annual conference in June in Key West. A panel representing the boards of the Professional Insurance Agents of Florida (PIA) and FIC discussed an agreement to form an agent/insurer company partnership to work on common goals: to better educate consumers and the media on insurance matters, and to rebut what the industry perceives as misinformation being disseminated by the media. How the alliance will proceed, who will represent each association, and other details are still being put in place. Florida Underwriter asked Sam Miller, executive vice president of FIC; and Mark O'Connell, CEO of PIA, to discuss this "work in progress."

Q. How did this partnership idea get started? Was it agent-generated?

Sam Miller: PIA and FIC met numerous times over the past year, including cosponsoring a seminar in Boca Raton about the Florida hurricane insurance market. The PIA board of directors agreed to meet in Key West in early June in conjunction with the FIC annual meeting for another joint forum — this one focusing on the need to better inform consumers and the media about key and controversial insurance issues. The forum also illustrated the need to better inform the insurance community regarding challenges and opportunities. The most recent panel was suggested by PIA, both on the national and the state level. It was well received by FIC members.