A Question Of Ethics? Should You Buy Coverage From Your Own Carrier?

Earlier this year, I reported that the president of a major carrier casually noted that he did not buy personal lines coverage from his own company for fear of raising ethical conflicts. Our regular ethics columnist,Peter R. Kensicki–queried NU readers on what they thought, prompting one of our biggest responses. Click on to read what your colleagues make of this conundrum, and feel free to weigh in with additional comments.

Mr. Kensicki–professor of insurance at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond , Ky., as well as a member of the Ethics Committee of the CPCU Society–wrote the following column about his findings in the March 23 edition of National Underwriter:

The president of a major insurance company was quoted in NU as saying: I dont have insurance with my company from a conflict perspective. I just think its not right for me to be insured by my own company. The questions we posed to readers were: (1) Is this ethical concern warranted, and (2) How can any ethical concerns be addressed?