Binghamton Office Christmas Giving

Here is a picture of the Christmas gifts Haylor, Freyer & Coon agency employees donated, along with gift cards totaling $85.00 for a single mother and her infant daughter from Mom's House here in Johnson City-Binghamton area. Mom's House "provides safe, secure, and totally free child-care to low-income single parents wishing to continue their education." Requirements include full-time student status, community service and fund-raising. Many of these single parents are also employed and very motivated to provide a better future for themselves and their children. We were under a time constraint and had to put this together in less than a week. The results were outstanding! The spirit of giving is alive and well in the Binghamton-Johnson City Branch!

Oswego Dancing with the Stars!

Tammy Kostoroski, a Customer Service Representative in our Oswego Office, and her husband Keith will be representing Haylor, Freyer & Coon in the 4th Annual Dancing with the Stars in Oswego, NY. The Event is hosted by the Oswego Habitat for Humanity and will be held on February 5th & 6th of 2010. This year the organization is hoping to raise $75,000, which will be used to build another house in the local area. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 315-751-4663. Good Luck Tammy & Keith!!!

HF&C is Strongly Committed to Continuing Education for our Support Team Members!

As a Member of the Professional Insurance Agents of New York State Inc. we are commitmented to continuing education, professional development and superior customer service by support our Staff members as they earn their CIC and CISR designations.

“CIC and CISR are recognized throughout the industry and signify the professional achievement and extensive expertise needed to succeed in an ever-changing, demanding profession,” said Diane Fowler, executive director of PIANY. “Member interest in obtaining these designations is testament to the dedication of our membership to providing the best service possible to their clients.” Both designations, established by the National Alliance for Insurance Education and Research, are recognized nationwide as important credentials that show significant professional expertise and personal dedication.

The following HF&C Team Members were conferred with the CIC or CISR designation:

Newly conferred PIANY Certified Insurance Counselors
Marie Noble, CIC, CPCU, Haylor Freyer & Coon Inc., Syracuse, N.Y.
Laurie Pelkey, CIC, Haylor, Freyer & Coon Inc., Syracuse, N.Y.

Newly conferred PIANY Certified Insurance Service Representatives
Cynthia Baker, CISR, Haylor, Freyer & Coon Inc., Syracuse, N.Y.
Catherine Houde, CISR, Haylor, Freyer & Coon Inc., Syracuse, N.Y.
Margaret Kimball, CISR, Haylor, Freyer & Coon Inc., Syracuse, N.Y.
Linda Provo, CISR, Haylor, Freyer & Coon Inc., Syracuse, N.Y.
Sharon Reed, CISR, Haylor, Freyer & Coon Inc., Syracuse, N.Y.
Michele Robinson, CISR, Haylor, Freyer & Coon Inc., Ithaca, N.Y.
Diane Stahl, CISR, Haylor, Freyer & Coon Inc., Binghamton, N.Y.

Two New Members of our Sales Force!

HF&C is excited to announce the addition of two new Sales Producers to our Commercial Lines staff. Both of these individuals have had successful insurance careers and are highly respected within the industry. They joined Haylor, Freyer & Coon on November 9th.

Sheila Gilroy joined our Syracuse General Unit. Her background includes the production and brokering of Public School Student Accident and Collegiate Student Health insurance. Sheila’s experience and expertise will blend well with H.F.&C.’s current Collegiate and Public School business sectors.

Jim Schaefer is joining our Utica office team. He has spent the majority of his insurance career as a Sales Producer for Liberty Mutual. Jim’s background and focus included manufacturing, healthcare, transportation and social services. In addition to focusing on middle market business, we anticipate he will be working closely with H. F. & C.’s Large Account unit.

Consumers Cite Agents as Most Credible Insurance Resource

by Katie Butler, IA magazine editor & chief

Despite the fact that the media is filled with members of Congress, President Barack Obama and pundits talking about insurance every day, consumers are more likely to trust what they hear from their local insurance agent. More than 64 percent of respondents in a recent study said they trusted their insurance agent for credible information about insurance industry issues – the highest ranking in the survey.

The study, recently conducted by the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, looked at the attitudes of registered voters and opinion elite (30+, college degree, household income of more than $50,000 and significant consumers of news) on the financial crisis and insurance-related topics.

Agents topped the field of sources that consumers trust most for insurance information, followed by insurance companies (61 percent), local newspapers (52 percent) and President Barack Obama (51 percent). Members of Congress and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner ranked at the bottom of the list at 39 percent and 37 percent respectively.

Although the survey found property-casualty companies are less likely than others to receive blame for the financial crisis, significant numbers do believe home/auto and commercial carriers played a major role. For example, 87 percent of national survey participants thought mortgage lending companies played a "major role" in the crisis, while 46 percent thought commercial insurance companies played a major role. Interestingly, respondents said home and auto carriers, at 29 percent, ranked below consumers themselves (38 percent) as a source of blame.

Many focus group respondents lumped banks, mortgage lenders, insurance companies and other bad actors (such as Bernie Madoff) together in their views on the economic crisis.
To prevent a future economic crisis, 61 percent said "determining which sectors of the marketplace caused the financial crisis and fixing the gaps in federal oversight" was the solution, rather than imposing comprehensive regulation on the entire sector. Study participants stressed the importance of enforcing regulations already in place. While the focus groups were largely unaware of how p-c companies were regulated, 57 percent thought p-c companies should be regulated at the state level.

The preceding article appeared originally in the Nov. 5, 2009 issue of IIABA’s Insurance News & Views.

Rochester Office

In October of 2009, Haylor, Freyer & Coon, Inc. was listed in the Rochester Business Journal as the 12th oldest business in the Rochester area. Haylor purchased The Monroe Group in December 2005, whose ties go back to 1849 and the Gilbert t. Amsden Agency. Just more proof that Haylor, Freyer & Coon, Inc. is committed to being around for the long haul.

Binghamton Office Recognized by Chamber

On October 19, 2009, Haylor, Freyer & Coon, Inc. was recognized by the Chamber of Commerce as the Business of the week. President C. Bruce Wichmann gladly accepted the honor along with the staff of our Binghamton Office.