Page 223 - The UnCaptive Agent

196 THE UNCAPTIVE AGENT

EIN: Employer Identification Number. Like a social
security number, but for businesses. You must have one.
E&O: Errors and Omission. A kind of professional
liability insurance agencies must purchase to protect
them against mistakes.
E&S: Excess and Surplus Lines insurance. A type
of insurance written by specialty insurance carriers that
standard market carriers won’t write. Usually accessed
through MGAs, wholesalers, or brokers. Typically, E&S
carriers are not covered by state guaranty associations,
and often premium taxes, if any, must be collected and
remitted from the purchaser to the state.
FTE: Full Time Equivalent. Used to combine
part-time employees into full-time or fractions of
full-time employees for comparison purposes.
IA: Independent insurance agent. An agent who
is free to represent a number and variety of insurance
companies based upon mutual agreement and advantage.
IIABA: Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers
of America. The independent insurance agents’ largest
professional association. IIABA provides education,
lobbying, and other activities on behalf of independent
agents.
Pro forma: Latin for “according to form.” A pro forma
is a forward-looking financial statement. Typically, an
income and expense (otherwise known as Profit and
Loss) statement prepared to show how management
estimates the business to perform over a given period
of time.
MAP: Market Access Provider. This is a relatively
new term and is a catchall for a variety of kinds of
businesses that provide access of one kind or another to
the insurance marketplace. MAPs include wholesalers,
brokers, MGAs, MGUs, agency networks, aggregators,
clusters, and agency development organizations.