The new International Disability Insurance Society held its first annual conference last month in Florida.
W. Harold Petersen, president of Petersen International Underwriters in Valencia, Calif., says the group represents a cross-section of interests in the disability insurance industry, including regulators, educators, insurers and purveyors (brokers and other producers).
The founders chose to include the word "Society" in its name to signal that the organization would not function as a trade association, says Petersen, who now serves as president of IDIS.
"We intend to bring all the key interests together in a common forum where people can discuss common opportunities and common problems," he says.
For example, at the conference, Petersen says there was discussion about "prices we can't change," citing the fixed costs producers must bear of sustaining a license and meeting the required 30 hours of continuing education credits. This can run to $5,000 a year, he says.
