Well it's like Super Tuesday in the Paintball Insurance World and a race for your business!

I am speaking out finally after being silent about what is going on in the paintball industry and how field owners have been taken advantage of and lied to. I was asked to get back involved by several field owners and since doing so I have had to squash a few rumors that some in the paintball industry have spread.  In doing so I have provided information that most in the industry were not privy to but is public record.  There is documentation for everything mentioned that you can find on the internet.  My wife and I operate a very ethical insurance agency, and I will not tolerate any shots at us without defending that honor and respect that we have fought so hard to maintain.  There has been a letter sent out to some of you from our buddies at MIC that I have responded to at http://www.68caliber.com/news/industry/story042862.php if you are interested.

After speaking with 317 paintball fields in the last 60 days we have a delegate count.  After presenting our insurance companies that write our field insurance programs, their financial rating, their dec pages, the pricing for general liability field insurance, the pricing for participant accidental medical coverage, and my 28 years of being licensed as an insurance agent, especially licensed in the state of the field owner operates, and my 12 years of service to the paintball industry, mostly non profit if you talk to the owners, we emerge as the leader in the industry once again.  317 policies quoted, 313 have said that we offer better prices and coverage’s and are going with our program.  Still have until 3/1 until the race is over and the final count is in!

The important issues we hear with field owners is that business is down, costs are up, income is down, insurance has gone up for 5 years now since there were few insurance options for field owners as they were ram rodded  into joining these so-called associations to access insurance for paintball fields.

Now there is an option for field owners.  Insurance is one of the largest costs to some field owners.  Cossio Insurance Agency now has provided an option to field owners where they can lower their insurance costs from $500-5000 per year or more on some of the larger fields.  Cossio Insurance Agency deals direct with the carriers without several layers which can cause delays in quoting, underwriting questions, policy issuance, or claims processing, or higher costs.  Many of you have asked for a quote and have to wait days to weeks to receive it.  Not with our office, it takes 5 minutes. 

Before you make your decision for insurance for 2008 check out the history of each candidate.

The court records show a case that is still in court with one of these so called associations in the southern area that has a suit against them for $6 million judgment; allegedly the lawsuit is for not turning in the claim to the insurance company... not with our office.

Check out the court records for the principals of these so called associations.  One of these principles involved in paintball for years declared bankruptcy to the tune of $5 million in debt and almost took down several companies in the paintball industry by not paying for product.  But the race cars, 3 of them, the tractor trailer rig, race team employees, and $1.5 million budget were all in tact.  What would happen if your insurance agency or association declared bankruptcy and disappeared?  What happened to Nathan Smith and then Nathan Smith and his Xcel Insurance Agency?

Check out the licensing for the person that discusses either premiums or coverages.  Go to the department of insurance and see if they have a non resident license in your state.  If it has expired they are operating illegally in your state.  Why would you deal with someone that is not legally licensed to sell insurance?  Why would they be licensed and then let it cancel?  I will tell you why, $6500 to license in all states per agent.  I paid it, we are legal.  I can tell you that I have checked out the candidates in both so called associations and I have a spreadsheet showing most of their licenses that have expired.  Not with our office.

Check out the department of insurance licensing department and see if any fines have been levied against the person you are dealing with for selling insurance without the correct licenses.  Not with our office.

Check out the "business association" you are dealing with.
1. Do a lot of searching to see if it is a legitimate business association (such as a chamber, secretary of state) or a marketing arm of an insurance broker
2. Hit the websites of both organizations and look for interlocking employees
3. Pull the corporate data from your state for both organizations. See if there are common names among the officers.
4. Look out when the 'business association' just happens to share the same address as the insurance agency.
5. If you subscribe to the wall street journal, look for a 15 page article by Chad Terhune that details how these fake associations work.  It discusses issues with the health insurance industry but it also applies here.
6. Ask to see the business association bylaws before signing up for paintball insurance. If you can't see the bylaws-that is a huge red flag.
7.  Does your association require you to take their safety classes to qualify for their insurance program?
Field owners have spoken, we have listened, they have said just give us good insurance coverage with good insurance companies at good prices.  We have always provided this to our paintball customers for 12 years.  I have been a licensed insurance agent for 28 years without any penalties, fines, or lawsuits for any customer that had a claim that was not responded to by the insurance company that we represent.  I am not stupid enough to come into a market with a company that does not provide the correct coverage or the financial strength to withstand any claim.

Which companies have chosen to have Cossio Insurance Agency represent them? Here are a few names you might recognize:

Mike & Todd Peverill (Pev’s Paintball)
Rene Boucher and family (also with Paintball News)
Dean Del Prete (Cousin's Paintball)
Rennick Miller (Badlands Paintball)
Dan Bonebrake (Warpaint International)
Jim & Kim Estes (Northwest Paintball Park)
Pete Bofill (Ruff n Tuff Paintball)
Dwayne Convirs (D Day)
Red Lapierre (Red's Paintball)
Dynasty Paintball Team
NPPL
And quite a few others...

We want your vote and your business.  We want to help you improve your bottom line by lowering your insurance costs and providing better coverage.  We do not want to run your business by telling you what age group to allow, what mode of operation, if you can have tanks or not, if you could have night games.  We want to provide you coverage for the exposures that your business has, and at the lowest cost possible, with the best service possible. 

We want to make it easy to make a decision.  If you have already completed an application for coverage with a different company, send it to us.  We will use it for a quickie quote to give you an indication on what the premium could be with our carriers.  If you think that our quote would improve your bottom line and provide the protection you need, then go online and complete our application and get it to us and we will bind coverage for you.  If you decide you like the candidate you are currently with, that is great also. 

Disclosure is a good thing.  We will be in the office this Saturday from 9-5 Eastern time to answer your questions or to provide an estimate for you.  Try us.

My name is Larry Cossio, and I approve this message and I want your business.

www.paintballinsurance.com  for online application
larry@cossioinsurance.com     for email
864-688-0121 ext. 100           for phone calls

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