B&A has provided alternative risk analysis and risk management services since January of 2000.  Previous to the formation of B&A, Mr. Beringer worked in the insurance industry for 30 plus years as a Litigation Manager for various insurance carriers, including Specialty Risk Services (Hartford), Industrial Indemnity, Great American and Western International. Since B&A’s formation he has assisted major insurance carriers and served as a consultant to various reinsurance and captive insurance carriers. He has also been engaged to provide analysis of Labor Code exposures to business and assist with their operational concerns, logistics, risk management, Workers Compensation underwriting and executive management. As a Claim and Litigation Manager his responsibilities included significant case handling for exposures in excess of client’s self-insured retention through various levels of the reinsurance in the United States and offshore venues.

PROFESSIONAL HISTORY:

Mr. Beringer is Principal of Beringer & Associates (B&A), a Risk, Claim and Litigation Management Firm. This Firm provides risk, litigation management, Workers Compensation analysis/consultant services for construction contractors, product manufacturers and formation/operation of alternative risk transfer mechanisms for domestic and non-domestic captive programs.

B&A has provided alternative risk analysis and risk management services since January of 2000.  Previous to the formation of B&A, Mr. Beringer worked in the insurance industry for 30 plus years as a Litigation Manager for various insurance carriers, including Specialty Risk Services (Hartford), Industrial Indemnity, Great American and Western International. Since B&A’s formation he has assisted major insurance carriers and served as a consultant to various reinsurance and captive insurance carriers. He has also been engaged to provide analysis of Labor Code exposures to business and assist with their operational concerns, logistics, risk management, Workers Compensation underwriting and executive management. As a Claim and Litigation Manager his responsibilities included significant case handling for exposures in excess of client’s self insured retention through various levels of the reinsurance in the United States and offshore venues.

B&A has been engaged by American Insurance Group, Swiss RE and Sterling Insurance Company for carrier review preceding the attachment of E&O and/or reinsurance attachment; by Atlantic Surety & Indemnity for reinsurance/policy analysis; A.B. Lexman SPC for formation of reinsurance and program presentation to Regulators and JPJ Reinsurance SPC for a commodity transfer reinsurance program. In 2000 B&A was requested to assist with the Reliance Insurance Company’s run off for their self-insured and large deductible programs, including trucking airlines and other various risks. Mr. Beringer was also engaged by Plexi Insurance Services, an insurance brokerage, for support of underwriting submissions for Workers Compensation and other risks.     

He is also a founding  Fellow of  the Council on Litigation Management (Previously the Counsel on Ethical Billing); served on the Board of Directors of the Insurance Litigation Management Association; a member of the  National Association of Subrogation Professional and is a member of the Forensic Expert Witness Association.

He was issued a personal commendation by Ramani Ayer, Chairman & Chief  Executive Officer of The Hartford; a personal commendation by the City of Tustin; commendation by the Korean Insurance Agents & Brokers Association of America; the California CPA Society and the Minister for Inland Marine Insurance for the Peoples Republic of China.       

Mr. Beringer started in the insurance industry in 1969, completing his formal career with Specialty Risk Services directing litigation on the behalf of Twin City Fire Insurance Company/Hartford Fire Insurance Company. His responsibilities include case management of significant pending including class action lawsuits, developer/subcontractor construction defect cases, trade dress and various employment torts; Workers Compensation, supervision of policy administration and Coverage B litigation; negotiation and analysis of coverage for Hartford Insurance Company.

He was also charged during his time in the insurance industry with coverage analysis and case handling for Industrial Indemnity, Great American, the Automobile Club of Southern California and Western International Insurance Company for coverage derived from primary, reinsurance and excess policies, Errors and Omissions, Workers Compensation, General Liability, Tax Practitioners and professional services contracts. 

While the specific list of clients’ assigned is confidential, his clientele has included Fortune 500 companies, various municipalities in California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Texas, Florida,  and Arizona, and individually owned companies. Well over 15,000 litigated cases were resolved by the efforts of Mr. Beringer during his employment in the insurance industry and as a private practitioner in his over 42 years in the claims and risk management industry.

Professional credentials include an LPCS from the American Institute of Insurance Studies, and an RPA from the Registered Professionals Adjuster Association.  He is a member of The Society of Claim Law Professionals (SCLA), a member of the National Association of Insurance Litigation Managers (NAILM) and a published author in Litigation Matters , the Property and Casualty Newsletter and the IMMS publication Close Up.  He has been interviewed for internet publications for the Insurance Journal as well as other online insurance publications.

Mr. Beringer is also a graduate of The Mediation Center and qualified as a mediator under the Alternative Dispute Resolution Program Act of 1993 and Business & Profession Code 465; a past mediation provider for the Victim-Offender Reconciliation Program (VORP), sponsored by the Orange County District Attorney's office; and host mediator for the Day of Dialog in Los Angeles in 1996, sponsored by the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office. Mr. Beringer holds appointment as Special Arbitrator, since December of 1989, with Arbitration Forums Inc.  

In 2005, Mr. Beringer was a Featured Guest Speaker for the California CPA Educational Foundation’s Accounting Conference in Fresno regarding alternative risk and the Professional Employment/Temporary Staffing marketplace. In 2003, Mr. Beringer was a Featured Guest Speaker at the Cayman Island Insurance Managers Conference on the topic of Loss Control, Risk and Claim/Litigation Management. In 1996 he was a participant in a panel discussion on The Claims Business for the 21st Century for the CPCU convention in Costa Mesa on Litigation Management and the application of technology to the claims process.

He is also a speaker on the topic of Captive Insurance as an alternative to traditional insurance and has testified as an expert witness on the behalf of various insurance companies, including Lumberman’s Underwriters Insurance Company and testified on the behalf of the Hartford Insurance Company regarding insurance coverage issues, as well as other insurance carrier clients.

AWARDS AND DESIGNATIONS:

• LEGAL PRINCIPLES CLAIMS SPECIALIST: Awarded by American Education Institute, Inc.    
• REGISTERED PROFESSIONAL ADJUSTER PROGRAM: Awarded by the RPA, registered as number 704. 
• ARBITRATION  FORUMS INC.:  Appointment as arbitrator for special arbitration's for the states of California and Florida. Mediator for Special Resolution Panel.

APPRECIATION AWARDS:          

• Korean Insurance Agents and Brokers  Assoc.
• Big Bear Valley Contractors Association, Inc.
• Mexican American National Women's  Assoc.
• The St. Vincent De Paul Center for Community
• Reconciliation
• Construction Referral Network
• Orange County CPCU Society
• Los Angeles City Counsel for The Day of Dialog
• Tustin City Counsel for Service on the Water Commission
• Committee Participation Redevelopment PAC- Tustin

These awards were presented by the organizations for contributions on the topics of alternative resolution techniques, insurance coverage and risk management. I have also presented to groups regarding self-insured retention and the maintenance of internal claims departments.         

• CLAIMS SCHOOL INC.:  Certificate of Completion issued on the Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Regulations: California Code of Regulations, Title 10. Chapter 7.5, 2695.03 and Insurance Code 790.03
• CYRANO'S AT 7:30:  Founder and moderator of a discussion group which focuses on the issues of ethics, mores, and the equal rights of humanity in the context of the advancements in science and societal change. We have been featured on OCN and produce a newsletter discussing business, critical thinking and ethical issues.
• ROTARY INTERNATIONAL:  Inducted member in the Tustin chapter.  Past chair of Speakers Bureau. No longer active.
• ORANGE COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY:  Chair Alliances Subcommittee. I served on the Legislative and Small Business Committees; liaison between the Small Business Committee and Regulatory Committee 1993 to 1996.
• CITY of TUSTIN: Water Commissioner and member of Water Board, 1995 to 1996; member of the Committee for the Redevelopment of South Tustin from July of 1999 to July of 2003. 

EDUCATION:

• Graduate of American Educational Institute-Legal Principles Certification,
• Graduate of Business Owners Service Program at Rancho Santiago College;
• California State University, Fullerton and Long Beach City College, Music Performance and Composition major.
• Supervisory Skills Workshops I, II, & III and Management
• Training Workshops I, II & III with the Automobile Club of Southern California.
• Dispute Resolution Training with The Mediation Center. 
• Human Physiology and Injury Management with Dr. Dolan of USC and Dr. Jobe.

Additional education with:

• American Educational Institute in Environmental Torts,
• Professional Liability,
• D&O/E&O coverage,
• Law of Reinsurance and Employment torts.  

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EXPERT AREAS:

• Risk Management
• Alternative Risk Transfer
• Insurance – General
• Workers Compensation
• Labor Code
• Business Management
• Domestic and Non-domestic captive programs
• Litigation Management
• Reinsurance
• Claims Management
• Bad Faith