Catholic Diocese Of Rochester Ny

Brokers' sin of commission

In one of most far-reaching insurance scandals in New York, a family-run insurance broker in Long Island partnered with Lloyds of London for at least 15 years to peddle $30 billion of improper policies to more than 300 Catholic universities and charities, an investigation by The Post has uncovered.

The unregistered policies allowed Huntington-based Waldorf & Associates to pocket tens of millions of dollars in extra profits over the years while its clients -- including St. John's and Fordham universities, Catholic Charities, Sisters of Mercy, the Diocese of Rochester and scores of others -- were potentially put in harm's way, The Post has learned.

If Lloyds of London had gone bankrupt -- as it nearly did in 1992 -- the hundreds of Catholic educational, charitable and religious clients would not have the safety net of the state insurance fund to fall back on and could have been left holding the bag for billions of dollars in claims, experts told The Post.

"This is the biggest case we've ever seen of this type," said a senior industry executive.

THE scandal spanned a dozen states yet none of the institutions -- longtime clients of Waldorf, which bills itself as a specialist serving religious and non-profit groups -- had any inkling they were being denied legitimate, top-shelf insurance when they purchased their liability, auto, property and casualty, and other types of insurance policies.

The sub-par insurance the Waldorfs sold them is known in the industry as independent procurement, or IP, insurance. Such policies are pricey, rare and usually reserved only for risky businesses, like fireworks exhibitors. Under strict state laws, such policies cannot be sold directly by a broker like Waldorf.

Clients must request them specifically and directly from an insurance underwriter that is based out-of-state, and pay premiums to the IP policy underwriter, not a broker.

That's not what happened with Waldorf's clients.

At St. John's University, which buys multimillion-dollar policies on its campuses in Queens and Staten Island, the legal department was surprised when reached by The Post. "I'm aware of us having insurance through the Waldorfs, but I'm not aware of any of these issues," said general counsel, Joe Oliva.

A spokesman for Fordham University said the school will investigate the matter.

The Waldorf firm, that includes millionaire siblings Stephen, Bill, and Pamela Waldorf, grew wealthy in recent years through selling high-margin IP insurance as normal insurance to unsuspecting charities.

TitusOneNine - Rallies in Rochester, New York for and against same ...

Episcopal Bishop Prince Singh was at the pro-rally and said his Church is wrestling with the same sex marriage issue. In his Church role, he cannot marry a same sex couple. But he's hoping a dialogue will lead to change. "It is something that is part of their inherent gift as God has made them. And this is an engagement of science and religion that people have been grappling with for a long time, but we are becoming a little more honest about it."

It is an interesting time to live near Albany.  Some protesters had bagpipes playing in front of the State House the other day.

The Republicans in the State Senate—which had been holding out—have mostly caved in.  There are only two more votes to go to give a majority to those in favor of the bill, and Gov. Cuomo has been pushing very hard to get it passed—which it already did in the Assembly.

Any wisdom out there from states that have already done this on how to turn away a gay couple asking for a wedding without getting arrested?

I’m serious.  Any advice?  This is a done deal here.  Everyone is insisting that this is “The Will of The People.”

Nobody seems interested in the Will of God.

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