
Coverage questions, one scenario at a time.
The gist
What's the Scenario? with PLRB uses concrete claims situations to clarify coverage language, industry roles, and industry practice. Episodes move from playful setups into careful distinctions about property damage, weather data, appraisals, and conference relationships.
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About What's the Scenario? with PLRB
What's the Scenario? with PLRB is built for the working reality of insurance claims and coverage. It takes one concrete situation at a time and asks what an adjuster, carrier, policyholder, vendor, or other industry participant needs to understand next. The show is structured around scenarios, not abstract lectures. That gives technical policy discussion a clear point of entry. A family returns from camping to find a bear has destroyed their property. A holiday shopping trip raises questions about Apple Watches, drones, theft, and personal property limits. Fireworks set off inside a home create a possible intentional-loss question. A jewelry claim exposes the difference between an old appraisal, replacement cost, market value, and what it means to make the insured whole. Weather episodes turn hail, lightning, hurricane, wildfire, and winter-weather questions into a tour of PLRB.org resources and catastrophe data. Other installments step back from claims files to explain the insurance industry itself, including policyholders, agents, brokers, adjusters, underwriters, actuaries, and carriers. The tone is friendly without becoming loose. Speakers joke, run icebreakers, and occasionally turn a definition into a game-show moment, but the center of gravity remains policy language and professional judgment. The conversations are careful about caveats. They repeatedly note that state law, individual policy wording, and company guidance matter. That caution gives the show its useful rhythm: start with a vivid fact pattern, pressure-test the easy answer, then show where the uncertainty sits. The PLRB conference and expo episodes add a second layer, presenting claims work as a relationship-based professional community as much as a technical practice. Vendor conversations with GEMCOR and DigiPraise bring jewelry valuation and conference networking into the same claims ecosystem. The show is best for insurance professionals who want practical orientation, continuing context, and scenario-based thinking. It is not entertainment pasted onto compliance material. It is more like a friendly training room where the examples are odd enough to remember and the distinctions are important enough to use.
Made for: Insurance claims and coverage professionals, especially adjusters, supervisors, onboarding staff, and industry vendors who benefit from practical examples. It also suits people preparing for PLRB programs or conferences.
What sets it apart: The show anchors technical coverage discussion in vivid, sometimes unusual claim scenarios, then keeps returning to the exact policy distinctions that change the outcome. Its mix of training, conference culture, and working adjuster context gives it a narrower and more practical focus than general insurance commentary.
In their own words
Formerly "PLRB on Demand", this podcast feed is being rebooted as "What's the Scenario? with PLRB." Each week you'll find a 20-minute episode that addresses a claims or coverage scenario and answers interesting insurance questions. Our PLRB team of Alissha Watley, Mike Brode, and Tim Havlir will discuss terrorism, pandemics, fireworks, NFTs, aggressive contractors, phone scams, matching, vacation rentals, and more. Stay subscribed to this feed and check back in the new year for a new podcast.Subscribe to this PodcastYour Podcast App - Please subscribe and rate us on your favorite podcast appYouTube - Please like and subscribe at youtube.com/@plrb/LinkedIn - Please follow at "Property and Lia…
Why you'd press play
A stolen ring and a lightning map turn insurance fine print into your next practical puzzle.
Press play if you want
- to understand why a $22,000 appraisal might still produce a $14,000 payout
- plain-English bearings when agents, brokers, adjusters, and underwriters start crowding your claim
Talks about
Podcasts like What's the Scenario? with PLRB
Alliance NOW! Risk & Insurance Podcast SeriesThe National Alliance for Insurance Education & ResearchPractical risk education for insurance professionals.




Profiles in RiskInsurance talk with the machinery exposed.
Episodes
- 1
Who's Who in the Industry?
Hidden gemA preview of an insurance onboarding course explaining the different roles in the industry after a storm damages a bakery.
Apr 17, 2026·20m·1 clip - 2
The PACE Designation Program
PLRB's Brendan McLaughlin and Mike Brode introduce the PACE designation program for insurance professionals, discussing its benefits for experienced adjusters and new hires.
Apr 10, 2026·18m - 3
What's the Scenario? 100th Episode
Celebrating the 100th episode, this podcast presents a property insurance scenario involving a homeowner's claim after a son's fireworks cause a house fire, exploring coverage issues.
Apr 3, 2026·17m - 4
[REPLAY] Can a Bear Do Vandalism? The First Episode of "What's the Scenario? with PLRB"
Insurance professionals discuss whether a bear destroying camping gear constitutes vandalism or theft under a homeowner's policy.
Mar 27, 2026·12m - 5
[REPLAY] The PLRB Expo: Connection & Community
Hidden gemInsurance professionals share tips for new exhibitors on building relationships at the PLRB Claims Conference Expo.
Mar 20, 2026·22m·1 clip - 6
What's New with Third-Party Supplements? with Steve Badger
Mar 13, 2026·20m - 7
What's New in the Trenches? with Steve Badger
Mar 6, 2026·18m - 8
Carpet in the Bathroom? I Hope That's Against Code!
Feb 27, 2026·17m - 9
[REPLAY] The PLRB Insurance Services Expo & You
Feb 20, 2026·17m - 10
Herding Weather/CATs
Hidden gemPLRB's weather and catastrophe team — Andrew Luchas (AVP of Weather Catastrophe Services), Dylan McDermott (Weather and Catastrophe Analyst), Brendan McLaughlin, and Mike Brode — walks through every major weather data tool available on PLRB.org, using real claims scenarios as demonstrations for each.
Feb 13, 2026·25m·1 clip - 11
A Squirrel, A Power Outage, and a Ruined Dinner
Feb 6, 2026·18m - 12
The PLRB Expo: Connection & Community
Dana Grodin and Allison McClainy of Gemcor explain how their company has attended PLRB since 1984 and treats the annual claims conference as its main marketing effort.
Jan 30, 2026·22m·1 clip - 13
[REPLAY] Join Us at the Claims Conference
Jan 23, 2026·19m - 14
Do Jewelry Appraisals Lock In Insurance Payout Amounts?
Hidden gemPLRB’s "What’s the Scenario?" centers on a stolen ring, a $22,000 appraisal, and a claim payment that came back at $14,000.
Jan 16, 2026·20m·1 clip - 15
Hogging the Blame for a Fire Loss
Jan 9, 2026·18m - 16
[REPLAY] What's Your Elevator Pitch?
Dec 30, 2025·20m - 17
[REPLAY] Is an Apple Watch a Watch?
Dec 23, 2025·21m - 18
Fire on the Farm
Dec 16, 2025·21m - 19
Train Your Team at PLRB.org!
Dec 9, 2025·18m - 20
PLRB's Large Loss Conference: How Did It Go?
Dec 2, 2025·22m - 21
[REPLAY] PLRB Building Codes: Don't Fall Down the BC Rabbit Hole
Nov 25, 2025·19m - 22
That is an Alarm, But it's Not a Fire Alarm!
Nov 18, 2025·22m - 23
Pork Shoulder Melts Insured's Siding
Nov 11, 2025·14m - 24
Twists & Turns in Supplemental Endorsements
Nov 4, 2025·21m - 25
Sump Pump Supplemental Endorsement
Oct 28, 2025·21m - 26
[CLIPS] "I Didn't Think a Diamond Could Chip!"
Oct 21, 2025·17m - 27
[REPLAY] Join Us at the 2025 Large Loss Conference
Oct 14, 2025·16m - 28
Wind Blew Dirt On My Koi Fish
Oct 7, 2025·23m - 29
Is an eBike a Car? No. But is it a Motor Vehicle?
Sep 30, 2025·21m - 30
Don't Count Your Chicken Coops Before They're Insured
Sep 23, 2025·22m - 31
The CLEAR Approach to Difficult Conversations
Sep 16, 2025·20m - 32
How Particular is "That Particular Part"?
Sep 10, 2025·20m - 33
The Lab-Grown Mismatch: One Earring, One Surprise
Sep 2, 2025·20m - 34
"You Can't Salvage My Mother's Ring!"
Aug 26, 2025·20m - 35
Suicide, Arson, and the Intentional Loss Exclusion
Aug 19, 2025·21m - 36
Don't Fall Down the Building Codes Rabbit Hole!
Aug 12, 2025·18m - 37
Posthumous Premium Payor
Insurance professionals discuss a scenario where a policy remains in a deceased insured's name and whether a fire loss can be paid.
Aug 5, 2025·21m - 38
Sugar, Spice, and Everything Sand: The CGL Auto Exclusion
Insurance professionals discuss a scenario where sugar-contaminated sand leads to concrete failure, focusing on whether the CGL auto exclusion applies.
Jul 29, 2025·20m - 39
[REPLAY] Detached Garage Converted to AirBNB
Jul 22, 2025·19m - 40
[REPLAY] I Crashed My Bike Into a Tree
Insurance professionals discuss whether a cyclist's homeowner's policy covers his bike after crashing into a tree due to another cyclist cutting him off.
Jul 15, 2025·20m - 41
[REPLAY] The Appraisal Process – Is it Still Useful to Resolve Disputed Claims?
Jul 8, 2025·16m - 42
[REPLAY] Invoking "Our Option" – Increased Use of Preferred Contractor Networks
Jul 1, 2025·19m - 43
Tree Roots Blocked Up My Kitchen Sink
Jun 24, 2025·18m - 44
Murder Mystery: Diminution in Value
Jun 10, 2025·17m - 45
Michigan PIP Puzzles
Insurance professionals discuss a Michigan PIP scenario involving an independent contractor with two injury claims.
Jun 3, 2025·21m - 46
Your Insurance Policy Will Decide When You're Done Ridesharing
May 27, 2025·20m - 47
My Insurance Policy has a Death Clause!
May 20, 2025·16m - 48
Does a Windstorm Deductible Apply to My Spoiled Cheesecakes?
Insurance professionals discuss whether a windstorm deductible applies to spoiled cheesecakes after a power outage caused by a windstorm.
May 13, 2025·20m - 49
My Cheesecakes Spoiled After A Windstorm-- or a Windy Storm?
May 6, 2025·17m - 50
A Flipped Van, a Plumber on Shrooms, and the BOP Policy
Apr 29, 2025·20m