What's in a name? Quite a lot if you're sending mail, making a telephone call or writing a cheque to insurance firm BF&M, or should that be Bermuda Fire and Marine? For years locals have always referred to Bermuda Fire and Marine as BF&M, whether it be in the Press, on television, on the radio or in everyday chit chat.

But the whole shebang was thrown into much confusion a year ago when Bermuda Fire and Marine sold its local business, logo and all, to a new and separate firm called, wait for it, BF&M.

To add to the confusion, BF&M moved into Bermuda Fire and Marine's offices and took on its phone number, while Bermuda Fire and Marine, which handles international run off business, eventually moved to another site.

Not surprisingly, confusion has reigned in some quarters ever since.

Telephone receptionists at Bermuda Fire and Marine are having their patience tried constantly by a stream of callers who really want BF&M.

At one stage, the company was taking up to 50 calls a day which were really intended for BF&M.

In an effort to clear up the misunderstanding, BF&M has been running advertisements all this week in the press informing customers where his company can be found in the telephone book.

"The element of confusion a year later is sufficient for us to be a little concerned about the situation,'' said BF&M president Mr. Glenn Titterton, who is at pains to point out that most residents took immediately to the changes.

Premium payments are also causing a bit of a headache. Many BF&M clients are writing cheques in the name of the company they have been writing out their cheques to for years, only now they're wrong.

For the sake of expediency, the two firms quickly came to an understanding that Bermuda Fire and Marine would endorse a cheque over to BF&M if it is obvious a mistake has been made. If it isn't a clear cut case, the cheque is returned to the sender, pleasing nobody.

Mr. Titterton, who has been known to fire off angry letters to the press whenever they got it wrong, wants to make it clear that "BF&M is not an abbreviation for anything, it's a corporate identity''.

"Our concern is the convenience to our customers who in some cases are having to making two phone calls instead of one,'' he said. "We're just trying to clear up any confusion that remains.'' For those of you still unsure, BF&M deals with local insurance and is the company you will deal with if you live locally, contactable on 295-5566.

Bermuda Fire and Marine Insurance handle's international run-off business and is not currently writing any new business. Ordinary residents will probably never need to contact the company ever again.

So now you know! Only now is the full impact of Hurricane Andrew on the wealthier parts of south Florida becoming apparent.

Insurance claims investigators have been making some unusual findings as they check out the full extent of the damage in the wake of the hurricane.

One of the more bizarre discoveries was that one wealthy department store executive kept a shark in his swimming pool.

In that part of the world, as in Bermuda, a swimming pool is almost compulsory for any successful businessman. Having a shark in it must be the ultimate status symbol.