Insurance Journal West 2015-05-04

WEST

Hole-in-One Insurance Scammer at it Again

Subcontractor Underreported $78M in Payroll

Earthquake Fault Puts Calif. at Risk for Tsunami

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6 | INSURANCE JOURNAL-WEST May 4, 2015 www.insurancejournal.com

Inside This Issue

WEST

May 4, 2015 • Vol. 93 No. 9 • West

10 ‘Hungry’ Insurers Continued to Cut Commercial Prices in Q1: CIAB

16 Independent Agents Identify Business Opportunities for Carriers: Survey

18 What Agents Think About Google Compare

20 Spotlight: 10 Things to Know About Recreation & Leisure

22 Special Report: Beating Up on Workers’ Compensation

26 Closer Look: Insuring Restaurants and Taverns Presents Some Real E&O Risks

34 2015 Workers’ Comp Directory

NATIONAL COVERAGE

28 Tech Talk: The Risk of Data Breach in Agencies Today

31 How to Mitigate the Risks of Cloud Computing

43 How Analytics Technology Can Speed Integration Post-M&A

45 Best of the Best: Supply & Demand

46 The Competitive Advantage: Chris Burand

50 Closing Quote: Challenges Continue as Drone Regulations Take Shape

IDEA EXCHANGE

DEPARTMENTSW4 People11 Declarations11 Figures12 Business Moves30 MyNewMarkets

W2 W6

W2 CDI: True Religion Subcontractor Underreported $78M in Payroll

W2 Washington Commissioner Says Hole-in-One Insurance Scammer at it Again

W6 California Workers’ Comp Premium Up 11% in 2014; Combined Ratio Still Exceeds 100

W6 Earthquake Fault Puts California at Risk for Tsunami

WEST COVERAGE

26 50

On The CoverSpecial Report:

Beating Up on Workers’ Compensation

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8 | INSURANCE JOURNAL-NATIONAL May 4, 2015 www.insurancejournal.com

NATIONAL COVERAGE

FOR QUESTIONS REGARDING SUBSCRIPTIONS: Call: 855-814-9547 or you may subscribe or change your address online at:

insurancejournal.com/subscribeInsurance Journal, The National Property/Casualty Magazine (ISSN: 00204714) is published semi-monthly by Wells Media Group, Inc., 3570 Camino del Rio North, Suite 200, San Diego, CA 92108-1747. Periodicals Postage Paid at San Diego, CA and at additional mailing offices. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $7.95 per copy, $12.95 per special issue copy, $195 per year in the U.S., $295 per year all other countries. DISCLAIMER: While the information in this publication is derived from sources believed reliable and is subject to reasonable care in preparation and editing, it is not intended to be legal, accounting, tax, technical or other professional advice. Readers are advised to consult competent professionals for application to their particular situation. Copyright 2014 Wells Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Content may not be photocopied, reproduced or redistributed without written permission. Insurance Journal is a publication of Wells Media Group, Inc.

POSTMASTER: Send change of address form to Insurance Journal, Circulation Department, PO Box 708, Northbrook, IL 60065-0708

ARTICLE REPRINTS: For reprints of articles in this issue, contact: Ly Nguyen at 1-800-897-9965 ext. 125 or [email protected] Visit insurancejournal.com/reprints/ for more information.

Opening Note

Andrea WellsEditor-in-Chief

‘The threat of cyber-related losses seem to be a matter of not if, but when.’

It’s a Buyers’ Market

Insurance buyers can expect to face friendly market conditions on most lines of insurance for the remainder of 2015 thanks to reduced catastrophe losses

and a high supply of capital. But evolving threats from a range of risks — cyber attacks, political insta-bility and a changing climate — pose risk management challenges for many of these same buyers, says Willis Group Holdings in its 2015 Marketplace Realities Spring Update. While buyers should enjoy favorable pricing and terms in most lines, there are some exceptions to the downward trend, most notably cyber insurance. Willis expects commercial property rates to fall by an average of 12.5 percent to 15 percent for both non-catastrophe-exposed and catastrophe-exposed risks, due in part to a market flush with capacity, according to the report, which suggests even further softening could occur. Insurance carrier appetite for this risk remains strong and with increased carrier capacity, Willis says buyers are enjoying ample options in determining where to place their business in 2015. For commercial casualty lines, capacity also remains abundant. Willis says it expects primary pricing at renewals to be flat. The pricing environment for workers’ compensation is unchanged, with a mix of increases and decreases ranging between -5 percent and +5 percent, though California workers’ com-pensation rates are expected to climb by 8 percent. Individual experiences will vary depending on industry, geography and loss history, but overall Willis expects a marketplace that continues to offer oppor-tunities for buyers. But, Matt Keeping, chief broking officer, Willis North America, said chal-lenges remain for organizations as risk profiles change. “The threat of cyber-re-

lated losses seem to be a matter of not if, but when; the push for global markets is clashing with the realities of political upheaval and war in many places on the planet, making polit-ical risks increasingly unavoidable; and even if Nat Cat losses are down in the aggregate, there is the sense that a changing climate brings an increased potential for widespread catastro-phe in heavily populated areas.” Cyber insurance is among the exceptions to the broad downward trend. With cyber breaches increasing, the demand for stand-alone cyber policies is dramatically rising. Willis pre-dicts increases of up to 10 percent for most buyers. However, organizations with point-of-sale (POS) exposures face 10 per-

cent to 100+ percent increases for primary premiums. Willis also expects rate increases on errors and omissions coverage for orga-nizations with poor loss experience or difficult industry sectors, and some environmental insurance programs. In the executive risks lines, buyers will find a mix of modest increases and decreases.

Publisher Mark Wells | [email protected]

EDITORIALChief Content OfficerAndrew Simpson | [email protected] Wells | [email protected] EditorYoung Ha | [email protected] EditorMichael Adams | [email protected] Central Editor/Midwest EditorStephanie K. Jones | [email protected] EditorDon Jergler | [email protected] EditorCharles E. Boyle | [email protected] EditorSusanne Sclafane | [email protected] EditorDenise Johnson | [email protected] Associate EditorAmy O’Connor | [email protected] Chris Burand, Curtis Pearsall, Tom Wetzel Contributing Writers Asaf Cidon, Tom Karol, Sarah Lucas, Kabir Syed

SALESChief Marketing Officer Julie Tinney (800) 897-9965 x148 | [email protected] Manager Lauren Knapp (800) 897-9965 x161 | [email protected] Dena Kaplan (800) 897-9965 x115 | [email protected] Central Mindy Trammell (800) 897-9965 x149 | [email protected] Howard Simkin (800) 897-9965 x162 | [email protected] Dave Molchan (800) 897-9965 x145 | [email protected] Markets Sales Manager Kristine Honey | [email protected], Jobs, Agencies Wanted/For SaleLy Nguyen (800) 897-9965 x125 | [email protected]

MARKETING/NEW MEDIAMarketing Administrator Gayle Wells | [email protected] Coordinator Erin Burns (619) 584-1100 x120 | [email protected] Media ProducerBobbie Dodge | [email protected]

DESIGN/WEBChief Technology Officer/Chief Innovation OfficerJoshua Carlson | [email protected]. of Design Guy Boccia | [email protected] Development Elizabeth Duffy | [email protected] Director Derence Walk | [email protected] Developer Jeff Cardrant | [email protected] Developer Chris Thompson | [email protected]

IJ ACADEMY OF INSURANCEV.P. of EducationChris Boggs | [email protected] Training CoordinatorBarbara Whiffen | [email protected]

ADMINISTRATION Chief Executive OfficerMitch DunfordChief Financial Officer Mark Wooster | [email protected]

THERE ARE SOME RISKS ONLY A SPECIALIST CAN HANDLE.We’re LIU, the global specialty lines division of Liberty Mutual Insurance. To meet our underwriters and learn more about how they can help you and your clients handle unique risks, visit www.LIU-USA.com.

Boston | New York | Chicago | Atlanta | Dallas | Houston | Denver | Los Angeles | San Francisco | Miami | Baltimore | London | Europe | Asia | Australia | Canada | Latin America | Middle East

Certain coverage may be provided by a surplus lines insurer. Surplus lines insurers do not generally participate in state guaranty funds and insureds are therefore not protected by such funds.

© 2014 Liberty Mutual Insurance

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NATIONAL COVERAGE

News & Marketspricing as carriers scrambled to book new business. Brokers responding to the survey reported an actively competitive market. In the Northeast, brokers said carriers were “more aggressive” with a “much broad-er appetite” and offered “lower deductibles, multi-year deals.” Carriers were “hungry, hungry, hungry,” one broker said.

Midwestern brokers reported “aggressive carri-ers” and that “downward pressure on pricing was greater than three months ago.” Other regions reported similar trends: “Broader risk

selection; more flexibility in terms, condi-tions and pricing” (Southwest); “reduced deductibles higher capacity” (Southeast); and “soft market, lots of property capacity” (Pacific Northwest), CIAB reported. The survey results confirmed that prop-erty pricing fell in most of the country for properties without CAT exposures or losses. However, the Northeast coastal area, which was hit by record-breaking snowfall last winter, did see some tightening and slightly higher deductibles for roof damage caused by ice damning, according to the survey. Loss experience continued to be a factor in underwriting. While willing to negoti-ate on pricing, carriers were still looking for good loss histories, broker said. “Good accounts being marketed got very compet-

‘Hungry’ Insurers Continued to Cut Commercial Prices in Q1: CIAB

Insurance brokers report that the com-mercial property/casualty market con-

tinued to soften in the first quarter of 2015, with large accounts seeing the biggest price declines. On average, small, medium and large accounts fell 2.3 percent, compared with a decline of 0.7 percent in the 4th quarter of last year. Large accounts saw the steepest drop of 3.7 percent, while medi-um-sized accounts fell 2.7 percent, according to the quarterly Commercial P/C Market Index Survey by the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers. “The trend of falling prices we saw in the fourth quarter of 2014, continued into the first quarter of this year,” said Ken A. Crerar, president and CEO of the commer-cial brokers’ group. “Last quarter, buyers gained some advantage as pricing slid across the board and across all regions for most lines of business. A relatively calm catastro-phe season, with the exception of the harsh winter in the Northeast, helped push com-mercial property pricing down in most of the country.” Crerar said reauthorization of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act “seemed to settle that market.”

Q1 2015 Commercial Pricing Plentiful capacity continued to dampen

itive pricing. Bad accounts got increases,” said a Midwest broker. Demand for commercial insurance remained strong with interest in cyber liability even stronger than than in the last quarter, according to CIAB respondents.

Marsh Outlook In its annual U.S. Insurance Market Report 2015 published in February, Marsh said that the U.S. commercial property insurance market is expected to continue to soften into 2015. Barring unforeseen events, clients with non-catastrophe exposed risks should expect competition for their property insur-ance programs in 2015 with favorable terms and conditions and price decreases typical-ly averaging between 5 percent and 15 per-cent, depending on the insured’s specifics, according to Marsh. Catastrophe-exposed clients also can expect typical rate decreases in the 10 percent to 15 percent range, depending on their risk profile and concentration of catastrophe prone areas, Marsh predicted. Marsh said the U.S. casualty insurance market also appears poised to soften in 2015, following a stable 2014 in which rates generally edged upward, but the pace of increase slowed, according to the report. Of particular note, 2014 is projected to be the first profitable year for workers’ compensa-tion since 2006, although insurers are still pressing for rate increases.

Plentiful capacity continued to dampen

pricing as carriers scrambled to book

new business.

Small Medium Large Accounts Accounts Accounts Average First Quarter 2015 -0.5% -2.7% -3.7% -2.3% Forth Quarter 2014 1.1% -0.9% -2.2% -0.7% Third Quarter 2014 1.1% 0.3% -1.1% 0.1% Second Quarter 2014 1.2% -0.2% -2.6% -0.5% First Quarter 2014 3.0% 1.6% -0.1% 1.5% High (4Q01) 20.8% 31.7% 33.0% 28.5% Low (3Q07) -10% (1Q08) -15.0% -15.9% -13.6%

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W2 | INSURANCE JOURNAL-WEST May 4, 2015 www.insurancejournal.com

WEST COVERAGE

News & Marketsthan similar reports submitted to the California Employment Development Department. Evidence also revealed many employees were paid under the table through a bank account that was never disclosed to EDD or insurance carriers, the investigation showed. If convicted, Kim faces 28 years in state prison. Her bail was set at $700,000. Choi faces 15 years and her bail was set at $430,000, and Jae Kim faces 22 years and his bail was set at $520,000. Kim and Choi were booked into the Los Angeles County Jail, and Jae Kim was booked into the Men’s Central Jail in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting this case.

CDI: True Religion Subcontractor Underreported $78M in Payroll

The owners of sewing companies sub-contracted by True Religion Brand

Jeans were arrested in mid-April on 18 felo-ny counts of workers’ compensation insur-ance fraud totaling more than $11 million in losses. Sung Hyun Kim, 57, and her sister Caroline Choi, 59, CEOs of Meriko Inc. and SF Apparel Inc., along with their CPA, Jae Kim, 71, allegedly conspired to underre-port $78.5 million in payroll to multiple insurers, including the State Compensation Insurance Fund and two insurance compa-nies owned by Berkshire Hathaway. According to California Department of Insurance detectives, sisters Kim and Choi conspired with their CPA to hide tens-of-millions of dollars in payroll to avoid paying workers’ comp insurance premiums in an “underground economy conspiracy” that led to multi-million dollar premium losses for

several workers’ comp insurers. “The underground economy is not a victimless crime,” California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones said in a statement. “By underreporting payroll, paying employees under the table and committing workers’ compen-sation insurance fraud, these employers cheat the system and leave their employees at risk.” The alleged fraud was commit-ted by fabricating payroll records provided to insurance carrier auditors with the help of CPA Jae Kim. State Fund reportedly notified CDI detectives when they discov-ered payroll reports submitted to them by the companies showed significantly less total payroll

“This guy just doesn’t get it,” Kreidler said in a statement. “As long as he continues to sell insurance illegally in Washington state, I will continue to pursue him. He needs to leave Washington consumers alone.” Kolenda allegedly has a long history of defrauding people through hole-in-one insurance scams. He’s been in business since 1995 and has reportedly been investi-

gated or prosecuted in Montana, Ohio, Georgia, California, New York, Hawaii, Alabama, Massachusetts, Florida, Connecticut and North Carolina. Kolenda reportedly ignored

a 2004 order to cease and desist from sell-ing insurance in Washington without a license and a $125,000 fine levied in 2008 for continuing the practice.

Washington Commissioner Says Hole-in-One Insurance Scammer at it Again

It appears hole-in-one insurance scammer Kevin Kolenda has been

at it again, according to detectives in Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler’s office. Kolenda was arrested in mid-April in Norwalk, Conn., during a search of his residence. Kreidler’s detectives worked in partnership with the Norwalk Police Department and seized evidence to analyze when they return to Washington. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Kolenda, 57, with attempted first-degree theft and two counts of selling insurance without a license, all felonies, through his golf tournament marketing website, hole-in-won.com. He is being held in Norwalk on $300,000 bail while he awaits a hearing. This is the second time Kreidler has

pursed Kolenda for defrauding Washington tournaments and golfers. In 2012, Kolenda was extradited from Connecticut to Washington to face charges of selling insurance without a license. He pled guilty in 2013 to three felony charges for selling insurance without a license and theft, stemming from his failure to pay hole-in-one awards ranging from $10,000 to $50,000. In 2014, he was sentenced in King County Superior Court to 86 days with credit for time served, and ordered to pay $15,000 restitution. According to the most recent charging documents, Kolenda resumed selling insurance without a license four days after his sentencing and has engaged in selling insurance in Washington at least six times between February 2014 and March 2015.

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WEST COVERAGE

Peoplehe has worked for include USAA, with General Electric’s warranty services business and Argo Group International Holdings Ltd. in its excess and surplus lines segment. IFG Cos. provides property/casualty insurance on both a non-admitted basis and an admitted basis.

Burns & Wilcox Brokerage has opened a Scottsdale, Ariz., office. and assigned Managing Director Marc Adler to oversee operations, as well as providing expert broker-age services. Adler has more than 25 years of experience, most recently in construction and environmental brokerage at AmWINS in Phoenix. Adler will report to Denis Brady, president of Burns & Wilcox, and direct the development of the broader Scottsdale team. Jennifer Hixson, broker, and Kaylin Williams, bro-ker assistant, have also joined the Scottsdale team. Hixson has more than 15 years of experience in retail and whole-sale brokerage, most recently as a broker at U.S. Risk. Burns & Wilcox, which has locations in New York City, San Francisco, North Dallas, Atlanta, Tampa and Scottsdale.

RENO, Nev.-based Employers Holdings Inc. has named Lori A. Brown senior vice president and deputy general counsel. Brown is based out of the company’s San Francisco and Walnut Creek, Calif., offices. She is the company’s primary attorney for employment and executive compensation law, is assistant corporate sec-retary to the holding company and corporate secretary to the company’s subsidiaries. Brown has more than 20 years of experience as an attor-ney in California. She previously was vice president and deputy general counsel with Employers. Employers is a holding company with subsidiaries that are specialty providers of workers’ compensation insurance and services.

All Risks Ltd. has named Robert Campbell a senior underwriter in California. As a part of the national specialty programs unit, Campbell will be responsible for underwriting large work-ers’ compensation accounts for the healthcare industry. Campbell has 20 years of experience on the wholesale side of the insurance industry. Most recently, he was vice president of underwriting at Phoenix Risk Management Insurance Services Inc. Hunt Valley, Md.-based All Risks is a national indepen-dent wholesale brokerage firm with offices in more than a dozen states.

Lloyd’s of London named Richard Magrath region-al director for its Western U.S. region. Magrath will be based in Los Angeles, Calif., with responsibility for market development activities in California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Alaska and Hawaii. Magrath spent more than 30 years in the global prop-erty/casualty sector. Prior to Lloyd’s, he was founder and CEO of Global Legal, a technology company providing ana-lytics services to large companies and the U.S. and London insurance markets. The Western region is one of four established by Lloyd’s in the U.S. in 2010.

The Nonprofits Insurance Alliance Group in California has named Dave Gibson vice president of claims. Gibson has more than 30 years of experience in the insurance claims industry, and has held management posi-tions for most of that time with Universal Underwriters Insurance Co., Zurich Direct Markets and Philadelphia Insurance Cos. Gibson joined The Nonprofits Insurance Alliance in 2013 as the director of claims. The Nonprofits Insurance Alliance is comprised of the Alliance of Nonprofits for Insurance, Nonprofits Insurance Alliance of California, National Alliance of Nonprofits for Insurance and Alliance Member Services.

The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers has given Jim Armitage the Woodworth Memorial Award, the highest honor the association bestows on one of its members, during the annual Big “I” legislative conference. Armitage is vice president of Arroyo Insurance in Arcadia, Calif. The award recognizes the meritorious and outstanding contributions of an independent agent or broker to the national association, to his or her Big “I” colleagues and to the insurance industry. The award was established in 1925 in memory of C.H. Woodworth of Buffalo, N.Y., the second president of the association.

IFG Cos. has named Andrew P. Kempen senior vice president and chief pricing actuary. Kempen joins IFG’s corporate actuarial department and will be based in Denver, Colo. He has more than 14 years of insurance-related actuarial experience in pricing, modeling and reserving. Kempen began his actuarial career at Milliman as an actuarial ana-lyst. After Milliman he worked for ING Group. Others

Richard Magrath

Dave Gibson

STFUNFS16732.indd 1 4/14/15 8:04 PM


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WEST COVERAGE

News & MarketsCalifornia Workers’ Comp Premium Up 11% in 2014; Combined Ratio Still Exceeds 100

California written premium for calendar year 2014 was roughly $16.5 billion, 11

percent above 2013 and 88 percent above the written premium reported for 2009, accord-ing to a report from the California Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau on experience through Dec. 31, 2014. The projected industry average charged rate per $100 of payroll for 2014 was $2.93. This was roughly 2 percent above the average rate charged for 2013 and 40 percent above the average rate charged for 2009. However, the average rate charged for 2014 remains roughly 53 percent less than the average rate charged for the second six months of 2003, the report shows. The WCIRB projects total ultimate losses and allocated loss adjustment expense for accident year 2014 to be $12.6 billion. While roughly 4 percent above the projection for accident year 2013 and 27 percent above the projection for accident year 2009, it remains below the highs experienced prior to the

2002 through 2004 reforms, according to the WCIRB. The WCIRB projects a preliminary ultimate accident year combined loss and expense ratio of 103 percent for 2014. Of

this, 61 percent is attributable to the indemnity and medical loss ratio and 42 percent is attributable to the loss adjust-ment and other expense ratio. Like the projected 2014 loss and the allocated loss adjustment expense, this projection is primarily a result of increased premium levels and relatively

low claim severity growth in 2014, accord-ing to the report. The preliminary calendar year combined loss and expense ratio for 2014 reported by insurers was 105 percent, slightly below the combined ratios for the last several years, but 2014 is the seventh consecutive year with a combined ratio over 100 percent. The WCIRB projects indemnity claim frequency for accident year 2014 to be 1.2 percent above the frequency for 2013.

Earthquake Fault Puts California at Risk for Tsunami

Scientists say the earthquake fault

that runs through the coastal city of Ventura, Calif., can produce strong shaking and dangerous tsunamis, prompt-ing state officials to study whether to revise hazard maps. The new research shows the Ventura fault is more dangerous than previously thought, capable of quakes as large as mag-nitude 8 that could spawn a tsunami that begins in the Santa Barbara Channel and affect coastal communities to the south. A major earthquake on the Ventura fault is estimated to occur every 400 to 2,400 years. The last major quake hit about 800 years ago. Copyright2015AssociatedPress.

FedEx Faces Wyoming Suits After Trucks Kill Nearby Drivers

Two lawsuits have been filed against FedEx Ground Package Systems claim-

ing the shipping giant substantially con-tributed to the deaths of Cheyenne, Wyo., residents. The families of two people who died in a head-on collision on I-80 east of Cheyenne claim FedEx is responsible for the crash. The pair died in November when a FedEx tractor-trailer veered through the median into oncoming traffic, striking their minivan. Both plaintiffs are seeking more than $75,000 in damages. A FedEx spokesman said thoughts and condolences go out to the families. Copyright2015AssociatedPress.

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May 4, 2015 INSURANCE JOURNAL-NATIONAL | 11www.insurancejournal.com

$1 Billion

Fatality Numbers“PennDOT continuously strives to drive down crash and fatality numbers, and we ultimately want to reach zero deaths on

our roads.”— Pennsylvania Department of

Transportation (PennDOT) Secretary Leslie S. Richards on the state’s effort to lower traf-fic deaths. Car crashes killed 1,195 people in Pennsylvania in 2014, according to statistics released in April. That’s the lowest number

since recordkeeping began 87 years ago. PennDOT invests $20 million annually for safety education and enforcement efforts.

The Right Thing

“We’re committed to doing the 100 per-cent right thing, and the best way to do that is to take all of our products off the

market until we can be confident that they are all safe.”

— Paul Kruse, CEO of Texas-based Blue Bell Creameries, which has issued a voluntary recall for all of its products after two samples

of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream tested positive for listeria. The company had

previously issued a partial recall after some of its products were linked to a listeria outbreak that led to three deaths at a Kansas hospital. Five others in Kansas and Texas have been sickened with listeriosis linked to Blue Bell products. The recall is the first in the fami-

ly-owned creamery’s 108-year history.

Call of the Wild (Turkey)“There are several people that are sus-

pects that are involved in it, and we would anticipate moving forward with

this case.” — Franklin County Sheriff Pat Melton says

those who stole five heavy barrels of Wild Turkey bourbon from a Kentucky warehouse may have taken a lot more liquor than previ-ously thought and the case could result in mul-tiple indictments. So far, one person has been

arrested, but several law enforcement agencies are looking for possible accomplices.

Tsunami Information“It really gives the individual a lot of information about how to survive.”

— Althea Rizzo of the Oregon Office of Emergency Management said a study out in April, which shows roughly 5,500 more

people could survive a major tsunami hitting the Pacific Northwest if they just walk a little faster to higher ground, offered the best look yet at how many people might be in the high-

est-risk tsunami zones.

$7.5 Million

FIGURES DECLARATIONS

The amount of federal grants that two New Jersey towns will share to fund the

acquisition and demolition of homes in flood-prone areas. Woodbridge will

receive $3.8 million to buy and demolish 98 homes and Manville will receive $3.7

million to remove 108 properties, accord-ing to an April 20 announcement by U.S. Sens. Robert Menendez and Cory Booker

(D-N.J.)

The amount in bonds Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. plans on selling in preparation for the 2015 hurricane sea-son. This would be the first bond sale by

the state-run property insurer of last resort in three years. Florida hasn’t been hit by a

hurricane since 2005 and forecasters expect this year’s hurricane season to be a mild

one.

13The number of DUI convictions a 67-year-old man accumulated across three states

dating back to 1985. He was sentenced in April to five years with the Montana

Department of Corrections.

210,000The number of gallons of heavy crude

oil that was spilled in a breach of Exxon Mobil’s Pegasus pipeline in Mayflower, Ark., on March 29, 2013. Now, residents

who sued the oil giant over the spill are urg-ing a federal judge in Little Rock, Ark., to

vacate his March 2015 order dismissing the class-action lawsuit, claiming Exxon Mobil suppressed evidence in the case. The law-

suit had been filed on behalf of landowners whose property was physically crossed by

the pipeline.

NATIONAL COVERAGE

83%The percentage of deaths in South Dakota car crashes this year that involved victims who were not wearing seat belts. The S.D. Department of Public Safety says that’s up from about 60 percent in previous years. So far this year there have been 18 deaths reported from car crashes in the state. Of

those, 15 of the victims weren’t restrained.


NATIONAL COVERAGE

Business MovesInsurance of Greater Haverhill Inc. This marks the third location for MTM Insurance. Founded in 2007, MTM Insurance Associates offers per-sonal and business insurance as well as life, disability and long term care insurance. The firm now has offices in North Andover, Billerica and Bradford, Mass., and 27 employees.

Bryn Mawr, Robert J. McAllister Bryn Mawr Bank Corp. in Bryn Mawr, Pa., announced its acquisition of Robert J. McAllister Agency Inc., an independent insurance agency in Rosemont, Pa. Terms of the transaction were not

disclosed. Founded in 1962, Robert J. McAllister Agency provides insurance and risk man-agement services for individuals and busi-nesses in the Philadelphia region. The agen-cy will be merged into Bryn Mawr Bank Corp.’s insurance subsidiary, Powers, Craft, Parker and Beard Inc.

Patriot National, HSS Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based workers’ com-pensation services provider Patriot National Inc. has acquired the assets of Hospitality Supportive Systems (HSS), a Springfield, Pa.-based managing general agent and insur-ance program administrator to the hospi-tality industry, and the assets of its claims service affiliate Selective Risk Management. The estimated maximum total purchase price is approximately $13.5 million, or approximately 5.0 times the calendar year 2014 EBITDA of each entity, Patriot National said. Hospitality Supportive Systems (HSS) designs and produces preferred insurance programs for the restaurant, bar and tavern industry nationwide. HSS will become part of TriGen Insurance Solutions, a multi-line specialty brokerage in Boca Raton, Fla. Patriot National said HSS would further expand Patriot’s reach into a broader base of commercial lines.

AssuredPartners, Platinum Planning AssuredPartners Inc. has completed the acquisition of Platinum Planning (doing business as Walsh Benefits). Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Walsh Benefits operates in the New Jersey cities of Fair Haven and Cranford under the leadership of Paul Walsh, presi-dent, and Maryellen Walsh, co-founder and vice president. The agency is an employee benefits broker specializing in group and voluntary benefit product offerings, including medi-cal, dental and 401(k). Walsh Benefits also provides HR workplace services, such as HR consulting and payroll management. The insurance broker reports revenues of approximately $4.6 million. Headquartered in Lake Mary, Fla., AssuredPartners acquires and invests in insurance brokerage businesses across the U.S. and in London.

MTM, Minichiello Insurance MTM Insurance Associates, an inde-pendent insurance agency based in North Andover, Mass., announced its acquisition of Minichiello Insurance Agency, an inde-pendent agency in Bradford, Mass. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Following the transaction, Minichiello Insurance Agency will operate as MTM

HSS’s affiliate Selective Risk Management will join Contego Services Group, an affili-ate of Patriot National that provides insur-ance and risk management services. Patriot National CEO Steven M. Mariano said the acquisitions of HSS and Selective Risk Management are consistent with the company’s growth strategy to expand its fee-based product offerings beyond workers’ comp. Patriot National, headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is a national provider of outsourcing services within the workers’ comp marketplace for insurance companies, employers, local governments and reinsur-ance captives.

Safety National Casualty, Safety National Re St. Louis, Mo.-based Safety National Casualty Corp. has rebranded its reinsur-ance platform as Safety National Re. Safety National Re will continue to offer its existing products and solid financial security, which includes over $1.25 billion in surplus as well as Safety National Casualty Corp.’s A+ rating from A.M. Best and Standard & Poor’s. Safety National Casualty Corp. provides alternative risk funding products.

Higginbotham A group of five commercial property/casualty insurance professionals led by bro-ker Mark Conner has joined Higginbotham in Houston. The group specializes in home-owners association (HOA) insurance and loss control, serving hundreds of single family community associations in Texas. The group came from the Houston office of Willis of Texas Inc., where Conner served as vice president for 29 years for both Willis and certain predecessor organizations. In 1987, he created the Texas HOA program for Ace American Insurance Co. His group maintains exclusive access to that coverage. Higginbotham is ranked as one of the largest independent insurance brokers of U.S. business providing property and liability insurance, risk management and employee benefit services to businesses and individuals.

As complex risks become increasingly difficult to place, the demands placed on you continue to rise. Burns & Wilcox Brokerage meets these challenges head-on with expertise, experience and seamless access to global market centers.

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Business Insurance

Employee Benefi ts

Auto

Home

Workers’ compensation insurance is increasingly seen and sold as a commodity product. Many states now require that most employers—even sometimes those with as few as one employee—carry workers’ compensation insurance, and the price of coverage can be comparable among insurers.While the price among policies may be similar, how insurers o� er coverage can be very di� erent. For example, some insurance companies may o� er coverage features that go beyond standard policy requirements or programs that promote workplace safety. Others do a far better job at managing injured worker care, helping small business owners control claims and premium costs.

Given these di� erences, it makes sense for agents to consider the level of service and extra features provided by each insurer and policy they’re considering. This is a win-win for agents: it helps ensure they’re o� ering customers the greatest value for their insurance dollar and, in turn, can help them sell more workers’ compensation policies.

WORKERS’ COMPENSATION IS ONLY A COMMODITY IF YOU SELL IT LIKE ONE.

52633AHerman Miller® is a registered trademark of Herman Miller, Inc. Workers’ compensation insurance is underwritten by Hartford Fire Insurance Company (CA license #7278) and its property and casualty affi liates. In TX, this insurance is written by Sentinel Insurance Company, Ltd., Twin City Fire Insurance Company, Hartford Accident and Indemnity Company, Hartford Fire Insurance Company, Hartford Insurance Company of the Midwest and Trumbull Insurance Company. The Hartford does not offer or provide the Shoes for Crews, Naturally Slim and Herman Miller products and cannot make any claims or promises that use of those products or services will result in lower workers’ compensation losses. All such products and services are provided by either Shoes for Crews, Naturally Slim or Herman Miller. Certain coverages and features may vary and may not be available in all states. Applicants are individually underwritten and some may not qualify. ©2015 The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

ASK. UNDERSTAND. DELIVER VALUE.

Here are three steps that can help agents fi nd the right fi t for their small business clients:

1. Agents should seek to understand each employer’s unique culture and what’s important to it when it comes to protecting its business and employees. For example, some small employers may want to demonstrate their commitment to a healthy and safe workforce. Having a workers’ compensation carrier that makes wellness and safety programs available to employees can help them do that.

2. Once they understand the employer, agents should present information about policy features that meet (or address) the business’ culture. That may include focusing on the price—if price is most important—or explaining the various extra features a policy o� ers. However, business owners should understand that the cheapest policy may end up costing them more money in the long run if it doesn’t provide the necessary protection and services.

3. Finally, agents should reinforce how workers’ compensation coverage can be an investment in the well-being of a small business’ employees and how carriers can help employers control claims costs and improve employee safety.

WHAT BEST-IN-CLASS SMALL BUSINESS COVERAGE LOOKS LIKE.

For over a century, The Hartford’s workers’ compensation program has set the standard for value, innovation and injured worker care. Its unique approach to claim management helps control costs and return employees back to work quickly, which could positively impact a customer’s future premiums.

Customers of The Hartford also have access to valuable, cost-saving programs that help promote workplace safety and employee wellness. These programs include:

. Shoes for Crews®, which o� ers a 15 – 25 percent discount on slip-resistant footwear, ideal for industries where slips, trips and falls are common

. The Naturally Slim Program®, a weight-loss and health improvement program aimed at reducing obesity-related diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes, o� ered at a volume-based discount

. Herman Miller®, which provides customers special pricing on high-quality ergonomic o� ce furniture

With more than one million small business customers, The Hartford can help agents o� er a workers’ compensation policy and services that meet their customers’ needs and help grow their business.

Visit THEHARTFORD.COM/WC to learn more and see why our customers give us 4.8 out of 5 stars for their claims rating.

Prepare. Protect. Prevail.SM

JOB# / P52680-CS3

CLIENT / The Hartford TITLE / Only A Commodity MEDIA / Magazine/4C – Spreadvertorial SIZE / 16.75" × 10.875" trim

16.5" × 10.625" live

17" × 11.125" bleed

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PUB / Insurance Journal

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Business Insurance

Employee Benefi ts

Auto

Home

Workers’ compensation insurance is increasingly seen and sold as a commodity product. Many states now require that most employers—even sometimes those with as few as one employee—carry workers’ compensation insurance, and the price of coverage can be comparable among insurers.While the price among policies may be similar, how insurers o� er coverage can be very di� erent. For example, some insurance companies may o� er coverage features that go beyond standard policy requirements or programs that promote workplace safety. Others do a far better job at managing injured worker care, helping small business owners control claims and premium costs.

Given these di� erences, it makes sense for agents to consider the level of service and extra features provided by each insurer and policy they’re considering. This is a win-win for agents: it helps ensure they’re o� ering customers the greatest value for their insurance dollar and, in turn, can help them sell more workers’ compensation policies.

WORKERS’ COMPENSATION IS ONLY A COMMODITY IF YOU SELL IT LIKE ONE.

52633AHerman Miller® is a registered trademark of Herman Miller, Inc. Workers’ compensation insurance is underwritten by Hartford Fire Insurance Company (CA license #7278) and its property and casualty affi liates. In TX, this insurance is written by Sentinel Insurance Company, Ltd., Twin City Fire Insurance Company, Hartford Accident and Indemnity Company, Hartford Fire Insurance Company, Hartford Insurance Company of the Midwest and Trumbull Insurance Company. The Hartford does not offer or provide the Shoes for Crews, Naturally Slim and Herman Miller products and cannot make any claims or promises that use of those products or services will result in lower workers’ compensation losses. All such products and services are provided by either Shoes for Crews, Naturally Slim or Herman Miller. Certain coverages and features may vary and may not be available in all states. Applicants are individually underwritten and some may not qualify. ©2015 The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

ASK. UNDERSTAND. DELIVER VALUE.

Here are three steps that can help agents fi nd the right fi t for their small business clients:

1. Agents should seek to understand each employer’s unique culture and what’s important to it when it comes to protecting its business and employees. For example, some small employers may want to demonstrate their commitment to a healthy and safe workforce. Having a workers’ compensation carrier that makes wellness and safety programs available to employees can help them do that.

2. Once they understand the employer, agents should present information about policy features that meet (or address) the business’ culture. That may include focusing on the price—if price is most important—or explaining the various extra features a policy o� ers. However, business owners should understand that the cheapest policy may end up costing them more money in the long run if it doesn’t provide the necessary protection and services.

3. Finally, agents should reinforce how workers’ compensation coverage can be an investment in the well-being of a small business’ employees and how carriers can help employers control claims costs and improve employee safety.

WHAT BEST-IN-CLASS SMALL BUSINESS COVERAGE LOOKS LIKE.

For over a century, The Hartford’s workers’ compensation program has set the standard for value, innovation and injured worker care. Its unique approach to claim management helps control costs and return employees back to work quickly, which could positively impact a customer’s future premiums.

Customers of The Hartford also have access to valuable, cost-saving programs that help promote workplace safety and employee wellness. These programs include:

. Shoes for Crews®, which o� ers a 15 – 25 percent discount on slip-resistant footwear, ideal for industries where slips, trips and falls are common

. The Naturally Slim Program®, a weight-loss and health improvement program aimed at reducing obesity-related diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes, o� ered at a volume-based discount

. Herman Miller®, which provides customers special pricing on high-quality ergonomic o� ce furniture

With more than one million small business customers, The Hartford can help agents o� er a workers’ compensation policy and services that meet their customers’ needs and help grow their business.

Visit THEHARTFORD.COM/WC to learn more and see why our customers give us 4.8 out of 5 stars for their claims rating.

Prepare. Protect. Prevail.SM

JOB# / P52680-CS3

CLIENT / The Hartford TITLE / Only A Commodity MEDIA / Magazine/4C – Spreadvertorial SIZE / 16.75" × 10.875" trim

16.5" × 10.625" live

17" × 11.125" bleed

PROD MGR / Cheryl Sparks TRAFFIC / Stephanie Browne DIG ART / Evan Willnow ART DIR / Evan Willnow WRITER / ACCT MGR / Laura Duplain PREPARED / April 16, 2015

PUB / Insurance Journal

URL / thehartford.com/xxx CODE / 52633A INKS / Cyan Magenta Yellow Black FILE / Jobs:Hartford:2015:P52680 - HIG SMC Print Jobs 2015:P52680 - Workers' Comp_Q2:Mechanicals:C - Only A Commodity:U52633-CS3 OnlyACommodity 16.75x10.875.indd

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NATIONAL COVERAGE

News & Marketspercent report that their revenue shrunk. For this year, one way that agents hope to grow their business is by adding new car-riers: 74 percent of independent agents are interested in adding new carriers, a number which includes 32 percent of agents who are “very interested.” That number is higher among certain subgroups of agents — again, collective characteristics and opinions that the Channel Harvest report identifies and that generally are likely targets for carriers seeking new agency partners. On the other hand, agents say they aren’t interested in growing their business by add-ing new products: only one in five agents are “very interested” or “somewhat interest-ed” in adding any of 10 products listed in the survey — various types of insurance, financial planning, retirement planning, etc. — to their current offerings.

Aggregation Most respondents (73 percent) work for a firm that does not belong to an agency aggregator, such as a cluster or network of agencies. And 94 percent of those agents who do not belong to an aggregator say they are unlikely to join one in the next year. Conversely, 27 percent of respondents work for an agency that does belong to an aggregator. And 87 percent of those agents say they are unlikely to leave the aggregator.

Niche Marketing The survey explored whether agents are interested in targeting any of several “niches” or market segments. Professionals and millennials are the niches that the greatest number of agents are interested in targeting. The niches that attract the least interest are African-Americans and the Hispanics/Latino market. Agents’ views on niche marketing — and on various other issues — will be outlined in greater detail in the report and accom-panying raw data, which will be available in May. For more information, contact John Campbell, principal at Channel Harvest at [email protected].

Independent Agents Identify Business Opportunities for Carriers

Most independent insurance agents are impressed by the carriers they place

business with — but most also are interest-ed in adding new company partners. This is one of the preliminary findings of a recent national survey of independent agents conducted by Channel Harvest Research. The study, “Agents and Carriers Find Opportunity in Relationships,” is the seventh in a series examining agents’ views on property/casualty carriers as well as marketplace issues. Some 2,200 agents pro-vided their opinions for the survey, which was sponsored by Insurance Journal.

Carrier Ratings & Revenue Growth Fully 82 percent of independent agents are either “extremely satisfied” or “very sat-isfied” with their top personal lines carriers, the company with which they place the largest amount of personal lines business; 73 percent of agents feel the same way about their top commercial lines carrier. Despite these high numbers from agents as a whole, certain subgroups of agents are

much less impressed by their top carriers, the Channel Harvest report outlines. While the survey is anonymous, the collective characteristics and opinions of subgroups of agents may be strong targets for carri-er-to-agent marketing because they’re most likely to defect from incumbent companies to new ones. Most agents also give their top carri-ers high ratings on a variety of specific carrier attributes. Agents give both their top personal lines company and their top commercial lines carrier the highest marks on “financial strength” and the lowest on “social media support.” The Channel Harvest report compares the carrier attribute ratings to how import-ant agents say each attribute is. By making that comparison, the report identifies which attributes companies should empha-size in their communications to agents. Sixty-nine percent of independent agents report that their firm’s revenue was higher in 2014 than in 2013. Some 15 percent say their revenue was about the same, and 9

Increase of 5%+

50%

7%

Don’t Know

19%

15%

Stayed the Same

Increase of under 5%

Decrease of under 5%

Change in Revenue During 2013-2014

6%3%

Decrease of 5%+

Manufacturing I Environmental I Hospitality I Construction I Real Estate/Habitational I Retail

Tokio Marine Specialty Insurance Company, a member of the Tokio Marine Group, is an authorized Excess and Surplus lines insurance carrier in all states and D.C. Tokio Marine Specialty Insurance Company is not licensed or admitted in any jurisdiction except Delaware where it is a domestic insurer licensed to write surplus lines. Surplus lines companies do not participate in state guaranty funds in any jurisdiction, except New Jersey, and thus, surplus lines insureds are not protected by those funds. © 2014 Tokio Marine Specialty Insurance Company, All Rights Reserved

Your business is your baby, and you’ll do anything to manage the risk it faces. Protect it with excess and surplus lines commercial insurance from Tokio Marine Specialty. See why specialized industries of every description turn to us for layered protection backed by extra-ordinary niche expertise from Philadelphia Insurance Companies and Tokio Marine Group’s life/non-life insurance company group’s Top 20 ranking.

Learn more. Call 855.411.0797 or visit TMSIC.com A Member of the Tokio Marine Group

Excess and Surplus Lines insurance

A.M.Best Rating A++

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TOKIO MARINE SPECIALTY

EXCESS AND SURPLUS PROTECTION THAT’S AS SAFE AS IT GETS

14TMSIC_InsurJournal_CarSeat_pdf.indd 1 6/25/2014 2:52:52 PMPHIIC16671.indd 1 4/15/15 1:32 PM


NATIONAL COVERAGE

News & MarketsBy Andrea Wells

The independent agency system is no stranger to competition. But one new

competitor in the marketplace has some agents and industry experts on watch. Google Compare — which stepped into the insurance ring in March — is nothing more than another auto insurance comparison website that misleads con-sumers, according to Bill Wilson, director of the Virtual University at the Big “I” (Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America). There have been countless comparison auto insurance sites to hit the market during the past 10 years but the difference now is in the Google name, he says. And with that name comes financial power. Wilson says that because Google Compare isn’t anything new most independent agents aren’t overly concerned but they probably should be. “I think most agents aren’t overly con-cerned, because this isn’t anything new,” Wilson says. “What Google is doing has been done for at least 10 to 20 years now.” Today there are many different types of comparative rating websites for insurance — ranging from the most common like Progressive Direct, GEICO and Esurance to others like Nerd Wallet, Quote Wizard, Bank Rate, carinsurancecomparison.com, and on and on, he says. What worries Wilson the most is not the threat that these sites pose to independent agents but instead the risk consumers will face buying their insurance without the professional advice of an agent. “The big loser in all this is not agents or insurers or anyone else, it’s consumers,

What Agents Think About Google Compare

because they’re being duped into believing that all of these policies and the service providers are exactly the same — that the only difference is price,” Wilson says. While Google Compare only deals in comparing auto insurance products, many other sites currently on the market also delve into homeowners insurance. Some websites go as far as touting a home-owners quote in just two minutes, Wilson says. “It just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me,” he says. “How can you really help a consumer identify their expo-sures to loss and match it with the right customized product for those exposures” in two minutes? he asked.

‘Not Their Market’ Wilson says that while there’s a segment of the auto insurance market that doesn’t care where they buy coverage — as long as it’s the cheapest price — that’s not the type of consumer generally targeted by the Big “I” membership. “In fact, ‘auto insurance only’ isn’t the

market of the vast majority of our mem-bers,” he said. “These kind of people are gone if they can find something $50 cheaper elsewhere.” Losing those customers to Google Compare or others doesn’t really matter much to most independent agents, Wilson

said. He doesn’t even believe Google will have much effect on independent agent market share — or at least he hopes that it won’t. He expects the captive agency distribu-

tion channel to take the biggest hit. “When you look at the market share report that we produce annually and go back, say, over the last 20 years, back to the early days of the Internet when some of these websites really first got started. The segment that has been affected the most by direct sales — both TV and Internet — is the captive agency channel. They’ve gone from something like almost 60 percent of the auto marketplace to just below 50 per-cent during that period of time.” Independent agents have lost some mar-

Web ResourceTo listen to the full podcast inter-view with Bill Wilson, director of the Virtual University for the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, visit: http://www.insurancejournal.tv/videos/12131/ continued on page 27

‘We’re not selling CDs where it doesn’t really matter whether you buy it from Amazon or Best Buy or whatever.’

Prevent E&O claims and give your customer the specialized coverage for protection against fl ood damage. 25% of

fl ood claims occur in low to medium risk zones.

Premiums as low as $129 per year. Standard and Preferred Risk policies — now available through appointed agents.

NationalGeneral.com/getappointed

© 2015 National General Insurance. All Rights Reserved. Eligibility, coverages and discounts may vary by state. Underwritten by member companies of National General Insurance.

www.NatGenAgency.com

NATFENIS16662.indd 1 4/9/15 12:52 PM

20 | INSURANCE JOURNAL-NATIONAL May 4, 2015 www.insurancejournal.comwww.insurancejournal.com

SPOTLIGHT

10 Things to Know AboutRecreation & Leisure

The number of participants in high school football reached 1,088,158 between 2012

and 2013. By comparison 1,053,611 competed in outdoor track and field, 971,796 competed in basketball and 782,514 competed in soccer. — 2012-13 High School Athletics Participation Survey from the National Federation of State High School Associations

During the 10 years ending in 2012, about 41.5 people died skiing or snowboarding

per year on average. — National Ski Areas Association

The 2013 fatality rate was 4.7 deaths per 100,000 registered recreational boats, a 13

percent drop from 2012’s rate of 5.4 deaths per 100,000 registered recreational vessels. Operator inattention, improper lookout, operator inexperi-ence, excessive speed and machinery failure were the top five primary contributing factors in acci-dents. Alcohol use is the No. 1 known contributing factor in fatal boating accidents contributing to 16 percent of deaths. — U.S. Coast Guard

In 2013, the Coast Guard counted 4,062 accidents involving 560 deaths, 2,620 inju-

ries and roughly $39 million dollars of damage to property due to recreational boating accidents. — U.S. Coast Guard

726 bicyclists were killed and 49,000 were injured in motor vehicle traffic crashes

in 2012. — National Highway Safety Traffic Administration

Roughly 13,000 golf cart-related accidents require emergency room visits each year. —

Consumer Product Safety Commission

There were 13,043 ATV-related fatalities reported occurring between 1982 and 2013.

— Consumer Product Safety Commission

There were an estimated 113,272 injuries treated in the emergency room associated

with inflatable amusements between 2003 and 2013, and more than 90 percent of those injuries were associated with moon bounces. — Consumer Product Safety Commission

Children ages 5 to 14 accounted for 52 per-cent of the football injuries treated in emer-

gency rooms in 2012. — National Safety Council

It’s estimated that in 2012 there were 89,000 unintentional injury-related deaths in the home and community. — National Safety Council

K&K16699.indd 1 4/22/15 9:23 AM

Workers’ Compensation

Grand Bargain Taking Jabs from Multiple DirectionsBy Andrew Simpson

The state-based workers’ compensation system has stayed on its feet for 100 years in part by being able to defend itself

against blows and then counterpunch when necessary. It has shown an ability to reform to fit the economy and workplace while largely upholding its “grand bargain” of no-fault care for injured workers. Workers’ compensation’s resilience and its grand bargain are being tested these days. The system is facing jabs every which way it turns. The critics say the system today favors employers over employees, falls short in delivering the medical and wage loss benefits that injured workers and their families need, treats

SPECIAL REPORT

Workers’ Compensation


fewer and fewer workers, transfers costs to health insurers and taxpayers, and exacer-bates economic inequality. Others say it no longer sufficiently protects employers from lawsuits, doesn’t return enough workers to jobs and costs too much. It even stifles inno-vation such as ridesharing. Through the media, courts and leg-islation, critics are questioning medical and wage benefit levels, challenging the “exclusive remedy” doctrine, raising issues of constitutionality and calling for states to allow employers to opt-out of the system and create their own. One year ago, the industry gave its own status report. “We are finally starting to see an industry in balance with these results,” said Steve Klingel, president and CEO of the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), reporting on the state of the indus-try at NCCI’s annual symposium. “Today, industry costs are largely contained, claims frequency continues to decline and the system in most states is operating efficient-ly. In short, the market is operating as it should on behalf of most stakeholders.” The challenge now may entail listening to and convincing the remaining skeptical stakeholders and critics that the system is indeed in balance and that the grand bar-gain remains a good deal for workers and employers.

Benefit Cuts, Cost Shifting In March, a ProPublica/National Public Radio report, “The Demolition of Workers’ Compensation,” cast a critical spotlight on workers’ compensation. The report claims that the system is failing injured workers who need it the most as a result of legisla-tive changes that have favored cost cutting in more than 30 states. The report highlights case histories of several injured workers. It also includes a comparison of benefits provided by states. The ProPublica/NPR authors acknowledge that the system works for most injured workers, but they focus their attention on underserved injured workers and the effects of recent changes on them.

“While the vast majority of injured workers need only minor medical care and experience little friction in getting it, the changes often affect those who need the system the most,” the authors, Michael Grabell of ProPublica, and Howard Berkes of NPR, wrote. “The Demolition of Workers’ Compensation” claims that years of benefit cuts and tighter limits on medical care have resulted in “hundreds of thousands of injured workers” being denied adequate care and compensation. The costs to sup-port these workers are being shifted onto taxpayers, with the government picking up a tab of $30 billion through Social Security Disability Insurance, Medicare and Medicaid, according to the report. Meanwhile employers are paying the lowest premiums since the 1970s, the report says. The public radio report caught the atten-tion of industry leaders, including the head of the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI). “It’s hard to write a balanced article based on anecdotes,” said Richard Victor, referring to the ProPublica/NPR stories of injured workers who did not receive ade-quate treatment or compensation and are featured in the investigative report. Victor, who has been researching work-ers’ compensation for more than 30 years as executive director at WCRI, said he was not suggesting that the injured workers are not important. “We should always strive to minimize the number of workers who fall through the cracks,” he said. But the public radio articles do not prove the system is failing and, Victor said, they should be considered along with reports that show that the sys-tem serves a “huge number of injured work-ers.” “Are the anecdotes the exception or the rule?” he asked, suggesting the only way to answer is through measuring because nobody can tell. According to Victor, 100 percent satisfac-tion, while important as a goal, is not realis-tic in such a large economy, “although that might sound cold-hearted.”

Victor said that workers’ compensation tends to go in cycles of crisis and reform. While recent reforms are focused on cost and competitiveness, future changes might address benefits and worker issues. The ProPublica/NPR report focused on states reducing benefits but Victor said some states have also been increasing benefits.

Hyperbole Robert Hartwig, president of the Insurance Information Institute, was more outspoken in his criticism of the ProPublica/NPR report in a letter to the WCRI. “The very title of the ProPublica/NPR [report] is at best misleading and at worst erroneous,” Hartwig wrote, characterizing the reference to “demolition” of the comp system as “hyperbole of the highest order.” “The fact of the matter is that workers’ compensation insurers today provide some $40 billion in benefits annually to hundreds of thousands of injured workers and to the families of those killed on the job — a basic and important fact that is somehow omit-ted by the authors. Also omitted from the piece is the indisputable fact that the work-place has become safer — much safer — in no small part due to the relentless loss control efforts of insurers and employers in partnership with state and federal govern-ment,” Hartwig wrote. According to Hartwig, the incidence rate of fatal occupational injuries plunged by 36 percent over the past two decades thanks in great measure to “incentives that insurers and workers’ comp systems have in place.” He also challenged the ProPublica/NPR assertion that businesses and insur-ers pushed benefit reforms “on the false pretense” that costs were out of control. They were indeed out of control “by any reasonable standard,” according to Hartwig. Between 1991 and 2009, the average annual increase in the medical costs of a workers’ comp claim was 7.7 percent, he said, citing NCCI figures for claims severe enough to cause injured employees to miss work. That was nearly twice the 3.9 percent increase in healthcare costs in general, he said.

‘While the vast majority of injured workers need only minor medical care and experience little friction in getting it, the changes often affect those who need the system the most.’

continued on page 24


In a counterpunch to Hartwig, the ProPublica/NPR authors said they do not dis-pute that the workplace has become safer but stressed that the focus of their series “was on how changes in workers’ comp laws have affected people who are injured on the job.” They did not challenge that insurers have contributed to workplace safety, but said the decline in fatalities and injuries has “multiple causes,” includ-ing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), improvements in auto safety and health research, the growth in automation and a changing economy which has reduced jobs in dangerous manu-facturing and mining industries. They said that the workers’ comp data that the Insurance Information Institute cites deals only with the most severe inju-ries that “cause an injured employee to miss work” and maintained that this is very dif-ferent from the data in its report. Also, ProPublica/NPR said that while workplace injuries have indeed fallen, the frequency of claims is only one factor that goes into workers’ comp premiums. Other important components include healthcare costs, the length of injury, benefit pay-ments, overhead expenses and the rise and fall of insurance industry investments. “Our point wasn’t that rates shouldn’t be going down, but that ‘despite the drumbeat of complaints’ in state legislatures, the cost of workers’ comp is at a historic low and is a relatively minor part of employee compen-sation,” they said in reply.

Shrinking Coverage One day after the ProPublica/NPR article hit the airwaves, OSHA issued a report that agrees with much of the criticisms and in some ways goes further. The OSHA report says that changes in workers’ compensa-tion have made it “increasingly difficult for

SPECIAL REPORT

Workers’ Compensationinjured workers to receive the full benefits” and that employers provide only a small fraction of the overall financial cost of workplace injuries and illnesses through workers’ compensation. According to OSHA, workers’ compensa-tion payments cover only about 21 percent of lost wages and medical costs of work injuries and illnesses. Workers, their fami-lies and their private health insurance pay for nearly 63 percent of these costs, with taxpayers shouldering the rest. Also, several studies have found that fewer than 40 percent of eligible workers apply for any workers’ compensation bene-fits at all, according to OSHA.

‘Race to Bottom’ The ProPublica/NPR authors also found that many states no longer comply with the standards recommended in 1972 by a national commission established by President Richard Nixon to improve the workers’ compensation system. John Burton, a Republican economist and law professor who headed that commission, told ProPublica/NPR that recent changes are “unprecedented” in the history of workers’ compensation. “I think we’re in a pretty vicious period right now of racing to the bottom,” Burton said. The notion that states are in a “race to the bottom” was echoed by attorney Charles Davoli from the Workers Injury Law and Advocacy Group, which represents disabled workers. Davoli said the system may be in a tran-sition to a civil liability system because the interests of employers and employees are no longer balanced. “It’s nice to talk about how we compare to the median but what is the standard, what is an adequate benefit?” he asked. “If we don’t answer that, we are continuing a race to the bottom.”

Workers’ compen-sation is often called a “grand bargain,” in which employers agree to provide a safe workplace and cover any workplace injuries

in exchange for employees giving up their constitutional right to sue their employers over injuries. Workers’ compensation is supposed to be the exclusive remedy for injured workers. Davoli, who also calls workers’ compensa-tion a “moral commitment,” warned that the grand bargain may have been breached and a “constitutional tipping point” reached. He pointed to court cases in several states challenging the fairness of the current sys-tem, including one in Florida that argues that the current system violates due process because the care and compensation that injured workers now get are inadequate to justify them giving up their constitutional rights to a trial by jury. “How low can you go to where you breach the grand bargain?” Davoli asked.

Exclusive Remedy Mark Walls, a vice president at Safety National, at a recent Advisen Casualty Insights conference, said there has long been a “push-pull in the system” with the plaintiffs’ bar constantly looking for ways to get around the exclusive remedy provided by workers’ comp Now the lawyers may be getting some help from judges in Florida and Oklahoma. In Florida’s Padgett case, in 2014, the 11th Circuit Court judge ruled that the workers’ comp statutes in the state of Florida were unconstitutional on their face because they no longer provided the grand bargain to the injured worker. The plaintiffs’ representatives and ulti-mately the judge pointed to “the fact that in the last 10 or 15 years, there have been a number of bills passed in the state of Florida that reduced benefits, increased thresholds for compensability — things that they felt tipped the scales from being balanced against the injured worker,” Walls said. Walls believes the Padgett case may not be legitimate. “There was a lot of reaction to this but I would temper with the fact that this was a set-up,” Walls told the Advisen audience. “They found a judge in Miami-Dade Florida. They found the right case. They didn’t even

continued from page 23

Several studies have found that fewer than 40 percent

of eligible workers apply for any workers’

compensation benefits at all.


put the state attorney general’s office on notice about the hearing,” he said, explain-ing why the AG’s office did not defend the workers’ comp law.

Intentional Acts In Oklahoma, of particular concern is the ruling of a district court judge referring to language of the 2013 reform law eliminating “foreseeable injuries” from workers’ comp coverage. “The intent of that was focused on elim-inating degenerative conditions and repet-itive issues.” But the judge in a back strain case for a tire shop worker said that “given the type of work, they knew this was a foreseeable injury and therefore it’s out of the workers’ comp statute,” paving the way for the worker to sue for negligence, accord-ing to Walls. “When you think of that, what percent of workers’ comp claims would be foreseeable under that definition,” Walls asked rhetori-cally. “Most of them,” he answered. Walls says the judge “is completely misin-terpreting the statute [and] the legislative intent” of the reforms. He said similar situations could arise in other states in the wake of the ProPublica/NPR series of articles. Speculating about another avenue for liti-gation that might surface in the near future, Walls noted that every state allows injured workers and plaintiffs lawyers to get around exclusive remedy by alleging that an injury was the result of an intentional act. In general, it has been “very difficult to prove intentional act,” but OSHA could make this easier, Walls suggested, citing a proposal for an online database to give the general public access to employers’ injury histories. “There’s fear that this is going to lead to increased penalties from OSHA because instead of just walking into one factory or one store and looking at that record, they’ll be able to look at the records across your entire enterprise at a glance and see that you’ve got 10 different injuries on this machine at your 20 different plants,” he said. “Suddenly you’ve got not just a regular

violation. You’ve got a willful violation.” He noted that there is not insurance cov-erage for intentional acts causing injury to workers. “It is public policy that there’s no coverage, and in many state statutes it flat-out says you cannot get coverage for inten-tional acts,” he said. “If we start to see this litigation around ‘intentional act,’ it’s really a scary proposition for employers.”

Opt-Out Davoli and other critics have questioned the growing movement to allow employers to opt-out of state workers’ compensation systems and establish their own systems. At the forefront of this movement is the Austin, Texas-based Association for Responsible Alternatives to Workers’ Compensation, or ARAWC, which supports expansion of alternatives to state workers’ compensation systems such as the nonsub-scriber system in Texas and the recently enacted Oklahoma option, to other states. ARAWC Communications Director Brent Buchanan said the group wants to work state-by-state with stakeholders to come up with a workers’ comp alternative that works best, one state at a time. Association members include Nordstrom, Best Buy, Lowe’s, Walmart, Safeway, J.B. Hunt and Sysco Food Services — large companies that are nonsubscribers in Texas and are interested in the alternative now available in Oklahoma. Such companies would like to have options in every state in which they operate, said ARAWC Executive Director Richard Evans. Members also include insurance-relat-ed entities including broker AMWINS and Great American Insurance, as well as service providers Partner Source and Sedgwick. Nonsubscriber companies “will set up their occupational injury benefit plan under the federal ERISA laws, like their health insurance plan. It’s an employee welfare plan and it’s regulated under federal law. That’s typical,” though not the case with every employer, Evans said. They work with service providers, such as insurance companies, third party admin-istrators and medical claims management

companies for help in administer-ing their programs, Evans said. “It’s a lot like a health insurance program except it’s targeted for occupational injury benefit,” he said. The nonsubscription approach has been available in Texas for more than 100 years. There is no requirement in Texas that workers’ comp benefits be pro-vided to employees, but employers that opt out of the workers’ comp system, “don’t get the exclusive remedy that you do when you’re in the system. So there’s negligence liability for employers in Texas that elect to be a nonsubscriber,” Evans said. The situation in Oklahoma is somewhat different. In that state, employers are still required to provide benefits either under the workers’ comp system or an alternative, and exclusive remedy applies to all employ-ers. Oklahoma’s alternative option went into effect this year and the law was passed before ARAWC was formed, “but we’re watching how that program rolls out so that we can learn from that and take those lessons and apply them to the future states,” Evans said. With state workers’ compensation sys-tems dealing with so many challenges, an audience member at the Advisen conference asked whether a federal workers’ comp scheme might be better. That would be a change, but it wouldn’t necessarily be an improvement, Walls said, referring to the federal government’s track record with other entitlement programs. “If we could look at the federal government and say, ‘Man, Medicare kicks butt’ and ‘Social Security disability is great’ and ‘the VA is just a model of medical expertise,’ then that might make sense,” he said.

Susanne Sclafane, senior editor of CarrierManage-ment.com, contributed to this report.


CLOSER LOOK

Restaurants & Bars

Although most agencies insure at least one restaurant or tavern, this shouldn’t

suggest that they are easy accounts to write. Errors and omissions (E&O) carriers will

readily admit that writing this class of business presents some challenges. Moreover, these chal-lenges have significant potential to generate E&O claims. One thing for certain is that these risks have

their share of losses and, when there are losses, there is a greater chance that some of those losses are not insured. The No. 1 common thread of E&O claims is that what’s not covered will typically cause the E&O claim.

Know Your Risk When looking to insure a restaurant or tavern, it is vital to understand that these

The carriers you access will vary based on the type of risk. For more upscale and family-oriented risks, you probably will deal with the admitted marketplace. Because of the specialization of these risks, deal with a company that includes this as one of its spe-cialties and has demonstrated solid exper-tise. There is a good chance that its product offering may be more comprehensive and include a host of quality options. With some risks, the excess and sur-plus lines (E&S) market may be your only choice. For many years, this segment of the industry has written a significant amount of this business. The “danger” with the E&S market is there will be additional exclusions or limitations on the coverages offered. For example, many E&O claims have focused on the lack of assault and battery coverage, which will probably be available in the standard market. Another common issue involves liquor liability coverage. If the account sells liquor,

E&O Insights: Insuring Restaurants and Taverns Presents Some Real E&O Risks

risks potentially have some unique expo-sures that must be properly addressed. A few questions and issues to consider include:

• Do they do catering?• What vehicles are used to deliver the products?• Are the building or contents constructed of unique materials?

To understand the various common and potentially unique issues, an appropriate place to start is through accessing the infor-mation contained within one of the indus-try’s many exposure analysis checklists. These checklists will provide solid informa-tion and insight, including a questionnaire detailing the pertinent questions to ask by line of business. The time spent “doing some homework” in advance of the sales call will help make the call more produc-tive and help you understand the exposures more clearly.

By Curtis M. Pearsall

www.insurancejournal.com May 4, 2015 INSURANCE JOURNAL-NATIONAL | 27

the owner must have a liquor liability expo-sure. There have been many claims where the restaurant/tavern owner thought that his or her liability insurance included the liquor liability exposure. Agents should bring this matter to the business owner’s attention and emphasize the need for liquor liability insurance. It is best to provide a proposal, thereby forcing the customer to decide if he or she wants to insure that part of the exposure. These types of conversa-tions should be documented not only in the agency file, but also through written com-munication with the client to ensure there is no misunderstanding.

Losses Do Occur As mentioned above, these types of risks have losses and, as noted by the following E&O claim, when these losses become excessive, a non-renewal occurs. The restaurant owner approached agency “X” in 2010 after the account was non-renewed by its prior carrier due to loss history. Agency “X” placed coverage for the restaurant for 2010-2011 and 2011-2012, until that carrier non-renewed due to loss histo-ry. For the 2012-2013 policy year, agency “X” completed an online application, but failed to indicate the restaurant had been pre-

viously non-renewed for loss history. The agency also failed to provide accurate loss history information, misstated the age of the building which housed the restaurant, and incorrectly stated the frequency with which the restaurant cleaned its hood, duct and flue systems. The 2012-2013 policy was bound and the restaurant subsequently filed six separate claims before the policy was cancelled in March 2013. The six claims involved wind damage, two thefts, property damage, van-

dalism, and a fire loss which essentially put the restaurant out of business. The carrier paid the claims, totaling $1.9 million, and is pursuing litigation against agency “X” on the theory that it would not have written the coverage for the restaurant had the insured agent accurately completed the application and advised the carrier of the restaurant’s loss and non-renewal history. Misleading a carrier to get the account written certainly backfired for agency “X.”

Other Key Issues If you need to insure the risk in the E&S market, review the proposal from the wholesaler to identify how well it matches the coverage requested. It is highly suggest-ed to get a specimen copy of the policy, too. Agents should also understand that they do not have binding authority when writing business in the E&S market, so ample time should be factored in to get the account bound in a timely manner. If the risk is already insured in the E&S market, review the renewal proposal for any changes, comparing it with the expir-ing coverage. Since the E&S market is not required to issue conditional renewal notic-es advising the agency of changes, changes in the coverage could occur without your knowledge. As a result, you need to identify any differences between the expiring policy and the proposed renewal terms, and then bring any reductions to your client’s atten-tion. It is highly recommended that you get the client’s approval in writing acknowledg-ing these changes. While restaurants and taverns are not dif-ficult risks to write, they are not easy ones either. Like any other risk, they require knowledge, expertise and the necessary level of documentation. By doing the nec-essary homework, there is a greater chance of writing the account while, at the same time, reducing your E&O exposure.

Pearsall is president of Pearsall Associates Inc., a risk management consulting firm. He is also a special consultant to the Utica National Agents E&O program. Phone: 315-768- 1534. Email: curtis@ pearsallassociates.com. Blog: www.agentseotips.com.

When looking to insure a restaurant or tavern, it is vital to understand that these risks potentially have some unique exposures that must be properly addressed.

ket share, but in Wilson’s opinion, what’s been lost in auto market share were cus-tomers that independents just didn’t want. “They just let it go.” Wilson admits that Google being Google will draw the attention of some consumers. “Needless to say, since it’s the predom-inant search engine, depending on how Google markets Google Compare, if you’re searching for something that has the word ‘auto’ or ‘car’ in it, there on the search results, the Google Compare website may show up over and over again. It may drive traffic but I don’t know that it’ll drive addi-tional people to that marketing channel.”

Education Wilson says a large part of competing against Google Compare and other new industry players resides in education — delivering education on the value that independent agents bring to the insurance transaction. “It is an educational process and it’s something I’m going to hopefully spend a lot of my time in the next year or longer on starting within our own industry and then moving ultimately to consumers,” Wilson said. “We’re not selling CDs where it doesn’t really matter whether you buy it from Amazon or Best Buy or whatever.” Insurance policies are complex legal contracts, he said, and that’s the first thing that the industry has to get people to understand. For decades agents have been helping consumers identify critical loss exposures and doing their best to make sure those exposures are properly insured. That’s the message that the industry needs to rein-force to consumers, he said. Probably the most important service that independent agents provide is a high-level of claim advocacy. “I spend a lot of my time, almost every day, helping agents who have consumers who have had a claim and either the claim has been denied or not completely covered and the agent feels that the denial is incor-rect,” Wilson said. “That’s not something you’re going to get from an online vendor. ... With an independent agent, you’re going to have someone going to bat for you, particu-larly at claim time,” he said.



IDEA EXCHANGE

Tech Talk

Physical breaches can include exposure of agency data through loss of mobile devices that are not properly pass-word protected, a client viewing an employee’s desktop when they step away, papers left unattended on a desk, or the theft of a serv-er or computer from the office. Electronic breaches include hacking into an agency server or data stored in the cloud, and the risk of sending unprotected email with per-sonal information. The first line of defense is education, Anderson says. “Agency staff needs training to understand and recognize the exposures they face,” he says. For example, if the agen-cy scans checks or takes credit card pay-ments, does the agency need to retain that information? “Because if it’s breached, that presents a problem.” Shelton says the best way to fight breach-es is to take one of two approaches. “One approach is to establish a protective perim-

eter which seeks to block hacking

in the first place,” he says. The other

approach “is the roach motel strategy in which we

assume there will be hacking.” As a consequence, the most sensitive

material enjoys a higher level of secu-

The Risk of Data Breach in Agencies TodayBy Tom Wetzel

Data breaches pose a serious threat to agents even though

incidents involving large companies such as Target and Sony produce all the headlines. All agencies are vul-nerable to breaches, no matter what their size, location or specialties. Yet there are simple steps agents can take to mitigate the risks to their business and those of their clients. Well-known insurance technolo-gy expert Steve Anderson believes that the number of agents who have experienced a reported breach may be low, but he still has concerns. “Of more concern are agents who may have had a breach and don’t know it,” Anderson says. “There’s no question that the numbers and the risks are going up because of the automated programs that probe for vulnerability.” According to Anderson, the biggest threat to agents is employees who allow phishing attacks which use false emails that contain viruses. Jay Shelton, Assurance’s senior vice pres-ident of risk management services, agrees that the most common breaches involve employees stealing information or phishing attacks. Shelton says agents should also recognize that their exposure is tied to the risks faced by clients. Higher risks are usually asso-

ciated with data-rich industries such

as health care.

rity but once the hacker is in they can’t get out, Shelton says. “Either way, every agency needs to have a good breach response program in place and to know what their exposures are and how they will respond.” The nature of hacks is chang-ing, Shelton says. Small busi-nesses can be vulnerable to “ran-somware,” in which a code locks up computer files and a ransom demand is made to free them. “What scares me are hacks that are ideologically moti-vated,” Shelton says. “In cases like this, the motivation is not money. That suggests a different level of exposure, such as edu-cational institutions that might have enemies and that maintain open-source platforms.”

Risk mitigation must include maintaining up-to-date firewalls, antivirus and malware software detection programs, and compre-hensive cyber liability, the experts say. Some other steps to consider include: • Appointing a staff member to coor-dinate, log and maintain a list of mobile devices in the field. • Adhering to state regulation regarding personal information and data breach. • Locating the server behind a protected door or wall in a separate area of the office. • Creating a staff policy for no files and paperwork on desks in reach of client. • Installing automatic screen savers on all desks that begin in one minute and then a password must be entered to log back on. • Using transport layer security, or a third-party vendor or program when send-ing emails that contain personal informa-tion. • Requiring remote access authentication and validation.

Longtime insurance communicator Tom Wetzel heads his own insurance marketing firm. Email: [email protected]

‘Of more concern are agents who may have had a

breach and don’t know it.’

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NATIONAL COVERAGE

MyNewMarketsFood Delivery Vehicles Market Detail: Sunderland Insurance Services Inc.’s (www.sun-derlandins.com) monoline owned hired & non-hired auto fast food delivery program is designed to provide auto liability and excess liability coverages to pizza and food delivery and food couriers. Available limits: As neededCarrier: Unable to disclose, non-admittedStates: All states Contact: Holly Belknap at 925-942-4020 or e-mail: [email protected]

Medical Directors-Professional Liability Market Detail: Arlington/Roe & Co. (www.arlingtonroe.com) offers medical directors’ professional liability for directors of health care facilities. Nursing home directors will be required to show evidence of insurance for the nursing home. Call Arlington/Roe to inquire about particular states offered. Available limits: Minimum $2 million, maximum $4 million Carrier: Various, non-admitted States: All states Contact: Jim Eades at 800-878-9891, ext. 8626 or e-mail: [email protected]

Service Contract ReimbursementMarket Detail: Personal Safeguards Group’s (www.personalsafeguardsgroup.com) licensed principal helps clients obtain a service contract reimbursement insurance policy (SCRIP) for service contract poroviders. Addresses regulatory and compliance financial backing requirements. Service contracts avail-able for (extended warranty) for auto, RV, powersports, marine, appliances, electronics, jewelry, fitness.Available limits: Minimum $100,000, maximum $250,000 Carrier: Unable to disclose, admitted States: All states except D.C., Hawaii, N.H., R.I., and Vt.Contact: Michael Frosch at 847-275-8497 or e-mail:[email protected]

Truckers/Trucking Firms Market Detail: Interline Insurance Services Inc. (www.interlineinsurance.com) offers clients in-house claims adjust-ing, loss prevention services, premium financing, added value trade association benefits, and underwriting expertise, as well as competi-tive premiums. Available limits: Minimum $1 million, maximum $10 million Carrier: Unable to disclose, admitted and non-admitted available States: Calif. OnlyContact: Customer service at 800-229-8790

Professional Liability E&O, GL & BOP Market Detail: First Choice Ins. Intermediaries Inc. offers (www.firstchoiceii.com) access to appointed agents to Hiscox’s program

with three exclusive products, all tailored to the risks in a client’s industry: professional liability insurance; general liability insurance; business owner’s policy (BOP). Program highlights include: fast quote process; policy documents available via e-mail usually within one hour of purchase; ability to save each quote individually until ready to present options to the client. Agents interested in becom-ing appointed, please scan/email to [email protected] or fax 866-884-4796 the following paperwork: completed IRS Form - W9; copy of state license(s); current proof of errors & omissions certificate; completed producer appointment form (available on website).Available limits: Minimum $500,000, maximum $3 million Carrier: HiscoxStates: Calif., Conn. Dela., Fla., Ga., Ks., La., Mass., Md., N.C., N.J., N.Y., Pa., S.C., Tenn., Texas, and Va.Contact: Customer service at 866-821-9572

Specialty Personal Lines Market Detail: Next Wave Insurance Services LLC (www.nextwaveins.com) has partnered with American Modern Insurance Group to offer agents coverage for hard to place risks including: manufactured homes; vacant dwellings rental and sea-sonal dwellings; and collector vehicles. Upon appointment with American Modern as a sub producer of Next Wave agents gain access to its online rate, quote and issue system, modernLINK. Products offered include: dwelling fire; manufactured home; collector vehicle; watercraft; and personal watercraft.Available limits: Minimum $100,000, maximum $1 million Carrier: American Modern States: Ariz., Colo., Calif., Idaho, Minn., N.D., N.M., Ore., S.D., Utah, Wash., and Wyo.Contact: Jeff Ward at 619-232-3900 or [email protected]

FranchiseSuite Market Detail: Franchise Perils’ (www.franchiseperils.com) policy is written for and by franchisors. Five coverages available with one premium, one underwriter, one carrier, one adjuster, and one limit. Coverages include: D&O, E&O, EPL, fiduciary, and vicarious liability. Available limits: Minimum $1 million, maximum $10 million Carrier: Unable to disclose, non-admitted States: All states except Ind. Contact: 310-443-9333 or email: [email protected]


IDEA EXCHANGE

Technology

themselves. The right tools are making it possible to be as effi-cient out in the field as you can be from the office. It’s also making agents better pre-pared, ready to address issues as they crop up and respond to inquiries in real time.

The Cloud’s Dark Lining Shared networks sit at the heart of cloud computing, meaning that when someone

Advantages of the Cloud It’s no secret that the cloud is simplifying business everywhere. But few industries are as poised to take advantage of the cloud’s productivity advantages as property/casualty insurance. Take, for exam-ple, something as routine as con-tract signings. Consumers are no longer willing to deal with having to open, print, sign, scan and send documents — it’s a lot of work for so simple a task. As consumers grow increasingly comfort-able with enterprise-quality technologies like Dropbox, they’re bringing a new set of expectations to the table: Namely, that agents are as efficient and responsive as they’re able to be. The cloud helps unlock the full potential of mobile devices, making information avail-able whenever and wherever agents find

How to Mitigate the Risks of Cloud Computing

The technology challenges facing insur-ance agents today might seem insur-

mountable: The very tools that could revo-lutionize the industry — like the cloud — could also compro-mise their security. Agents are hard-pressed to find solu-tions, as regulatory oversight is stepping up just as clients are demanding more

personalized service. But as employees are increasingly bringing the tools they rely on in their personal lives to work, turning a blind eye to the cloud’s won’t work. File-level, on-device encryption addresses many of these concerns, and it’s the key from which many other solutions flow.

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BEHAVMI001.indd 1 4/20/15 1:08 PM

By Asaf Cidon



NOTICE OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT

PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE COURT OR THE JUDGE

Zersen v. American Consolidated Business Owners Alliance, Inc. and Ramsgate Insurance, Inc., No. 10 CH 22349

To: All persons who were sent directly or indirectly one or more facsimile messages on or after May 25, 2006, that advertised or pro-moted in whole or in part: (a) the commercial availability of Rams-gate’s goods or services; or (b) the commercial availability of ACBOA’s goods or services.

This notice informs you of a settlement of a class action lawsuit arising from advertisements defen-dants Ramsgate Insurance, Inc. and American Consolidated Business Owners Alliance, Inc. allegedly sent by fax. If you received an unsolic-ited fax offering the commercial availability of goods or services from Ramsgate or ACBOA, you are entitled to claim a share of a $750,000.00 Settlement Fund.

Claim forms are available from Bock and Hatch LLC, 134 North LaSalle Street, Suite 1000, Chicago, Illinois 60602, or from the website listed below. Claim forms are due by August 31, 2015. If you wish to object to the settlement, you must identify yourself as a class member and state the reasons for and file and serve your objection by July 31, 2015, and you must appear at the Court hearing on September 11, 2015 at 11 a.m.

To obtain information about the settlement and to receive a claim

form, immediately contact:

Zersen Claims Administrator BOCK & HATCH, LLC

134 N. La Salle St., Ste. 1000 Chicago, IL 60602 Ph: (312) 658-5500

Fax: (312) 658-5555

Or go to: www.bockhatchllc.com/zersenclassaction.html

backs up data in one place, like a desktop, it syncs to a host of other devices. But this proliferation of files leaves data unprotect-ed on many devices. With more than 4.5 million smartphones lost or stolen in the United States in 2013 according to Consumer Reports, it’s not difficult to imagine a sce-nario in which a lost laptop, tablet, or phone undermines clients’ security. The convenience of the cloud demands stronger protections to prevent sensitive data from falling into the wrong hands. Those protections are gradually increas-ing to address the progress of technology. Their oversight might be seen as crucial catch-up, given that it’s coming at a time when breaches are disproportionately capturing healthcare records. It’s no sur-prise that medical data has captivated the interest of bad actors when you consider that medical records can fetch more than 10 times as much as financial data on the black market. The fact that medical records are becoming electronic carries more opportunities for mistakes. For a long time, privacy regulations under the Health Insurance Portability and Accessibility Act (HIPAA) didn’t exactly apply to property/casualty insurers. But all that is changing with recent updates to the law, including The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, requiring that insur-ers handling protected health information comply — leaving many struggling to catch up, if they’re thinking about it at all. Even for agents who only occasionally touch this sensitive data — such as when it’s necessary to obtain a full health histo-ry to settle claims — HIPAA compliance and its labyrinth of rules for securing data suddenly come into play. In recent years, the Office of Civil Rights has announced plans to increase its audits — as well as scrutinize business associates like insurance companies. Mistakes are an important consideration in this context, because user errors are far more likely to cause breaches than hackers.

Data from the Ponemon Institute suggests that more than 80 percent of breaches are due to employee mistakes including lost devices and accidental sharing.

What Agents Can Do It’s true that risks associated with the cloud are broader than HIPAA compliance, but those rules help put threats in context. They also provide a roadmap for how a business should evaluate the strength of a particular solution. Encryption should form the basis of any strategy to protect insured parties’ infor-mation. The right approach will be trans-parent, so that the extra layer of protection doesn’t require a convenience compromise. File-level encryption makes it easier to associate every modification, copy, access,

or share operation made to encrypted files with a par-ticular user. Encryption can also protect data integrity, making it impossible to modify files without access to the file’s specific encryption keys.

HIPAA requires full audit trails for PHI, but it’s a good practice for any organization. It comes down to knowing what’s happen-ing with your sensitive files. That includes times like when a device is lost or stolen, or when an employee is terminated. Certain cloud security solutions provide a device block feature, which administrators can use to remotely wipe the keys associated with certain devices and users so that the sensi-tive information cannot be accessed. The one thing that insurance companies and agents can’t do is ignore the cloud. A recent McAfee-sponsored Frost & Sullivan study found that more than 80 percent of survey respondents admit to using non-ap-proved software-as-a-service (SaaS) applica-tions for work. It also found that people use non-approved services for one reason: They simply need to get their work done, and these tools help.

Cidon, who earned his Ph.D. in cloud computing from Stanford, is the CEO and co-founder of cloud security company Sookasa.

IDEA EXCHANGE

Technologycontinued from page 31

The right tools are making it possible to be as efficient out in the field as you can be from the office.

Save the Date!IICF Women in Insurance Global Conferencereturns to New York City, June 17 – 19, 2015

www.womensconference.iicf.org

Empowered to Change – Women in Insurance Global Conference 2015

In June 2013, the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) launched

the Women in Insurance Conference Series with the first multi-day global

conference directed to women in the insurance industry. In June 2014, IICF

hosted four one-day regional women’s forums. Over 1,300 professionals

representing 33 states and over 200 companies attended. The response has

been overwhelming, and the series continues.

Explore, Network, Enrich...and Grow

IICF16772.indd 1 3/4/15 9:50 AM

www.insurancejournal.com34 | INSURANCE JOURNAL-NATIONAL REGION May 4, 2015

Access Point Insurance ServicesContact: Customer ServicePhone: 949-760-0595 ; Fax: 949-760-0591Email: [email protected]: www.accesspointins.net■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp – Standard, High Mods, PEO Plans, USL&H■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $25,000■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: AZ CA HI NV ■ Admitted Status: Admitted & Non-admitted■ Carriers Represented: All Carriers

Accident Insurance Services, Inc.Contact: Beckie ErvinPhone: 972-991-0413 ; Fax: 972-788-5108Email: [email protected]: www.ais-insurance.net■ Markets Offered: Excess Workers’ Comp, 24 Hour Policy, Workers’ Comp, Occupational Accident■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $150■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: TX■ Carriers Represented: American Hallmark

ACE Risk ManagementPhone: 215-640-4642Website: www.aceusa.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp, Excess Workers’ Comp, Texas Excess Indemnity, GL, Automobile Liability & other financial products.■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: Loss Sensitive Accounts with $100,000 Deductible/Retention for Workers’ Comp■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Alliance With: With: ESIS, Inc. and other Third Party Administrators & Risk Management Providers

Agency ResourcesContact: Florencia RobledoPhone: 866-454-9676 ; Fax: 973-261-9202Email: [email protected]: www.agencyresources.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp ■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $1,000■ Limits: $1M / $1M / $1M■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted

Align General Insurance Agency, LLCContact: Mike Tudman 818-825-6181Phone: 619-333-2500Email: [email protected]: www.aligngeneral.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Not Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $40,000■ Limits: Statutory■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: CA■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: Call For Details

All Risks, Ltd.Contact: Hollie Hobbie DegutisPhone: 800-366-5810 ; Fax: 410-828-8179Email: [email protected]: www.allrisks.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp, USL&H, DBA & MEL■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: Varies by class■ Limits: Statutory■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted & Non-admitted■ Carriers Represented: Over 14 carriers represented

Alternative Market Services, Inc.Phone: 855-924-1597 ; Fax:916-751-5911Email: [email protected]: www.alternativemarketservices.com■ Markets Offered: Commercial Insurance, Health Insurance, PEO, Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: N/A■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States ■ Admitted Status: Admitted ■ Carriers Represented: All Carriers

Always Affordable Insurance SolutionsContact: Ashley Liddle Phone: 657-900-2050 ; Fax: 657-900-2051Email: [email protected]: www.alwaysaffordableins.com■ Markets Offered: 24 Hour Policy, Excess Workers’ Comp, USL&H, Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $750 ■ Limits: $1M■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States except AK & HI■ Admitted Status: Admitted & Non-admitted

American Team ManagersContact: Jackie NavarroPhone: 714-414-1233 ; Fax: 714-414-1299Email: [email protected]: www.atminsurance.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Not Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $500■ Limits: $1,000,000/$2,000,000■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: AZ CA ID KS NE NM NV OK OR TX UT WY■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: ATower Group, Republic Indemnity, Travelers, AIG, Employers, AmTrust

Searching for a workers’ compensation market? Look no further than Insurance Journal’s 2015 Workers’ Comp Directory, a comprehensive listing of intermediaries and carriers offering workers’ compensation coverage throughout the country. The information listed in this directory serves as a resource guide for independent agents and brokers looking for workers’ compensation markets. Intermediaries and carriers writing workers’ compensation coverage and profiled in this directory submit updated information directly to Insurance Journal.

We make every attempt to ensure the accuracy of all information listed in this directory. You may also view Insurance Journal’s Workers’ Comp Directory online at: www.insurancejournal.com/directories. Also visit that link to submit a listing for future workers’ compensation directories, or e-mail Kristine Honey at: [email protected]. We hope you find the 2015 Workers’ Comp Directory to be a useful tool when searching for markets. To comment on this directory, or any other Insurance Journal resource, please e-mail: [email protected].

www.insurancejournal.com

Atlas General Insurance ServicesContact: Marketing Dept.Phone: 855-309-3310 ; Fax: 619-814-8914Email: [email protected]: www.atlas.us.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp, BOP and Commercial Package Policies, Builders’ Risk, Contractors’ and Non-Contractors’ GL, EIFS, Garage and Dealers, Difference in Conditions, Habitational, Inland Marine, Professional Liability, Property, Umbrella and Excess■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: Most States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: Multiple “A” rated carriers

Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance CompaniesPhone: 570- 825-9900 ; Fax: 570- 823-5930Email: [email protected]: www.guard.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp & related P&C lines targeting small- to mid-sized accounts■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted ■ Minimum Premium: No Standard Minimum■ Limits: Statutory■ Brokered Business: Not Accepted ■ States Entered in: 38 States plus DC

Berkshire Hathaway Homestate CompaniesContact: Customer ServicePhone: 888-495-8949 ; Fax: 415-675-5482Email: [email protected]: www.bhhc.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $1,000■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted

Boston Insurance Brokerage, Inc.Contact: Keith Driscoll – 617-556-7031Contact: Monica Wojnilo – 617-556-7053Website: www.bostonbrokerage.com■ Markets: Guaranteed Cost, Excess, Rating Plans ■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $1,000 ■ Limits: Standard■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: AIM Mutual, Atlantic Charter, Amerisafe, AmTrust, Axiom, AIG, Crum & Forster, Employers, FirstComp, Guard, Hartford, Munich RE (V3), RTW, Republic Indemnity, Sentry, Tangram (Prosight) & Travelers. The workers comp division works with agencies across the country helping to place mono-line coverage. Boston Insurance Brokerage has relationships with markets to write retail, whole-sale, service, manufacturing, construction, home healthcare & social service risks. Whether your agency has a small single state risk or multi-state complex account, we are able to offer the expertise & professionalism to place your coverage.

May 4, 2015 INSURANCE JOURNAL-NATIONAL REGION | 35

AMERISAFEContact: Customer ServicePhone: 800-897-9719 ; Fax: 800-450-1091Email: [email protected]: www.amerisafe.com■ Markets Offered: Hazardous Workers’ Comp Carrier■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $10,000 ■ Limits: Statutory■ Brokered Business: Not Accepted■ States Entered in: Most StatesFor more info, check out our ad on page 8 (South Central)

AMIS/Alliance Marketing & Insurance ServicesContact: Karen MetcalfPhone: 800- 843-8550 ; Fax: 800-573-8550Email: [email protected]: www.amisinsurance.com■ Markets Offered: Ins. Adjusters, Security Guards & Alarm Co’s, Workers’ Comp for Private Investigators■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $297■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: Most States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: Travelers

AmTrust North AmericaContact: Customer ServicePhone: 877-528-7878 ; Fax: 800-487-9654 Email: [email protected]: www.amtrustnorthamerica.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $500■ Limits: Statutory■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: Most States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Alliance With: Multiple regional alliances

AmWINS Group, Inc. - 80 Offices NationwideSee Website for Locations, HQ - Charlotte, NC Contact: Marketing DepartmentPhone: 704-973-3489 ; Fax: 704-943-9000Email: [email protected]: www.amwins.com■ Markets Offered: Excess Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: None■ Limits: Various■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted & Non-admitted■ Carriers Represented: All Excess WC’ Carriers

AmWINS Program UnderwritersContact: Matt McCuePhone: 717-214-7622 Email: [email protected] Website: www.amwins.com/apu■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $500■ Limits: Statutory■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: Most States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: Various AM Best A- Rated or Higher

Apex Insurance ServicesContact: Robert HughesPhone: 210-340-8985 ; Fax: 210-340-8986Email: [email protected]: www.apexinsurance.com■ Markets Offered: Excess WC, Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $1,000 ■ Limits: Statutory and high excess■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States ■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers: Various National & Regional Carriers

Appalachian Underwriters, Inc.Contact: Robert PurdyPhone: 888-376-9633 ; Fax: 888-871-7644Email: [email protected]: www.appund.com■ Markets Offered: USL&H, Workers’ Comp, New Ventures/No Prior Eligible■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ On-line portal accessible■ Minimum Premium: $750■ Limits: Any Size■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States except Monopolistic■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: Multiple A.M. Best ‘A’ Rated Carriers. Exclusive Programs for Healthcare, Temp Staffing, Trucking and Construction Risks.

Applied Underwriters, Inc.Phone: 877-234-4450 ; Fax: 877-234-4452Email: [email protected]: www.auw.com/us■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp, EPLI, E&O, D&O, Payroll ■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: N/A■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted For more info, check out our ad on pages 4 & 5 (National) & on the Back Cover

Arrowhead General Insurance Agency, Inc.Contact: Marketing Dept.Phone: 800-669-1889 ; Fax: 619-881-8695Email: [email protected]: www.ArrowheadGrp.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: Varies by Carrier■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: Multiple “A” rated carriers

Artex Risk Solutions, Inc.Contact: Christine MikelPhone: 630-438-1560Email: [email protected]: www.artexrisk.com■ Markets Offered: Excess WC, Workers’ Comp, Guaranteed Cost & Alternative Risk (Captives)■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $100,000■ Limits: Statutory■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers: Several All “A” rated or higher

2015 Workers’ Compensation Directory

Charity First Insurance Services, Inc.Contact: Riley Binford Phone: 800-352-2761 ; Fax: 415-536-4033Email: [email protected]: www.charityfirst.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp, Nonprofits Only ■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: Varies■ Brokered Business: Not Accepted■ States Entered in: All States ■ Admitted Status: Admitted in most states■ Carriers Represented: Travelers

CID Insurance Programs, Inc.Contact: Caesar SerranoPhone: 800-922-7283 ; Fax: 619-593-2008Email: [email protected]: www.cidinsuranceprograms.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $500■ Limits: $1M■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: AZ CA CO ID MD NE NM NV OR PA TN TX UT■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: Over 25 insurance companies

Commercial Sector Insurance BrokersContact: Carl ThompsonPhone: 205-776-2625 ; Fax: 205-776-1619Email: [email protected]: www.comsectorins.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $5,000■ Limits: $1M/$1M/$1M■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: Most States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: Chartis, Am Trust, Crum & Forester, Guarantee Insurance Co., Munich, Zurich Commercial Sector is a National Wholesaler. We specialize in assisting retail agents solve P & C problems, including Workers’ Comp.

Community Association Insurance Solutions, LLCContact: Gary J. Deck, VP Sales and DistributionPhone: 888-833-4158 ; Fax: 888-833-4159Email: [email protected]: www.mgalive.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp ■ Phone Inquiries: Not Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $495■ Limits: Statutory■ Brokered Business: Not Accepted■ States Entered in: All States except Monopolistic & ID, MA■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: Hanover/ PMA Companies

Comp Solutions Network, Inc.Contact: Dianne FavroPhone: 713-690-3500 Ext. 41 ; Fax: 713-690-8484Email: [email protected]: www.compsolutionsnetwork.com■ Markets Offered: Monoline Workers’ Comp, Non- Subscriber Programs for Texas Employers ■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $250 ■ Limits: $500K to $10M■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers (WC): Accident Fund, American Alternative, American Hallmark, American International, Amerisafe, AmTrust, Berkshire Hathaway, Companion, Republic Indemnity, Service Lloyds, Old Glory, QBE, Markel (First Comp), Texas Mutual■ Carriers (Non-Subscribers): ACE American, American Southern, American Hallmark, Commercial Alliance, Great American, Independent American, Markel Essex, North American Capacity, North American Specialty, OneBeacon, Pam American, Service Lloyds, Western Heritage

Compass Insurance Group of AgenciesContact: Paul LauferPhone: 818-507-1980 ; Fax: 818-545-3818Email: [email protected]: www.compasseands.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $500■ Limits: $1M■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: CA■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: 20+ Markets

CompWest Insurance CompanyContact: Kristi HoustonPhone: 714-641-9570Email: [email protected]: www.compwestinsurance.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Not Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $1,500■ Limits: $1.5M■ Brokered Business: Not Accepted■ States Entered in: AZ CA CO ID NV OR UT■ Admitted Status: Admitted

Continental Brokers, Inc.Contact: Collier SimpsonPhone: 866-386-4136 ; Fax: 601-898-4793Email: [email protected]: www.continentalbrokers.biz■ Markets Offered: Health Insurance, Managed Care, HMO, Short Term Medical, Workers’ Comp ■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: None■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: CNA, Hartford, Assurant, BCBS (some states) United HealthCare, Colonial

36 | INSURANCE JOURNAL-NATIONAL REGION May 4, 2015 www.insurancejournal.com


BreckComp Program of Blue River UnderwritersContact: Vicky HuertaPhone: 559-221-2050 Ext. 2904 ; Fax: 559-225-2066Email: [email protected]: www.blueriveruw.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp ■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $20K■ Limits: Statutory■ Brokered Business: Not Accepted■ States Entered in: Most States■ Admitted Status: Admitted

Breckenridge Insurance ServicesContact: Customer ServicePhone: 314-725-8394 Ext. 260Email: [email protected]: www.breckis.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp, MGU, Wholesale Brokerage ■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $15,000■ Limits: Statutory■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted & Non-admitted■ Carriers Represented: AIG, Amerisafe, AmTrust, Applied Underwriters, BerkleyNet, Berkshire Hathaway, Guard, Hartford, Starr Insurance, Torus National, V3 Insurance Partners

Brownyard GroupContact: Jennifer BrownyardPhone: 800-645-5820 ; Fax: 631-666-5723Email: [email protected]: www.brownyard.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $10,000■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: Most States■ Admitted Status: Admitted

Builders & Tradesmen’s Ins. Services, Inc.Contact: Jeremiah AzevedoPhone: 916-772-9200 ; Fax: 916-772-9292Email: [email protected]: www.btisinc.com■ Markets Offered: Victory® Workers’ Comp ■ Phone Inquiries: Not Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $500■ Limits: $1M■ Brokered Business: Not Accepted■ States Entered in: All States except AK, ND, OH, WA, WY■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: AmTrust, ICW, CNA, Travelers, Zenith

Care Providers Insurance Services, LLCContact: Priscilla ArcherPhone: 800-761-7072 Ext. 1313 ; Fax: 800-224-7145Email: [email protected]: www.ins-cps.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp ■ Phone Inquiries: Not Accepted■ Minimum Premium: None ■ Limits: EL $1M■ Brokered Business: Not Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: Texas - Open Safety Group accessed through Texas Mutual

Empire Underwriters, LLCContact: Workers Comp Underwriting Toll Free: 800-758-8113Phone: 813-448-9300 ; Fax: 813-448-9310Email: [email protected]: www.empireunderwriters.com■ Markets Offered: Standalone Workers’ Comp, Staffing Workers’ Comp, Specialty Risk, Alternative Risk, PEO■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $1,000■ Brokered Business: Not Accepted■ States Entered in: Most States■ Admitted Status: Admitted & Non-admitted■ Carriers Represented: ACE, AIG, Century Surety, Guard, Benchmark, Berkshire Hathaway, Endurance, Lloyds of London, RLI, RTW, Torus, and many others.

Empire Underwriters is a National Insurance Wholesaler, Excess and Surplus line facility and program manager. Our organization is dedicated to the success of agents and brokers nationwide.

Employer’s Comp Associates, Inc.Contact: Aaron JohnsonPhone: 972-386-0150 ; Fax: 972-386-6350Email: [email protected]: www.EmpCompInc.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp, Workers’ Comp Alternative ■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $1,000■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: Most States■ Admitted Status: Admitted & Non-admitted■ Carriers Represented: Berkshire Hathaway, Great American, American Hallmark, Texas Mutual and many others.

EMPLOYERS focuses on workers’ compensation insurance and services for America’s small businesses. We provide targeted insurance solutions for independent, entrepre-neurial companies. With roots stretching back to 1913, EMPLOYERS has the experience, financial stability, knowledge and resources to provide the coverage and special services that America’s small businesses need. The next four listings are the operating companies of EMPLOYERS. Employers Assurance Company (EAC)Contact: Customer ServicePhone: 800-700-9113 ; Fax: 888-527-3422Email: [email protected]: www.employers.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $750■ Limits: None■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: Most States

May 4, 2015 INSURANCE JOURNAL-NATIONAL REGION | 37www.insurancejournal.com

Continental Risk Insurance ServicesContact: Jeana RamosPhone: 866-699-2747 ; Fax: 209-365-6040Email: [email protected]: www.continentalriskins.com■ Markets Offered: USL&H, Workers’ Comp ■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $1,000■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: AK AR AZ CA CO FL GA ID NC NV NY OR TX UT WA■ Admitted Status: Admitted & Non-admitted

Continental Underwriters, Inc.Contact: C. Preston Herrington, IIIPhone: 804-643-7800 ; Fax: 804-643-5800Email: [email protected]: www.contund.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $10,000■ Limits: 500/500/500■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: Multiple

Costanza Insurance Agency, Inc.Contact: Brian CostanzaPhone: 800-346-0942 ; Fax: 972-991-2139Email: [email protected] Website: www.costanzainsurance.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp, GL, Comm Auto, Crime, EPL, EBL, Umbrella■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $5,000■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Carriers Represented: Zurich Insurance Co.

CoverXSpecialtyContact: John BuresPhone: 248-358-4010 ; Fax: 248-358-2459Email: [email protected]: www.coverx.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp for Security Guard & Alarm Contractors ■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $250■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Non-admitted■ Carriers Represented: Travelers

Don R. Jensen & CompanyContact: Don R. Jensen & CompanyPhone: 630-734-3240 ; Fax: 630-734-3250Email: [email protected]: www.drjco.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp ■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $1,000■ Limits: None■ Brokered Business: Not Accepted■ States Entered in: All States except Monopolistic & AK, HI■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: Multiple AM Best “A” Rated Carriers

Employers Compensation Insurance Company (ECIC)Contact: Customer ServicePhone: 800-700-9113 ; Fax: 888-527-3422Email: [email protected]: www.employers.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $750■ Limits: None■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: AZ CA CO FL ID IL MT NV OR PA TX UT

Employers Insurance Company of Nevada (EICN)Contact: Customer ServicePhone: 800-700-9113 ; Fax: 888-527-3422Email: [email protected]: www.employers.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $750■ Limits: None■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: NV

Employers Preferred Insurance Company (EPIC)Contact: Customer ServicePhone: 800-700-9113 ; Fax: 888-527-3422Email: [email protected]: www.employers.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $750■ Limits: None■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: Most States

FFVA Mutual Insurance Co.Contact: Customer ServicePhone: 800-346-4825 ; Fax: 321-214-0220Email: [email protected]: www.ffvamutual.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Not Accepted■ Minimum Premium: Varies by Industry■ Limits: Statutory■ Brokered Business: Not Accepted■ States Entered in: AL FL GA IN KY MS NC SC TN VA■ Admitted Status: Admitted

FUBA Workers’ CompContact: Customer ServicePhone: 888-262-4483 ; Fax: 888-871-7474Email: [email protected]: www.fubaworkerscomp.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: Varies by class code■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: FL■ Admitted Status: Admitted ■ Carriers: Florida Citrus, Business & Industries Fund (FCBI)For more info, check out our ad on page 5 (Southeast)

Grand General AgencyContact: Drew ViersenPhone: 800-869-2022 ; Fax: 888-767-0826Email: [email protected]: www.thehelpfulpeople.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $500■ Limits: $1,000,000/1,000,000/1,000,000■ Brokered Business: Not Accepted■ States Entered in: All States except Monopolistic & AK, AL, HI, ■ Admitted Status: Admitted ■ Carriers: Amerisafe, The Hartford


International Excess CompaniesContact: Kenneth Kukral, CICPhone: 800-937-3497 Ext. 2079 ; Fax: 888-291-1382Email: [email protected]: www.intlxs.com■ Markets Offered: Excess Workers’ Comp, PEOs, Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: Varies by class, as low as $250■ Limits: Statutory + increased limits & excess limits■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States except Monopolistic (monoline OH stop gap available)■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: Various

IPA Risk Management, LLCContact: Greg or ChasePhone: 201-797-1084 x 201 ; Fax: 201-797-1076Email: [email protected]: www.ipariskmanagement.com■ Markets Offered: Health Insurance, HMO, Managed Care, PEO, Workers’ Comp ■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted ■ Minimum Premium: $25,000■ Limits: $1,000,000■ Brokered Business: Accepted ■ States Entered in: CA CT DE FL MD NC NJ NY PA SC TX ■ Admitted Status: Admitted & Non-admitted■ Alliance With: Yes - health benefits are integrated with workers’ comp benefits

Irving Weber Associates, Inc.Contact: Adam WeberPhone: 800-243-1811 ; Fax: 888-622-0414Email: [email protected]: www.iwains.com■ Markets Offered: All Lines including Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $500■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: Most States ■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: Various Izzo Insurance Services, Inc.Contact: Mike JonesPhone: 800-800-1704 ; Fax: 630-582-2803Email: [email protected]: www.IzzoInsurance.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $5,000■ Limits: Varies■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: AIG, AmTrust Companies, BerkleyNet, CNA, Employers Ins. Group, Hartford, ICW Group, Meadowbrook, State Auto, Zenith Insurance, Zurich Insurance

J.W. Terrill Inc.Contact: Duke NiedringhausPhone: 314-594-2622Email: [email protected]: www.jwterrill.com■ Markets Offered: Excess Workers’ Comp For Self Insured Entities & Group Captives■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $100,000■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States

Jimcor AgenciesContact: Garrett GioePhone: 201-573-8200 Ext. 1202 ; Fax: 201-573-8820Email: [email protected]: www.jimcor.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $1,000■ Limits: Any Applicable per State■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All Nonmonopolistic States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: AIG, AmTrust, CNA, Travelers, Crum & Forster, Magna Carta, ACE

Keller & Co, Inc.Contact: John BartonPhone: 716-874-1644 ; Fax: 716-874-4920Email: [email protected]: www.kellerandco.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: Varies■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: NJ NY PA■ Admitted Status: Admitted & Non-admitted■ Carriers Represented: Several!!

King Insurance Support SystemsContact: Laura Fondarella Phone: 800-488-4096 ; Fax: 949-488-2259Email: [email protected]: www.kinginsuranceca.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: None■ Limits: Varies■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: Western States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: AmTrust, Travelers

KZ Insurance Brokerage, LLCContact: Mark ZeanahPhone: 530-926-6030 ; Fax: 530-926-6040Email: [email protected]: www.kzib.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $1,000■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: Most States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: BHHC- Oak River, Cypress, Redwood Travelers, Hartford

LIG Marine ManagersContact: Karen TischlerPhone: 727-578-2800 ; Fax: 727-578-9977Email: [email protected]: www.LIGMarine.com■ Markets Offered: USL&H (Longshore), Workers’ Comp, MEL■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $10,000■ Limits: Statutory■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted & Non-admitted■ Carriers Represented: Various


GSS Insurance Services, LLCContact: Greg SantolucitoPhone: 760-947-5500 ; Fax: 909-494-7854Email: [email protected]: www.gssinsurance.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp, GL, Commercial Auto, BOP, Bonds & Packages■ Phone Inquiries: Not Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $500■ Limits: $1,000,000/1,000,000/1,000,000■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: CA■ Admitted Status: Admitted & Non-admitted

IAAC, Inc. (Membership Services Division of IIABNY)Contact: Customer ServicePhone: 800-962-7950 ; Fax: 888-432-0510Email: [email protected]: www.iiabny.org■ Markets Offered: USL&H, Workers’ Comp ■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $2,000 ■ Brokered Business: Not Accepted■ States Entered in: NY ■ Carriers: PMC Insurance IIABNY’s endorsed WC wholesaler represents several carriers.

ICW Group Insurance CompaniesContact: Taunya MoenPhone: 800-877-1111Email: [email protected]: www.icwgroup.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Not Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $2,500■ Limits: $1M■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: CA FL IL NC NV PA SC TX WI■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Alliance With: MEDEX

Insential, Inc.Contact: Amanda Ballard Phone: 888-571-6160 ; Fax: 708-731-4040Email: [email protected]: www.insential.com■ Markets Offered: Excess Workers’ Comp, Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $10,000■ Limits: $1M■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: Gateway

Insurance Center Special Risks, Ltd.Contact: Ludmila KovalPhone: 888-773-7475 ; Fax: 413-781-0050Email: [email protected]: www.specialrisksltd.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Not Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $350■ Brokered Business: Not Accepted■ States Entered: CT MA ME NH NY RI VT■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: The Hartford, Guard Insurance Group


May 4, 2015 INSURANCE JOURNAL-NATIONAL REGION | 39www.insurancejournal.com

Loveland & Smart Ins. Services, Inc.Contact : Joe LovelandPhone: 916-844-0349 ; Fax: 916-362-5595Email: [email protected]: www.lovelandsmart.com■ Markets Offered: Excess WC for Self Insured Entities & Excess GL & Auto Liab for Pubic Entities■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $20,000■ Limits: Statutory■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: AR AZ CA CO GA ID IL LA MI MO MS NV NY OH OK OR PA UT WA■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: All Excess WC Carriers

LowRateWorkCompContact: Paul FarhoodPhone: 850-625-5190 ; Fax: 888-625-2628Email: [email protected]: www.LowRateWorkComp.com■ Markets Offered: Health Insurance, Payroll, USL&H, Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $4,000■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States except WA■ Alliance With: 4 PEOs – Writing All classes depending on state.

Markel ProgramsContacts: James CaldwellPhone: 972-588-2064Email: [email protected]: www.midlandsmgt.com■ Markets Offered: TX Non-Subscriber ■ Phone Inquiries: Not Accepted■ Minimum Premium: Depends on limit■ Limits: $ 500,000 to $5,000,000■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: TX■ Admitted Status: Admitted

MarketScoutContacts: Brian Barrilleaux, SVP, Broker - 972-934-4204Dan Fouts, Broker - 972-934-4231Chris Kerr, VP, Broker - 972-934-4206Amber Hunter, Broker - 972-934-4209Email: [email protected]: 972-934-4299■ Markets Offered: Health Ins., Managed Care, Trucking, USL&H, Work Comp ■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: None■ Limits: Statutory■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: Over 20 National, Regional & Specialty Carriers

Maverick Commercial Insurance ServicesContact: Mario GomezPhone: 818-223-0011 ; Fax: 818-223-0012Email: [email protected]: www.maverickinsure.com■ Markets Offered: Workers Comp, Large Deductible & Retro Programs, Excess Workers’ Comp, USL&H, PEO■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $2,500■ Limits: $1mil/$1mil/1mil■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: Various

Maxim Insurance GroupContact: Scott CardePhone: 813-689-5105 ; Fax: 813-354-2336Email: [email protected]: www.maximinsurancegroup.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Compensation, DBA, Repatriation & Foreign Coverage, USL&H■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $1,500■ Limits: Statutory and up to $2M■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States except Monopolistic■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: AmTrust, Associated Industries, Bridgefield Casualty, Bridgefield Employers, Business First, AIG, OptaComp, Retail First, Rochdale, Security National, Technology, Wesco

McClelland and Hine, Inc.Contact: Amicia HinePhone: 210-293-6240 ; Fax: 210-293-6318Email: [email protected]: www.mhi-tx.com■ Markets Offered: Occ. Acc., Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $500■ Limits: Statutory■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: TX■ Admitted Status: Admitted & Non-admitted■ Carriers Represented: Travelers, Hartford, Charits, Texas Builders, AmTrust, Zenith

McLeckie Insurance Group Contact: Bill McLeckiePhone: 903-897-9090 ; Fax: 760-462-1696Email: [email protected]: www.mcleckie.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $500■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: AR FL LA NC OK TN TX■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: Travelers and various others.

Meadowbrook Insurance GroupContact: Phillip GajewskiPhone: 248-358-1100 ; Fax: 248-692-0516Email: [email protected]: www.meadowbrook.com■ Markets Offered: Excess Workers’ Compensation, Specialty/Niche Programs, Workers’ Compensation ■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: Varies by Program■ Limits: Varies by Program■ Brokered Business: Yes; Varies by Program■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: Star Insurance Company, Williamsburg National Insurance Company, Ameritrust Insurance Corporation, ProCentury Insurance Company

MidlandsOklahoma City, OK & Addison, TX Phone: 800-800-4007 ; Fax: 405-840-5432Email: [email protected]: www.midlandsmgt.com■ Markets Offered: Excess Workers’ Comp, Primary Workers’ Comp, Texas Non-Subscriber, Property & Casualty Lines■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: Varies■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: Most States■ Admitted Status: Admitted & Non-admitted■ Carriers Represented: AM Best “A” Rated Carriers

Midwest Employers Casualty CompanyContact: Renée LuncefordPhone: 636-449-7022 ; Fax: 636-449-7199Email: [email protected]: www.mwecc.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Compensation: Excess Workers’ Compensation, Assumed Reinsurance, Group Captives, Large Deductible ■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: Varies by risk■ Limits: Up to Statutory■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States, District of Columbia■ Admitted Status: Admitted

Midwestern Insurance Alliance, LLCContact: Robert EtzlerPhone: 502-429-9990 ; Fax: 502-426-7067Email: [email protected]: www.midwesterninsurance.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp, Trucking, Waste Management, Construction ■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $10,000■ Limits: $1,000,000■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: AL AR AZ CA CO GA IN KS KY LA MO MS NC NM NV OK TN TX SC UT VA ■ Admitted Status: Admitted

NBISContact: Peter BellnierPhone: 770-257-1777 ; Fax: 770-257-1500Email: [email protected]: www.NBIS.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted ■ Minimum Premium: None■ Limits: 100/500/100 500/500/500 1mm/1mm/1mm■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States except NY■ Admitted Status: Admitted all states

Networked Insurance AgentsContact: Tam DuongPhone: 800-682-8476 ; Fax: 888-843-2535Email: [email protected]■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted ■ Minimum Premium: $250■ Limits: $1M / $1M / $1M■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted & Non-admitted■ Carriers Represented: AmTrust, Applied Underwriters, ICW, The Hartford, Travelers, Preferred Employers, Guard, Everest, CNA, First Comp, Employers, Fireman’s Fund, Liberty Mutual, ACE, AIG, Chubb, Zenith


Red Rock Financial Group, Inc.Contact: Lawrence LevinePhone: 1-877-572-6221 x 501 ; Fax: 1-877-895-9011Email: [email protected]: www.redrockfg.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp (High Risk) Roofers, Framers, Excavators and many other class codes.■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $5,000 ■ Limits: None■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: Majority of states 39■ Admitted Status: Admitted & Non-admitted

Risk Alternatives & ManagementContact: Shane MaloneyPhone: 770-424-5770 ; Fax: 770-424-5774Email: [email protected]: www.ram-insurance.com■ Markets Offered: 24 Hour Policy, USL&H, Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: None■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States except Monopolistic■ Admitted Status: Admitted & Non-admitted■ Carriers Represented: DNIC, Lion, AmTrust, Munich Reed, Zurich, Amerisafe, SE Leasing, Companion, AIG, Berkshire Hathaway, QBE

Risk Innovations, LLCContact: Jeff Sandy Phone: 816-251-1608 ; Fax: 866-262-5802Email: [email protected]: www.riskinnovationsllc.com■ Markets Offered: Excess Workers’ Comp, USL&H, Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: State min.■ Limits: None■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: Over 20

Risk Placement Services, Inc.Contact: Patrick EdwardsPhone: 312-803-6334 ; Fax: 312-803-6309Email: [email protected]: www.rpsins.com■ Markets Offered: Excess WC, Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $1,000■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: ACE, AIG, CNA, Hartford, Safeco & Zurich

RoamNet Insurance Marketing ProgramsContact: Patty LawsonPhone: 877-272-0333 ; Fax: 909-987-2245Email: [email protected]: www.roamnetins.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $1,500■ Limits: High limits with small premiums■ Retail Agents/Brokers: Accepted■ States Entered: Most States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: Employers, Hanover, Travelers & Zenith

Norman-Spencer Agency, Inc.Contact: Corky BreedenPhone: 937-432-1631 ; Fax: 937-432-1635Email: [email protected]: www.norman-spencer.com■ Markets Offered: Excess Workers’ Comp, USL&H, Workers’ Comp, Dividend Work Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $1,000■ Limits: $1M■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted & Non-admitted■ Carriers Represented: Zenith, Amerisafe, AmTrust

Number One Insurance Agency, Inc. Contact: Barbara Lobdell Phone: 508-634-7362 ; Fax: 508-634-2930Email: [email protected]: www.massagent.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted ■ Minimum Premium: $100■ Limits: 100 / 500 / 100 +■ Brokered Business: Accepted ■ States Entered in: All States ■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: AmTrust Group, Norfolk & Dedham Group, The Hartford

Oryx Insurance Brokerage, Inc.Contact: Tim Cappellett Phone: 607-724-0173 ; Fax: 607-724-7266Email: [email protected]: www.oryxinsurance.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Compensation, GL, BA■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $15,000■ Brokered Business: Not Accepted■ States Entered in: CT DE IL MD NJ NY PA VA VT ■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: AmTrust

Pacific Excess Insurance MarketingContact: Barry ColburnPhone: 800-222-5582 ; Fax: 714-228-7899Email: [email protected]: www.pacificexcess.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp, All Property & Casualty Risks ■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted ■ Minimum Premium: As Low As $500 ■ Limits: $1M■ Brokered Business: Accepted ■ States Entered in: CA AZ NV ■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: AmTrust & The Zenith Pacific Excess Insurance Marketing is a Wholesaler/General Agent with access to many Standard, Surplus Lines and Workers’ Compensation Markets.

Patriot National, Inc.Contact: Nicole Brewer Phone: 954-670-2900 ; Fax: 954-252-3758Email: [email protected]: www.PatNat.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp, Property & Casualty■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted ■ Minimum Premium: $2,500 ■ Limits: Statutory■ Brokered Business: Accepted ■ States Entered in: All States except Monopolistic■ Admitted Status: AdmittedFor more info, check out our ad on pg 2 (National)

PBS Insurance Underwriting CorporationContact: Jack Smith Phone: 502-244-1056 ; Fax: 502-254-1056Email: [email protected]: www.pbsinsurance.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp, USL&H■ Phone Inquiries: Not Accepted■ Minimum Premium: None■ Limits: No min.■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States except AK■ Admitted Status: Admitted & Non-admitted■ Carriers Represented: Multi carriers

PEO Source Contact: Joanne Ziegler Phone: 954-294-1432 ; Fax: 561-828-6128Email: [email protected]: www.PEO-Source.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp, Health Insurance, USL&H, Payroll■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $1,000■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: CA FL GA MI NJ NY PA SC TX

Platinum Program Managers & Insurance Services, Inc.Contact: Dan RiedenPhone: 949-209-0233 ; Fax: 949-209-0272Email: [email protected]: www.ppmins.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted ■ Minimum Premium: $5,000 ■ Limits: Statutory■ Brokered Business: Accepted ■ States Entered in: AK AZ CA CO ID MT NM NV OR TX UT ■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: Torus National, Meadowbrook, Republic Underwriters, AmTurst, Preferred Employers, AIG, Employers, and more.

PMC Insurance GroupContact: David MalloyPhone: 781-449-7744 ; Fax: 781-449-7889 Email: [email protected]: www.pmcinsurance.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp (General Industry), Workers’ Comp for Temp Staffing and Home Healthcare■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted ■ Minimum Premium: $2,500 ■ Brokered Business: Accepted ■ States Entered in: All States ■ Carriers: AIG, Amtrust, BerkleyNet, Hartford, Guard, Guarantee, Bershire Hathaway, others

Preferred Property ProgramsContact: Carmen SuarezPhone: 888-548-2465 ; Fax: 732-946-0547Email: [email protected]: www.ppp-quotes.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $750■ Limits: 100/500/100 ; 500/500/500 ; 1,000/1,000/1,000■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States except Monopolistic■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: A- X rating by AM Best



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Roundstone ManagementContact: Jennifer BoerioPhone: 440-617-0333 ; Fax: 866-848-9496Email: [email protected]: www.roundstoneinsurance.com■ Markets Offered: Excess WC, Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $15,000■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States

Russell Bond & Co., Inc.Contact: Derek BucciferroPhone: 800-333-7226 ; Fax: 800-677-6779Email: [email protected]: www.russellbond.com■ Markets Offered: 24 Hour Policy, Excess EL Public Entities (NY Only), Excess Workers’ Comp, Health Ins, HMO, Managed Care, USL&H, Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $500■ Limits: $1M EL - Statutory WC■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: Most States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: ACE, Chartis, Crum + Forster, Safety National, Capitol, MidWest, Arch

RWISI GroupContact: Randy WhitePhone: 813-220-9220 ; Fax: 305-436-3786Email: [email protected]: www.rwisi.com■ Markets Offered: USL&H, Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $25,000 ■Limits: $1M■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States except Monopolistic■ Admitted Status: Admitted

Safety National Casualty CorporationContact: Karla AntrobusPhone: 888-995-5300 ; Fax: 314-995-3843Email: [email protected]: www.safetynational.com■ Markets Offered: Excess WC, Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: Varies by state■ Limits: Varies by state■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States & Canada■ Admitted Status: Admitted

SFA-5Star Specialty ProgramsContact: Dee Dee BloomPhone: 702-740-8470 ; Fax: 702-740-8472Email: [email protected]: www.5starsp.com/SFA/default.aspx■ Markets Offered: Excess Workers’ Comp, Large Deductibles, Buy-Down/Layer Coverage, Self- Insurance Bonds, Cash Flow Only Policies■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $15,000■ Limits: Statutory■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted & Non-admitted■ Carriers Represented: All Excess WC Carriers

Sports & Fitness Insurance Corporation (SFIC)Contact: Kim TuckerPhone: 800-844-0536 ; Fax: 601-853-6141Email: [email protected]: www.sportsfitness.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: Varies■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted & Non-admitted■ Carriers Represented: Safeco, Hartford

State Compensation Insurance Fund of CaliforniaContact: Customer ServicePhone: 888-STATEFUND (888-782-8338)Email: [email protected]: www.statefundca.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: Depends on class■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: CA■ Alliance With: State Fund Medical Provider Network

StateFund FirstContact: Riley BinfordPhone: 415-536-8438 ; Fax: 415-536-6003Email: [email protected]: www.statefundfirst.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: Varies■ Limits: $1,000,000■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: CA■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: California State Compensation Insurance Fund For more info, check out our ad on page 5 (West) Stonehenge Insurance Solutions, Inc. Contact: Troy ReynoldsPhone: 561-746-5027 ; Fax: 561-746-5028Email: [email protected]: www.stonehengeis.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp, PEO and Staffing Companies■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $150,000■ Limits: $1,000,000 - Standard for PEO’s & Staffing Companies■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States except Monopolistic and Alaska

SWBC Contact: Lisa PintoPhone: 210-525-1241 ; Fax: 210-321-7530Email: [email protected]: www.swbc.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $25,000■ Limits: 100/100/500 500/500/500 1,000,000/1,000,000■ Brokered Business: Not Accepted■ States Entered in: All States ■ Admitted Status: Admitted & Non-admitted■ Carriers Represented: All Major Carriers

Target Managers Insurance Services, Inc.Contact: Michael KigerPhone: 702-588-5300 ; Fax: 702-588-5310Email: [email protected]: www.targetmanagers.com■ Markets Offered: USL&H, Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $500■ Limits: $1M■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: Most States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: AIG, Amerisafe, AmTrust, Employers Compensation, Guarantee Insurance, National Casualty, North Point, Praetorian, QBE, State Auto, UBIC, Zurich & many others.

TECIS Insurance ServicesContact: Robin HollidayPhone: 805-453-7992Email: [email protected]: www.tecisins.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $2,000■ Limits: $1,000,000■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: CA Program with incidental out of state exposures■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: AmTrust

Tejas American General AgencyContact: Bart KochPhone: 888-999-8242 ; Fax: 512-342-2803Email: [email protected]: www.taga1.com■ Markets Offered: USL&H, Workers’ Comp, Non-Subscription (NM, OK, TX only)■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $250■ Limits: $1M / $1M / $1M■ Brokered Business: Not Accepted■ States Entered in: AR LA NM OK TX■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: Accident Fund, ACE USA, American Hallmark, Amerisafe, AmTrust, Chartis, Commercial Alliance Ins Co, Employers, Essex Insurance Co, First Comp, Great American, Hallmark Specialty, Hanover, Independence American Ins Co, OneBeacon, Service Lloyds, Travelers, Western Heritage

Texas Mutual Insurance CompanyContact: Customer ServicePhone: 800-859-5995 ; Fax: 512-224-8585Email: [email protected]: www.texasmutual.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: Competitive premiums■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: TXFor more info, check out our ad on pages 3 & 5 (South Central)

Texas Oil & Gas Association Workers’ Comp Safety GroupContact: Jim Sierra Phone: 512-478-6631 ; Fax: 512-472-3859Email: [email protected]: www.txoga.org■ Markets Offered: Oil & Gas Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $0■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: TX ■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: Texas Mutual Ins. Company

The American Equity Underwriters, Inc.Contact: Secily DumasPhone: 251-415-3638; Fax 251-690-4299Email: [email protected]: www.amequity.com■ Markets Offered: USL&H■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $15,000■ Limits: Federal Acts - Statutory, EL - $1M■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: N/A, U.S. Dept. of Labor Approved■ Carriers Represented: U.S. Department approved carrier for USL&H and extensions


May 4, 2015 INSURANCE JOURNAL-NATIONAL REGION | 41

The Hamilton Wharton Group, Inc.Contact: W. TaylorPhone: 212-344-6000 ; Fax: 212-344-0007Email: [email protected]: www.hamiltonwharton.com■ Markets Offered: Workers Comp for Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities ■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $30,000■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: NY■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers: NY State Insurance Fund – Safety Group 580

The Mechanic Group, Inc.Contact: Marc KatzPhone: 845-735-0700 ; Fax: 845-735-8383Email: [email protected]: www.mechanicgroup.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp and all other lines for Security Guards, Alarms and Investigators.■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $7,500■ Limits: All■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers: The Hartford, Chartis, Magna Carta

The MEMIC GroupContact: Karen SchwartzPhone: 207-791-3350 ; Fax: 207-482-4169Email: [email protected] Website: www.memic.com/thechoice■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp ■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: Varies■ Brokered Business: Not Accepted■ States Entered in: All Non-monopolistic States ■ Admitted Status: Admitted

We’re specialists in workers’ compensation. Licensed across the country and rated A (Excellent) by A.M. Best, MEMIC understands the workers’ comp insurance business. From our workplace safety expertise to our refined knowledge of best practices for managing claims, when it’s time to choice a workers’ compensation insurer, the choice is MEMIC.

Total Program ManagementContact: Matt BlakePhone: 631-319-6210 ; Fax: 631-319-6208Email: [email protected]: www.tpmrisk.com■ Markets Offered: Excess Workers’ Comp, Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: Varies■ Limits: Varies■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: Most States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: AmTrust, Berkshire Hathaway, Crum & Forster, Falls Lake, American Mining

Work First Casualty CompanyContact: Bruce Winterrowd; VP of Underwriting/MktgPhone: 630-416-7954Email: [email protected]: www.workfirstcasualty.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp ■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $100,000■ Limits: $1,000,000 Employer’s Liability■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States except Monopolistic or CA, CO, MA, ME, NC, NH and VT■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Alliances With: Broadspire

WorkCompGuard / Willis ProgramsContact: Eric Langlois / Kortney BorgoszPhone: 802-264-9525 / 603-334-3085Email: [email protected]: [email protected]: www.workcompguard.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp for Home Healthcare, Medical Staffing/Equipment Providers/ Facilities, Dealers, Destination Resorts, Community Associations, Manufacturers, Distributors, Installers, Business Equipment Rental, Restaurants, Pizza Delivery and hundreds of other classes.■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: As low as $1,000 depending on class■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: Most States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: Various

World Wide Specialty ProgramsContact: Dorothy Taylor ; Robert ThompsonPhone: 800-245-9653 or 631-390-0900 Fax: 631-390-0922Email: [email protected] ; [email protected]: www.wwspi.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $50,000■ Limits: State Mandated■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: Zurich

World Wide Specialty Programs has lead the market with the most comprehensive program for the staffing industry for over 50 years. Our partnership & understanding of how the staffing industry works allows us to be the premier source for all Staffing insurance lines including Staffing Workers’ Comp.

Wrap Up Insurance SolutionsContact: Brian BillhartzPhone: 636-489-0185 ; Fax: 636-536-7473Email: [email protected]: www.trekadmin.com■ Markets Offered: Excess Workers’ Comp, Workers’ Comp, Wrap Ups■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: N/A■ Limits: $100MM■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted & Non-admitted■ Carriers Represented: Zurich, AIG, ACE, Liberty Mutual, ARCH, Old Republic, Travelers



Truckers Insurance AssociatesContact: Sandi Filean Phone: 800-652-9515 ; Fax: 515-276-1418Email: [email protected]: www.truckers-insurance.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $25■ Brokered Business: Not Accepted■ States Entered in: AR AZ CO IA IL IN KS MI MN MO NE OK SD UT WI■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: Travelers/Northland, and Dakota Truck Underwriters

Tryton Insurance Group, LLCContact: Yolanda LeePhone: 713-351-8237 ; Fax: 877-222-0362Email: [email protected]: www.trytoninsurance.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $1,000■ Brokered Business: Not Accepted■ States Entered in: All except CT DE ME NJ VT■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: Hartford, Travelers, Safeco / AmericaFirst, Zenith, AIG, CNA, Accident Fund (TX only)

U.S. Risk Insurance Group, Inc.Contact: Ralph TribendisPhone: 804-441-6126Email: [email protected]: www.usrisk.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp (All Lines), Monoline Workers’ Comp, Excess Workers’ Comp, USL&H, Occupational Accident, Non-Subscriber■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: Varies■ Limits: Varies■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted & Non-admitted■ Carriers Represented: We access Work Comp from 15+ Carriers

Unisource Program AdministratorsContact: Lana Potts-BuriPhone: 941-308-1918Email: [email protected]: www.UnisourcePA.com■ Markets Offered: Workers’ Comp and P & C Markets■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $1,000■ Limits: As Requested■ Brokered Business: Not Accepted■ States Entered in: All States■ Admitted Status: Admitted■ Carriers Represented: AIG, AmTrust, Amerisafe, CastlePoint, Chartis, Employers, FirstComp, FFVA, LION, Normandy Harbor, eQBE, and V3 Insurance Partners

USG Insurance Services, Inc. Contact: Kristen SkenderPhone: 724-754-9007 ; Fax: 724-265-5751Email: [email protected]: www.usgins.com■ Markets Offered: Excess Workers’ Comp, USL&H, Workers’ Comp■ Phone Inquiries: Accepted■ Minimum Premium: $500■ Limits: Varies■ Brokered Business: Accepted■ States Entered in: All States except HI■ Admitted Status: Admitted & Non-admitted■ Carriers Represented: 20+ carriers


IDEA EXCHANGE

Technology

with the insights needed to develop a com-prehensive integration strategy. Underlying this initiative are the hard numbers and trends to help determine how to redeploy resources where they are likely to yield the greatest results as well as to identify opportunities for cost savings and the need to address redundancies across the combined enterprise. The ability to move forward with informed and timely decisions on all of these matters can enhance productivity and help reduce the employee turnover of key producers or top performers.

Boosting Productivity For individual producers and their sup-port teams, the latest technology platforms offer the ability to benchmark client insur-ance purchases, program structure, coverag-es, limits, premium and other program ele-ments against peers by industry, geography, size, and other factors. Some systems also have tools to track insurance company risk appetite by cover-age line, industry group, geography, client size, as well as other variables. When brokerage organizations are com-bined, their collective knowledge and place-ment experience can be captured quickly and made available to individual producers at both predecessor firms. Armed with an

How Analytics Technology Can Speed Integration Post-M&A

The record number of merger and acqui-sition (M&A) transactions involving

insurance brokers and agents throughout the United States in the past year under-scores the imperative for these firms to accelerate growth and compete more effec-tively. But for brokers and agencies in an acquisition mode,

finding the right target at the right price is only part of the chal-lenge. Once a deal is closed, the real work begins. Combining firms often must act swiftly to integrate operations, systems, data, prod-ucts, and marketing to start reaping the expected benefits — including increased market share, operating efficiencies, mar-keting and competitive advantages. Delays mean brokers have less time to hurdle such challenges as aggressive efforts by competi-tors to poach accounts and top producers. Today, new analytics technology can help speed post-M&A integration and enable leadership to overcome many of the obsta-cles that have stalled or limited the success of brokerage and agency combinations in the past. Here are some of the critical areas where analytics technology is helping.

Driving Efficiency In addition to providing leadership with a line of sight across all of a brokerage’s operations, today’s technology enhances the ability of top management to identify and quantify key opportunity areas for the combined organization to grow organically. Specifically, executives can pinpoint growth opportunities for the combined firm by geography, client industry sector, coverage line, and client size among other variables. At the same time, technology enables business leaders to analyze the performance of individual producers and business seg-ments over time. In the context of a busi-ness combination, this equips leadership

expanded resource, producers can begin applying all this information to their exist-ing client relationships and new business opportunities.

Facilitating Teamwork In the aftermath of a merger or acquisi-tion, a common reaction among many pro-ducers and their supporting casts is to be reticent to share their account information and details regarding their external and internal relationships with supervisors and business managers responsible for the inte-gration process. Unfortunately, these types of responses can stall integration initiatives and delay or reduce opportunities to achieve synergies and other anticipated gains. At the operational level, newer technolo-gy platforms offer tools for client executives and their supervising executives to bench-mark and analyze coverage limits and pro-gram structure by individual client, point-ing out opportunities where higher limits, better program structure or other types of coverage may provide specific benefits to an individual account. This opens the door for client executives to form teams to pursue cross-selling opportunities and re-engage clients and prospects of both predecessor firms by introducing new resources avail-able in the combined organization.


By Kabir Syed


IDEA EXCHANGE

TechnologyExternal Relationships Mergers and acquisitions involving bro-kerages and agencies sometimes are met with skepticism and concern by existing and potential clients as well as insurers. Here, technology can help merging firms reinforce and reinvigorate their external relationships. In some cases, combining firms have a number of shared accounts with one predecessor brokerage handling certain coverage lines and the other prede-cessor firm handling other lines or provid-ing ancillary risk services. Client tracking features in new technology platforms enable the combined organization to iden-tify these situations quickly and give the organization the ability to be proactive in contacting any shared clients, designating appropriate account servicing teams and managing the accounts going forward. With respect to insurer relationships, today’s technology platforms enable bro-kers and agents to track relationships with insurers by account and on an aggregate basis. Combining firms will quickly gain the ability to engage their insurance compa-ny partners with a clear understanding of how and where business has been generat-ed.

Navigating Logistics As they try to determine the best ways to upgrade their information systems, many brokerages and agencies today remain mired with outdated legacy systems that were able to perform limited functions efficiently, but lacked the ability to deliver the data and analytical capabilities critical to running an expanding enterprise in the current business environment. In terms of combining brokerages involved in a merger transaction, these systems may have limited ability to capture and retain the information needed to make critical decisions regarding personnel, oper-ations, business segments, and insurance company relationships. Many providers of new systems offer the

ability to upload information rapidly from across the enterprise or combined organiza-tion. They also provide accelerated training designed to optimize utilization and user benefits. This often includes a combination of in-person instruction and coaching, as well as online tutorials and readily available telephone and online helplines. The adoption of a single technology plat-form across the combined enterprise not only can align how individuals at all levels perform their specific functions, it also helps facilitate internal communication, coordination, and collaboration.

Reconciling Corporate Cultures Often cited as the key reasons deals don’t meet expectations, cultural differences rep-resent a significant obstacle in many merg-ers. Among brokerages and agencies, these range from variances in overall vision and strategic direction to differences in the autonomy of individual producers, offices, regions and practices. Firms may differ in their compensation structures and reward systems, approaches to client retention, sales and marketing, and insurer relation-ships. Although these all can be significant, in many cases they may be reconciled by a thoughtful and collaborative integration process that includes a clear and well-com-municated vision for the combined enter-prise. While not a panacea, the adoption of a universal technology platform for analyzing client business and performance can help get individuals at all levels on the same page. Along with clear direction from the top, the operational support and insights provided by current information technology systems can help remedy some of the more challenging cultural barriers to a merger’s success. New analytics technology offers an array of solutions to strengthen performance at all levels of brokerage and agency organiza-tions, which have exciting implications for firms involved in M&A.

Syed is the CEO of RiskMatch.

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New analytics technology can help speed post-M&A integration and enable leadership to overcome many of the obstacles found in brokerage and agency combinations.


IDEA EXCHANGE

Agency Management

continues to diminish, demand may force purchase prices even higher. Our research indicates that 2015 will be another active market, but any dramatic increase in inter-est rates is likely to have an immediate impact on the transaction pricing and struc-tures.

Securities offered through MarshBerry Capital Inc., Member FINRA and SIPC, and an affiliate of Marsh, Berry & Co. Inc. 28601 Chagrin Blvd., Suite 400, Woodmere, Ohio 44122 (440-354-3230). Except where otherwise indicated, the information provided is based on matters as they exist as of the date of preparation. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results, and individual results may vary. Multiples are averages and do not imply that all deals fall within these parameters.

Lucas is vice president at MarshBerry. Phone: 616-723-8375. Email: [email protected]

chase price with an earn-out opportunity to increase the purchase price up to 11.44 times earnings before interest, taxes, depre-ciation and amortization (EBITDA). Contrast this to the average performance of 7.14 times EBITDA base purchase price

and up to 9.22 times with the maximum earn-out (which we are seeing often requires growth in excess of 15 percent to 20 percent per year during earn-out). As the supply of the best agencies

Best of the Best: Supply and DemandCommanding the Highest Purchase Price

The dust has settled from 2014 and, next to 2012, produced the highest number

of deals completed in insurance agency merger and acquisi-tion deal count since MarshBerry began tracking. While the demand for high-qual-ity organizations has not diminished, supply appears to be

falling off. We are seeing that agencies with consistent organic growth, sustainable profitability and youth in management that want to sell externally, are becoming an endangered species. Those kinds of agencies considered “high-quality” would generally be charac-terized by younger, vibrant leadership, a strong track record of producing new busi-ness, a focus in niches that enable scalable growth, compensation structures in line with the market and a base of operations in an attractive area with significant pop-ulation density. This is not necessarily the average agency. These firms, generally termed “platform” agencies, are what we consider “the best of the best.” In 2014, “the best of the best” sold for approximately 8.64 times the base pur-

By Sarah Lucas


IDEA EXCHANGE

The Competitive Advantage

Did you ever see the movie about the famous ballplayer that did not follow

the playbook? How by doing whatever he wanted regardless of the play called,

he succeeded and all his teammates were happy? What an inspiring story that makes everyone feel so good about being selfish! Fantastic! A second movie I recommend is

“Karma.” It’s all about thinking good thoughts so that no instructions or leader-ship is required because through transcen-dental thought, everyone on a team com-municates and has the same exact goals. When the credits rolled, I had goose-bumps as my optimism for life without ever having to have a constructive conversation again seemed possible. Of course these movies are figments of my imagination. The first likely doesn’t have a sellable plot because who wants to see a movie about a horrible person that succeeds while good people fail? The second might have a sellable plot as a fantasy movie, but it clearly is a fantasy … right?

Benefits the Producer So why does agency after agency employ and even enable their producers and own-ers to be so selfish? Everyone knows that a team with a ballplayer who calls plays that only benefit the one player has no future. Yet in agency after agency that I visit, pro-ducer behavior benefits the producer far more than the producer benefits the agency. For example, consider the producer who does not have to follow procedures so he or she doesn’t have to do as much work or the right work. The amount of work required is fixed. Either the producer or the CSR will do it. The producer is paid, at least in theory, to perform specific actions per the agency’s procedures/job descriptions. If they force that work onto CSRs, they are paid more than they are worth and the CSRs are

paid less. The agency suffers because the CSRs suffer. If the producers cut corners, they are paid the same regardless of the err-rors and omissions (E&O) exposures they create (even, most of the time, if the agency eventually incurs a claim). Again, the pro-ducer benefits and the agency suffers. Another example is a producer that sells unethically. The producer makes the same amount of money and if they are already selling unethically, or maybe “questionably” is a nicer word, they likely do not spend much time worrying about their reputation. But the agency owner and staff likely do worry and take pride in their reputation. Another example is when producers sell small accounts. They make money — how-ever small of the amount it may be (disre-garding opportunity cost). But the agency loses actual real dollars. The agency loses but the producer wins. Another example is the producer who insists on some new broker appointment so they can write a $5,000 premium policy for which they will make $20. Why they go to so much effort to make $20 is beyond me, but still the agency loses and the producer at least nominally wins.

Selfish Behaviors These are all selfish behaviors. Winning by allowing one player to call the shots, or worse yet and more common, allowing all the players to call their own shots, is not

Movies and Agencies

a winning formula. Think about this in a team sport. The result is chaos. These producers and owners are all about them. They are selfish. A great example is E&O. I see producer after producer refusing to use coverage checklists because they’re uncomfortable for many reasons. They “need” to be confident selling and a check-list makes them uncomfortable so they don’t use them. Meanwhile, the agency’s E&O exposure greatly increases. The producer makes their money, the client is not offered the coverages they need, the agency’s E&O exposure increases and possibly their profit is less than $0.

Team Business The agency business is a team business all the time, not just when a producer wants the team’s support. At least this is the case in the best agencies. The best agen-cies operate as a full-time team because they have leaders that lead the entire team. Leading the entire team means using authority to force producers to play by the rules or culling them. A rogue producer rarely benefits an agency unless they have at least $1 million in commission. I know it is scary to cull a $400,000 pro-ducer. My experience though is they are not really $400,000 producers unless they have many good people supporting them. Let


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IDEA EXCHANGE

The Competitive Advantage

them run havoc in another agency if they think they’re so good they can call their


Everyone knows that a team with a ballplayer who calls plays that only benefits the one player has no future.

own plays. The solution lies in understanding the

fantasy of Karma. Most agency owners do not have the desire to manage people, much less difficult people. They really, really, really just want Karma to seep silently into all their employees’ brains and naturally do what is right without contention or con-flict. An appealing fantasy! Changing people is a fool’s chase. Unless the agency leader wants to change, which often means a willingness to be an inside leader dealing proactively with conflicts (at least to them it appears as conflicts though they may not necessarily be so), the only solution is hiring someone to lead your people internally. This person has to have no interest in narcissists. They have to have no interests in fantasy Karmas. They have to believe they are leading a team and the team will succeed or fail together. The best agencies already know this and have or are in the process of constructively managing selfishness. What are you doing in your agency?

Burand is the founder and owner of Burand & Associates LLC based in Pueblo, Colo. Phone: 719-485-3868. E-mail: [email protected].

Advertisers IndexReaders, browse, contact, or do product searches on any of our full page advertisers at: www.insurancejournal.com/adshowcase/

Agency Ideas www.agencyideas.com 44Amerisafe www.amerisafe.com SC8Applied Underwriters www.auw.com 4, 5, 52Behavioral Medical Interventions www.behavioralmedical.com 31Bock & Hatch, LLC www.bockhatchllc.com 32Brecht & Associates www.brechtassoc.com SC7Burns & Wilcox Brokerage www.burnsandwilcoxbrokerage.com 13California Earthquake Authority www.earthquakeauthority.com/mvp 3FAIA www.faia.com SE3FUBA Workers’ Comp www.fubaworkerscomp.com SE5IICF www.iicf.org 33IMCA www.imcanet.com 49Insurance Technologies Corp. www.getitc.com 29K&K Insurance Group www.kandkinsurance.com 21

Liberty International Underwriters www.liu-usa.com 9, 51Louisiana Commerce & Trade Assoc. www.lctacomp.com SC9M.J. Hall & Company www.mjhallandcompany.com W6MEMIC www.memic.com SE6; E1Monarch E&S Insurance Services www.monarchexcess.com W1, W8National General Insurance www.nationalgeneral.com 19Pacific Gateway Insurance Services www.pgiainsurance.com W3Patriot National www.patnat.com 2PersonalUmbrella.Com www.personalumbrella.com 7Philadelphia Insurance Companies www.phly.com 17SIAA www.siaa.net 3; W7State Fund First www.statefundfirst.com W5Texas Mutual www.texasmutual.com SC3, SC5The Hartford www.privatecompanyinsurance.com 14, 15

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IDEA EXCHANGE

Closing Quote

By Tom Karol

Unmanned aerial systems, or drones as they are more commonly known, could serve important roles for

property/casualty insurance companies, many of which have already begun planning to make use of the technology. By enabling swifter claims servicing in disaster areas and other places closed by government agencies or deemed unsafe for human adjusters, drones could help companies settle claims faster for victims of natural disasters. On a day-to-day basis, insurance underwriters and claims adjusters could use drones to more safely examine pitched roofs and other potentially dangerous conditions. However, commercial use of drones is currently pro-hibited under federal law, although some companies — including several insurers — have received exemptions from the Federal Aviation Administration allowing them to use drones for specific purposes. The FAA has proposed more permanent regulations that would eliminate the need for the case-by-case exemptions, but these, too, pres-ent challenges. The proposed rules would allow for commercial use of drones weighing less than 55 pounds, to go no faster than 100 mph, and no higher than 500 feet. Additionally, the drone would be required to stay within the line of sight of the operator or an observer working with the operator. It

Challenges Continue as Drone Regulations Take Shape

would also be prohibited from flying over any person not directly involved in the operation. If adopted the proposed rules won’t take effect until next year at the earliest. But it’s easy to see how such rules could limit drone use in urban or suburban areas where it would be very difficult not to fly over people during inspections or claims adjusting. Or how in rural parts of the country the line of sight requirement could reduce the efficiency drones provide to farmers overseeing large fields of crop or livestock. In comments to the FAA, NAMIC said the proposed FAA rules are a very good first step, but added that some of the rules — particularly the required line of sight and the prohibition against overhead flights — will need to be tempered for commercial drone use to really develop. Further complicating the issue is that it is by no means clear which government authorities can and will regulate how drones are used. The FAA’s proposed rules focus on safety in the nation-al airspace. However, the Commerce Department is looking at privacy issues; the Federal Communications Commission will review communications issues; and Departments of Justice and Homeland Security will opine on cybersecurity and national security issues. Further limits or regulations governing drone use could also be imposed at the state and local levels. Such limits and controls are likely due to the public per-ception of drones, which is largely unfavorable. A Chubb Group survey found that 73 percent of respondents wor-ried a drone could crash into their house; 55 percent wor-ried that drones could poke out an eye or cause other bodi-ly injury; and 78 percent were concerned that America could become a surveillance state. Property/casualty insurers are ready and willing to make use of drone technology to make their operations safer and more efficient and also to provide coverage for commercial policyholders who are looking to do the same for their own companies. But doing so requires an understanding of what con-stitutes appropriate drone use, and setting the “rules of the road” that could help in establishing liability when accidents inevitably happen. Unfortunately, the regulatory process continues to move at a far slower pace than the advancement of technology, but NAMIC is continuing to work to ensure that the final outcome will be a system that is safe, secure, and effective for all Americans.

Karol is the general counsel – federal for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC), and the author of a recent white paper, “Unmanned Aerial Systems/Drones - Regulation, Liabili-ty and Insurance Requirements.”

THERE ARE SOME RISKS ONLY A SPECIALIST CAN HANDLE.We’re LIU, the global specialty lines division of Liberty Mutual Insurance. To meet our underwriters and learn more about how they can help you and your clients handle unique risks, visit www.LIU-USA.com.

Boston | New York | Chicago | Atlanta | Dallas | Houston | Denver | Los Angeles | San Francisco | Miami | Baltimore | London | Europe | Asia | Australia | Canada | Latin America | Middle EastCertain coverage may be provided by a surplus lines insurer. Surplus lines insurers do not generally participate in state guaranty funds and insureds are therefore not protected by such funds.© 2012 Liberty Mutual Insurance.

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Documents

Insurance Journal West 2015-05-04