CORE INSURANCE
Combined Insurance | November 21, 2022
Combined Insurance Company of America, a Chubb company and a leading North American provider of supplemental insurance sold to employees at the worksite and directly to individuals, announced today that it has opened a new regional office in Columbia, South Carolina.
"While the trend in many industries is to move away from in-person work, Combined believes it's important to offer our team members choice, flexibility, and a collaborative environment, Columbia is a wonderful place to do business. It offers a labor market talent-rich in insurance industry expertise, and the Southeast is a prime region for voluntary business sales growth."
-Rich Williams, President of Combined Insurance
Open, Flexible Space
Combined's new regional office is located in 13,000 square feet on the 23rd floor of the Capitol Center, South Carolina's tallest building and more commonly called the Truist Building. The open floor plan provides an outstanding setting in which to host broker and customer meetings.
Nearly 30 team members in the Columbia area, who previously worked remotely, will call the office home, including a cross-departmental mix of executives, sales and field support leadership, as well as members of the claims, compensation, finance, legal, licensing, marketing and operations teams. The office also provides additional space to accommodate additional staff as needed in the future.
We have created a space where our teammates – not only from the Midlands but across the national Combined footprint – can gather to collaborate and work on behalf of our customers and policyholders, The area's abundant talent across job roles and the benefits industry makes it the perfect place for Combined to grow,said Eileen Castolene, Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer for Combined.
Voluntary Benefits Sector
Combined offers life, accident, cancer, critical illness and disability insurance, as well as hospital indemnity protection. These products, when offered through the worksite, allow employers to offer employees additional financial peace of mind during these times of rising healthcare costs and economic turbulence.
In today's tight labor market, a competitive benefits package can assist employers in recruiting and retaining talent. In fact, more than three-quarters of employees say voluntary benefits positively affect their decision to work for, or stay with, an employer (Corestream, 2021).
Centennial Year
Today's announcement comes at an important time for Combined, as it celebrates its 100th anniversary in business. The company was founded Nov. 13, 1922 in Chicago.
As we mark our 100th birthday this week, and celebrate our distinctive history, we're proud to start our second century by expanding our office footprint and investing in Columbia, This new office enhances our ability to provide insurance solutions of value and help individuals and families in times of need,Williams said.
About Combined Insurance
Combined Insurance Company of America is a Chubb company and a leading provider of supplemental accident, health, disability, and life insurance products in the U.S.* and Canada. Headquartered in Chicago with a tradition of 100 years of success, we are committed to making the world of supplemental insurance easy to understand. The company has an A+ rating by the Better Business Bureau and an A + (Superior) financial strength rating by A.M. Best. We are ranked by VIQTORY as the number one Military Friendly® Employer in 2022 (over $1 billion revenue category), marking Combined's eleventh consecutive year on the Top 10 list.
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INSURANCE TECHNOLOGY
Capsule and Vouch | November 11, 2022
Capsule, a specialist insurance provider to high-growth companies in the UK, today announced a partnership with Vouch, a San Francisco-based insurance platform that provides business insurance for high-growth technology startups in the US. With this partnership, the two companies will work together to ensure that they can support their clients' needs internationally. The partnership comes just a year after Capsule's launch and will help startups and tech innovators across all the main markets protect themselves as they grow.
As part of the partnership, Capsule will also assist Vouch's US venture and incubator partners with their UK portfolio companies, and Vouch has made an investment in Capsule. The additional funding will be used by Capsule to advance its technology and recruitment. Since Capsule launched in September 2021, the company acts for some of the country's top startups and scale-ups including Onfido, Codat, Otta, Hofy and Castore, and has in recent months partnered with SeedLegals, Crowdcube and a number of leading VCs. Prior to launching Capsule, co-founders Thomas Wynne and Liam Green successfully scaled and sold UK insurance group Kingsbridge in a nine-figure exit to US-based NSM in March 2020.
Vouch, founded by CEO Sam Hodges (formerly CEO of Funding Circle US) and CRO Travis Hedge (formerly of Silicon Valley Bank), is a new kind of insurance platform for startups that offers fully digital, tailored coverage that takes minutes to activate. With over $160 million raised to date from the likes of Y Combinator, Ribbit Capital, Silicon Valley Bank and Index Ventures, as well as a recent valuation of over $550 million, Vouch has cemented its status as a 'soonicorn' with its sights firmly set on the next stage of business growth.
"Vouch is committed to protecting founders and company builders where they are today and where they'll be tomorrow. Our partnership with Capsule represents an important first step in our plan to provide holistic international risk management solutions, so our clients can protect their global operations with the same ease and confidence they experience with us today. We're excited to start this journey with the Capsule team."
-Sam Hodges, CEO of Vouch
Thomas Wynne, Co-Founder and CEO of Capsule, added: The hyper-growth startups we support have global aspirations. Yet even the most sophisticated teams face a steep learning curve when scaling their risk management programs internationally. Our partnership with Vouch enables us to solve insurance holistically across markets and unlock further growth.
About Capsule
Capsule is a specialist insurance provider that helps startups and scale-ups in sectors such as Web3, Fintech, Enterprise (SaaS) and Consumer Tech navigate the risks of rapid expansion by ensuring they have the proper protection in place. Specialising in cover for businesses from seed stage through to IPO, Capsule offers policies including Directors' and Officers', Key Person, Professional Indemnity and Cyber Liability insurance, as well as many others. Their advice is geared for growth ('Capsule' is an anagram of 'scale-up') and backed by state-of-the-art technology that tracks clients across more than 300 data points. As a certified B Corporation, Capsule is also committed to using business as a force for good. Their team is equally passionate about helping similarly mission-driven and impactful organisations get these factors recognised and rewarded by the insurance sector.
About Vouch
Vouch is a US-based provider of business insurance to thousands of high-growth companies. Since its inception in 2018, the company has empowered its clients to get risk management right through niche expertise, a proprietary approach to pricing and underwriting, fast, digital-first procurement and coverages that scale as the company grows.
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CORE INSURANCE
Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company of Idaho | October 14, 2022
Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company of Idaho (FBM Idaho), the state’s largest domestic personal lines insurer, and Guidewire (NYSE: GWRE) announced that FBM Idaho selected InsuranceSuite on Guidewire Cloud to power core operations, simplify IT operations, quickly adapt to changing market demands, and deliver more value to its agents and policyholders. A Guidewire self-managed customer since 2010, the company plans to migrate InsuranceSuite to Guidewire Cloud across the entire organization at the same time.
“As a regional insurance organization, we need to make sure that we're maximizing resources, and we feel that Guidewire Cloud aligns with our long-term strategy and goals to leverage the capabilities of a broader organization to move us forward and allow us to compete effectively against competitors of all sizes, Guidewire Cloud offers us resource flexibility and cost management by enabling us to stay current on Guidewire’s latest technologies and innovations, while devoting less time to system maintenance and upgrades.”
-Todd Argall, executive vice president and chief executive officer, FBM Idaho
Argall added, InsuranceSuite’s management reporting capabilities are very impressive in the Guidewire Cloud environment to enhance what our team has done. CustomerEngage and ProducerEngage will enable us to take the system to the next level of usability and maximize the experience our agents and customers have in working with us. Another big advantage of Guidewire Cloud is that it will offer us tremendous flexibility to integrate with the best-in-class insurtech solutions in the Guidewire PartnerConnect ecosystem and advance our transformation.
We admire FBM Idaho’s 75 years of service as one of Idaho’s leading auto insurers, the largest writer of farm and ranch insurance in the state, and the largest personal lines insurance company wholly based there, We appreciate the company’s partnership and their confidence in leveraging InsuranceSuite on Guidewire Cloud to amplify their reputation as a company that helps its neighbors,said John Mullen, president and chief revenue officer, Guidewire.
About Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company of Idaho
Celebrating 75 years of protecting what matters most in Idaho, Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company of Idaho is one of Idaho’s leading auto insurers, the second largest writer of all insurance lines in Idaho, the largest writer of farm and ranch insurance in the state, and the largest personal lines insurance company based solely in Idaho. The company was recently recognized by Forbes as Idaho’s “Best-In-State” insurance company for homeowners insurance.
About Guidewire Software
Guidewire is the platform P&C insurers trust to engage, innovate, and grow efficiently. We combine digital, core, analytics, and AI to deliver our platform as a cloud service. More than 500 insurers in 38 countries, from new ventures to the largest and most complex in the world, run on Guidewire.
As a partner to our customers, we continually evolve to enable their success. We are proud of our unparalleled implementation track record, with 1,000+ successful projects, supported by the largest R&D team and partner ecosystem in the industry. Our marketplace provides hundreds of applications that accelerate integration, localization, and innovation.
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