Core Insurance, Life Insurance
PRnewswire | July 12, 2023
Fortegra Specialty Insurance Company ("FSIC"), a subsidiary of The Fortegra Group, Inc. ("Fortegra") and Rockwood Programs, Inc. ("Rockwood") today announced the development of management and professional liability insurance products customized to address the unique liability exposures faced by financial institutions. Mortgage bankers/brokers, auto lenders, asset-based lenders, community development funds, and similar entities are also eligible for coverage. The comprehensive solution is being offered under the Bankers Defender brand name.
"The dynamic nature of our nation's economy can have an adverse impact on the banking industry," said William Hess, Vice President of Rockwood's Financial Institution Division. "Even firms with sound portfolio risk management protocols can be caught off-guard by changing governmental regulations or seemingly unrelated socio-political events. The resulting scrutiny brought by the various state and federal regulatory agencies can make it difficult for the banks to secure vital insurance."
Bankers Defender coverage offers liability limits of up to $5,000,000 on all lines except Employment Practices ($2,000,000 maximum), and financial institution crime bonds are also available. Management and professional liability products include Directors & Officers, Errors & Omissions, Employment Practices, and Lender Liability, among others.
"Through Bankers Defender, we proactively examine exposure areas and offer policyholders additional support alongside their insurance policies, including risk mitigation practices to avoid losses, claim advocacy, and legal assistance through Wilson Elser, an internationally recognized law firm with a reputation for providing an advocacy defense for its clients," said Glenn W. Clark, CPCU, President of Rockwood Programs. With this strategic approach, policyholders are getting the expertise of three entities with decades of experience in this particular class."
Cooper Wallach, Vice President of Specialty Products and Programs at Fortegra, said: "In all our partnerships, we seek to pair innovation with expertise. The combination of experienced underwriters, advocacy defense, dedicated claims response team, and loss prevention tactics, will position our policyholders for long-term success."
About Fortegra
For more than 45 years, Fortegra, via its subsidiaries, has underwritten risk management solutions that help people and businesses succeed in the face of uncertainty. As a global specialty insurer, we offer a diverse set of admitted and non-admitted insurance products and warranty solutions. Fortegra's A.M. Best Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) is a result of our strict underwriting standards, consistent profitability, and high cash flows. For more information, please visit: https://www.fortegra.com.
About Rockwood Programs, Inc.
Rockwood Program Administrators is a full service Managing General Agency licensed in all 50 states. Its wholesale brokerage division, Rockwood Specialty, assists retail agents in finding markets for unique or hard-to-place management liability risks. Its Rockwood Insurance Solutions division provides innovative thinking and counsel to insurance entities seeking to grow and expand their business operations. Since 1996, the company has been committed to protecting its partners. For more information about our offerings, please visit: www.rockwoodinsurance.com.
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Compliance
PR Newswire | September 21, 2023
NEXT Insurance, a leading digital small business insurer, today announced a differentiated new offering that will enable agents to fully customize coverage quotes to better meet the needs of their small business clients. NEXT's Coverage Builder represents a fundamental leap in allowing agents the ability to micro-tailor small business quotes for their clients, all while maintaining NEXT's superior instant bind capabilities. Coverage Builder is fast, easy to use, and tailored exclusively to agents pre-purchase, equipping them with the tools they need to select the appropriate limits and fully control the coverage they're quoting.
With Coverage Builder, agents can select their base policy limits, add or remove coverage or update limits post-purchase, all while benefiting from the convenience of instant underwriting and price updates. This saves agents valuable time and money, allowing them to make changes automatically without the need to pick up the phone and connect directly with an underwriter. NEXT's Coverage Builder offering furthers the company's commitment to its agents by providing a user-friendly and accessible digital quoting experience, 100% online. Coverage Builder is also available to all NEXT customers post-purchase, allowing small business owners to tailor their policies with immediate price updates and seamless policy management.
"NEXT's Coverage Builder feature is 100% hassle-free," said Cody L Slocum Lammers, Commercial Lines Agent & Broker at Affordable Insurance Solutions. "This new feature sets NEXT Insurance to a new level, above its competitors, as this allows agents the flexibility to customize policies to fit the needs of each individual small business. It's user-friendly and simple to understand- this is truly a game changer for NEXT Insurance agents!"
"Agents are the go-to insurance experts and know exactly the unique types of coverage small business owners need - that's why we're offering them the opportunity to customize policies for their clients instead of standardized coverage packages," said Jack Ramsey, Vice President of Agent Business at NEXT Insurance. "Now, with NEXT's Coverage Builder, we are empowering agents to instantly quote and easily customize and bind policies that will best serve their customers. As a result, small business owners will gain the peace of mind that they're only paying for the coverage they need to protect their business and livelihood."
NEXT's Coverage Builder offering comes on the heels of the company's launch of commercial umbrella/excess liability coverage to support small businesses in their entrepreneurial journey. The digital small business insurer also recently announced its integration with Ivans Download™ for General Liability and Workers' Compensation policies and its strategic hire of Jack Ramsey as the company's Vice President of Agent Business. These developments are further evidence of NEXT's commitment to agents and dedication to providing them with a smoother, more intuitive insurance purchasing process for small business clients.
If you're interested in working with an insurance agent through NEXT Insurance, visit our website to find an expert to help you get the right coverage at the best price.
About NEXT Insurance
NEXT Insurance is transforming small business insurance with simple, digital, affordable and tailored coverage. Trusted by over 480,000 business owners, NEXT offers policies that are easy to buy and provides 24/7 access to Live Certificates of Insurance, additional insured, and more. Revolutionizing a historically complicated insurance industry, NEXT utilizes AI and machine learning to simplify the purchasing process and provide more affordable coverage. Founded in 2016, the company is headquartered in Palo Alto, has received a total of $881 million in venture capital funding, is rated "A- Excellent" by AM Best and has been recognized by CNBC Disruptor 50, Forbes Fintech 50, Inc.'s Best-Led Companies, and Forbes Best StartUp Employers. For more information, visit NEXTInsurance.com. Stay up to date on the latest with NEXT on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and our blog.
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Workers Compensation, Health Insurance
PRnewswire | July 14, 2023
Hourly.io, a fast-growing startup that is committed to fixing workers' comp for businesses with hourly and mobile workers, has teamed up with insurance and financial services provider Nationwide to expand its workers' comp and payroll service.
In this alliance, Hourly will serve as a Managing General Underwriter (MGU) underwriting skilled trade businesses with mobile and hourly workers using technology and millions of real-time data points from the Hourly platform. While most insurers underwrite workers' comp based on data that is 12-18 months old, Hourly's revolutionary use of big data gives business owners an alternative high-quality insurance partner, fairer and more accurate pricing, with personalized customer service. Businesses that will most benefit from using Hourly include construction, contracted services, transportation and trucking, foodservice, and retail stores among others.
Established in 2018, Hourly offers workers' comp insurance and an integrated platform that connects workers' comp, time tracking, and payroll in real-time—an innovation that ensures premiums are calculated with unprecedented precision. Hourly is first of its kind in the industry to bridge this gap seamlessly with a mobile-first platform.
Through Nationwide, Hourly's platform and advanced underwriting model will help Hourly's network of more than 3,000 appointed independent insurance producers expand their client base, retain more of those clients, generate more revenue, and stand out from competitors.
"We're thrilled to announce our partnership with Nationwide as the next step in Hourly's growth strategy," said Hourly Co-founder and CEO Tom Sagi. "With Nationwide on our side, our growing network of independent insurance agents will finally be able to offer small and medium-sized businesses a service-oriented alternative, ensuring they don't overpay for their coverage. And these same small businesses will better understand their labor costs—including workers' comp premiums—information they can use to bid more accurately on projects and manage their expenses to the penny."
"It's no secret that commercial insurance has been slow to catch up to personal lines in terms of tech," said Jerico Foutch-Vinsonhaler, Chief Underwriting Officer at Hourly. "Insurance companies typically don't have enough data to quote accurate premiums for hourly workers which means that these small businesses are hit with a big audit bill or are overpaying for their coverage. By harnessing more data points than our peers, Hourly is offering a long overdue solution for small business owners."
"We're excited to join forces with Hourly and help hardworking businesses across the country protect their employees," said Nationwide's Vice President Dale Hoppe who leads the company's Excess & Surplus and Specialty WC programs division. "Workers' comp has been hard to appraise in the past because the technology to price risk simply wasn't there. Our collaboration with Hourly's payroll platform sets new industry standards by prioritizing fair pricing, better overall service, and a commitment to continuous innovation. Nationwide and Hourly's much-needed upgrades to the workers' comp space will become the new benchmark for the industry for the mobile workforce, filling a gap that has plagued workers' comp for far too long."
Hourly is appointing select insurance agents across the nation. Please visit hourly.io to learn more and see if your agency qualifies.
About Hourly.io
Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Hourly.io is a data driven insurance startup offering workers' comp insurance and full-service payroll for small and medium businesses with hourly workers. Powered by real-time data, Hourly's platform ensures running payroll is as quick as pressing a button and that you get accurate workers' comp premiums down to the penny. For more information, visit www.hourly.io.
About Nationwide
Nationwide, a Fortune 100 company based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest and strongest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the United States. Nationwide is rated A+ by both A.M. Best and Standard & Poor's. An industry leader in driving customer-focused innovation, Nationwide provides a full range of insurance and financial services products including auto, business, homeowners, farm and life insurance; public and private sector retirement plans, annuities, mutual funds and ETFs; excess & surplus, specialty and surety; pet, motorcycle and boat insurance. For more information, visit www.nationwide.com. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
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