CORE INSURANCE, RISK MANAGEMENT
Globenewswire | April 10, 2023
Westland Insurance, one of Canada’s largest independently owned brokerages, continued its expansion on April 1 with the announcement of three acquisitions. Between them Haggett & Rogers Group of Companies, BMT Insurance Brokers Limited, and Dimensions Insurance Management bring additional insurance expertise to Westland’s existing P&C verticals.
With six locations across Ontario, BMT Insurance brings over 65 years of P&C insurance experience, life & benefits, and financial services. This acquisition takes Westland into three new communities and further enhances its commitment to serving clients in Northern Ontario.
With roots that go back to 1905, Dimensions Insurance is a commercial and specialty P&C brokerage based in Winnipeg, MB and that is focused on serving clients across Western Canada.
Established in 1978, Haggett & Rogers is a family-owned brokerage that offers personal and commercial insurance solutions and vehicle registry services. They have locations in Calgary and Lethbridge, AB.
“It’s with much excitement that we welcome Haggett & Rogers, BMT Insurance, and Dimensions Insurance to the Westland team,” says Jamie Lyons, Westland’s President & CEO. “With these three outstanding companies joining our family, we’re taking a significant step forward in our goal to become Canada’s favourite insurance broker. Their collective depth of expertise and experience in the industry, as well as strong entrepreneurial cultures, will allow us to continue delivering even better service to our clients and communities across the country.”
About Westland Insurance Group Ltd
Award winning Westland Insurance Group is one of the largest and fastest-growing independent property and casualty insurance brokers in Canada. With a national network of 195 locations and over 2,100 employees, the company continues to expand coast to coast. Westland's brokers provide expert advice to home, business, and auto insurance clients. Since its founding in 1980, Westland has remained a family-owned company that is committed to supporting its local communities. As a leading insurance brokerage in Canada, our scale and pace of growth allow us to continually invest in our platform and to deliver on our promise to be your most trusted commercial advisor. Our Commercial team has developed unique partnerships with national and international insurers and reinsurers, with whom we have established pre-committed capacity and underwriting authority. This is a model that no other broker in the country has been able to replicate at scale. Our expert Commercial advisors get to know you and your business, so that they can tailor a policy to your exact needs.
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CLAIMS, COMPLIANCE
PRweb | May 11, 2023
Guidewire (NYSE: GWRE) and Transcard announced that Transcard’s new Ready for Guidewire validated accelerator is now available to ClaimCenter users in the Guidewire Marketplace.
Customer expectations surrounding claims, specifically claims payments, continue to rise. Now, according to Aite-Novarica, customers expect to receive funds not only in a manner that is convenient to them, but also as quickly as possible. In fact, many customers want the option of “real-time payments” to “receive funds instantly” from their insurer. These high, modern expectations need to be met with modern solutions.
Transcard’s SMART Suite is a secure, all-in-one payments platform that helps insurers meet their customers’ modern payment needs. It allows policyholders to choose their preferred payment method from a wide variety of modern payment types, from ACH and card to PayPal and Zelle.
With the Transcard Accelerator for Claims Payments, insurers can:
Easily access the SMART Hub dashboard within ClaimCenter;
Quickly make or schedule payments to customers or suppliers; and
Automatically reconcile payments in Guidewire in real-time without manual labor.
Transcard’s technology works with any existing bank account, so insurers aren’t required to set up or pre-fund new bank accounts to disburse funds electronically. Additionally, it offers pre-configured workflows for claim payouts, lienholder payments, and other business applications. SMART Hub is Transcard’s all-in-one portal for managing payments. SMART Hub’s dashboard provides access to payment insights in real-time and insurers can track all incoming and outgoing activity via the SMART Hub dashboard.
“Our embedded payment solutions extend the value of Guidewire by making it easier for insurers to make, receive, and manage payments of any type from a single platform, without having to set up or pre-fund a new bank account,” said Greg Bloh, CEO, Transcard. “Connecting our technologies helps our shared customers drive operational efficiency and improve customer satisfaction.”
“We applaud Transcard on the release of its new ClaimCenter app,” said Will Murphy, Vice President, Global Solution Alliances, Guidewire. “Transcard’s SMART solutions enable better payment control and visibility for insurers, while fulfilling policyholders’ modern payment needs and enhancing their experience.”
About Transcard
We make frictionless payments a reality with comprehensive global payment solutions designed for banks, fintechs, and businesses of any size and in any industry. We deliver solutions for B2B payments, C2B payments, B2B2C payments, A2A automation, BaaS.
Our solutions combine unmatched multi-rail capabilities, embedded workflows, best-in-class integration, effortless reconciliation, and bank-grade security. These are some of the reasons that 550 businesses and more than 200 banks trust us with their payments.
About Guidewire PartnerConnect ecosystem and Ready for Guidewire
Guidewire’s solution ecosystem is the largest in the P&C industry, with over 180+ solution partners providing over 195+ integrations in the Guidewire Marketplace. Guidewire PartnerConnect Solution partners provide software, technology, and data solutions as well as insurance support services. Our Solution partners help drive business value and innovation for insurers by developing and delivering integrations, extensions, apps, and other complementary solutions for Guidewire products. All of our Ready for Guidewire partner solutions are validated for security, quality, and compatibility with Guidewire, and can be found on the Guidewire Marketplace.
About Guidewire Software
Guidewire is the platform P&C insurers trust to engage, innovate, and grow efficiently. We combine digital, core, analytics, and machine learning 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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CORE INSURANCE, INSURANCE TECHNOLOGY
PRnewswire | May 10, 2023
Confie, the largest personal lines insurance distribution company in the U.S., announces the acquisition of Estrella Insurance to its non-standard national brand Freeway Insurance. Confie's latest acquisition significantly expands its footprint in Florida and their franchise division.
Estrella Insurance operates more than 190 locations across Florida, California, Arizona, Texas, and Colorado. For over 40 years, they have provided affordable insurance solutions and exceptional service to their customers. Their product portfolio includes auto, home, commercial, business, life, and health. Estrella will continue to operate under its current brand, and Confie will retain all current employees with their acquisition.
"Estrella has built a strong franchising model well-known among Hispanic consumers, and business owners alike. We are excited to welcome them into our ever-growing family," said Cesar Soriano, Confie CEO. "Franchising allows us to broaden our customer reach, and accelerate our growth into new markets. Americans are entrepreneurial by nature and we proudly will offer them the choice between three trustworthy brands."
In 2022, Freeway Insurance introduced franchising opportunities to entrepreneurs. With more than 530 retail stores nationwide, business owners get access to the company's established business model, respected brand, a wide range of national and regional insurance carriers, and back-office resources. Shortly after, Confie acquired Velox Insurance in December 2021. Velox primarily offers franchising to business owners in the Georgia market.
"Our franchise partners are family, and their success is our success. It was important to find the right partner that would support both our brand, customers, and our growth plan," said Nick Estrella Jr., Estrella's CEO. "Confie is a highly respected organization with years of industry knowledge and forward momentum. It was a perfect fit for Estrella."
In addition to its acquisitions, Confie recently announced the expansion of its business process outsourcing division (BPO) with the launch of a new service center in Tijuana, being ranked #1 Personal Lines Leader by Insurance Journal for a seventh straight year and the expansion of their InsureOne brand by way of an agency network for independent insurance agents.
"Confie's expansion plans rely on strategic acquisitions and we welcome that challenge," said Chad Maxwell, SVP, mergers & acquisitions, Confie. "Identifying places where we can strengthen our presence helps us accomplish growth and development, and we are actively seeking great partners to join the Confie family."
About Confie
Established in 2008, Confie is the nation's leading personal lines insurance distribution company. Today, Confie meets customers wherever they are – with more than 750+ retail locations in 23 states, the Bluefire general agency, and a telephone and online shared service center servicing all 50 states. With flexible insurance options, outstanding value, and convenient service, Confie's aspiration is to be the most trusted source of insurance solutions so our customers can have peace of mind. Confie is a portfolio company of Alliant. For more information about Confie, visit www.confie.com.
About Freeway Insurance
Established in 1987, Freeway offers insurance policies via a "click, call, or come-in" approach that provides customers coverage throughout the United States. The company is constantly researching, growing and diversifying product offerings to stay responsive to the ever-evolving insurance market. Freeway offers a wide range of plans, from the most basic to premium plans, in auto, truck, commercial vehicle, fire, flood, homeowners, renters, small commercial, motorcycle, and recreational vehicle insurance products. In 2008, Freeway Insurance joined Confie, the leading national personal lines insurance distribution company. Today, Freeway Insurance services customers in more than 500 offices. Freeway consumers access Freeway Insurance through neighborhood Freeway offices, as well as by visiting www.freewayinsurance.com or by calling (800) 777-5620.
About Estrella Insurance
Miami-based Estrella Insurance is a property and casualty insurance franchisor and a trusted leader among consumers and insurance companies by providing simple, cost-effective insurance solutions across its auto, home, commercial, business, life, and health insurance portfolios. With more than 190 offices across the U.S., it is consistently ranked as a top franchise opportunity with a proven business model that allows owners to focus directly on customer support and community engagement. For more information about Estrella Insurance, visit www.estrellainsurance.com.
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