MARKETING
Great American combines unique coverages with claim and loss prevention services
By Dennis H. Pillsbury
The leadership of Great American Specialty Human Services stand in the atrium of the Dixie Terminal Building, Cincinnati, where their offices are located: (from left) Richard Hasselbeck, Michael Liguzinski, John Sullivan and Douglas Svenkerud.
In a market that has seen companies come and go, Great American Insurance Group's Specialty Human Services stands out as unique. Based in Cincinnati, Ohio, the insurer has provided a consistent market for social services agencies and nonprofit organizations since 1980.
"We're very proud of the fact that our roots go back to January 1, 1980," says John Sullivan, CPCU, ARM, ARP, ARe, AAI, divisional senior vice president. "Great American Insurance has the longest track record in this industry." John goes on to point out that thanks to this experience of more than 20 years, the company has "worked to refine the product both in terms of coverage and service. We offer a number of unique coverages, including a variety of forms of professional liability and of broadening endorsements for general liability and property coverages."
Rick Hasselbeck, divisional vice president, Cincinnati branch office manager and underwriting manager.
Professional liability forms that are available include: social service agency professional liability for social workers and counselors; health care services professional liability for nurses, therapists and audiologists; pastoral professional liability; cemetery professional liability; veterinarian professional liability; and educators professional liability.
Other coverage features include:
* Abuse and molestation coverage--both silent and explicit
* Special events coverage
* Automatic additional insured coverage for funding sources, managers or lessors of premises, contractual obligations and volunteers
* Functional replacement cost coverage
* Blanket building and/or personal property coverage
* Food spoilage coverage
* Agreed amount coverage
* Building ordinance or law coverages A, B and C
* Ancillary coverages, including inland marine, computer and communications technology, crime including employee dishonesty, extra expense/business income, auto plus broadening endorsement, and equipment breakdown
John Sullivan, CPCU, ARM, ARP, ARe, AAI, divisional senior vice president.
"The service mark--The Heart of PartnershipSM--says it all," John says. "We are in a three-way partnership with our insureds and our agents for the long haul."
The professional liability forms are written on an occurrence basis with defense costs outside the limits of $1 million/$3 million. The company also offers a Non-Profit Organization Executive Protection and Employment Practices Liability Policy that blends traditional D&O, EPLI and entity coverage. Policies are issued in fully admitted Great American Insurance Group pool companies.
Experienced people are key
"Our number one asset is our people," John continues. "Most of our people have been working together for up to 15 years or more and that adds strength to our service. Our management team of 14 individuals averages 22 1/2 years in the business. It includes nine CPCUs, a number with other advanced designations and several MBAs. That experience, combined with an atmosphere where we are encouraged to try and learn something every single day, results in a powerful value-added offering." He points out that in September 2002 "more than 40 of our employees were engaged in education, much of that involving technology. They are constantly training and understand the value-added that technology can bring to the equation. We are able to give clients 24/7 access to claim information, permit downloading of proprietary forms and so on. It's really paying dividends in the form of enhanced service."
Rick Hasselbeck, divisional vice president, Cincinnati branch office manager and underwriting manager, points out that "our underwriters and claims people do nothing but handle this sector. Their only concern is the human and social service agency business. We are convinced that this results in unparalleled customer service that includes getting policies and endorsements completed on a timely basis.
"Every month, we set services standards," Rick continues, "and every month, we've exceeded them."
John adds: "For example, our loss prevention people have provided more than 2,500 hours of individualized loss prevention services to more than 1,000 customers. And, to the best of my knowledge, we're the only carrier with a dedicated claims department in this niche."
Doug Svenkerud, CPCU, JD, divisional vice president and claim manager.
He continues by pointing out how critical claims handling is in the social services arena. "You might be dealing with people who have substance abuse problems; you might be dealing with the elderly; you might be dealing with young people; you might be dealing with pregnant unwed mothers. Some claims may involve allegations of abuse or molestation. The challenges are great and becoming greater. The claim-related issues require expertise and delicate handling. In many cases, funds are needed immediately. We're quite proud of our claims department. They have the expertise and understanding and receive numerous compliments on their handling of claims."
Doug Svenkerud, CPCU, JD, divisional vice president and claim manager, adds that "social service agencies now are much more sensitive to the need for loss control. They have shown a greater willingness to conduct background checks on employees and job applicants. They understand that the days of charitable immunity are just about gone and that they have to protect and safeguard themselves."
John agrees, noting that "the typical nonprofit is much more sophisticated at managerial and board levels today."
A standard market for agents
"Many agents are not aware that a standard market still exists for this market," John points out. "It's a little unfortunate that so many standard markets left this arena as the hard market worsened. We saw a number of new players enter during the soft market and that was a little unfortunate, because a lot of nonprofits were improperly served. Five to seven years ago, we saw nonprofits with their property coverage in one market and liability elsewhere. That just doesn't make sense. Most of those new players are gone now. We're one of the few standard carriers that's still here for the social service market."
Mike Liguzinski, CPCU, AU, AIS, AMIM, divisional vice president, Chicago branch office manager and marketing manager.
Mike Liguzinski, CPCU, AU, AIS, AMIM, divisional vice president, Chicago branch office manager and marketing manager, says: "We're looking for those agents who specialize in this arena rather than for those who just have one or two accounts. We only deal with contracted agents," he continues. "We're not an open brokerage company. In fact, a lot of our competitors are MGAs."
He adds that, for those agents who have this as a specialty, "we have co-op dollars and help with lead generation. We've done telemarketing campaigns for our agents. We also have three marketing reps who work with our agents. We proactively work with our distribution plant to help them penetrate this market."
John adds that, in addition to visits from marketing reps, "senior management regularly visits our agencies. We will be in about 15%, or about 60 to 75 agencies, every month. We put a lot of value in the relationship we have with our agency plant. We are very active with our producer partners."
Real underwriting
John concludes that the company's longevity in the marketplace means they have the expertise to really underwrite the business. "I think its especially apropos in today's hard market to point out that we have never instituted minimum, across-the-board rate increases. We are oriented toward individual risk underwriting and our eight underwriting team leaders really are empowered to exercise individual risk judgment.
"Our longevity also has resulted in a very high retention ratio. In addition to having a strong relationship with our producers, we also maintain a good relationship with our insureds. Oftentimes, the same adjuster will be working with the client on claims that are years apart," John adds.
"The financial condition of our parent also is a strong positive. American Financial Group's property and casualty underwriting results have outperformed the industry for many years and it has been an exceptionally stable organization. At December 31, 2001, AFG's consolidated property and casualty insurance operations had $1.7 billion of statutory surplus."
John concludes: "Our service mark--The Heart of PartnershipSM says it all; we are in a three-way partnership with our insureds and our agents for the long haul." *
For more information:
West Coast agents:
Contact: Rick Hasselbeck
E-mail: rhasselbeck@gaic.com
Midwest and East Coast agents:
Contact: Mike Liguzinski
E-mail: mliguzinski@gaic.com.