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OLD-FASHIONED ETHICS FOR A NEW CENTURY For more than 100 years, integrity and fairness By Phil Zinkewicz Today’s young people, unfortunately, must be looking upon the financial services sector of the business community with jaded eyes. They read of Enron, ImClone, WorldCom, and all the various other scandals that have hit the business world, and probably wonder if there is any thing left of such things as ethics and “looking out for the other fellow.” They probably see a repeat of the “Robber Baron” years of the beginning of the last century and turn away disillusioned to think that we have not learned anything from the past. Particularly in the insurance industry these days, we read about investigations into the industry’s long-held, “acceptable” practices that smack of unethical behavior at the very best and antitrust activities at the very worst. From law enforcement officials, insurance regulators and securities regulators as well as legislators in the halls of Congress, we hear allegations of bid rigging and abuse of power—allegations directed at those at the very top of the insurance industry community. Top insurers have fallen by the wayside, with policyholders and employers being shunted aside, while top executives of those companies walk away with their pockets bulging. Because of these developments, insurance companies, brokers and industry associations have of late decided to emphasize ethics in their industry meetings, their advertising and educational programs. That’s a good thing, if it is more than just lip service. Perhaps ethical behavior can be learned. It is certainly hoped so. But amidst all this, it should be remembered that there are organizations in the insurance industry that, for a long period of time, have realized that their innate ethical behavior has worked to their advantage. And that behavior didn’t come from a planned advertising and public relations program. It just was the only way they knew how to conduct their business. Based in Garden City, New York, The Treiber Group is a property and casualty insurance brokerage with premiums close to $300 million, a little less than half of that in the wholesale end of the business. It had its humble beginnings in Brooklyn, New York, in 1899. In that year, young John Treiber, just 14 years old and about to graduate from P.S. 18 in Ridgewood, New York, was told by his father that a family friend was willing to introduce him into the insurance business at an insurer called Germania Fire Insurance Company. John’s introduction was hardly grand. His first years were spent sweeping office floors, clearing desks and making deliveries. But he was soon given more responsibilities and eventually learned the business of insurance. In 1909, he was offered a position with one of Brooklyn’s then oldest agencies—the Clinton P. Hamilton Agency. He worked hard, joined associations, made friends and soon became associated with Aetna Insurance Company, where he began to form a relationship that would last more than half a century. In 1929, John Treiber, with his brother Charles and his 18-year-old son Russell at his side, began his journey into a family-run insurance agency. According to Scott Treiber, who is today one of four partners who are third-generation Treibers in The Treiber Group, the 100-plus years of the organization’s success are based on John Treiber’s industry and ethics. “A cornerstone of the Treiber organization’s success has been long-term relationships with insurers,” says Scott. “From John Treiber’s first association with Aetna in 1909, through the agency’s current relationships with more than two dozen insurers, we have been guided by a simple philosophy: ‘Deal in a reasonable manner with both carriers and clients, so that both sides are satisfied with us. Our customer gets a competitive product and our carrier has a reasonable profit.’” Scott grew up in the agency’s wholesale operation. “We write the wholesale business on the agency side, get to know the producers and establish relationships, and then we write their retail business,” he says. With a staff of about 150 and some 300 agents and brokers at its disposal, The Treiber Group operates solely on the northeast coast of the United States, serving New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. “We have built on our history, our reputation and our wonderful relationship with our carriers, which include AIG, Chubb, CNA, Fireman’s Fund, Hanover, The Hartford, One Beacon, St. Paul Travelers, Wausau and Zurich, among others,” says Scott. “We focus primarily on the small to medium-sized agents for our producer force. We are very supportive of the independent agency system, and our agents have recognized the value we can bring to them because of the multiple company markets that we deal with.” The Treiber Group is not, strictly speaking, an MGA or MGU, according to Scott. The organization is categorized as a large broker that does almost 100% of its business on the property and casualty end, both retail and wholesale. According to Business Insurance, out of the top 100 insurance brokers in the United States, Treiber ranked 59th in 2003. Wide range of products Among the retail lines of business Treiber places, the firm has focused on workers compensation, offering safety and loss control expertise in industries such as health care, construction and financial services. Treiber also offers specialized workers compensation programs for NYS Safety Groups and NYS Cemetery Trust, including guaranteed cost, loss sensitive programs, retro plans and deductible plans. In personal lines, The Treiber Group places automobile, homeowners, umbrella, yacht and personal articles floaters. In commercial lines, the group writes general liability, workers compensation, automobile, marine, umbrella and crime insurance, among others. In addition, Treiber provides commercial property and business interruption coverage. Under specialty coverages, Treiber provides temporary employment agency insurance, professional liability (errors and omissions and directors and officers liability) and surety and crime bonds. In addition, the group has developed a one-stop program for the home health care industry. Although the lion’s share of Treiber’s products is on the property/casualty side, the group offers estate planning products, including second-to-die or survivorship life insurance, business planning (if a partner or key worker becomes sick or is injured), retirement plans, 401(k) and pension plans, family protection, mortgage protection, investment products, long term care, health insurance, individual retirement accounts, mutual funds and annuities. In the area of bonds, Treiber offers bid bonds, performance and payment bonds, license and permit bonds, court and judiciary bonds, and miscellaneous bonds. Menu of services Scott says that The Treiber Group prides itself on its loss control and claims handling expertise. “Taking care of our customers, providing service, especially in the area of claims, is the key to our success,” he says. “When a loss occurs, the service we provide in resolving the claim is an integral part of why the customer purchased the policy. Our claims department proactively handles a customer’s settlement from the initial report to the final statement. Most important, we keep the customer informed.” According to Scott, Treiber claims specialists organize quarterly meetings with insurers and clients to review open claims, review each claim prior to submitting it to all insurance potentially providing coverage, track subrogation and contested claims, monitor adjusters’ notes via direct online communi-cations with insurers, monitor insurers’ handling of claims, keep clients apprised of reserves and payments, and assist clients in the settlement of claims. Another advantage for producers and clients of The Treiber Group is its Continuity Center, which operates in a separate location. In the event of a disaster that shuts down an insured’s or agent’s business, like a major fire or hurricane, they can be referred to this disaster recovery center that can expedite the resumption of business functions and help save physical and electronic assets essential to the business. What’s more, Scott says, “In the event that one of our agents suffers a breakdown, whether due to natural, man-made or technical catastrophes, we assist the agent in getting up and running. We advise the agent on the steps that should be taken and put the agent in touch with various disaster agencies.” The firm’s Web site (www.etreiber.com) offers clients immediate access to its customer service department on a 24/7 basis. John Paterno, vice president and general manager of Treiber’s agency division, says that one of the strengths of The Treiber Group is that it operates on the basis of insurance company principles. “I came to The Treiber Group from having worked for an insurance company,” he says. “People in the industry ask me if the move was a difficult one. I tell them the move was easy because Treiber operates just like an insurer does.” After having been passed down from generation to generation for more than 100 years, The Treiber Group is going strong, and ethics has played a strong role in the scenario. “We expect to be treated fairly by our producers and our company markets,” says Scott. “We couldn’t possibly think of not acting in the same way towards them.” * |
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