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Special Section Sponsored by Target Markets Program Administrators Association Cost Financial Group On the face of it, probably no industry veteran would find much fault with an insurance company entrepreneur for hesitating to create an in-house premium finance company. After all, wouldn’t that endeavor entail learning how to manage such an enterprise, purchasing new materials and software, and the hiring of additional staff to handle the increased bookwork? Assuredly it would. That’s why nearly 200 independent agencies, wholesalers/MGAs, and insurance companies have retained the services of COST Financial Group to do this important work for them. “We handle all of those chores for our clients,” says David E. Gebhardt, COST’s CEO/president and 1989 founder of the firm. “We take care of administrative, management and bookkeeping functions, then leave the agency to do what it does best—selling and servicing their insurance customers.” To enhance its serviceability, COST recently released the next generation of premium finance company software. The new COST system supplies clients with a wealth of interactivity and information access while remaining easy to set up, easy to use and easy to integrate into existing agency procedures. A new Web site provides synergy between COST’s systems and their clients in the field. “It operates from the client side on an OS-independent platform,” said Chris Gebhardt, the company’s COO. “It offers complete access to all typical daily operations of our client’s finance company. The system is fully customizable and provides flexible solutions for all types and sizes of clients—those from single agency locations to large, multiple-location clients. Quotations are generated quickly and easily from a single screen, and printed finance agreements can be saved or e-mailed for paperless workflow. The system’s flexibility provides different [levels of] user access, thus allowing managers and executives expanded privileges within the system.” Some of the many key features in COST’s new management software include: • Automatic account number notification on new business accounts • Real-time status that allows users to see activity as it happens • Ease of training. A single 30-minute web conference has an agency up and running quickly • Various “alternative payment methods” not previously available • Total Account History (TAH). This TAH module gives users a chronological history of account activity as well as PDF-based viewable history of all printed materials. Users can see copies of cancellation notices, reinstatement requests and other important business data. This new system, now being delivered to COST’s growing number of clients, is an efficient, effective, state-of-the-art “turnkey approach” operation. “Basically, what we do comes down to this,” says David Gebhardt. “The premium finance company owners earn the profit; COST does all the work. And that includes supplying the monthly, quarterly and annual reports that state licensing departments require.” As in past years, all correspondence and other forms of communication are handled by fully trained personnel in COST’s St. Louis, Missouri, headquarters. Billing; issuing late, cancellation or reinstatement notices; remittance processing; bookkeeping for clients’ finance companies—all are among the daily functions handled at COST. And, for the protection of every client, COST carries errors and omissions and fidelity coverage, and maintains no check signing authority over any client bank account. By owning their own premium finance company and contracting with COST for a modest service fee to manage it, clients generally generate between $30,000 and $40,000 per million dollars that they finance through their own premium finance company. In effect, it becomes a ready-made profit center for the agency. Many of these firms maintain membership in the Target Markets Program Administrators Association (TMPAA). COST is also a longtime member and finds that networking within the association has led to several mutually beneficial business relationships between COST and other TMPAA members. For obtaining details on how COST can fully assist with instituting and maintaining your in-house premium finance operation—and to learn more about COST’s new Online Quoting and Software System—COST Financial Group, Inc., invites your inquiries at (800) 844-2678 or www.costfinancial.com. → Contact Information: |
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