The Jetsons And Underwriting

May 23, 2011
By Deborah Smallwood

Remember watching The Jetsons television episodes in the 1960s and then the newer versions in the 1980s? George, the loving head of the family, commutes to work in an aerocar that resembles a flying saucer with a transparent bubble top complete with navigational aids and traffic alert systems, not unlike those in many American cars today.  read more..

Basic Blocking And Tackling Drives Claims Results

May 24, 2011
By Christopher Tidball

Have you ever picked up a claim file and just sort of scratched your head at the events that transpired during the life of the claim? During a recent audit of a large P&C carrier, I had a number of head-scratching situations as I pondered steps that could have been taken to achieve a more accurate outcome.  read more..

Enterprise Risk Management: The Five-Course Meal

May 25, 2011
By Denise Tessier

Analyzing risks, setting controls, ensuring communication, and monitoring progress takes time and effort to take on a risk management initiative. Like serving any large, multi-course meal, ERM projects can be large, intimidating, tough to coordinate, and difficult to digest.  read more..

Protection For When Business Risks Are Personal

New insurance eases business-owner angst over “putting up the house” to secure bank financing

National Underwriter P&C May 23/30, 2011
By Daniel Rossen

The risk of a business failing has historically been a coverage insurance carriers have assiduously avoided. Other than trade-credit insurance and limited credit-enhancement policies, the risk of default of a business is typically borne by the business owner.  read more..

Get Organized: Ways of Thinking About Information (Part 1 of 5)

By Jill Duffy

May 23, 2011

Getting and staying organized is like losing weight. Short-term solutions don't work. You've got to make lifestyle changes that you and your employees or business partners can stick to in the long-term.  read more..

A Crash Course In Learning

Application-Based Models and Auto AdjustingClaims Magazine May 2011
By Donna J. Popow

Job competency relates to the skills, knowledge, and attitudes required to be successful in a specific position within a company. Employers evaluate competencies of prospective employees during the interview process to ensure they would be suitable for the roles they are intended to fill.  read more..

Top Trends and Key Drivers of Pharmacy Spend In Workers’ Comp

May 14, 2011
By Maria Sciame

The primary concern of the workers’ compensation industry continues to be centered on pharmacy spend. A workers’ compensation pharmacy benefit management (PBM) offering must control costs and respond to industry issues. Successful PBM programs should drive network and mail order penetration and optimize outcomes through strong, industry-specific clinical oversight.  read more..

Understanding and Managing the Potential Risks of Workplace Violence

May 24, 2011
By Robert Bowman

Each year approximately 2 million people are victims of workplace violence in the United States, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH). Yet, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, almost nine percent of businesses reporting an incident had no program or policy in place to address workplace violence.  read more..

The Five Standards of Great Claims Organizations: Part Three

May 16, 2011
By Carl Van

In part one, I mentioned that the first standard of great customer service companies is that they know why they are great, the second is that they know where they stand, and the third is that they know where they are going. In part two, I explained that the fourth standard is that their employees can accurately describe their jobs. Now, let’s move onto the fifth and final standard.  read more..

Workers’ Comp Reserve Risk: Is It The Cat Lurking On Your Balance Sheet?

Rating agencies, regulators seek more clarity on magnitude of reserve risk

National Underwriter P&C May 9, 2011
By Aaron Bueler, Emil Metropoulos

Sudden natural disasters such as the tragic Tohoku earthquake in March are not the only catastrophes that can impact insurers’ balance sheets and policyholder surplus. Such well-publicized natural catastrophes only account for about 7 percent of insurers’ notable capital and surplus impairments triggering regulatory action and concern.  read more..

Do Ask, Do Tell: Agents Should Apprise Clients Of HO Coverage Gaps For Valued Items

National Underwriter P&C May 16, 2011

By Bill Gatewood

It goes by many names—“personal inland-marine coverage,” “personal article floater” and “scheduled personal property.”

No matter what you call it, just do not forget to call it to the attention of your personal-insurance clients. Inland-marine coverage is an important part of the personal-insurance portfolio that is often overlooked by many agents and consumers.  read more..

Sen. Brown Concerned With FSOC Treatment Of Mutuals

May 16, 2011
By Arthur D. Postal, PropertyCasualty360.com
NU Online News Service, May 16, 3:09 p.m. EDT

A member of the Senate Banking Committee wants to make clear that he is concerned with how a new federal agency treats mutual insurers that could be declared systemic risks.  read more..

Independent Agents: Frontline Defenders Against Premium Fraud

May 10, 2011
By Ranney Pageler

Workers’ compensation insurance premium fraud has long been a serious problem in Florida and across the country. When business policyholders falsify company data to reduce their premium, it has negative financial and legal ramifications for everyone, including independent agents. However, equipped with the right information, agents can play a key role in identifying and preventing premium fraud.  read more..

Workers’ Comp Reserve Risk: Is It The Cat Lurking On Your Balance Sheet?

Rating agencies, regulators seek more clarity on magnitude of reserve risk

National Underwriter P&C May 9, 2011
By Aaron Bueler, Emil Metropoulos

Sudden natural disasters such as the tragic Tohoku earthquake in March are not the only catastrophes that can impact insurers’ balance sheets and policyholder surplus. Such well-publicized natural catastrophes only account for about 7 percent of insurers’ notable capital and surplus impairments triggering regulatory action and concern.  read more..

Are you prepared for a disaster?

How quickly your company can get back to business after a tornado, fire or flood often depends on the emergency planning done BEFORE a disaster happens.  read more..

CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE ANNUAL REPORT 2010

Time moves very fast, especially when you get older. It seems only a short time ago we hired Bill Kliethermes as Rockford’s CEO. That was 20 years ago. His tenure at Rockford Mutual was marked by tremendous strides in building financial stability in our Company, whose past 90 years was tainted by a lack of solid growth. Rockford’s financial condition gave little chance for us to build a strong company consistent with our peers. After a few years of having to plug holes in the dike from our past and building a strong team of associates, Rockford started moving forward slowly, then rapidly until we achieved an AM Best Rating of A-. These years have given Rockford a foundation to become a leading regional carrier for the years to come. We congratulate Bill on a fine career and wish he and Cathy the best in future years.

The Board of Directors led by Search Committee Chairman Robert Brynolf, set out to find a replacement that could put our Company on the map for the future. Joseph DeChatelets comes to us with plans to move the company to new levels of achievements not thought possible a few years ago. His extensive background in management and insurance offers great possibilities for our future. We are confident Joseph is the right man at the right time for our company.

Rockford Mutual’s future will encompass growth, broader product offerings, policy development, education and professional delivery to the thousands of customers we serve. We are committed to meet those challenges. Rockford Mutual is positioned for our agents and our insureds to expect better service and products from our company beyond anything we have done in our long history. We are confident, as our competition says “we are in good hands” with Joseph DeChatelets.

The Board of Directors and associates welcome Joseph DeChatelets to Rockford Mutual.

As always, on behalf of all the Rockford Mutual associates and Directors, I thank our agents and customers for their business and support.

Dwight V. Shore
Chairman of the Board

Storm of Negative Forces Hurting Workers’ Compensation Market

Florida Underwriter May 2011
By Stephen J. Klingel

In May of each year, the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) presents its annual State of the Line summary of the economic forces affecting the workers’ compensation market. We also offer stakeholders our thoughts on where the market will be headed in the next 12 months.
As we prepare to deliver that much-anticipated report again this year, the early signs are of a market that is struggling against some significant headwinds. Two forces, in particular, continue to buffet the industry: A troubled job market and regulatory uncertainty.  read more..

Battling Against Workers’ Compensation Fraud

Florida Underwriter May 2011
By John Swedo

Fraud continues to be a widespread problem in the property and casualty insurance industry, costing carriers and self-insureds billions of dollars a year. Numerous studies show that 10 percent of property and casualty claims and 36 percent of bodily injury claims involve fraud or inflation of otherwise legitimate claims. Workers’ compensation fraud has been a particularly troublesome area for the industry, costing insurers and employers about $6 billion a year, according to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud (CAIF).  read more..

Encourage Safer Building

Bill to tighten codes would bring safety to a local level

American Agent & Broker May 2011

By Matt Brady

On Oct. 17, 1989, rush hour in the San Francisco Bay area was well underway, with commuters inching their ways along the myriad highways snaking out of the city. The Giants were hosting the Oakland Athletics at Candlestick Park in game three of the World Series.  read more..

Both Sides Lobby Missouri Gov. on Workplace Discrimination Bill

By Wes Duplantier | April 28, 2011

Several Missouri lawyers and civil rights groups are urging Gov. Jay Nixon to veto a bill that would change the legal standard workers must meet when they file discrimination lawsuits against former employers.  read more..

The Five Standards of Great Claims Organizations: Part Two

April 26, 2011
By Carl Van

In part one, I mentioned that the first standard of great customer service companies is that they know why they are great, the second is that they know where they stand, and the third is that they know where they are going. Now, let’s move onto standard No. 4.  read more..

To the Nines: Doing Your Homework When Shopping for a New Policy System

April 28, 2011
By George Grieve

Suddenly things are coming in nines! The last Shop Talk article, published in the March edition of Tech Decisions, was written around answers to nine questions concerning core system implementation. Recently my company received a questionnaire concerning policy administration system selection from a carrier doing its homework. There were nine questions.  read more..

The Real-Time Divide: Small Agencies That Don’t Cross It Could Die

National Underwriter P&C April 25, 2011
By Mark E. Ruquet, PropertyCasualty360.com

Bob Blitshtein, president and CEO of Insurance Data Processing (IDP), likens the current technology landscape to a battlefield—one where small independent agents are in danger of being annihilated by much larger, better-armed competitors.  read more..

The Case of Rising WC Costs Due to Physician-Dispensed Drugs

While states and insurers wait for legal recourse, technology may ease medical expense burdensApril 21, 2011
By Lou Podlesni

Despite attempts by lawmakers to put into place rules to reduce drug cost and medical expenses, the cost of drugs within the workers’ compensation industry continues to rise nationwide. It appears that ultimately there are few laws that can reverse the trend of more expensive drugs used by more workers’ compensation patients.  read more..