Flexible coverage requires an insurer that understands the complexities of business
February 20, 2017
Resources and relationships help deliver a combined insurance solution for an expanding business.
An opportunity to expand: A private equity firm wanted to simplify its insurance coverage after purchasing three environmental solutions companies. Zurich already provided policies for two of those companies, and the Select Broker presented the chance to quote several products for the entire group.
“The private equity firm wanted a combined solution in one program,” explained Marissa Jennings, Business Development Leader in Marketing, Distribution and Regional Management in Zurich’s Chicago office.
A major challenge was coordinating multiple lines of insurance to suit three different companies while also providing enough flexibility to satisfy the single insured. Moreover, there were other factors to consider, such as aligning key practices in safety and claims handling for the trio of companies. Clearly, a team effort was needed.
Strengthening relationships, inside and out: Zurich underwriter Dean Prince became the point person to help navigate the complexities.
“We had four underwriters,” Dean said. “We had someone handling the excess due to the high limits that they were looking for, we had another underwriter handling site pollution, and another underwriter was handling property. I handled three separate workers’ compensation policies, the auto and the combined form, which was General Liability Pollution and Professional.”
He also reached out to Zurich Risk Engineering and Claims for their assistance. “There was a lot of coordinating with a lot of different people. It was great to see the teamwork.”
This united effort helped simplify the process for both broker and customer. “Starting with the insured, it was a new experience for them,” Dean said. He added that the broker benefited, too.
“The broker was trying to meet every demand and show they could handle all the moving parts,” Dean said. “Timing was a huge deal for them and their ability to respond to their client. We were as prompt as possible, because we knew that was going to make them look better.”
Path to growth: This concerted effort offered compelling reasons to choose Zurich, which was not the only company seeking this business. Zurich wound up winning the entire account.
“There was nothing at the end of the day that we couldn’t make work or hadn’t seen before,” Dean said. “We tried to make the policies as consistent as possible, which simplified things for the customer. We knew what they were looking for and we tried to mirror a similar coverage for them.”
“The customer was looking for a specific solution and Zurich was able to provide it,” Marissa confirmed.
“This shows our ability to work together with Select Brokers and keep that door open for future opportunities,” Dean added. “We have a lot of different cross-sell opportunities to capitalize on now. We’re here to do business with them.”