28 Mar Growth Brings Challenges
With few exceptions, the E&O Plus agencies I am honored to work with are experiencing some nice growth, whether in revenue, number of accounts, or typically both. They seem well-positioned to capitalize on their strengths and the current marketplace. When I visit the E&O Plus agencies, I usually discuss how the agency is adapting to the growth. This discussion sometimes involves a new structure with greater specialization or additional staff.
As we all know, “throwing” more staff to address an issue is not always the best approach. Since business growth is expected to continue, and with many agencies experiencing challenges finding “tomorrow’s employees,” technology is probably a wise approach.
Now, the technological approach can vary. It can involve some software platform or using Excel or somewhere in between. There are two areas that I want to focus on, partly because these are issues I have seen in several agencies.
Let’s start with submission activity. For most agencies, this is increasing in both the Select (Small Business) Unit and the Middle Market to Large account segment. It is important to consider that “today’s new business is tomorrow’s renewal.” The basic question is, “how strong is your tracking of these submissions?” Is the submission getting to the markets (standard and E&S) in a sufficient timeframe? Is it clear who has the responsibility for following up to ensure that the carrier/wholesaler proposals are 1) going to be provided and 2) going to be provided by the date needed? Since there is the possibility that the proposals may not provide all of the coverage requested, it is important to factor in time to review the proposals to identify key issues and differences. Have diary dates been firmly established to ensure you aren’t caught with a policy expiring in two days and still don’t have the proposal? I can certainly attest that this has happened with more than one E&O Plus agency. This has E&O NIGHTMARE written all over it. It is probably a good time to ask yourself these key questions.
As we all know, some of your new business will likely generate a claim or two (or 3). It is always suggested that the agency’s claims department be aware of the new business you have written (or even before then when proposing the account) to assess the type and number of claims these accounts can generate. Will this new business put significant pressure and workload on your claims staff? Two areas I have found many E&O Plus agencies implementing are 1) creating a shared team mailbox (typically an email address) and 2) a tracking system to ensure claims are getting the necessary attention. As we all know, how agencies handle claims has been a major factor in the number of E&O claims the program has seen.
If this issue resonates with your agency, work with your IT department to create a tool that helps monitor incoming claims to ensure they are reported to the appropriate carriers, including the excess tower, for serious liability claims. Using a tool like this should efficiently handle the increase in claims from your new business growth.
Bottom line, growth is good, but it does bring some challenges. Look to be proactive in addressing these challenges.