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2021 US Insurance Awards: Non-Profit Insurance Services, Wholesale Brokerage Team of the Year

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Justin Wiley

As liability insurance costs for nonprofit organizations climbed along with the trend toward so-called nuclear verdicts, wholesale broker Non-Profit Insurance Services Inc. spent three years developing a coverage program that would lower costs for the service-oriented organizations.

But, in what eventually turned out to be an advantage, the Community Services Insurance Program failed to launch in 2019, said Justin Wiley, Orlando, Florida-based vice president of programs at NPIS, a unit of Ballator Co.

“We had a deal with an insurer that was acquired by a private equity group,” Mr. Wiley said. With a new owner, the insurer significantly reduced its program business and the NPIS program became a casualty, he said.

“It took about a year to regroup and find new partners,” he said. The new strategy involved multiple insurers and a multi-line package that provided coverage for general liability risks, professional liability, abuse claims, commercial auto and workers compensation insurance. 

The work by NPIS to overcome early obstacles and launch the program serving nonprofits earned the company a Business Insurance 2021 U.S. Insurance Award for the Wholesale Brokerage Team of the Year.

The Community Services Insurance Program is a better version than the one originally planned, Mr. Wiley said, because its multi-insurer, multi-line approach provides better ability to control costs.

“Our goal is to have an efficient insurance product, and the way we do that is by putting together a multi-line package,” he said. “It gives you a little bit more leverage” to adjust rates and keep the cost of the package stable, Mr. Wiley said.

“Any kind of savings that drops to their bottom line, they can utilize for their mission, which is helping people,” he said of nonprofits that are insured under the program.

The launch of Community Services Insurance Program was well-timed, according to Mr. Wiley. By late 2020, big jury awards against businesses and organizations were growing larger, he said. 

“Other carriers in the space had exited or significantly reduced their capacity,” Mr. Wiley said, and rates were rising and limits shrinking. “All of this combined made it a difficult hard market.”

“One of the reasons for our success is our team has a can-do attitude,” Mr. Wiley said. “We want to make it work and if we have to get creative to make it work, we will find a way.”

FINALISTS

• Amwins Group — Amwins Insurance Brokerage of California relies on its long-standing relationships with insurers to get the best coverage for each risk, rather than relying on a single master program.

• Brown & Riding Insurance Services Inc. — The wholesaler’s “Team Bading” comprises dedicated analysts with a track record of consistent growth in the company’s largest property book of business. 

• Burns & Wilcox Brokerage — The company is known for its expertise in difficult-to-place property/casualty risks and set new-business records in the past year.

• Risk Placement Services Inc. — Among the successes of the executive lines brokerage team at RPS was the development of a cyber coverage for entities with strong controls in place.

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