Progressive Insurance Company will fund 2,000 credits for two of the PIA‘s top marketing programs. These funds will be dispersed directly from the PIA and member agents can apply for one of these $250 credits online at https://pianet.com/agentsupport. Members who qualify for the $250 reimbursement can use it to help offset the costs of two of PIA’s top marketing programs:
- Direct Marketing Vault: Members can easily launch hybrid print/digital marketing campaigns targeted to households based on USPS postal routes.
- Design & Print Services: Members have access to PIA’s creative team to assist with copy and design for print, digital, social and other marketing campaign elements.
For Hurricane Preparedness Week (May 4-10), InsureMyTrip, a NOAA Weather-Ready Nation WRN Ambassador™, launched a new campaign to help Americans prepare for the upcoming hurricane season. InsureMyTrip has expanded its Hurricane Educational Center to include safety information, a free ebook, videos, and a broad range of travel insurance resources.
Hearsay Systems, a provider of compliant digital communications and workflow solutions for the financial services industry, held its 8th annual Hearsay Summit in a virtual event on April 21-22. The two-day Summit featured keynote presentations and breakout sessions with executives from Allstate, American Family Insurance, Ameriprise, Facebook, Farmers Insurance, Fidelity, HSBC, Morgan Stanley, Northwestern Mutual, Prudential, SIFMA, Starbucks, and more. The key learnings and highlights from this year’s Summit discussions included:
- Crises like COVID-19 accelerate the need for human touch at digital scale.
- Human connections must be built on the clients’ terms, not the advisors’.
- Omnichannel is not just digital – it includes face-to-face interactions, too.
- Advisors and agents must be “approachable authorities.”
Wright Flood is joining the fight against food insecurity with a commitment to donate to Feeding America® for every new flood policy written, regardless of premium, up to $100,000. The initiative will begin in April and continue until the $100,000 goal is reached.
At-Bay announced that they are extending payment terms from 30 days to 90 days for all small businesses in its portfolio. They hope that by giving small businesses more budget flexibility, it makes some of the tough decisions they are facing a little bit easier. At-Bay also hopes other insurers will join in the effort so that collectively we can have a greater impact on the small business community.
Nationwide announced a plan to permanently transition to a hybrid operating model with employees working-from-office primarily in four main corporate offices and working-from-home at most other locations. The company plans to exit most buildings outside of the four designated campuses by November 1, 2020, and move associates in these locations to permanent remote-working status.
IADA introduced the IADA Appraiser Certification Program. This program is the only certification with the full backing of the Independent Auto Damage Appraisers Association. Three certification levels are available: Professional Certification, Expert Certification and Master Certification.
ACORD announced the launch of the new online ACORD Insurance Technology Career Center, now available at careercenter.acord.org. Created to assist ACORD members in their recruitment efforts, as well as to help job candidates to find new opportunities in insurance, the Career Center will provide a means to post jobs, as well as a searchable database of candidate resumes, all with a focus on insurance and technology roles. This service will be free of charge for ACORD members.
American International Group (AIG) announced the launch of Lloyd’s Syndicate 2019. This Syndicate will exclusively reinsure risks from AIG’s Private Client Group (PCG). PCG is an industry-recognized brand with a leading market position in the high-net-worth segment. Clients will continue to benefit from PCG’s excellent value proposition, which will be further enhanced by additional products and holistic risk management solutions provided through the Lloyd’s market.
RMS announced the release of new European Severe Convective Storm (EU SCS) High Definition Models. The models represent 50,000 years of simulation of hail and straight-line wind and tornado risk and include all key lines of business — as well as automobile and property. In addition, the models cover 17 countries in Europe, complementing the RMS European climate hazard model suite.
IICF has raised nearly $500,000 in just over three weeks through its national fundraising campaign, the COVID-19 Crisis: IICF Children’s Relief Fund. IICF is uniting the insurance industry in a collective effort designed to help vulnerable children and their families during the pandemic.