Travelers released a suite of risk management resources to help businesses safely reopen amid the COVID-19 pandemic, located online on their webpage, Navigating Your Business Through COVID-19. Travelers says its service offerings will include a series of webinars, articles, podcasts and interactive tools designed to provide guidance on protecting employees, customers and property as businesses resume operations. Also among the offerings is a newly published white paper by Travelers, written by its chief medical director, that provides considerations for managers regarding the physical and emotional health needs of employees as they return to the workplace.
Lloyd’s announced that it will pay between $3–4.3 billion to its global customers due to the impacts of COVID-19. The company says it will continue to pay out a wide range of policies to assist both businesses and people affected by the pandemic. Outside of those payments, Lloyd’s also announced it will contribute nearly $20 million to charities in an effort to help address the hardships caused by the pandemic.
AXA XL’s Global Risk Management (GRM) and the North America Excess Casualty business units have teamed up to offer a new commercial umbrella insurance program, Multipass. AXA says Multipass extends the international primary general liability policy limit to meet a customer’s requirements in specific countries and provides higher limits under the same local policy where AXA XL is licensed to provide admitted coverage. The policy is written on local admitted paper for the country where requested, creating a more efficient end-to-end process for the client. The Multinational Casualty team will provide coordinated claims handling services and will make local payments up to the policy limit for covered losses.
Coalition, a U.S.-based cyber insurance and security company, is expanding its offering to Canada-based companies. Coalition will offer up to CA$20 million of comprehensive insurance coverage supported by the financial strength of Swiss Re to companies with up to CA$1 billion in annual revenue. Through its online platform, Coalition says licensed insurance brokers can generate a quote in minutes and also provide their clients with access to Coalition’s proprietary cybersecurity tools and services that are designed to detect, mitigate, and contain threats at no additional cost.
AF Group has announced a new People First Relief Program that is ensuring the health and safety of its workforce and offering more than $20 million in immediate financial and operational assistance to its valued agents, policyholders and injured workers. AF Group says the program will support vulnerable businesses and will provide resources to support community service organizations across the country. The People First Relief Program is ensuring the health and safety of AF Group teammates through enhanced cleaning and social distancing practices in its offices. Additional benefits also have been extended during stay-at-home orders, including flexible leave options, free on-site lunches and paid leave for teammates with existing COVID-19 health issues.
RIMS launched Ask a Peer, a professional advisory program that links highly-qualified, recognized and Society-vetted risk management leaders with professionals seeking support and guidance. The RIMS Ask a Peer process starts with a personal conversation to discuss the level of support needed and desired goals. Once completed, RIMS will assign a qualified advisor and develop an outline that sets expectations and a timeline. RIMS says the service is customizable and flexible to each arrangement and intends to complement existing risk management initiatives and teams.
Poms & Associates, a full-service insurance brokerage and risk management firm, revealed its new brand with a new logo and website and announced the launch of a new advertising campaign along with a suite of four new and innovative risk and cost reduction programs for its clients. They include:
- Poms QuarterbackTM – A guarantee to clients that they will get exactly the service and coverage they were promised; if they don’t see results, Poms & Associates will refund 25% of their fees.
- Poms LookbackTM – A comprehensive review of past claims: risk management experts at Poms & Associates create a plan for clients that lowers open claim reserves and finds missed opportunities on closed claims with the aim of reducing future costs.
- Poms BackstoryTM – A comprehensive review of employee categorization: experts at Poms & Associates review each client’s employee to ensure proper categorization thus reducing risk profile and premium costs.
- Poms FallbackTM – A program focused on preventing injuries: risk management experts at Poms & Associates work will clients to identify and implement solutions that reduce claims, lower the amount of claims filed and improve working conditions.
MiniCo Insurance Agency has won an Internet Advertising Competition Award from the Web Marketing Association in the category of insurance integrated advertising campaign. MiniCo was recognized for the multi-faceted marketing campaign that launched the company’s newly upgraded specialty business owner policy (BOP) for self-storage risks.
Convr, formerly known as DataCubes, has unveiled its new name. The company says its new name, Convr, stands for convergence, “to reflect the company’s passion for combining the power of technology and decision science to enable superior underwriting decisions.”
Roost was named one of four companies in this year’s list of Cool Vendors in Risk Modeling and Loss Prevention for Insurance by Gartner. The Cool Vendors report looks specifically at technology and service providers that have “entered the risk modeling and loss prevention space with an innovative business model or go-to-market strategy to differentiate their insurance vertical offering.” According to this year’s report, “technology and service providers looking to bring new sensors and data types to the insurance market should take note of Roost as an example to engage with.”
Vertafore and NetVU announced the Summer of Accelerate, powered by NetVU. In place of NetVU’s annual in-person Accelerate conference, this collaborative effort will offer a full season of virtual professional development and connection free to Vertafore customers and NetVU members. Beyond switching to a virtual format, the slate of Summer of Accelerate offerings is designed to give participants a way to continue their professional development and build relationships in this time when we could all use more connections to colleagues and peers.
Combined Insurance, a Chubb company, donated $25,000 to four food banks in the U.S. — theFood Bank For New York City, Northern Illinois Food Bank, Feed NC, and Feeding South Florida. The donation serves as a response to the critical food needs and disparities across communities, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Axon Underwriting Services LLC, a specialty lines program administrator, announced the addition of CyberAdvantage, a proprietary cyber liability program, to its suite of specialized insurance products for small-to-medium-size enterprises. Axon’s CyberAdvantage, backed by Lloyd’s of London, responds to client breach and ransomware incidents providing response services, defense cost, business interruption, data recovery and credit monitoring coverage.