Captive Quarterly

SPRING 2017

THE CAPTIVE JOURNEY

Hello from the captive front. As I’m sitting here thinking about the captive landscape and how to give an accurate comparison to the standard insurance market, it strikes me that the standard market is uncannily similar to an Iowa Spring. In the third week of February alone, we saw record-breaking high temperatures prompting golf courses to open up, followed by snow, ice and freezing! Now, I happen to enjoy the change in seasons so Iowa suits me well. From an insurance standpoint the highs and lows and volatility in-between can be nightmarish. Our captives offer a calmer and steadier insurance environment because of best-in-class dedicated claims and safety services.

Each captive has a team of service providers that are necessary to run and operate a successful insurance company. In particular, claims and safety services have upfront impact on how well the captive performs and how the various other services will respond to that performance. It’s a pretty simple concept: if claims are low with a dedication to safety measures reducing propensities for claims in the first place; the cost of insurance should decrease, leaving more funds to invest and grow a business. I’d like to highlight the Claims and Safety services within C&B’s group captives.

Here is how Cottingham & Butler Claims Services (CBCS) compares to the competition:

 

A key differentiator is that Safety Management Services Company (SMSC) sits on the same side of the table as clients. SMSC utilizes many tools as part of their safety service plan for captive members for no additional cost as illustrated below:

CONSULATATION

  • Safety Assessment
    • Annual scored audit to evaluate client’s safety system and to share best practices
    • Creates action plans when necessary and is an added accountability system
  • Continuous Improvement Process
    • Accident analysis of claims history and review of internal process recommendations
    • Can help to determine accident causation, corrective actions, and preventing reoccurrence

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

  • Risk Control Workshops
    • Semi-annual 2-day meetings with expert speakers sharing best practices/strategies with all captive members
  • Monthly Safety Webinars – held to drive safety to the forefront of every day work life

SAFETY COMMUNICATION TOOLS

  • Safety Breaks – monthly communication newsletter
  • Accident Countermeasures – continuous training tools
  • SMSC’s Safety Portal – facilities discussions and ease of communication with partners

ACCOUNTABILITY PROCESS

  • Captive Scorecard – ranks members using various data metrics that are tied to overall safety/claims and financial impacts

The group captive business at C&B is a team effort and wouldn’t be possible without the dedication of claims and safety from the service and especially client perspectives. There have been many success stories created by these partnerships and certainly many more will come. I hear the following utterance (or similar variation) from many new captive clients; “I had no idea how poor of a work product my previous claims TPA had until partnering with CBCS and the captive. In addition, I view our safety consultant more as an extension of my own company than an impartial 3rd party.” There has never been a better time than now to take control of your controllable insurance costs. We look forward to assisting with that. Have a fun and safe Spring!

 

Charlie Freund
Operations Manager, Captives & Programs
Cottingham & Butler, Inc.