Survey Offers Insight On What Employers Want From Their Insurance Brokers

Survey Offers Insight On What Employers Want From Their Insurance Brokers

Milwaukee, WI - August 22, 2014

There is a disconnect between what brokers are providing clients and what clients are looking for from their broker, according to the Zywave 2014 Broker Services Survey. As new challenges arise for businesses, their key leaders are looking towards their broker to be a trusted adviser to their business. From benefit statements to legislative updates to employee communications, employers are still demanding these "extra" services from their insurance broker more and more each year.

"Over the years, we've noticed this trend, the trend that employers are looking for their brokers to provide more to them," said Dave O'Brien, CEO at Zywave. "Clients are expecting services from their brokers beyond just the placement of insurance. Most of us will agree this is positive, as it moves the broker to more of an adviser role, supporting business issues such as compliance, HR, risk management, wellness, etc. Agencies and brokers who excel at positioning themselves this way have enjoyed significant growth in recent years."

In many categories that were ranked as highly important that a broker deliver, employers were subsequently unsatisfied with the level of service that their current broker was providing. What's striking is that we've seen this trend for several years, but clients remain unsatisfied with their broker in many respects. In other words, employers are speaking, but the brokers aren't delivering on their needs. Here are a few examples from the survey:

- 65% of employers want their broker to provide assistance with creating or maintaining an employee handbook, but 85% say their broker is not doing a satisfactory job

- 92% want their broker to provide regulatory and legislative updates, yet 53% of employers are not satisfied with their current broker in providing these updates

- 88% of employers want assistance with their workplace wellness program, but 56% feel their broker is not delivering to their expectations

- 92% demand information that will help reduce the frequency and expense of claims, but 59% of employers are unsatisfied with their current broker on this topic

- 90% of employers expect brokers to help create benefit statements, yet 63% of employers are unsatisfied with their current broker's level of assistance.

"As our survey shows, there is a disconnect - often a large disconnect - between what clients want from a broker and what they are receiving." said O'Brien. "What does this mean? In my eyes, it means opportunity! Opportunity for the brokers out there who are willing to fulfill these unmet client needs and differentiate themselves in their market."

When employers were asked their top three risk management and employee benefit challenges, it highlighted additional opportunity for brokers to support their current clients - and target these areas of importance to win new business.

Top three risk management challenges:

- Keeping up to date on regulatory changes

- Controlling workers' compensation costs

- Educating employees on safety

Top three employee benefit challenges:

- Managing health care costs

- Keeping in compliance and up to date on changing legislation, including health care reform

- Benefits administration and employee benefits education

To read more details of the survey, view our whitepaper at www.zywave.com. Full survey results are available exclusively for Zywave insurance brokers.

Preparing your farm animals for emergency

No one likes to think about what could happen if an emergency arises. However, in the insurance business, we are trained to think about the what-ifs and then help our clients prepare for them as best as they can. Today we want to share an article with you from Off the grid news.com, on preparing your farm animals for emergency.  It's always important to have a plan and know what you would do in case of emergency. 

And as always, remember we are here to help you! Contact us at: www.equineinsuranceagent.com 

Preparing Your Farm Animals for Emergency

Written by: John  How-To August 30, 2011

If you are among those who have chosen an off-the-grid lifestyle, you know that growing and raising your own food is one of the best ways to maintain independent living. Taking care of farm animals requires a lot of work and is a big responsibility, however, and that responsibility can grow significantly if you are facing a natural disaster situation or other kind of emergency. No one who is raising cattle, pigs, chickens, sheep, or any other type of farm animal can afford to be caught unprepared when calamity strikes. Because we live in dangerous times, it is very important to be ready for all contingencies, including those that might endanger the lives of your farm animals and the health of your farming operation.

Making a Plan

In case of emergency, animals may need to be moved, and they may need to be moved quickly. Because of the complexity and sheer amount of work involved in such an undertaking, it is important to have all the logistics planned out ahead of time so that things will go smoothly if an evacuation or relocation should become necessary at some point. If disaster should come, you will be under a lot of pressure, and there will be a lot of things that need to be taken care of in a short period of time, making prior preparation and rehearsal of all contingencies absolutely essential.

Planning for emergencies should include input and participation from family, friends, and neighbors. Any kind of network of mutual aid and support you can set up with people you know you can trust will be a big help if an emergency situation should arise. Copies of your plan should be drawn up and posted at different spots on your homestead for easy viewing, and copies should also be distributed to everyone who is a part of your network of mutual support.

Making Arrangements

Moving farm animals will take supplies and transportation, so you will need to have the former on hand and arrangements made for the latter if you don’t personally own the vehicles you will need. In a panic situation such as a fire, flood, tornado, or earthquake, animals are certain to have an emotional reaction to what is happening, so you will need to have devices for restraint available that are appropriate for the types of animals you keep. With respect to transportation, you will need to have phone numbers close by so you can contact the people who will be renting or loaning you trailers and trucks at a moment’s notice.

It will also be necessary to make arrangements so that you have places to take your animals if they someday need to be evacuated. This could include locations like fairgrounds, racetracks, other farms, or neighbors’ pasture lands. Relocation of animals on their home ground may also be possible – if you have suitable pastureland available, you could take them there until the emergency situation passes. If your preference is to keep your farm animals onsite, then you need to make sure your pastureland is safe. For example, if you are in a flood zone, your land will need to be higher than the rest of the farm.

To be safe from wildfire, the pastureland should be free of vegetation around its borders. In case of high winds from tornadoes or hurricanes, there shouldn’t be any wooden buildings or loose large items around that could harm your animals if the items get thrown around or broken into pieces. There should also be no power lines or support poles nearby.

Stocking Up

There are some basic items that could be critical to your efforts to keep your animals safe before, during, and after any emergency. Some of these important supplies include:
An animal first aid kit
Ear tags, neckbands, and markers for making animal IDs
A current list of all your animals plus their health records
Large water containers
Ladders, hose, and rope
Extensive supplies of animal feed
Flashlights and lanterns

In addition to cages, halters, blindfolds, lead ropes, and other supplies that are needed to help move animals, it is also important to have things that can help you manage all of the complexities and moment-by-moment situations that may arise during an emergency.

Prevention

There are certainly things that can be done to protect yourself and your animals against the potential danger and devastation of a natural disaster or other emergency. The areas around barns and other buildings that house animals should be free of surrounding trees, bushes, or other foliage that might burn in the case of wildfire. It would also not be a bad idea to create firebreaks a little farther out from the buildings. Overhanging branches should also be eliminated, and buildings with animals should always have clear, roomy pathways leading in and out. Extra feed supplies should be kept in waterproof containers, in elevated places well protected from the weather. Any time a building that holds animals is in need of any repairs, those repairs should be performed thoroughly and without delay.

Preparing Your Animals Means Preparing Yourself

While having a well-thought out plan to handle an emergency is important, being mentally prepared for the challenge of an emergency situation is even more vital. When disaster strikes and your world seems to be falling apart around you, being able to remain calm, cool, and collected is what will make the difference. If you have things planned in advance, then it will be much easier to act swiftly and decisively if that dreadful day finally comes.

To make sure everyone is truly prepared, it is a good idea to hold mock-emergency drills ahead of time. Actually acting out how you and your family and support network will handle things in a crisis is an excellent way to prepare everyone mentally for future calamity.
Panic in the face of disaster is the result of improper planning, and there is only one way to eliminate this situation: plan properly! If you do, when disaster comes you will perform efficiently and effectively – and if they could speak, your farm animals would thank you for it.
© 2011 Off the Grid News

When to Report a Claim

Good afternoon!

Have you ever wondered, if something were to happen with your horse, when should you report the claim? The day of? A day later? A month later?

Well, it is usually a requirement of your equine insurance contract that you immediately report any accident, illness, injury, surgery, death or theft of your insured horse. Failure to do so could jeopardize your coverage.

A good rule of thumb is to report any incident that requires your animal to be seen or treated by a veterinarian, for any reason, other than routine vaccinations, de-worming, etc

A claim information card and the contact information specific for your policy will be included with your policy. We encourage you to provide this information to the person(s) responsible for your horse. We also encourage you to keep the information in an assessable place in the event of an emergency.

And as always, we are here to help! Feel free to contact us online at: www.equineinsuranceagent.com 

Protecting Your Farm's Personal Property & Liability

Good afternoon everyone!

We all know how hard you work to maintain your farm and keep your facilities safe. We realize that the loss of farm property due to theft, or some other disaster can have significant damages to your livelihood. Whether it's tack, machinery, farm equipment, etc. any loss of property can be devastating.

In order to help protect your farm and personal property, here are a few tips:

1.) Maintain Your Farm and Facilities Equipment
-Be sure to stay up-to-date on maintenance and regular equipment checks so you can protect the longevity of it. Also, it could be useful to keep a maintenance and use log so you can track and keep up with regular tune-ups.

2.) Keep a Current Inventory of Your Farm's Personal Property 
-It's important to keep receipts, serial numbers, and manufacturer's information on hand in case of loss or damage to any of your equipment.

3.) Protect and Safeguard Your Vitals
-Having your records and vital information organized is a great way to help get things running smoothly again if a storm or damage were to occur.

4.) Establish and Practice An Emergency Plan
-This is especially important if you have livestock or animals on your farm. Make sure everyone has tasks assigned to them and know their responsibility in the case of an evacuation or emergency.