Agent News

August 2014

Class Codes

Focusing on markets that Accident Fund knows the best helps your agency achieve profitability. Make sure you know which class codes are on top.

Arkansas

  • 8820 Attorney-All Employees & Clerical, Messengers, Drivers
  • 8380 Automobile Service or Repair Center & Drivers
  • 8868 College: Professional Employees & Clerical
  • 8832 Physician & Clerical
  • 9082 Restaurant NOC

Georgia

  • 2003 Bakery & Drivers, Route Supervisors
  • 4034 Concrete Products Mfg & Drivers
  • 6400 Fence Erection-Metal
  • 8869 Professional Employees: School or College

Illinois

  • 8868 College: Professional Employees & Clerical
  • 9082 Restaurant NOC

Indiana

  • 8868 College: Professional Employees & Clerical
  • 9082 Restaurant NOC

Iowa

  • 8385 Bus Co.: Garage Employees
  • 5190 Electrical Wiring-Within Buildings & Drivers
  • 8116 Farm Machinery Dealer-All Operations & Drivers
  • 5537 Heating, Ventilation, Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration
  • 8864 Social Services Organization – All Employees & Sales

Kansas

  • 9101 College: All Other Employees
  • 7380 Drivers, Chauffeurs & Their Helpers NOC-Commercial
  • 2883 Furniture Manufacturing-Wood-NOC
  • 9102 Park NOC-All Employees & Drivers
  • 8832 Physician & Clerical

Maryland

  • 8380 Automobile Service or Repair Center & Drivers
  • 0917 Domestic Service Contractor-Inside
  • 8835 Nursing-Home Health, Public and Traveling-All Employees

Michigan

  • 9015 Buildings-Operation-by Owner, Lessee, or Real Estate Management Firm: Prof. Employees, Property Mgrs and Leasing Agents
  • 8829 Convalescent or Nursing Home-All Employees
  • 7380 Drivers, Chauffeurs & Their Helpers NOC-Commercial
  • 5476 Painting or Paper Hanging
  • 4484 Plastics Manufacturing: Molded Products NOC

Minnesota

  • 8380 Automobile Service or Repair Center & Drivers
  • 9101 College: All Other Employees
  • 8868 College: Professional Employees & Clerical
  • 8842 Group Homes – All Employees & Salespersons, Drivers
  • 4299 Printing

Mississippi

  • 8810 Clerical Office Employees NOC
  • 8869 Professional Employees: School or College
  • 9082 Restaurant NOC
  • 8017 Store: Retail NOC

Missouri

  • 3821 Automobile Recycling & Drivers
  • 4034 Concrete Products Mfg & Drivers
  • 5537 Heating, Ventilation, Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration
  • 8869 Professional Employees: School or College
  • 7231 Trucking: Mail, Parcel or Package Delivery-All Employees & Drivers

Nebraska

  • 8601 Architect or Engineer-Consulting
  • 5645 Carpentry-Detached One or Two Family Dwellings
  • 8869 Professional Employees: School or College
  • 8017 Store: Retail NOC

North Carolina

  • 8835 Nursing-Home Health, Public and Traveling-All Employees
  • 7600 Telephone or Telegraph Co.: All Other Employees & Drivers
  • 3257 Wire Goods Mfg NOC

South Carolina

  • 8832 Physician & Clerical
  • 9082 Restaurant NOC
  • 2413 Textile-Bleaching, Dyeing, Mercerizing, Finishing

Tennessee

  • 5437 Carpentry-Installation Of Cabinet Work or Interior Trim
  • 5479 Insulation Work NOC & Drivers
  • 8835 Nursing-Home Health, Public and Traveling-All Employees

Texas

  • 8868 College: Professional Employees & Clerical
  • 5479 Insulation Work NOC & Drivers
  • 3632 Machine Shop NOC
  • 3724 Machinery or Equipment Erection or Repair NOC & Drivers
  • 8293 Storage Warehouse-Furniture & Drivers

Virginia

  • 8116 Farm Machinery Dealer-All Operations & Drivers
  • 9102 Park NOC-All Employees & Drivers
  • 9516 Television, Video, Audio and Radio Equipment Service or Repair & Drivers

Wisconsin

  • 8868 College: Professional Employees & Clerical
  • 9052 Hotel: All Other Employees & Salespersons, Drivers
Rate Changes

Please take note the upcoming rate changes in various states.

Core States

 

The following core states have a pending rate change. New rates are not yet available in eLink; however, some renewing policies may be viewable in the renewal index. Please refrain from releasing quotes and renewals for these states until rates are updated.

State Effective Date
Illinois 01/01/15
Indiana 01/01/15
Iowa 01/01/15
Kansas 01/01/15
Maryland 01/01/15
Michigan 12/01/14
Minnesota 01/01/15
Missouri 01/01/15
South Carolina 11/01/14

Please be sure to discuss pricing options for all new business and renewals with your business development consultant

Agency Hall of Fame

Agency Hall of Fame

The Agency Hall of Fame is recognition for those agencies that write the most new business each month. The acknowledgment, given to top agencies in each state, allows us to show appreciation to our agent partners for their efforts.

Arkansas

  • BancorpSouth Insurance Services, Inc., Little Rock
  • Roberson & Associates Insurance, Benton

Georgia

  • J. Smith Lanier & Co – Duluth, Duluth
  • Risk Innovations, LLC, Atlanta

Illinois

  • Dimond Bros. Insurance LLC, Paris
  • Lee/O’Keefe Insurance Agency, Inc., Springfield

Indiana

  • City Securities Insurance LLC, Indianapolis
  • ISU Stewart Brimner Peters & Co., Fort Wayne

Iowa

  • Lamair – Mulock – Condon Co., West Des Moines
  • TrueNorth Companies, L. C., Cedar Rapids

Kansas

  • The Reilly Company, LLC, Leavenworth
  • Wood Dulohery Insurance Inc., Parsons

Maryland

  • D’Camera Group, LLC, Annapolis
  • Rosenkilde & Associates, Hunt Valley

Michigan

  • Centurion Insurance Agency, Inc., Okemos
  • Voss Insurance Services Inc., Okemos

Minnesota

  • RJF, a Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC Company, Minneapolis
  • The Christensen Group, Inc., Minnetonka

Mississippi

  • Ross & Yerger Insurance, Inc., Jackson
  • Southgroup Insurance and Financial Services LLC, Ridgeland

Missouri

  • HSHC, Inc., Saint Louis
  • W. E. Walker – Lakenan, LLC, Cape Girardeau

Nebraska

  • Ryder – Rosacker – McCue & Huston, Grand Island
  • UNICO Group, Inc., Lincoln

North Carolina

  • Ascension Insurance Agency, Inc., Greensboro
  • Watson Insurance Agency, Inc., Gastonia

South Carolina

  • Keenan & Suggs, Inc. – Columbia, Columbia
  • Peoples Underwriters, Inc., Conway

Tennessee

  • Elliott & Associates Ins, Lawrenceburg
  • Insight Risk Management, LLC, Memphis

Texas

  • Insurica Insurance Mgmt Network, San Antonio
  • Roach Howard Smith & Barton, Inc., Dallas

Virginia

  • Brown’s Insurance Agency, Inc., Manassas
  • Nansemond Insurance Agency, Inc., Suffolk

Wisconsin

  • Johnson Insurance Services, Inc., Racine
  • Spectrum Insurance Group LLC – Eau Claire, Eau Claire
Legislative Update

Legislative Update is a brief synopsis of relevant legislative activity currently taking place in Accident Fund core and accommodation states. For more details or further documentation on any of these legislative activities, contact your business development consultant.

Federal

A bill titled “The Medicare Secondary Payer and Settlement Agreements Act of 2014,” also known as S 2731, was introduced into the U.S. Senate on July 31. This legislation seeks to streamline the CMS review process, exempting workers’ compensation settlements of $25,000 or less from compliance with the Medicare Secondary Payer. Some feel this threshold may be too high and create significant loss to the Medicare Trust Fund — it’ll likely be a focus of debate. Hopefully this effort will gain more headway than the previous House effort. The timing of the introduction is a concern as there will only be 27 days remaining in session when the Senate returns from break in September.

State

Florida

Florida’s 11th Circuit Court has issued an opinion declaring workers’ compensation as an exclusive remedy unconstitutional. In a case brought before the court claiming the current workers’ compensation law did not provide adequate benefits compared to the tort system, petitioners asked the court to decide if injured workers should have the right to pursue damages outside of the workers’ compensation system, thereby negating the exclusive remedy principle. The basis of their case was that repeated legislative reforms have eroded the benefits initially intended under original workers’ compensation legislation. Florida’s Attorney General may now attempt to intervene for the purpose of filing an appeal. The AG has 30 days with which to file such an appeal with the Third District Court of Appeal.

Iowa

Governor Branstad has wanted Iowa Workers Compensation Commissioner Godfrey out of office for a long time — and will finally have the opportunity to appoint his own Commissioner. The personal defamation lawsuit between Commissioner Godfrey and the Governor will continue, however. The Governor asked the Commissioner to resign from his position in 2010, which he refused to do. The resignation is encouraging news, and although unlikely to impact politics surrounding the Division of Workers Compensation, time will tell. Godfrey has been selected as chief judge of the Employees’ Compensation Appeal Board (ECAB) in Washington D.C. and will commence his new position on Aug. 25, 2014.

South Carolina

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson released the 2013 Insurance Fraud Report this month. The report, which can be found in its entirety by clicking here, indicates that fraud complaints have reached an all-time high in the state. Attorney General Wilson has often stated that insurance fraud is not a victimless crime, and has cost South Carolinians through increased insurance premiums.

Information in this report was sourced from Florida Insurance Council, NAMIC, WorkCompCentral, and NCCI

Disclaimer of Liability

This document is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. This information is subject to change. Every effort is made to provide accurate and complete information in Accident Fund Holding’s Legislative Update. However, Accident Fund Holdings makes no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the contents of the Update and expressly disclaims liability for errors and omissions in the contents of this newsletter.

Accident Fund’s A.M. Best Rating

ambestlogoWe are proud of our continued financial strength, which is reflected in our recently reaffirmed “A-” (Excellent) rating from A.M. Best. We appreciate the opportunity to work with top-notch agents and look forward to our ongoing partnerships.

Last month, a news bulletin was circulated indicating that the A.M. Best rating of Accident Insurance Company, Inc. (Columbia, SC) had been downgraded. To clarify, Accident Insurance Company has no affiliation with Accident Fund Insurance Company of America or Accident Fund Holdings, Inc. Therefore, this announcement has no impact on our organization.

If you have any questions regarding this information, please contact your business development consultant.

A New Partnership Offers New Transitional Work Opportunities

Transition-2-Work-FlyerAccident Fund Insurance Company of America has partnered with ReEmployAbility® to offer injured workers a Transition2Work® program that helps return them to the workforce quickly. This program enables injured workers to earn income while becoming re-engaged with the work experience following a period of disability.

Transition2Work reduces medical and indemnity costs for policyholders, which can help lessen the impact to their experience mod. It also helps the injured worker by reducing their time away from work and speeding up their recuperation.

We’d encourage you to share this information with your Accident Fund policyholders. Click here for an informative flyer regarding this program. Interested policyholders should contact their Accident Fund claims examiner at 866-206-5851.

Scotland is Coming

We hope you’re having a successful year and are working hard to build your performance in order to attend next year’s trip to Scotland from May 10-17, 2015. Our “Scottish Escape” will include a stay in the grand Gleneagles Hotel. Established in 1924, this magnificent “French chateau” is set amid rolling hills in the heart of Scotland.

Acclaimed as “the palace in the glens,” the hotel offers the perfect mix of relaxation, leisure and recreation – including exquisite restaurants, a serene spa and three championship golf courses, one of which will be host to the 2014 Ryder Cup. Click below to see short video about Gleneagles beautiful courses.

We also encourage you to visit our trip website at AccidentFundIncentives.com to learn more and watch for the monthly incentive trip updates in your email. We hope to see you in Scotland!