Builders Risk Tips: More Control Than Agents Think

Each month, US Assure Director of Producer Training and Development Mary Stiglic joins us in the studio to address a common question or pain point to help you confidently sell to and service your construction insurance clients.

Read the Video Transcript:

Hi there! 

Y’know … I’ve been with US Assure for more than 30 years. Hard to tell, right?

I was just thinking back to those early days. As different as things are now, we might as well have been in the Stone Age back then…

I can remember back in the day, agents would request policies from us.

We’d mail the a stack of policies, each with their policy number already in place.

They’d complete the forms with a typewriter ... if we were lucky ... and return them to us with the payment through snail mail. And for those reporting form policies, we'd get payments in special pink envelopes called "pinkies" ... we took special care of those.

Timelines were longer. Rush? Didn’t even exist.

And you wouldn’t believe how long we’d spend just trying to interpret handwritten policies.

Whew. We’ve come a long way, baby!

Over the years, we’ve combined technology with our underwriting discipline and input from our agents to create many self-service tasks online for the Builders Risk Plan insured by Zurich.

With our policy issuance portal at usassure.com, it’s click, click, click, done – there’s no waiting.

For course of construction risks valued under $10M, you can accomplish all of this yourself online without paper or long delays! And, I’m sharing these because, after all these years, not enough people know how easy it is.

First, quoting and issuing.

Once you gather all the account information from your client, just key it into our portal. Then no snail mail or triplicate forms, you can quote and issue most risks in minutes!

If a coworker started a submission, you can take over the application or quote and continue the process. There’s even a feature for quote iterations and the ability to print the application so you can have your client sign it and save for your records. 
 
Second, endorsing.

Already issued a policy online? You’ve got five endorsement options right in our portal that require no email or phone call to our team: changing the name and mailing address; changing the property address, adding, changing or deleting the additional interest; changing limits or the deductible; and a blank endorsement for changing a zip code, the number of stories, square footage, protection class, or the contractor.

Third, renewing and extending.

You can renew eligible new construction policies and extend remodeling policies. Scroll through the options on the left navigation in our portal. Under “Manage Existing Policy,” select “Renew.” To extend a remodeling policy, select “Endorse” and choose the policy term extension option. Underwriting will need to review the request, but getting that renewal or extension started is all in your hands.

Fourth, getting a hard copy.

The system creates a PDF of the policy so you can email it to your client. No more trips to the post office! And, if a coworker issued the policy, you can access those documents, too.

Just imagine what the next phase of technology will bring. Hmmm….what if I could just think “builders risk” and a policy would pop out? Give us a little more time and maybe we could make that happen.

‘Til next time.

This is intended as a general description of certain types of insurance and services available to qualified customers. Any description of policy provisions is meant to give a broad overview of coverages and does not revise or amend a policy. Refer to the policy coverage form for a complete representation of the scope of coverage, terms, conditions, exclusions and more. The policy is the contract that specifically and fully describes your coverage. Some products may not be available in all states and may only be offered on a non-admitted basis. Product availability is subject to change.