Paratransit Insurance

Real Injuries, Real Expense… But Who is Liable??

March 4, 2015 by John Varner · Leave a Comment

Unfortunately accidents happen and people and property get injured or damaged, but, who is ultimately responsible is many times left up to the judicial system to determine when the parties cannot sort it out on their own. As anyone in business knows, the future cost of your commercial insurance is largely predicated upon your past claims history. Therefore, it’s hugely important to do all that you can to mitigate risk exposures where possible and actively involve yourself in the ongoing settlement of claims in conjunction with your broker and adjuster. The following case highlights just how emblazoned the plaintiff bar becomes when they think a large verdict is possible. While our client and contracted insurance company consider this a “win”, it still cost lots of money to defend and settle.

The following details a 3-day jury trial we finished last week for a non-emergency provider in rural America. It was an admitted liability case and plaintiff obtained a verdict for $150,000. The week before trial, we offered $150,000 in response to plaintiff’s last demand of $850,000. At trial, plaintiff asked for $1,850,000 based on $650,000 of medical specials.

The case was filed on behalf of an injured transport, a 70+ year-old mentally and physically disabled man with a very nice, affable disposition. He could communicate his needs but is essentially non-verbal. His younger sister filed the action as his conservator. [Read more…]

Give Your Employees a Good Reason to Drive Safely

April 25, 2014 by Taylor Westbrook · 1 Comment

I have worked with hundreds of Non-Emergency Medical Transportation companies over the years and have come to find that only a handful are offering driver incentive (recognition) programs as part of their overall loss control management plan.

Some companies might feel as if these programs are too much of a hassle or expense, but in the long run, a driver incentive program could help the transportation company develop a favorable loss history with little or no claim activity, which ultimately [Read more…]

January 2014 Paratransit Steering Committee Meeting

February 3, 2014 by Amanda Crews · Leave a Comment

It’s that time of year again and the TLPA is gearing up for their spring convention during May 8-11 in sunny Ft. Lauderdale, Florida (our Fall conference recap). It was my honor earlier this month to sit on the Paratransit Steering Committee meeting for the first time. If you are not actively involved in the TLPA, or perhaps you are not even familiar with it, I highly recommend that you check into the organization. The TLPA originally started as the National Association of Taxicab Owners (NATO) in 1917 and has transformed over the years [Read more…]

Sovereign Attends TLPA’s 95th Annual Convention

January 15, 2014 by Taylor Westbrook · Leave a Comment

While attending the Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association‘s Fall Convention and Trade Show October 27-31, I have to say that I, as well as our other Transportation Team members that attended, came to find the round-table meetings to be very informative and beneficial. Some of the round-table topics that were discussed were: Fluctuations in the Insurance Market from Soft to Hard, App Technology, Driver Hiring and Customer Service Standards, Rising Use in Hybrid Vehicles, and Broker Trends, all of which our team [Read more…]

April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month

April 18, 2013 by Sovereign Risk Solutions · Leave a Comment

Although cell phone use and texting while driving causes approximately 1.6 million vehicle accidents per year, it still remains as the number two deadliest driving distraction.

The number one distraction causing about 62% of all road fatalities is “lost in thought” distracted driving.

Distracted driving isn’t just talking on a cell phone or daydreaming, it includes eating, smoking, changing vehicle controls, reading, etc. Essentially, it includes any non-driving activity. Many drivers think sending or reading one text message is okay because it occurs quickly, but according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), this takes a driver’s eyes off the road for 4.6 seconds, which at 55 mph is like driving the length of a football field blindfolded.

Do you consider yourself good at multitasking?
Check out this quick YouTube video which might make you reconsider your cognitive multitasking skills:

As a leading specialist in medical transportation insurance, Sovereign has many clients who manage a fleet of vehicles and employ hundreds of drivers. Safety management is always a key concern of fleet managers, but have you or your company formally addressed the issue of employee cell phone usage?

Sovereign can assist our clients with customizing a comprehensive safety program specific to their exposures, which should always include (at minimum) an Employee Handbook, MVR Evaluation Form, Drug Screening Requirements, Cell Phone Policy, and Abuse/Molestation Policy.

Let’s work together to promote National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. Please share this post with fellow business owners and employees in hopes that we can promote safety on our roads. For additional information specific to your need, please contact your Sovereign representative.

Resources:

State Cell Phone and Texting Laws
Distracted Driving Facts & Statistics
Distracted Driving Awareness Month
National Safety Council

Author: Sovereign Risk Solutions

The Direct Correlation Between Driving Records and Insurance

March 12, 2013 by Taylor Westbrook · 1 Comment

One of the most crucial pieces of information submitted to underwriters when quoting Non-Emergency Medical Transportation are the drivers’ MVRs (Motor Vehicle Records). Employees’ MVRs provide the underwriter with a representation of minimum hiring standards, as well as an indication of the characteristics of the employees driving the insured vehicles. Insurance underwriters also know that good MVR’s are indicators of how well an owner runs his or her company from a safety prospective. If an owner only hires those with clean MVR’s then there is a good chance that the company is run with a minds eye towards risk management. If an owner hires those with bad MVR’s, it is assumed that management does not focus that closely to risk management objectives. If a driver has an MVR with multiple citations (speeding, improper lane change, failure to yield, accident, etc.) there is a high probability that their record will negatively influence insurance premiums, driving up company expenses.

One should not only consider the possibility of citation-heavy MVRs increasing insurance expenses, but if a driver has had multiple infractions in their past, their chances of causing an accident due to negligent driving is much higher. Loss control is another major factor when pricing insurance, and if the underwriter sees that your company has a high number of at-fault claims, prices are going to be much higher at the next year’s insurance renewal.

What Can You Do?

Drivers’ records play a very important role in the development of insurance premiums throughout the underwriting process, and the more written controls and guidelines your company has established for MVR standards, the better off your company will be when it comes to claims and premium rates. Examples of written controls and guidelines to have in place include:

Driver Incentive Programs
Management Safety Record Incentive Programs
Driver Performance Reviews
Safety Posters and Slogans
Safety Manual or Handbooks
Cell Phone Policy
Return to Work Policy
Post Hire Medical Questionnaires
Sexual Abuse and Molestation Policy

A wise man once said, “When reviewing MVRs ask yourself this: ‘Would I want this person driving my family members around?’ ”

Please contact us for assistance in developing customized programs and to discuss the insurance needs for your company.

Author: Taylor Westbrook

Exposure and Experience: the drivers of your insurance cost

November 20, 2012 by John Varner · Leave a Comment

In the most simplistic terms, your insurance cost is determined based on two factors: Exposure and Experience. By exposure, we mean what you do, what line of business you are in, where you operate (there are wide variations in legal venues across the Country) and the like. By experience, we mean your actual historical experience in the business, and specifically, what your historical accident and loss history has been. Insurance companies are essentially actuarial forecasters, whereby they attempt to predict what their future claims cost will be based on what your historical exposure and experience trends have been, if they were to underwrite and offer you a proposal for insurance. It’s a highly sophisticated process internally for them, but, in essence it boils down to exposure and experience.

So, as respects exposure, there are a myriad of ways we at Sovereign work to educate our clients on how to best position and package themselves to the underwriting marketplace to ensure they receive the best overall coverage, cost and service offerings. We work closely with each client to tailor risk management programs that fit their operational and fiscal abilities. A “one size fits all” approach simply doesn’t work in our opinion; besides, no one likes to be treated like just another passenger on the bus. In future blogs, we will offer more details on individual services that we coordinate on behalf of our clients that add real value, now and into the future.

As respects experience, we highly recommend that our clients always look for ways to expand their business and industry knowledge to remain at the forefront of their respective field. We also work diligently to ensure we are also at that forefront of knowledge to ensure we are educating and protecting our clients to fullest extent of our abilities.

Let’s now turn the discussion specifically to your historical accident and loss experience. Many times our clients think this is an area upon which they have no control, but they do, and should exercise that control as much as possible. Keep in mind, your future insurance cost will be highly predicated upon your historical losses, and as such there are a few activities you must do to ensure the dollars that get paid are as limited as possible. Again, we tailor claims and litigation strategies for each client, but, in general you must do the following, at a bare minimum, to ensure you control your claims cost as much as possible:

Promptly notify your insurance carrier of any incident that may give rise to a claim. You may think “well, if I do that on every little thing, I’ll receive a cost increase or worse, be cancelled”. While discretion must apply, if there’s a meaningful probability that a claim will be filed, its incumbent upon you to take swift action, report the incident and get an adjuster assigned who can begin the process of communicating with you and any third parties to resolve the matter as quickly, as amicably, and lawyer free as possible.
Complete an accident investigation, yourself, and report your findings to your adjuster. The better equipped you make your adjuster, generally speaking the better job they can do in negotiating an amicable solution. Again, discretion must apply, and you should be cautious of sensitive information that you uncover to ensure it remains privileged when advisable. When in doubt, involve your client service specialist and we’ll help you navigate this pathway.
If your accident investigation yields any procedural or operational deficits in your business, take swift action to correct it so that the same incident probability is mitigated as much as possible.
Regularly review and question the status of any open claims. It never ceases to amaze us how many times we come into client relationships whereby cases, with large reserves remain open, years down the road only because no one pressed the adjuster to substantiate and/or update the reserve. YOU PAY FOR THAT RESERVE OVER AND OVER, EACH YEAR YOU RENEW YOUR INSURANCE.

We hope that you have found this information insightful and useful, and look forward to serving you now, and into the future!

Author: John Varner

Taxicab, Limousine and Paratransit Association Annual Meeting

November 5, 2012 by John Varner · Leave a Comment

We recently attended the TLPA’s annual conference in Las Vegas and were very impressed with the Association, the meetings and presentations. The venue, Caesars Palace, created an opportune environment to learn, network and socialize. While there were a myriad of topics discussed, the overall perception that we came away with was one of professionalism. The transportation industry has long been viewed as not organized, highly fragmented and low on professional standards. We are convinced that Members of the TLPA are the best in class operators, who are serious about their businesses, are serious about the issues facing their industry and are organizing to ensure they are at the forefront of how to navigate the future.

The exhibit hall presented us an opportunity to meet with a variety of other companies who also serve the needs of the industry, from specialized vehicle manufactures, to transportation brokers, to dispatch and monitoring systems and services. It was very apparent that technology has become a critical link to operate effectively and efficiently in this industry, and many suppliers were represented.

The Association has numerous initiatives currently underway ranging from legislative/regulatory (NYC ADA case, MAP-21, distracted driver, etc), environmental (non-profit relations, broker relations, union organization, etc) and TLPA Member image through Operator and Driver of the year awards programs and Community Connections.

We enjoyed getting to learn more about the global issues facing the industry and the TLPA’s role in helping professionally engage the future. We highly recommend that any transportation company wishing to enhance its knowledge, experience and/or image to seriously consider joining the TLPA.

As always, your Sovereign team is here to support all your risk management, insurance and surety needs.

Author: John Varner

NEWS FLASH: The market is hardening!!!

October 16, 2012 by Sovereign Risk Solutions · Leave a Comment

The commercial property and casualty insurance market is very cyclical. This means that there are periods that the market is very hard (increased pricing, less aggressive in regards to class of business, less risk tolerance for insurance carriers) and very soft (reduced pricing, extremely aggressive underwriting). Over nearly the last decade, the insurance market conditions have been extremely soft and standard carriers have been writing classes of business and particular industries in which are normally written through the excess and surplus markets. Historically, the transportation industry has led the way in the form of being the “canary in the coal mine” evidencing the market turning from soft to hard. There are many reasons for this but a major one is the risk for high severity loss.

Commercial Auto Insurance Losing Money

For example, if a three unit non-emergency medical transportation company pays a total of $10,000 on their auto liability and has an at-fault accident where a client they are transporting is severely injured, that policy could pay out hundreds of thousands of dollars.

With the increased tightening of margins for the NEMT industry shrinking due to macro factors such as medicaid funding, increased gas prices, and the like, drivers and companies are rushing to get as many trips completed as possible completed a day. This results in less of a focus on safe practices which lead to a higher number of incidents. liability and has an at-fault accident where a client they are transporting is severely injured, that policy could pay out hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Higher frequency always leads to increased severity

Sooner or later, one of those accidents will be significant in regards to liability facing the company. If an insurance company writes the policy described above and that company has a $500,000 loss, to get back to being profitable, the carrier would need to underwrite 99 other policies exactly like that one and not incur even one more claim. Insurance companies need for their policies to generate no more than a 50% loss ratio in order for them to be profitable on the account. The other 40-45% or so of premium goes towards paying underwriter salaries, claims adjusters, rent, the light bill, taxes, and other costs of doing business. This leaves 5-10% for the company to generate a profit. So for every aforementioned $500,000, insurance companies need to generate $1,000,000 in premium. Otherwise, they will be unprofitable in that class of business which they will then cease to underwriter or demand large increases in premium at renewal. This is what is beginning to occur in the NEMT sector. In the last month alone, I have seen:

A conditional renewal letter from an extremely large, national insurance carrier more conditional renewal letters stating premium would be increasing 30-40% “due to a general rate increase”
A letter from an agency that focuses on the NEMT industry to a current client of theirs stating the current carrier is increasing the price from $3,633 per vehicle to $10,161 per vehicle. They go on to say the renewal quote is the best they can obtain and suggest they “try on your own to obtain a better quote”
Numerous non-renewals letters across the country

Like I mentioned above, the market is changing and quickly! We at Sovereign Risk Solutions saw the tide begin to turn earlier this year and began discussing the ability to write longer term, 18 month policies in order to lock in rates before the market continues to harden in the coming weeks and months. I am proud to say that we were able to accomplish this AND we negotiated the down payment on these 18 month policies to be a mere 10%, which is the same down payment amount as the 15% down payment option that is currently available on 12 month policies. To that end, we also have a program in place, if your company qualifies, that allows for ZERO down payment. Due to Form E filing requirements, this puts insurance companies and finance companies in credit negative positions but due to the outstanding relationships we have built with day to day interactions, we were able to push this through on our clients behalf.

The 18 month policy with a 10% down payment is only one of the many value added services we have been working on behind the scenes. Much, much more is just over the horizon and I look forward to sharing them with you as things are finalized in due time. Should you have any questions or want to discuss your current insurance program and how we can help you improve your bottom line, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

Medical Transportation

June 10, 2012 by Sovereign Risk Solutions · Leave a Comment

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As a leading, national, full service insurance brokerage and risk management consulting firm specializing in medical transportation, our ability to pool providers and leverage strength in numbers enables us to negotiate lower insurance rates, and broader coverage tailored specifically to the needs of EMT and NEMT companies.

Our dedicated professionals combine decades of commercial insurance experience with transportation know how to deliver superior solutions to our clients. With the added benefits of unmatched claims service and loss control strategies, Sovereign Risk Solutions is the go-to source for medical transportation insurance products and services.

Do you have general questions about this industry? Visit our Paratransit FAQ page.

Are you ready to partner with our experienced team of NEMT and EMT professionals? Begin the quoting process now.