Constructing Change - Victory Zone

CONSTRUCTING

CHANGE

VICTORY

ZONE

AMERISAFE'S BIG OPPORTUNITY AMERISAFE is seeing a market of unprecedented changes with shrinking policy count and evolving employee needs. Amidst market uncertainties, our customers need the power of our people, knowledge and commitment to service now more than ever.

We have a legacy of excellence, and we remain committed to growing an even better AMERISAFE by: Empowering and celebrating our people Cultivating our relationship with agents Accelerating our speed to market Expanding our focus and being responsive to policyholder needs We will support each other as an AMERISAFE family, personally and professionally. Together, we will seize these opportunities, strengthen our business and elevate our passion for protecting policyholders, thus benefiting our communities, customers, and shareholders for generations to come.

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A big opportunity for AMERISAFE is increasing the number of lives we insure, and in turn increasing our policy count.

Our goal is to have 180,000 insured lives at the end of 2023.

That is a 10,000 increase from 2022.

As of May 1, we were at approximately 73,200 lives insured.

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A big part of the Constructing Change project is to celebrate and share our victories.

There is a new Victory Zone page on Inside AMERISAFE. Click Constructing Change on the top left corner of the Intranet Home Page. Then scroll down and get access to the Victory Zone. You can view submissions and also submit victories for publication.

VICTORYZONE@AMERISAFE.COM

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PROJECT VICTORY We launched a pilot test in the states of PA and IL, and Marine – all states to expand the current process in place for phone surveys (safety visits). The idea is to fast track and expedite a segmented group of accounts through the underwriting process so we can do more with what we have and increase speed to market. We have a first bind since rolling out the enhancements. The submission was received on April 30. Short fuse effective date of May 5.

On May 1, the Underwriter received the submission in her working que. On May 2 and May 3, the underwriter had conversations with the agent about pursuing the account, opportunity to quote as a rush, and competition. The agent agreed to give us the opportunity to see if we can get them a quote before the target effective date.

On May 3, the Underwriter requested a rush safety visit be conducted by the Field Safety Professional (FSP). The FSP conducted the phone interview for the phone survey on May 4. The FSP provided the Underwriter with the results of the safety visit immediately. The Underwriter released the quote to the agent the same day. The agent provided us with a bind order they received from their client on May 4 at 11:59PM for a bind effective date of May 5.

Thank you, Jeff Dean, FSP, for working through your normal schedule to help us make this a success. Thank you, Ashley Bonilla, Sr. Underwriter, for your excitement and hard work to make this account a quote and a bind. Great work by all!

Submitted by: Nancy Hunt

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AGENT ENGAGEMENT PROJECT 90 Day Goal Demonstrate to agents currently holding 0-1 binds that we are a go-to company through the demonstration of claim, underwriting, sales, safety, and audit expertise. Increase binds with these agencies through a format which showcases AMERISAFE Victories and increases agency participation, and in a way which is easily replicable in other regions.

In April, 109 agents were contacted who had either 0-1 bound accounts in the State of Illinois and Indiana. Of these 109 agents, 37 agents attended a virtual meeting hosted by Michael Gardner and assisted by Underwriting, Audit, Claims and Safety.

After all meetings were completed, a survey was sent out with 7 of the agents responding ranking AMERISAFE a 10 with regards to the question “Would you likely do business with AMERISAFE in the future."

Team Lead: Michael Gardner mgardner@amerisafe.com

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POLICY RENEWAL CRUNCH An Agent called me at 4:50pm on Friday April 21st.

They had an issue with a policy that was supposed to be renewing on Monday the 24th but they had no renewal offer. I was unable to reach my underwriter and decided to call Nancy due to the time. I left her a voicemail describing the issue. Nancy called me back at 5:30pm for clarification and 6:05 to make sure all was good. I also communicated with the agency.

They were extremely happy to have their issue solved. Thanks to Nancy for going above and beyond.

Submitted by: Leo Plese

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QUESTIONS ANSWERED I had a conversation with an agent yesterday that Ed and I have been working with. The agent is new to the agency and is excited to send us business.

The agent could not stop talking about how helpful Ed had been during the whole process. Ed answered every one of his questions, and had answered countless phone calls.

He said because of the Ed’s willingness to answer those questions, he can’t wait to send more business to us, because he knows Ed and I will take care of him.

Ed is a fantastic territory sales manager and works so well with our agents. Ed makes an immense positive impact with our agents.

Submitted by Chelsea Thomas

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ACCORD APPLICATION As part of our efforts to do more with our submissions, Sales Associate, Fran Knust, is helping with Not Enough Information – Accord Application Only (AAO).

The AAO pilot is an attempt to obtain Loss Runs and Exp Mod within 3 days of receiving the submission rather than automatically declining the account for AAO. We are happy to report so far, there have been a few occasions where Fran received the needed information within hours of her request, and in one case, she received the information in 30 minutes!

This is exciting news!

Way to go, Fran!

Submitted by: Tina Whitaker

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SUBMISSION PROCESSES VICTORY About a year ago we changed the process so that submissions were not immediately declined because it came in without an agency number. We made it so that the codeless submission went to our sales associates who were required to call the agent to find out what agency location they wanted the account to be allocated. From there is was sent back to policy services to be processed and then sent to underwriting.

As of March 27, 2023, we are speeding this process up even more! Policy Services will go ahead and process an application without an agent code and send it to the underwriter who will get with the agent while they are working the account and find out which agency code they want to use.

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DECLINED SUBMISSIONS SECOND LOOK As part of the Constructing Change project: Do More with What We Have, there has been a change to make sure that we are not declining risks that may otherwise fit in our appetite. Sometimes a second pair of eyes helps us find additional ways to write an account instead of decline it.

So, when an underwriter wishes to decline an account, another manager will review just to see if there is a way we can write it. This will apply to all of the following types of declines: Competitive Disadvantage Unable to inspect, prospect refused (UTI) Not Enough Time (NET) Unable to inspect jobsite (UNI) Not Enough Information (NEI) Premium vs Exposure (PVE) Unsatisfactory Loss Control Inspection (USI) Must have poor / marginal rating by FSP Rescinded - Inspected with good, very good, unable rating by safety Poor Loss History (PLH/F) This is something that we can talk with our agents about.

We are a true underwriting company. Matter of a fact, we are currently having a second pair of eyes look at accounts that are being declined for a variety of reasons. That way, we can make sure there was not a way around what initially looked like a road block.

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A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF THE BIG OPPORTUNITY IN ACTION An operation came in as two, nearly three separate entities and submissions. The agent was trying to win the account over and get the entities consolidated on one policy for the insured.

He was not able to provide the loss runs for one of the entities for the current year and communicated that to me at the last minute. Since I didn’t have the complete loss runs, I was prevented from offering subject to loss control.

The agent needed the quote as soon as humanly possible, because they were trying to meet a very close effective date and they had already paid their premium for the next year to the current carriers, yes two separate ones. I had to turn the quote around by that weekend to have a shot at binding this one.

I hated to make the call, but I contacted David Courtney and asked if there was a chance he would have time to do a phone survey for me on this account that day.

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To my amazement, he told me to give him a few minutes to prepare and he would be on the road.

It was a two hour drive from his home. While he prepared to leave, I contacted the agent, received approval to do an in person visit.

Multiple people had to be contacted and David had several challenges once he arrived at the location to meet everyone he needed to speak to, but he managed to get all this done. He provided the information I needed in time to offer a quote. He gave me the confidence in the operation I needed and at the same time made a great impression on the owners and managers of this company.

This agent was very thankful for our efforts and stated he is going to send more business to us and increase his book. Without David having such a positive attitude and a motivation to serve our customers and our company, I don’t believe we would have been able to bind this account or the future accounts that are to come from this agency. David’s actions were above and beyond my expectations and truly exceeded our customer’s expectations, as well.

-- Beckie Miller, Senior Underwriter

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VICTORY IN FRUGALITY Embracing AMERISAFE’s pillar of frugality, the Accounting Department reviewed existing annual subscriptions to determine if any of them could be eliminated or replaced with a lower cost option.

We identified an annual cost savings of $4,000 by eliminating a subscription to a service we no longer feel is necessary. We intend to continue to review contracts and subscriptions as they approach renewal in order to eliminate any unnecessary costs if possible.

-Angie Pearson

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INFORMATION HUB All information shared about the Constructing Change project can be found on the home page of Inside AMERISAFE. Simply click on the Constructing Change link at the top of the left hand side menu and you will be given access to the information shared on this project.

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As AMERISAFE goes through changes in processes to increase business, this construction cone will serve as a fun visual reminder that we all play a role in this process. Every one of us is important to the success of AMERISAFE.