FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Because New Day is so unique to the industry, we get many questions regarding business philosophy, market access and our services.  To provide you with better perspective on New Day as an organization, we listed and answered a few of those more obvious questions for you.  Feel free to call on us to elaborate on our responses.

Question:         Why should I use New Day for environmental and construction related professional liability insurance if I can access the same insurance carriers as New Day?

                        We have relationships with all the major environmental and construction related professional liability carriers, the same as many other retail agents and wholesale brokers.  In addition, New Day has access to “wholesale only” markets that retail agents can not access.  However, New Day’s true strength and value lie in our ability to assess your client’s exposures.  We do this by working with you to:

1.     Develop risk profiles to assist your client in truly identifying environmental and professional liability risk.  This provides you with an added element to continue to impress your client with various services.

2.     Analyze and secure proper and industry specific coverage rather than purchasing off the shelf products.  Both you and your client will benefit – you by feeling comfortable about what you’re selling and your client are the recipient of stronger coverage.

3.    Understand carrier appetites, limitations and coverage capabilities limiting the amount of time spent on marketing the program.  The benefit to you is to simply reduce the time and cost to understand market/coverage issues, negotiate terms, etc

4.     Assist in the sales process with client contact, collateral material supporting your approach. You’ll benefit by having the answers for your client and comfortably explaining you hired the best in the industry to team with your firm to bring the optimum program to your client.

Overall, we have built New Day on the simple philosophy of providing a complete risk management program no matter what environmental or construction related professional liability needs your client may have.  We do this all in addition to providing you with a professional proposal that condenses a large amount of work into a concise fashion. When you think of New Day, think of us as a strategic partner working with you to provide your client with the optimal program available rather than just another “market access” intermediary.

Question:         I have placed a few pollution policies over the years and feel I have a pretty good understanding of what coverage is needed.  If I feel uncomfortable, I ask the underwriter for direction and guidance.  Why would I need New Day?

                        This a common response if you have some knowledge and experience of the environmental insurance marketplace.  There are a few points that need to be made with this question:

1.    New Day is YOUR advocate to deliver your client the best available program in the marketplace.  Even the best agent-underwriter relationships can easily be damaged over the misinterpretation of policy language – especially if a claim occurs.  As your advocate, our goal is to ensure you understand policy issues and secure proper coverage for your client.  The underwriter’s goal is to always protect the carrier.  It’s that simple.

2.    There are close to 25 carriers now offering some type of environmental insurance in the marketplace today.  Each carrier typically has a minimum of 5 different programs – some close to 20.  That’s over 200 different potential products available to your client.  If you only do a few placements a year do you really have time to understand and know what’s available to your client? Think of the various endorsements that are made to those forms and the combinations can be almost infinite.  New Day is in the market every day working with virtually all these carriers on various issues.  We are painstakingly familiar with the “ins and outs” of the policy forms, pricing parameters, etc.

3.     As a member of your team, New Day provides perspective on the marketplace and coverage options.  We recommend the optimal program for you!  Many agents have told us how much more comfortable that makes them feel having us on the team.  Now they can confidently explain and recommend the proper program to their clients.                    

Question:         I have a manufacturing client that purchases Pollution Legal Liability (PLL) coverage from XYZ Insurance Company.  I would like to market the program this year.  I understand the value that New Day can bring me so I want to work with your team.  I will access XYZ Insurance Company directly and also approach two other markets.  I would like New Day to access three other markets and then we can compare.

Our philosophy is to work with you as a team to optimize your client’s program, not access markets.  To be part of the “team” means we need to understand the account nearly as well as you do so we will need all the information – policy, applications, environmental assessments, claims information – everything.  We request this so a) we can assess the current program for accuracy, b) provide exposure analysis to create the proper coverage specification for the carriers, c) be able to convey the risk properly to the carriers d) understand the buying motivators or drivers of your client and set up additional risk management techniques/services that can help manage, reduce or eliminate exposure. 

Working as this agent has requested will only create the “poker” game scenario that usually occurs between retail agents and wholesalers – the agent gets quotes, New Day get quotes and then the quotes are compared. There is always a loser and seldom does your client receive the optimal program.  Maybe they’ll get the cheapest, but seldom the strongest.             

Question:         I currently get commission of 10% when I place professional liability for my construction related accounts.  I understand the value that New Day can offer me but I would have trouble taking less commission than 10%.  Is there a way to work around this?

                        First, if you believe in the value that New Day brings to you and your clients and engage New Day to assist, we believe you’ll maintain that client and subsequently the commission for years to come.  Otherwise, if another broker identifies issues you do not, it could easily threaten the account – and your income.  Second, New Day has relationships with all the major providers of construction related professional liability insurance.  With those relationships, we have the ability to offer competitive commission and still offer all the services we have described.  Third, New Day is a “transparent” company.  You will see the quotes as we see them and will know what commission we are being paid by the carrier.  That again supports the team approach rather than the “agent  versus wholesaler” attitude.                          

Question:         We are a large regional retail agency.  What expertise does New Day have that we may not?

                        With the introduction of “contractors professional liability” many retail agents have been forced to buy professional liability for their contractors.  Whether it’s only a vicarious exposure, due to design/build project, associated with construction means and methods, etc., over several years, there has been a dramatic increase in exposure to contractors resulting in contractors buying professional liability.  New Day has extensive experience in this area – in both the underwriting and brokerage side.  New Day has combined 25 years of experience in selling professional liability – project and practice programs, creating new products, risk management techniques and claims management.  With that said, we are here to supplement your expertise.  Individually we may be strong but working together with you we become a very powerful team. 

                        In addition, New Day has developed expertise with the alternatives to typical professional liability like the contractors protective professional, owner’s protective professional and project programs for habitational risk and other hard to place projects.  Lastly when you couple our environmental expertise in construction with our knowledge of construction professional liability, our expertise is virtually unparalleled.