About three years ago, a group of tenured underwriters and brokers met to discuss the future of employment law and EPL insurance. We all agreed that since 1996, when EPL was introduced, not a lot has changed from an insurance protection prospective even though there has been a great deal of new legislation, new perils, and new developments in how and whom litigation is brought.

 We all recognized the need for a next generation approach—in underwriting, claims handling and coverage provided. We set out to develop state of the art, innovative coverage, appropriate underwriting, and an updated approach to claims resolution. We agreed by starting with a blank canvas and checking our biases at the door, we would write a policy that would not only be the broadest but could stand the length of time. We went into writing the policy thinking what could be done, not potential problems in underwriting. We wanted to create the broadest coverage and then would work from there on what was realistic to be a long-time profitable facility.

  This approach allowed us to “dream” what could exist. We all wanted big limits on W&H, we wanted defense and indemnity on W&H, a “reserve” limit in case of a catastrophic lost, simple to read and understand coverage, reinstatements for extra peace of mind for those cases where Insureds have copycat claims, new coverages that are pertinent, like joint employer, enhanced reporting provisions to avoid “gotcha” situations and many more.

 Once we had the “Cadillac” built, we looked at the policy paragraph by paragraph to see how we could underwrite that exposure, how to choose the winners from the not so winners. We went paragraph by paragraph building an underwriting box. We wrote the first-year application parallel, to mirror the exposure, enhanced underwriting efficiency which in turn would allow for less follow up questions and quicker turnaround time.

 We realized early on the process for coverage had to be reinvented and much more user friendly. That it should not be challenging for agents and brokers to place this important coverage for their clients, so we decided a condensed five question renewal application would enhance the process, give us enough information to underwrite and would be a welcome difference to how the market currently works.

 We realized for EPL+WHIP® to be successful for the long term we had to partner with an insurance company that would fulfill our list of must haves, like rock solid financials, experienced underwriters and committed to EPL, had the infrastructure to not only grow with us but placed a high priority on quality service.

  At the end of the day, our most important quality we sought was with claims handling. We wanted a company that not only had experienced, tenured claims personnel but most importantly would do the right thing versus trying to contractually avoid paying.

  It is rare to find a carrier’s claims’ philosophy to include making business decisions when adjusting grey areas. We all had experienced carriers’ claims approach to “get out as soon as possible at minimum costs.”  We realized that might be a good approach for the shareholders of insurance companies-- it is not always the best outcome for the Insureds. Litigating to a jury verdict when false personal allegations are made, might be appropriate for the long-term benefit of the Insured. We vetted dozens of potential insurance carriers to partner and discovered one that clearly stood out and filled our stringent list of must haves.

  As all the pieces came together, state of the art coverage, top notch claims, pristine underwriting, our focus shifted to distribution. Who? How? What?

  Because EPL+WHIP® is incredibly unique and is a value proposition, we felt the distribution had to be agents and brokers who demonstrate a high degree of integrity, places their client first, understand EPL claims can be both frequency and catastrophic, so coverage matters.

  We decided to partner with agents and brokers who recognizes that the current EPL products available have been commoditized and want something unique and different, respect the coverage and want to distinguish themselves from the rest and bring value added to their clients.

  EPL+WHIP® is the Future of Insurance…NOW®    We are the coverage that will be the benchmark. Insure Wisely ®