The Urban Insurance Partners Institute announced the launch of a program aimed at bringing carriers together with city-based insurance agents to help the urban producers perform better.
UIPI, a Chicago-based non-profit insurance industry organization, is dedicated to being the industry's leading resource on urban markets.
The association said it has joined forces with Donald Lewis, president and chief executive officer of The Insurance Cooperative, a Philadelphia-based concern that partners with carriers and manages over 100 producers in urban areas, to launch its first program in Philadelphia.
"Through experience, we learned how to develop cost-effective programs that enhance the producer's capacity and capability," observed Mr. Lewis in a statement.
"The new partnerships we will create through this forum," he said, "will not only help us take this expertise to the next level locally but also help us develop top-level programs in other cities as well."
"Urban areas are different from suburban markets," commented Robert Thomas, chief operating officer and chief financial officer, Rutgers Insurance Companies, "and this program promises to help us develop a very necessary, specialized relationship with urban agents."
One of the main challenges in urban markets, UIPI said, is elevating the performance level of agents. Carriers often have premium volume and loss ratio targets many urban agents cannot yet meet. Therefore, a significant program priority will be ongoing performance training and coaching that will help more agents succeed.
Another challenge confronting insurers in urban markets is the higher cost of doing business, notes UIPI. Underwriting, marketing and customer service expenses can all be higher in urban areas.
A final forum program is expected to be released in July.
"The support we have received so far is very encouraging," said Suzanne Reade, president of UIPI. "We hope to launch this agent-company emerging markets initiative at our fall national workshop."
More information on this program, and the Sept. 13 Urban Insurance Advantage Fifth Annual National Workshop in Chicago, is available online at www.uipi.org or by calling UIPI at (773) 880-8780.
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