2008 FactsLine Archives

11/19/2008 Texas Mutual Extends New-Business Commission Bonus
11/10/2008 Texas Mutual Rewards First-Year Policyholders With Dividends
10/22/2008 Doing Business With Texas Mutual is Easy
10/03/2008 AGC Earns $2.3M Texas Mutual Dividend
10/02/2008 Fixed Payroll for Sole Proprietors, Partners Increases
9/30/2008 Texas Mutual Simplifies the Online Submission Process
9/29/2008 Resources for Employers Operating in Hurricane-Affected Areas
9/15/2008 Relief for Policyholders in Hurricane Ike-Affected Areas
9/11/2008 Texas Mutual Houston Office Closed September 12
8/18/2008 Texas Mutual Upgrades Online Services
8/4/2008 Texas Mutual Extends New-Business Commission Bonus 7/31/2008 Texas Mutual Streamlines Commission Process
7/30/2008 Relief for Policyholders in Hurricane Dolly Affected Areas
7/24/2008 Texas Mutual Pays a Record $150 Million in Dividends
7/15/2008 TxOGA Earns $2.9M Group Dividend
6/9/2008 Online Injury Reporting Even Easier to Use
6/5/2008 Keep Good Customers, Earn New Ones
6/3/2008 New Purchasing Group Helps Hotels Save Money
5/28/2008 Texas Mutual to Award Record $150 Million in Dividends
3/27/2008 Texas Mutual Responds to TRIPRA
3/25/2008 Texas Mutual Offers Recreation Industry Purchasing Group
3/11/2008 New Group Helps Construction Suppliers Save Money
3/4/2008 Additional Network Service Areas Now Available
3/3/2008 Help Your Home Builder Clients Save Money
2/18/2008 TDI Approves New Network Service Areas

2007 FactsLine archives

Current Factslines

Texas Mutual Extends
New-Business Commission Bonus

Texas Mutual Insurance Company has extended the 10 percent agent commission on new business through June 30, 2009. The new-business commission bonus of 1 percent applies to policies with premiums up to $100,000 in our Cornerstone^® program.

After June 30, 2009, new-business commission may return to the 9 percent rate. Texas Mutual will review this commission bonus and advise agents of any changes.

Commission structures on accounts in our Small Business Injury Protection Plan, Start program (insurer of last resort), and temporary staffing and employee leasing policies remain at the current program level.

Texas Mutual Insurance Company appreciates your business, and we will continue working hard to earn it. Please contact your agency representative or information services at (800) 859-5995 if you have questions.

Texas Mutual Rewards First-Year
Policyholders With Dividends

Texas Mutual Insurance Company has begun distributing approximately $2 million in early-qualifier dividends. More than 2,700 new 2007 policyholders will earn a dividend based on their favorable loss ratio. We sent agents a list of their qualifying clients last week.

Dividends are an excellent retention tool. Please remind your clients that their dividend earning potential increases through their fifth consecutive year with Texas Mutual. If they leave before then, they start from square one when they return.

Visit the News & Publications section at texasmutual.com to download a dividend promotional flyer, get more information about dividends and review your clients' individual company dividend history.

We cannot guarantee future dividends, but we have distributed more than $595 million in dividends since 1999, including a company record of nearly $150 million this year.

Doing Business With Texas Mutual is Easy

Texas Mutual Insurance Company is one of the 10 easiest carriers in the country for independent agents like you to do business with. Furthermore, no carrier delivers better insurance expertise and support than Texas Mutual, according to Deep Customer Connections (DCC) Inc.

DCC helps property and casualty carriers make it easy for agents to work with them. This fall, more than 7,400 independent agents and brokers evaluated over 250 property and casualty carriers as part of DCC's Ease of Doing Business survey.

Categories included "acts on agency needs," "handles claims fairly," "underwriting responsiveness," "effective technology" and "makes it easy for the agent to do business with the policyholder."

Texas Mutual's experienced underwriters help you get prompt, appropriate coverage for your clients on the front end. The company's loss prevention consultants help policyholders prevent accidents, and its adjusters are committed to managing claim costs.

Agents can expect more ease of doing business initiatives from Texas Mutual, especially when it comes to online tools.

Agents can already visit texasmutual.com to get quotes, manage their book of business, review their clients' dividend history, download custom loss runs and access claim details. The company continues to develop new Texas Mutual^® online services that free agents up to spend more time building their business.

Texas Mutual values its relationship with you. Please let us know what we can do to make your job easier.

AGC Earns $2.3M Texas Mutual Dividend

Texas Mutual Insurance Company announced a $2,260,775 dividend to the CompGroup AGC purchasing group today. The group's members have shared in more than $12 million in group dividends since 2002. Any licensed Texas agent can submit qualifying clients for consideration.

For more information, visit compgroupagc.org.

Benefits for you:

Increase your market share.
Generate higher premium volumes.
Maintain renewal stability.

Benefits for your clients:

Get a group discount on their workers' comp premium.
Adopt an industry-specific safety plan.
Potentially earn group and individual dividends.*

Texas Mutual offers 27 purchasing groups representing a variety of industries, including oil and gas, health care, auto dealers and restaurants.

Fixed Payroll for Sole Proprietors, Partners Increases

Effective October 1, 2008, the fixed annual payroll for sole proprietors and partners increased from $46,300 to $48,700.

Fixed payroll is based on the average weekly wage set by the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers' Compensation. As of October 1, 2008, the average weekly wage for fiscal year 2009 is $749.63, and it is subject to change on October 1, 2009.

The formula for calculating sole proprietors and partners' payroll, per the Texas Basic Manual of Rules for Workers' Compensation and Employers' Liability Insurance, Rule V.F.3b, is:

Texas Average Weekly Wage x 1.25 x 52, rounded to the nearest $100.

Texas Mutual Simplifies the Online Submission Process

To save you time and effort, Texas Mutual Insurance Company has simplified the process of submitting new business via Internet Quoting at texasmutual.com:

Less data entry. The Internet Quoting system asks fewer "follow-up" questions.
Fewer time-outs. Texas Mutual^® online services automatically log out after one hour of idle time, rather than 20 minutes.
More graceful recovery. Re-entry to the system after it has automatically logged you out of Internet Quoting takes you back to the submission you were most recently working on.
Updated location and officer/owner screens. Texas Mutual has updated these Internet Quoting screens to be more intuitive.

Texas Mutual Insurance Company is committed to providing online services that make it easier for you to do business. If you have improvement suggestions or questions, please contact your agency representative at (800) 859-5995.

Texas Mutual appreciates your business and will continue working with you to earn it.

Resources for Employers Operating in Hurricane-Affected Areas

Hurricane Ike has come and gone, but some of your clients might still be in danger. Disaster recovery operations, such as cleaning up, repairing electrical wires, removing fungi and molds, trimming trees, and reconstructing buildings and homes present unique safety hazards.

Texas Mutual loss prevention staff compiled this list of free safety resources for employers who operate in hurricane-affected areas. We strongly encourage agents to share it with their clients.

Any employer can visit the Occupational Safety & Health Administration website for free information about disaster recovery:

Texas Mutual policyholders can also visit the free safety resource center for DVDs, videos, pamphlets and other training materials.

Policyholders who do not have a Texas Mutual^® online password should complete the online application.

Texas Mutual stands ready to help your clients keep their employees safe and on the job. If you have questions, please contact our loss prevention team at (800) 859-5995.

Texas Mutual Houston Office Closed September 12

The Texas Mutual Houston regional office (HRO) will be closed on Friday, September 12, 2008 in anticipation of Hurricane Ike's arrival. We plan to reopen the office at 8 a.m. on Monday, September 15. Agents' business with Texas Mutual will not be affected.

We will route our HRO phones to our main number at (800) 859-5995. Please do not send submissions to our Houston office. You may send your submissions via Internet Quoting, by email to apps@texasmutual.com, by fax to (800) 359-0650 or by mail to:

Texas Mutual Insurance Company
P.O. Box 12058
Austin, TX 78711-2058

Thank you for your cooperation during this difficult time. We appreciate your business, and we will work hard to continue earning it.

We're Listening — Improvements to Texas Mutual Online Services Based on Your Feedback

Based on feedback from the agent community, Texas Mutual Insurance Company has made its online services even easier to use.

Streamlined entry of prior coverage and loss information in Internet Quoting:

The system will pre-fill prior coverage/loss date ranges, which means less data entry for you.
If you need to change the pre-filled date ranges to account for a break in coverage, add a row and enter the start date. The system automatically calculates the end date based on the start of the next coverage period.
The prior carrier field will offer suggestions as you type, eliminating the enter-and-find two-step process.
A new check box to indicate "no prior coverage" will eliminate the need for any typing on the prior carrier/loss history screen for applicable applications. Just click the boxes and continue through the application.

The ability to enter notice of material change endorsements online:

You can now change, add or remove notice of material change endorsements through the list of options in the online endorsements area of the website.

Texas Mutual Insurance Company is committed to providing online services that make it easier for you to do business with us. If you have questions or suggestions for improvements, please contact your agency representative.

Texas Mutual Insurance Company appreciates your business and will continue working with you to earn it.

Texas Mutual Extends
New-Business Commission Bonus

Texas Mutual Insurance Company will extend the 10 percent agent commission on new business through December 31, 2008. The new-business commission bonus of 1 percent applies to policies with premiums up to $100,000 in our Cornerstone^® program.

After December 31, 2008, new-business commission may return to the 9 percent rate. At year end, Texas Mutual will review this commission bonus and advise of any changes.

Texas Mutual Streamlines Commission Process

Please make sure your accounting staff knows that beginning in September 2008, Texas Mutual will remove excess transactions from your commission statements. Your statements will only reflect commission-bearing transactions. The company will not change the commission statement format or payment rules.

This change will mark the first in a series of improvements to the company's direct-bill commission statements. The improvements are Texas Mutual's response to agents who requested a more efficient commission process.

As always, Texas Mutual is committed to making it easier for agents, policyholders and injured workers to do business with us. Please direct questions about this change to the agent and policyholder disbursements department at (800) 859-5995.

Relief for Policyholders in Hurricane Dolly Affected Areas

Texas Mutual Insurance Company is eagerly complying with Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) measures designed to help your clients who may have been affected by Hurricane Dolly.

TDI has issued a bulletin that requests insurance carriers temporarily suspend premium payment requirements and continue coverage for policyholders in the following counties: Aransas, Bexar, Brooks, Calhoun, Cameron, Hidalgo, Jim Wells, Kenedy, Kleberg, Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio, Starr, Victoria and Willacy.

The bulletin, effective July 22, 2008, applies through the duration of the governor's disaster proclamation. Under Section 418.014 of the Texas Government Code, a state of disaster will continue until disaster conditions are resolved, or not more than 30 days, unless extended by the governor.

If you have Texas Mutual clients in any of the counties included in the bulletin, here is what you can expect:

We will reinstate all policies that were sent notice of cancellation to take effect on or after July 22, 2008. We will reinstate all policies that will enter "final cancellation" status between July 22, 2008 and August 22, 2008.
We will prevent cancellation of all policies between July 22, 2008 and August 22, 2008, unless the policyholder requests it.
We will automatically bind and issue all renewals with effective dates of July 22, 2008 through August 22, 2008, unless the agent or policyholder notifies us otherwise.
We will return cancellation requests from premium finance companies, along with a copy of TDI's bulletin, and advise them to resubmit their requests after the bulletin expires.

We appreciate your support as we work with you to help our mutual clients avoid coverage lapses. We value your business, and we assure you we will work hard to continue earning it. Please feel free to forward any questions or concerns to your agency representative at (800) 859-5995.

Texas Mutual Pays a Record $150 Million in Dividends

Texas Mutual Insurance Company began distributing a company record of about $150 million in individual policyholder dividends today. Approximately 38,000 policyholders will receive a dividend. We sent you a list of your qualifying clients in mid-July.

Policyholders enrolled in the Small Business Injury Protection Plan and Cornerstone^® program are eligible to participate in the 2008 individual dividend plan. The plan includes a $75 million special dividend in recognition of the company's excellent financial results in 2007.

Texas Mutual encourages agents to use its dividend track record to attract new clients and keep current ones. Visit the News & Publications section at texasmutual.com to download a dividend marketing handout, review your clients' personal dividend history and get more information about the 2008 dividend plan.

Texas Mutual Insurance Company appreciates your business and will continue working hard to earn it. If you have questions, please contact your agency representative at (800) 859-5995.

Past dividends are not a guarantee of future dividends, and the Texas Department of Insurance must approve all dividends.

TxOGA Earns $2.9M Group Dividend

In July, the Texas Oil & Gas Association (TxOGA) purchasing group earned a $2,903,340 dividend from Texas Mutual Insurance Company. Group dividends are separate from Texas Mutual's $150 million individual policyholder dividend plan.

Any licensed Texas agent can submit qualifying clients for consideration in TxOGA. Visit texasmutual.com/agents/pr_txoga.shtm for qualifying class codes.

Benefits for you:

Increase your market share.
Generate higher premium volumes.
Maintain renewal stability.

Benefits for your clients:

Get a group discount on their workers' comp premium.
Adopt an industry-specific safety plan.
Potentially earn group and individual dividends.*

Texas Mutual offers 27 purchasing groups representing a range of industries.

Texas Mutual appreciates your business and will work hard to continue earning it.

*Past dividends are not a guarantee of future dividends, and the Texas Department of Insurance must approve all dividends.

Online Injury Reporting Even Easier to Use

Texas Mutual Insurance Company has redesigned its Electronic First Report of Injury tool. The enhancements make the tool more intuitive and easier for your clients to use. Here is an overview of the new features:

Policyholders can now log in, prompting the system to pre-fill their policy information.
Customers who log in can create profiles with information they want to pre-fill, such as supervisor or medical provider.
We added a copy function that automatically populates information that may be the same on every injury report, such as the preparer, contact information and address information.
Certain fields have default values. For example, the state field defaults to Texas.
We added a search function that makes it easier to designate the nature of the injury and the injured body part.

To use the enhanced injury reporting tool:

Go to texasmutual.com.
Click on "Report an Injury" in the Employer section.
Log in for policy information to pre-fill. If you are not registered to use Texas Mutual^® online services, complete the online application, or call information services at (800) 859-5995.

To see a short video preview of the enhancements, visit texasmutual.com, click on Report an Injury, and then click on "To see the benefits of logging in, click here."

Keep Good Customers, Earn New Ones

Texas Mutual is in the business of providing workers' comp solutions for agents and their clients. These initiatives are part of the company's commitment to helping you keep good customers and earn new ones.

Learn how to increase your sales
Texas Mutual Insurance Company can help you increase your sales and improve your account retention. Stop by our booth at the IIAT Annual Conference and Trade Show, June 12-13 at the Hilton Hotel in Austin.

We'll show you how purchasing groups, our health care network, safety tools, zero tolerance for fraud policy and other services can help you attract new clients and keep existing clients. You will also have the chance to win a Wii.

For more information about the conference, visit www.iiat.org. We look forward to seeing you in Austin.

Online injury reporting changes coming soon
Texas Mutual Insurance Company is redesigning the Electronic First Report of Injury. The redesign will help your clients save time and report injuries easier.

We plan to implement the redesign next week. We will then give you more details on how to use the new features.

New Purchasing Group Helps Hotels Save Money

If you have clients in the hotel industry, the new Texas Lodging Group (TLG) is ready to accommodate them. The group helps qualifying businesses reduce their premiums, improve their safety programs and earn potential dividends.

Benefits for you:

Increase your market share.
Generate higher premium volumes.
Maintain renewal stability.

Benefits for your clients:

Get a group discount on their premium.
Adopt an industry-specific safety plan.
Earn potential group and individual dividends.*

Click here for a list of qualifying TLG class codes. Texas Mutual Insurance Company appreciates your business and will continue working hard to earn it.

*Past dividends are not a guarantee of future dividends, and the Texas Department of Insurance must approve all dividends.

Texas Mutual to Award Record $150 Million in Dividends

This afternoon, Texas Mutual Insurance Company's board of directors approved the company's plan to distribute a record $150 million in individual policyholder dividends.

The plan, which still requires Texas Department of Insurance approval, includes a $75 million special dividend in recognition of the company's excellent financial results in 2007.

Texas Mutual anticipates distributing dividend checks to qualifying policyholders in late July. The company will send you a list of your qualifying clients in advance.

Texas Mutual Insurance Company has declared more than $595 million in individual dividends since 1999. It has declared $36.2 million more in purchasing group dividends. The company encourages you to use its dividend track record as a customer retention tool.

Click here to review your clients' individual dividend history, download a dividend fact sheet and get more information about this year's dividend plan.

Texas Mutual Insurance Company notes that past dividends are not a guarantee of future dividends, and the Texas Department of Insurance must approve all dividends. The company appreciates your business and will continue working hard to earn it.

Texas Mutual Responds to TRIPRA

The U.S. Congress has passed the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (TRIPRA). TRIPRA extends the federal "backstop" for terrorism risk through December 31, 2014. It also imposes conditions on the recovery of federal payments that could be made under the Act.

One of those conditions is that insurers give certain notices to policyholders and to entities that have received offers of insurance.

To comply with TRIPRA, Texas Mutual Insurance Company will send letters to all active and prospective policyholders. We are also providing notice of TRIPRA coverage on the underwriting quote sheet and attaching the TRIPRA endorsement as required.

If you have questions or concerns, please contact your agency representative at (800) 859-5995. For more information on TRIPRA, visit the U.S. Department of Treasury.

We appreciate your business, and we assure you we will continue working hard to earn it.

Texas Mutual Offers Recreation Industry
Purchasing Group

If you have clients in the recreation industry, submit them for consideration in the Texas Recreation Purchasing Group (TRPG).

The group helps qualifying golf clubs, country clubs, health clubs, tennis clubs, fishing clubs, bowling centers and other businesses in the recreation industry reduce their premiums and improve their safety programs.

Benefits for you:

Increase your market share.
Generate higher premium volumes.
Maintain renewal stability.

Benefits for your clients:

Get a group discount on their premium.
Adopt an industry-specific safety plan.
Earn potential group and individual dividends.*

Click here for a list of qualifying class codes. Texas Mutual Insurance Company appreciates your business and will continue working hard to earn it.

*Past dividends are not a guarantee of future dividends, and the Texas Department of Insurance must approve all dividends.

New Group Helps Construction Suppliers Save Money

If you have clients in the construction supply industry, submit them for consideration in the Texas Construction Supply purchasing group. The group helps qualifying supply yards, building material centers and other construction suppliers reduce their premiums and improve their safety programs.

Benefits for you:

Increase your market share.
Generate higher premium volumes.
Maintain renewal stability.

Benefits for your clients:

Get a group discount on their premium.
Adopt an industry-specific safety plan.
Earn potential group and individual dividends.*

Click here for a list of qualifying class codes. Texas Mutual Insurance Company appreciates your business and will continue working hard to earn it.

*Past dividends are not a guarantee of future dividends, and the Texas Department of Insurance must approve all dividends.

Additional Network Service Areas Now Available

Texas Mutual Insurance Company's workers' compensation health care network is now available to eligible policyholders in the San Antonio area (Kimble, Real and Uvalde counties), the Lubbock area (Bailey, Cochran, Dickens, Fisher, Floyd, Jones, Kent, Motley and Stonewall counties), as well as Hudspeth County near El Paso and Hemphill County in the Panhandle.

With the expansion, 99 percent of the company's policyholders have operations in a network service area.

Click here to review the service area map, get an in-network quote or endorsement, and download helpful network tools and information.

Policyholders who are eligible for and choose the network option benefit from occupational health care services designed to help injured workers get well and back to productive employment. Most also receive a 12 percent annual network premium discount:

If you have current, new and renewal quotes with effective dates starting on March 4, 2008, you can get an in-network quote for your eligible policyholders by using our Internet Quoting (IQ) tool to request a requote. Please do not enter comments when you request an IQ quote, as this will cause processing delays.
For quotes with effective dates on or after March 15, 2008, Texas Mutual Insurance Company will fax an in-network and out-of-network requote to your office for all current quotes affected by the expansion.
The company will send a postcard to newly eligible policyholders later this week directing them to contact their agent if they would like to sign up for the network. It will also notify current network policyholders who have locations in the expanded service areas.

Texas Mutual Insurance Company appreciates your business and will continue working hard to earn it. Please feel free to contact your agency representative if you have questions.

Help Your Home Builder Clients Save Money

Effective immediately, any licensed Texas agent can submit clients for consideration in the Texas Home Builders (THB) purchasing group. The group is open to most segments of the home-building industry. For more information, click here.

What's in it for you?

Generate higher premium volumes.
Increase your market share.
Improve customer loyalty.

What's in it for your clients?

Earn a premium discount.
Adopt an industry-specific safety plan.
Participate in individual and group dividend programs.*

Eligible accounts can earn an additional discount by participating in Texas Mutual's workers' comp health care network.

For more information about how group coverage can benefit you and your clients, click here or call your agency representative at (800) 859-5995.

*Past dividends are not a guarantee of future dividends, and the Texas Department of Insurance must approve all dividends.

TDI Approves New Network Service Areas

The Texas Department of Insurance has approved Texas Mutual Insurance Company's request to expand its workers' compensation health care network service area. The expansion includes the following counties: Bailey, Cochran, Dickens, Fisher, Floyd, Hemphill, Hudspeth, Jones, Kent, Kimble, Motley, Real, Stonewall and Uvalde.

With the expansion, the network will be available to approximately
99 percent of policyholders. Texas Mutual Insurance Company will notify you in the next two weeks regarding when the network will be available in the additional areas.

Policyholders who are eligible for and choose the network option benefit from occupational health care services designed to control the costs of workplace injuries. Most also receive a 12 percent annual network premium discount.

Texas Mutual Insurance Company will send a postcard to newly eligible policyholders directing them to contact their agent if they would like to sign up for the network. The company will also notify current network policyholders who have locations in the expanded areas.

Texas Mutual Insurance Company appreciates your business and will continue working hard to earn it. Please feel free to contact your agency representative at (800) 859-5995 if you have questions.