2009 FactsLine Archives

12/29/2009 There’s Still Time to Earn Bonus Commission
12/16/2009 Earn 12% Commission on New Business
12/14/2009 Texas Mutual Supports IVANS Inquiry Functions
12/10/2009 Tell Your Clients About Our Online Safety Videos
11/19/2009 Texas Mutual Extends New-Business Commission Bonus
11/12/2009 TRA Earns $2.9M Texas Mutual Dividend
11/11/2009 Texas Mutual Rewards First-Year Policyholders With Dividends
10/22/2009 Texas Mutual Enhances East Texas Network Offering
09/22/2009 Fixed Payroll for Sole Proprietors, Partners Increases
09/14/2009 Texas Mutual Streamlines Online Submission Process
08/06/2009 Important Information About Your Commission Statement
07/28/2009 Texas Mutual Pays $75M in Policyholder Dividends
07/06/2009 TxOGA Earns Largest Texas Mutual Group Dividend
05/27/2009 Texas Mutual to Award $75 Million in Dividends
05/18/2009 Texas Mutual Improves Online Claim Information
05/13/2009 Tell Your Clients About Our New Safety Resources
04/15/2009 Groups Earn Combined $937K in Texas Mutual Dividends
04/1/2009 Texas Mutual Extends New-Business Commission Bonus
03/19/2009 Texas Mutual Streamlines Safety Group Submission Process
03/18/2009 Texas Mutual Safety Campaign Targets Small Businesses
01/08/2009 Texas Mutual Supports AMS TransactNow
01/05/2009 Texas Mutual Online Services Update

2008 FactsLine archives

There’s Still Time to Earn Bonus Commission

Texas Mutual reminds agents that it will pay 12 percent commission on new-business accounts $5,000 to $99,999 with January effective dates.

To take advantage of the 12 percent commission on new business:

Get your submissions in now.
Contact your underwriter to ensure a timely, competitive quote for January business.
Accounts quoted with a January effective date will receive the
12 percent commission.

This special 12 percent new-business commission is only good for January effective dates.

Texas Mutual knows you have choices when it comes to placing your clients’ workers’ compensation business. The company appreciates your trust and will continue working hard to earn it. Call us at (800) 859-5995 if there is anything we can do to make your job easier.

Breaking News!!!
12% New-Business Commission

Texas Mutual will pay 12 percent commission on new-business accounts $5,000 to $99,999 with January effective dates.

To take advantage of the 12 percent commission on new business:

Get your submissions in now.
Contact your underwriter to ensure a timely, competitive quote for January 1 business.
Accounts quoted with a January effective date will receive the 12 percent commission.

This special 12 percent new-business commission is only good for January effective dates.

Texas Mutual Supports IVANS Inquiry Functions

Just in time for the busy holiday season, Texas Mutual has upgraded texasmutual.com with time-saving inquiry functionality for agents who use IVANS carrier integration services from TAM or other Applied agency management systems. If your agency is configured to perform rating with Texas Mutual through IVANS, these new inquiry functions will be enabled for you once you run an account update on your system. The new functions allow you to:

View claim or policy information without leaving your system. Use the IVANS Claims Inquiry and Policy Inquiry functions to request and view claims and policy information from Texas Mutual without ever leaving your agency management system.

If your agency has an Applied management system, such as TAM, DORIS or Vision, and you would like to be configured to perform rating and inquiry functionality with Texas Mutual, please contact the Applied Communications Support Department at (800) 999-6512.

Texas Mutual Insurance Company is committed to providing online services that make it easier for you to do business with us. 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 hard to earn it.

Tell Your Clients About Our Online Safety Videos

Texas Mutual has introduced a new tool for agents to market to current and prospective customers. The company encourages you to tell employers about our free online streaming safety videos:

The videos, which cover a range of topics, are between 10 minutes and 20 minutes long.
Many videos are available in Spanish.
Watch the videos on your computer, or project them onto a screen for a larger audience.
Most videos include a Facilitator Guide, OSHA Fact Sheet and other supplemental material to reinforce the information.

You and your Texas Mutual clients can access the free online videos by following these steps:

Go to texasmutual.com.
Click on safety resource center under Resource Links.
Enter your Texas Mutual^® online username and password, or click on New User.
Select Online Videos from the horizontal menu at the top of the resource listing.

The streaming videos are part of our ongoing mission to make it even more convenient for policyholders and their employees to reap the benefits of workplace safety. A solid safety program can contribute to lower workers’ compensation costs and increased productivity. Ultimately, policyholders may see a 600 percent return on their investment, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

If your clients are interested in a safety video that we do not offer, please contact us at safety@texasmutual.com. We appreciate your feedback as we continue our efforts to make Texas a safer place to work.

Texas Mutual Extends New-Business Commission Bonus

Texas Mutual Insurance Company has extended the 10 percent agent commission on new business through June 30, 2010. The new-business commission bonus of 1 percent applies to policies with premiums up to $100,000 in our Cornerstone^® program.

After June 30, 2010, new-business commission may return to the 9 percent rate. 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.

If you have clients in the machine shop business or other segments of the manufacturing industry, now is an opportune time to tell them about Texas Mutual.

We offer two Safety Groups for manufacturers. Qualifying clients get a premium discount, access to an industry-specific safety plan, and potential group and individual dividends. Texas Mutual has paid about $740 million in dividends since 1999. For information about Safety Groups, visit texasmutual.com/agents/group.shtm.

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.

TRA Earns $2.9M Texas Mutual Dividend

Texas Mutual Insurance Company announced a $2, 944,577 dividend to the
Texas Restaurant Association (TRA) Safety Group today. TRA has earned $13,815,630 in workers’ compensation dividends since 1999. Any licensed Texas agent can submit qualifying clients for consideration in the group.

What’s in it for you?

Generate higher premium volumes.
Increase your writings.
Maintain renewal stability.

What’s in it for your clients?

Get a premium discount.
Adopt an industry-specific safety plan.
Earn potential group and individual dividends by controlling their loss ratio.

For more information about TRA and the 26 other Safety Groups available through Texas Mutual, visit the Agents section at texasmutual.com. Texas Mutual appreciates your business and will work hard to continue earning it.

Texas Mutual Rewards First-Year Policyholders With Dividends

Texas Mutual Insurance Company has begun distributing approximately $1 million in early-qualifier dividends. Nearly 2,600 new policyholders will earn a dividend based largely on their favorable loss ratio. The company sent agents a list of their qualifying clients last week.

Dividends are an excellent retention tool. Please remind your clients that their dividend has the potential to increase each year through their fifth consecutive year with Texas Mutual. If they leave before then, they start from square one if they choose to return to Texas Mutual.

Visit the Dividends page to download a dividend promotional flyer, get more information about dividends and review your clients’ individual company dividend history.

Texas Mutual cannot guarantee future dividends, but the company has distributed more than $670 million in individual policyholder dividends since 1999, including $75 million this year. It has distributed more than $70 million more in Safety Group dividends.

Texas Mutual appreciates your business and will work hard to continue earning it. For more information about dividends, call us at (800) 859-5995.

Texas Mutual Enhances East Texas Network Offering

In response to customers’ requests, Texas Mutual Insurance Company has added Trinity Mother Frances in Tyler and Longview Regional Medical Center, along with more than 200 East Texas doctors, to its workers’ compensation health care network. The additions are in effect, and they appear in the provider directory at texasmutual.com.

“Agents have been with us since the beginning of the network initiative,” said Kim Haugaard, Texas Mutual vice president of network and medical operations. “They helped us launch the Texas Star Network^® and promote it among their clients. When agents and policyholders tell us how we can make the network more robust, we listen and act on their advice.”

Fixed Payroll for Sole Proprietors, Partners Increases

Effective October 1, 2009, the fixed payroll for sole proprietors and partners increases from $48,700 to $50,200.

Fixed payroll is based on the average weekly wage set by the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers' Compensation. As of October 1, 2009, the average weekly wage for fiscal year 2009 will be $772.64, and it is subject to change on October 1, 2010.

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 Streamlines Online Submission Process

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

Check for duplicate submissions first. Using the insured’s FEIN and the new “check availability” button, you can learn if Texas Mutual already has a submission for that business before you begin the application process.
Fewer screens, standard questions. The general information questions now match those on the ACORD 130, and have been moved to the Application Main Form page. This change eliminates two screens from the submission process and brings consistency to the information required to complete an online submission.

Long-term progress sometimes results in short-term inconvenience. During a brief transition period (< 90 days), online re-quotes for new business submitted online before these changes may require answers to the revised general information questions.

We apologize in advance and thank you for your ongoing support as we continue to seek new ways to make it easier for you to do business with Texas Mutual.

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.

Important Information About Your Commission Statement

In response to agents’ requests, Texas Mutual Insurance Company has streamlined your commission statements, checks and invoices. Please tell your accounting staff about these changes, which will appear on your July statement:

We removed key information from the check stub, such as the total premium received on the policy, and we included it on the statement.
We reformatted the transaction date from the yy-mm format to a standard mm/yyyy format.
We rearranged the content and added a column header on each page.
The statement content is still sorted by policy number, but it now lists the policyholder and DBA name first, followed by:
- Policy Number
- Policy Effective Date
- Transaction Type
- Accounting Month
- Written Premium
- Commission Rate
- Gross Commission
- Premium Received Total
- Commission Previously Paid Total
- Commission Due Total for the Activity Period

This marks the second in a series of upgrades to your direct-bill commission statements. If you have questions, contact our policy accounting department at commissions@texasmutual.com or (800) 859-5995.

Texas Mutual Insurance Company appreciates your business and remains committed to improving the efficiency of our commission process.

Texas Mutual Pays $75M in Dividends

Today, Texas Mutual Insurance Company began distributing $75 million in individual dividends among approximately 38,000 policyholders. The company sent you a list of your qualifying clients around July 20.

Texas Mutual has paid more than $670 million in individual dividends since 1999. It has paid another $62 million to Safety Group members. The company encourages you to use its dividend track record as a customer retention tool.

Visit texasmutual.com/news/dividendhistory.shtm to review your clients’ individual dividend history, download a dividend fact sheet and get more information about this year’s dividend plan.

Please note that past dividends are not a guarantee of future dividends. The Texas Department of Insurance must approve all dividends.

Texas Mutual appreciates your business and will continue working hard to earn it. If you have questions about the dividend plan, contact your agency representative, or call the information service center at (800) 859-5995.

TxOGA Earns Largest Texas Mutual Group Dividend

The Texas Oil & Gas Association (TxOGA) Safety Group has earned a
$4.5 million dividend, the largest in Texas Mutual’s history. TxOGA members have shared in more than $12.7 million in group dividends since 2001.

Group dividends are separate from the $75 million of individual policyholder dividends Texas Mutual will distribute in July. Many TxOGA members will earn dividends under both programs.

Any licensed Texas agent can submit qualifying clients for consideration in TxOGA. For more information, visit texasmutual.com/agents/pr_txoga.shtm.

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 Safety Groups representing a variety of industries, including construction, manufacturing, health care and restaurants. A complete list is available at texasmutual.com/agents/group.shtm.

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

Texas Mutual to Award $75 Million in Dividends

This afternoon, Texas Mutual Insurance Company’s board of directors approved the company’s plan to distribute approximately $75 million in individual policyholder dividends. 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 $670 million in individual dividends since 1999. It has declared about $55 million more in Safety Group dividends. Texas Mutual encourages you to use its dividend track record as a customer retention tool.

Visit texasmutual.com/news/dividendhistory.shtm 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 Improves Online Claim Information

Texas Mutual Insurance Company has improved the claim information available through the agent and policyholder gateways at texasmutual.com. These changes are based on feedback from agents and policyholders.

Streamlined claim summary navigation and search abilities:

Access policy and claim details with fewer keystrokes
Search on policy effective date and by claim
Search claim across policy periods

Additional information provided on the claim detail page:

Maximum medical improvement date
Return-to-work date
Additional contact information, including phone number and extension
Claim network status
Full injury description

Enhanced functionality on the claim detail page:

Expand and collapse payment history and adjuster summary notes
View all payment history associated with a claim file (previously limited to past 50 transactions)
Filter payment history by type of payment
Use hover text and help icons with definitions or explanations of the information provided

To take advantage of this tool, you must have a Texas Mutual^® online user ID and password. To get a user ID and password or re-enable your account, please contact our information center at (800) 859-5995. Texas Mutual appreciates your business and will work hard to continue earning your trust.

Tell Your Clients About Our New Safety Resources

Texas Mutual has added 140 new materials to its safety resource center at texasmutual.com and enhanced the resource center’s search capabilities. The company encourages agents to tell their clients about this free benefit of
Texas Mutual^® coverage.

The new materials include safety training DVDs and VHS tapes, as well as a Tool Box Safety Talk for the construction industry on CD. The CD is available in English and Spanish.

The safety resource center now offers more than 1,800 items, many available in Spanish. The company plans to add more throughout 2009. The resource center’s enhanced search capability will help employers pinpoint resources related to their industry or the type of accidents they want to address.

Users can click on “Search Safety Resources” and enter keywords or phrases. From there, the system will generate a list of relevant training materials. The list will specify whether the resources are DVDs, VHS tapes, posters, pamphlets or handouts, and if they are available in Spanish.

Users must enter their Texas Mutual^® online username and password to access the safety resource center. If they do not have a username and password, they should click on safety resource center and complete the online application.

Texas Mutual appreciates your commitment to helping employers prevent workplace accidents and their associated costs. Please feel free to contact us at (800) 859-5995 if you have questions or concerns.

Groups Earn Combined $937K in Texas Mutual Dividends

April 15, 2009 - Three Safety Groups underwritten by Texas Mutual Insurance Company have earned a combined $937,123 in dividends:

Texas Association of Manufacturers (TAM), $472,252
Texas Schools Group (TSG), $397,477
Texas Produce Association (TPA), $67,394

Many TAM, TSG and TPA members have also earned a share of the more than $595 million in dividends Texas Mutual has paid to individual policyholders during the past 10 years.

Any licensed Texas agent can submit qualifying clients for membership in these Safety Groups. In addition to potential dividends, group members get premium discounts and industry-specific safety plans. Their agents can generate new-business revenue, increase their premium volumes and maintain renewal stability.

For a complete list of open Safety Groups, visit texasmutual.com/agents/group.shtm#OpenPGroups

Texas Mutual appreciates your business and will work hard to continue earning it. If you have questions, please call us at (800) 859-5995.

Texas Mutual Extends New-Business Commission Bonus

Texas Mutual Insurance Company has extended the 10 percent agent commission on new business through December 31, 2009. The new-business commission bonus of 1 percent applies to policies with premiums up to $100,000 in our Cornerstone^® program.

After December 31, 2009, new-business commission may return to the 9 percent rate. 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 Streamlines Safety Group Submission Process

Effective July 1, 2009, your assigned underwriter can place business in any of the 27 Safety Groups offered through Texas Mutual. This improvement in our process will make it easier for you and your clients to cash in on group coverage.

If you work with Safety Groups, you can:

Generate higher premium volumes.
Increase your writings.
Maintain renewal stability.

Your clients can:

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

For a complete list of Safety Groups offered through Texas Mutual Insurance Company, click here.

Feel free to contact your underwriting and marketing manager, underwriter or agency representative at (800) 859-5995 if you have questions about group coverage. Texas Mutual appreciates your business, and we will work hard to continue earning it.

Texas Mutual Safety Campaign Targets Small Businesses

Next week, Texas Mutual Insurance Company will mail safety educational materials to approximately 500 policyholders who meet the following criteria:

Premium under $35,000
SIC codes 1382 and 1389

This targeted mailing is part of Texas Mutual’s ongoing commitment to helping your clients provide safe workplaces. Each month, the company will select a different industry to receive similar mailings.

This month’s materials focus on preventing struck by incidents, the most common causes of workplace injuries in the oil and gas industry. The packet includes samples from Texas Mutual’s safety resource center, instructions for using the resource center, and an introductory letter with a toll-free number they can call if they have questions.

Texas Mutual appreciates your business and will work hard to continue earning it. Please feel free to contact your agency representative at (800) 859-5995 if you have questions. Together, we can make Texas a safer, more productive place to do business.

Texas Mutual Supports AMS TransactNow

It’s a busy time of year, and Texas Mutual Insurance Company has a new tool to help agencies that use one of the AMS management systems (such as AMS360, Sagitta, AfW or Prime) to work more efficiently. Texas Mutual now supports integration with AMS TransactNow.

Click on the newly added link in the Texas Mutual ^® online services login page for information about using TransactNow to access these timesaving features:

Automated login. Store your Texas Mutual^® online services username and password in your agency management system, and you will never have to enter it again. TransactNow will automatically log you into Texas Mutual’s website with the click of a button in your system.
Less data entry - upload new-business submissions. Initiate a quote request by clicking a button in your system to upload application information and automatically log in to Texas Mutual’s Internet Quoting system.
View claims or policy information without leaving your system. Use the TransactNow Claims Inquiry and Policy Inquiry functions to request and view claims and policy information from Texas Mutual without ever leaving your agency management system.

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 to earn it.

Texas Mutual Online Services Update

Texas Mutual^® online services were unavailable from January 2 through January 4. Online services have been restored and all functions are working properly. Transactions prior to January 2 were not affected by the outage.

Texas Mutual has taken the following steps to ensure that the services we provide to you and our policyholders are not affected:

Policies that would have gone into pending cancellation for non-payment on January 2 will remain in good standing if necessary payments are made by the end of the day on January 5.
We will individually contact any policyholders with online interim reports that were due but not submitted.
If you were unable to process time-sensitive endorsements or other policy actions and cannot complete those transactions now, please call us at (800) 859-5995 to make accommodations.

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