Health Care Network Popular Topic at AAC Meeting

Texas Mutual Insurance Company will count on agents to help roll out its health care network option to policyholders early next year. Texas Mutual^® leadership explained how the process will work during the September Agent Advisory Council (AAC) meeting.

“We developed an aggressive communication plan that instructs employers to contact their agents for more information about the network,” said Ken Lauber, Texas Mutual^® vice president of field operations. “We are committed to working with agents to help their clients take advantage of this exciting new benefit.”

See our cover story for more information on our upcoming network option.

AAC meeting highlights:
Texas Mutual^® online

• Our online services at texasmutual.com continue to be a good resource for busy agents. This year, the Internet Quoting system is processing over 80 percent of your online requote requests and 60 percent of your online optional coverage selections.
• You and your clients can now reset your Texas Mutual^® online passwords automatically by answering three authentication questions. If you answer all three questions correctly, the system will send you an email with a password reset link.
• AAC members asked us to provide more direction on owner/entity information required during the quoting process. We responded by including a Legal Entity Chart in our Internet Quoting system.

Streamlining processes
We reassigned our underwriters to give agents a single point of contact. We also streamlined the quoting process by reducing our up-front information requirements.

Financial update
We have a $1 billion policyholders’ surplus. Our strong financials enabled us to pay over $50 million in individual dividends for the second consecutive year, plus another $6.2 million in purchasing group dividends.

In other AAC news…
Bigham Kliewer Chapman & Watts Chosen
for Best Practices Study
The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA) selected Bigham Kliewer Chapman & Watts (BKCW) to participate in its Best Practices study group. This marks the fifth time BKCW has participated in the study.

“An elite group of agencies from around the country is participating in this study, and we’re proud to be part of it,” said BKCW principal and Texas Mutual^® AAC member Charlie Watts. “We have worked hard to build our agency into what it is today, and we’re excited to share our best practices with our peers.”

The IIABA considers each agency’s customer services, growth, stability and financial management as criteria for choosing study participants. For more information, click here.

Texas Mutual^® leadership and AAC members networked on the golf course and discussed matters of interest to the agent community.

Philip Bruce (left) of Perry Hunter Hall and Ken Lauber, Texas Mutual® vice president of field operations
Ken Mitchell of Rogers & Belding
Don Medlin of Scarbrough, Medlin & Associates
Jeff Edmond of Edmond, Deaton & Stephens
Jeff Lentz, Texas Mutual® underwriting & marketing manager for the Dallas region
Jeremiah Bentley, Texas Mutual® public affairs analyst
Mike Williams (right) of Maxson, Mahoney, Turner; and Jack Ogden,Texas Mutual® senior marketing specialist