Insure This By Bill Velin, Wells Fargo

More Than Just Insurance

he insurance program endorsed by ARA has much much more to offer ARA members than “just insurance.” That is not to say that the comprehensive insurance policies and coverages being offered are anything less than superior. Over the years, we have outlined the cov- erage gaps and misunderstandings which occur commonly in the automotive dis- mantling and recycling industry. With over 30 years of experience insuring firms in your industry, we have learned to look for these gaps in coverage and how to avoid or eliminate them. However, offering a superior product being sold by an agency that has over 30 years of experience properly insuring businesses just like yours is not the only advantage of the new ARA insurance pro- gram. Here are our other advantages that add substantial value to your business: • The Power of Choice: The ARA did not endorse an individual insurance com- pany to handle the insurance program when they endorsed us in 2010. Instead they endorsed Wells Fargo Insurance Services USA, Inc. to handle the pro- gram. We are NOT an insurance compa- ny – we are an insurance broker. We represent most of the major insurance companies in the country as well as many many regional insurance companies. This means that, unlike your previous programs that were limited to only having one insurance company to go to access the program, by endorsing a broker instead of an insurance company, you have access to many carriers that routinely write insurance for your industry. We are currently able to access many carriers to quote your business, including but not limited to Travelers, Chubb, CNA, General Casualty, Western National, Secura, Allied, Harleysville, Cincinnati, Navigators, and ACE. Additionally, we are constantly in dis- cussions with other insurance companies that have expressed an interest in partic-

T 16 Automotive Recycling | September-October 2015

ipating in the program. If one of our com- panies decides they no longer want to par- ticipate, we have a full complement of other companies to fill the void. • Ongoing Data Access: Wells Fargo Insurance Services USA, Inc. and ARA entered into a contractual agreement to provide premium and loss data on the “program” on an annual basis. With past program carriers, when the program changed carriers(either volun- tarily or involuntarily), ARA could not obtain premium and loss data from the carrier to make it easier to roll the pro- gram to another carrier. This made it very difficult to find another carrier that may be interested in taking over the program since there was no way to know with any degree of certainty how much written pre- mium was in the program, what the claim experience was, etc. It forced the pro- gram to start from scratch and write each member one at a time. That will not hap- pen with the new endorsement, since we are contractually obligated to provide this information to the ARA . • Portfolio of Options: One key advan- tage of the ARA program is the size and experience of Wells Fargo Insurance Services USA, Inc., as well as the diversifi- cation of services available to ARA mem- bers. Coupled with our exceptional access to carriers with broad and varied solutions to the insurance problems you face every day, we also offer a wide range of products and services that bring additional value to you day in and day out, such as: • Professional Risk Group– We are experts of Directors and Officers Liability Insur- ance and Employment Practices Liability Insurance. It has been our experience that it is not a matter of “if” you are going to be sued for an employment-related wrongful act, but “when” it will occur. The vast majority of the ARA members we speak with do not have this coverage. • Employee Benefits – We are one of the largest health insurance brokers in the

country. We are all aware of the problems small businesses are facing in the area of employee benefits, and we have answers! • Human Resources– We work with busi- nesses like yours every day, and we know most of you do not have large profes- sional Human Resource departments. That is why we created our Employment Law Helpline, a service we make available to our customers that “supplements” their HR capabilities. It is a 24-hour per day toll-free service staffed by HR profes- sionals whose sole purpose is to answer your employment-related questions. For example let’s say you find you need to terminate an employee, and you do not know what the legal ramifications will be or what you need to do to make sure you do not violate EEOC laws during the process. One call to the Employment Law Helpline and you’ll have your answer. This is a huge advantage for small busi- nesses and is used, on average, 8-9 times per year by our customers. • Risk Management and Loss Control –

Wells Fargo Insurance Services USA, Inc. is one of the few brokers nationally that has a “back room” of Risk Management and Loss Control professionals. These are employees of our company who are trained to provide assistance to our cus- tomers in the areas of safety, loss control, building replacement cost analysis, claims follow-up, and OSHA training. They are currently working closely with ARA to assist in the development of training mod- ules for ARA University.

These are just some of the many bene- fits available to ARA and their members as a result of the partnership between ARA and Wells Fargo Insurance Services USA, Inc.

For more information on how Wells Fargo In- surance Services can benefit your business, contact Bill Velin at 800-328-6311, ext. 3039, direct 952-830-3039, or by e-mail bill.velin @wellsfargo.com.