Business Moves

AJ Gallagher, Bowen, Miclette

Insurance brokerage and risk management services firm Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired the operations of Bowen, Miclette, Britt & Merry of Arkansas Inc. in Fort Smith, Ark., from Bowen, Miclette & Britt Insurance Agency LLC in Houston, Texas, and Philip H. Merry Jr.

Bowen, Miclette, Britt & Merry of Arkansas is a retail insurance broker offering risk management and insurance products and services to their clients primarily in Arkansas and Oklahoma. The firm specializes in the healthcare, manufacturing, retail and poultry processing industries.

Philip H. Merry Jr. and his staff will continue to operate in their current location under the direction of Mitchel Brashier, Southeastern Regional manager of Gallagher’s retail property/casualty brokerage operations.

Midlands Management, Oklahoma Restaurant Association

Oklahoma City-based Midlands Management Corp. announced it has been selected as the endorsed workers’ compensation program provider for members of the Oklahoma Restaurant Association (ORA).

Workers’ compensation insurance will be provided by the PMA Insurance Group as well as other select carriers who are rated “A-” or higher by A.M. Best.

The Oklahoma Restaurant Association is the trade association for restaurants and foodservice operations, the state’s largest private industry employers. The association represents more than 4,000 restaurants and members.

NetComp

NetComp Insurance, a newly-formed program manager based in Columbia, S.C., has opened its online program (www.netcompinsurance.com) for small to-mid size workers’ compensation business to all independent agents in Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas.

NetComp said it will make monoline workers’ compensation coverage available to low-severity, “Main Street” businesses. The policies, which can be issued online, are being written on the paper of Dallas National Insurance Co. The minimum premium is $500; premiums are typically below $5,000.

Agents may access NetComp’s program through its Internet portal, where they are informed they can quote, bind and also issue a policy in about 15 minutes. There is a Quick-Quote feature that enables agents to obtain a premium estimate with simply the state, class code and preferred limits. If the estimate is acceptable, the agent can then complete an application, bind, make a payment and have the policy issued immediately.

John F. Seibert, president and CEO of the new firm, said that the ability to actually issue the policy should give NetComp an advantage in the marketplace. He also expects the 10 percent commission that NetComp is paying to help win over business.

Seibert is the former CEO of Capital City Insurance Co., a multiline property/ casualty insurer operating in 18 southeastern states. Prior to that, he was a senior vice president with General Reinsurance.

Seibert said he began working on the business plan for NetComp after he left Capital City about 18 months ago, when the insurer was acquired. At Capital City, Seibert said he saw that small town and rural, low premium books of business were profitable from a loss perspective but were expensive to handle. Thus he teamed with Duck Creek Technologies to create NetComp’s online quote, bind and issuance system to streamline the handling and underwriting.

“We’re very comfortable having the black box handle the underwriting,” he said. If the risk doesn’t fit in NetComp’s model, then it’s not right for NetComp, he added.

He also said he has no interest in expanding into other lines but does plan to expand into other states.

Seibert is venturing into business at a time when payrolls and premiums are down but he thinks the economy is on the way back and that the soft market will turn, although he’s not sure exactly when.

Topics Oklahoma Arkansas