John K. Smith, President & CEO
Hopefully, by the time you read this, some normalcy will have returned to all our lives. Our aim is to have the PLM team back in the office, but frankly, we can’t be sure, considering the pandemic.
As I write this, we continue to operate on a remote basis. The PLM team has done a wonderful job in continuing to move the company forward. However, it is really your perspective that matters. You should receive timely, effective, and efficient service from all of our people. Whether it is returned phone calls, policy documentation, claims, loss control or general customer service-related issues, we expect to provide excellent service, even in the midst of COVID-19. If you are not receiving immediate resolution of any issues to your satisfaction, I want to know about it! If you are having any customer service-related issues, please take a moment to email me at jsmith@plmins.com.
In the previous issue, I shared some of our financial results as an organization, and I think it is appropriate to update my thoughts at this time. We continue to see various insurance companies exiting the wood niche and non-renewing building material dealers, light wood manufacturers, and, especially, pallet and sawmill risks. Our ability to renew accounts is surging, as is our hit ratio. About 1,500 potential new accounts have been reviewed by our team since the beginning of the year. About 60 percent of them were declined because they did not meet our standards for loss control and risk management requirements. The other 40 percent of the accounts were quoted, some more competitively than others from either a coverage or pricing viewpoint.
If we declined to provide you a quote, you should understand the reason why and what you can do to improve (should you choose) the desirability of your business to an insurance company. If this isn’t explained to you, please let me know and we will rectify this issue accordingly.
More than 287 businesses, generating almost $12 million of new premium, have joined the PLM family so far this year. We expect that number to grow as we enter into the fourth quarter. Better than 90 percent of insureds have renewed their coverage this year. While we would like to believe this is solely because of our outstanding value, we recognize that some insureds have been too worried about the pandemic to shop their insurance.
We, like you, have reduced our expenses as best we can despite the outstanding top-line revenue growth that we are experiencing. The result is that our expense ratio has dipped dramatically.
While profitability in the commercial property and general liability lines has been acceptable, the commercial auto experience continues to be poor, for PLM and the whole insurance industry. We continue to underwrite this coverage very tightly and seek additional rate when required, keeping in line with what other insurance carriers are doing.
Our surplus is slowly rebounding from a dramatic drop in March. Assuming this improvement continues, we should be able to recapture our surplus loss by yearend.
Cash flow has improved dramatically, and we are deeply in the process of cleaning up outstanding premium receivables caused by the pandemic. We find most insureds to be very cooperative in our efforts in this area, and we are very much appreciative of their responsiveness.
We have always been very proud of our employees and have insisted over the last four or five years that they all become involved in continuing professional education. More than 85 percent of the PLM team are currently enrolled in continuing insurance education. We are pleased that our business development representative in California, Kobié Jacobs, recently completed and earned his CPCU, which is the insurance industry’s premier professional designation.
This past quarter, we finally rolled out our Net Promoter Score program “Ask Nicely.” In a separate article, our Corporate Marketing Manager, Lindsey DiGangi, will provide you with more detail. We expect to further implement this program as we roll into the fourth quarter.
We recently piloted “Any Time Risk Management,” a self-risk management tool for small businesses that we believe will enhance our ability to provide our small and medium-sized insureds with a risk management product that includes consultation with one of our loss control representatives and access to a risk management library.
Many of you are aware that I spend quite a bit of my time travelling and visiting insureds, not only at their place of business, but at various industry trade shows throughout the country. PLM views trade show attendance and involvement with your various associations not only as part of our effort to support the industry, but also to connect with our current customers, many who have become friends over the years. Of course, like any other vendor, we hope to also establish some new relationships at shows, too. So, trust me when I tell you that we are disappointed that over 100 trade shows and industry meetings have been cancelled because of the pandemic. We miss seeing you, talking about your operations, and discussing ways to help you grow and expand your business.
I continue to look forward to your comments, calls and emails. Call or write me with your thoughts and comments at 267-825-9246 or at jsmith@plmins.com.
