How 1st Auto Can Assist You

Winter 2020 Issue

By Lisa Russell, 1st Auto Executive Vice President

1st Auto was created in 1991 when WRC’s client mutuals were looking to improve their competitiveness by having a partner who could provide automobile insurance to their insureds. We continue to focus on improving our partnership with our valued client mutuals and agents, and we soon will have new products available. If you have not reviewed what we offer in a while, I encourage you to do so.

What is 1st Auto doing today to meet the changing needs of WRC’s client mutuals?

As of October, most existing products 1st Auto offers are quoted and serviced within 1st Otto-mation. Existing Business Auto policies have been moving into 1st Otto-mation on renewal. Existing Personal/Farm Personal Umbrellas will move into 1st Otto-mation starting with January renewals.

IVANs Download and EZ Lynx also have launched. The download will initially be available to agents only for Personal Auto. We will add the other lines soon. Agents will be able to download commissions in addition to historic policy information. 1st Auto has been on PL Rater for quite some time, and we will soon be on EZ Lynx, another comparative rater. With the addition of EZ Lynx, 1st Auto will be available on the two most common comparative raters our agents use.

Our new product, Commercial Umbrella, is anticipated to launch early in 2020. This is a bit later than we had anticipated. We needed to spend a bit more time on the development of personal/farm personal umbrella in 1st Otto-mation and needed time to develop reports to comply with new reporting requirements for some of our states. Commercial Umbrella is designed to complement the small commercial business many client mutuals write in addition to our Business Auto program. Commercial Umbrella will be offered in all six states where we do business.

We are working on development of BOP and Artisans products. These products will assist client mutuals who cannot write these products themselves due to state statutes or who do not wish to write small commercial risks. After those products are developed, we will work on developing motorcycle and land-based recreational vehicle products.

We also continue to review and update our existing products, technology and services while these new products are being developed and launched. We are reviewing our Personal Auto rates, and we will continue to review those rates regularly.

What else do we offer to assist client mutuals?

Like your companies, we have staff committed to providing excellent customer service and who have authority to make decisions. Some of the additional key benefits and services we provide are highlighted below:

Companion Discounts

We offer a 10% discount to your insureds when they have a current home or farm policy with your company and a Personal Auto policy with 1st Auto, resulting in a package discount for your insureds. Similarly, we offer a 10% discount to your insureds on our Business Auto policies when your company has their commercial or farm liability policy. To support our partnerships with agencies, we also offer a smaller discount (5%) to your insureds on our automobile policies when the agency holds the insured’s home, farm or commercial policy that was placed with another insurer.

Agent Reminders

We regularly remind our agents of the value of our partnership with WRC’s client mutuals and the benefits of placing insureds with client mutuals and 1st Auto. We also help good agencies who are looking for a relationship with a client mutual to start the conversation, and the mutual decides whether to partner with that agency.

Reports and Information

We share reports with client mutuals that provide some information about the volume of business our common agents place with 1st Auto. Client mutuals have found those reports useful in further developing and strengthening their relationships with common agencies.

Information about 1st Auto is regularly shared with you using a variety of formats. Also, your 1st Auto Marketing Representative will periodically schedule a visit to meet with you to provide an update in person, and I encourage you to contact them directly.

When client mutuals are interested in developing products that we offer, we have provided consulting assistance to them. As always, the decisions are made by the client mutuals.

Agent Meetings/Agent Education

Client mutuals’ staff are always welcome to attend the agent meetings we provide, and we appreciate that many of you have taken the time to do so. We are also pleased when you invite us to your agent meetings, and we value the opportunity to show our partnership by providing an update on 1st Auto and providing continuing education credits.

Interested in Learning More? Have Suggestions?

Your 1st Auto Marketing Representatives are:

If you have suggestions for us, please send them to: ideas@1stauto.com, your 1st Auto Marketing Representative, or any of the 1st Auto staff. We regularly review and discuss suggestions submitted by client mutuals and agents.