Rancho Mesa's Lauren Stumpf and Account Executive Jeremy Hoolihan discuss commercial auto rate increases and the ways companies can mitigate them.

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Director/Host: Alyssa Burley

Guest: Jeremy Hoolihan

Producer/Editor: Megan Lockhart

Music: "Home" by JHS Pedals, “News Room News” by Spence

Transcript

Alyssa Burley: Hi, this is Alyssa Burley with Rancho Mesa's Media Communications and Client Services Department. Thank you for listening to today's top Rancho Mesa News, brought to you by our Safety and Risk Management Network, StudioOne. Welcome back, everyone. My guest is Jeremy Hoolihan, partner with Rancho Mesa. He specializes in providing insurance services to the janitorial and maintenance industry. Today, we're going to talk about best practices tips for lowering commercial auto rates. Jeremy, welcome to the show.

Jeremy Hoolihan: Hi, Alyssa. It's always great to be here at Studio One.

AB: All right. So for the last several years, the insurance industry has seen a significant increase in auto rates, even for those businesses who have stellar driving records. What kind of increases are you seeing in the marketplace?

JH: Well, Alyssa, in 2023, the top ten auto carriers in the US all took double digit increases. This is in addition to rate increases, we've honestly been seen since about 2018, which equates to rates, you know, averaging anywhere between 20 and 50% increase. And that's just over the last few years.

AB: Okay. So do you think this trend will continue into the near future?

JH: Unfortunately, yes, I do. According to U.S. auto insurers, these rate increases are still not keeping up with the skyrocketing claims, frequency and severity issues. So we're likely to continue to see auto rate increases before this thing levels off.

AB: Okay. So as claim frequency increases along with the claim severity, we should expect to these rate increases. So everyone should be aware. Is there anything that business owners can do to help mitigate these increases?

JH: Yes, Alyssa. You know, positioning your company now with a best practices fleet safety program is more important than ever. It's also critical that business owners work closely with their insurance brokers to develop a program that will not only improve safety on the roads, but will also highlight the efforts a company is focusing on from an underwriting perspective. You know, minimizing rate increases can only come with the collective efforts of the business owner and their insurance broker in order to really even consider receiving any credits on auto rates. A business needs to stand out from other submissions an underwriter is reviewing. So, you know, Rancho Mesa understands how important this is, which is why we've developed our detailed Fleet Supplemental Application as well as our SafetyOne™ river's training program.

AB: All right. So let's dig a little deeper into both of these. How does the Fleet Supplemental Application help in the underwriting process? Because I know sometimes clients might get this document and they're thinking, why am I filling all this out?

JH: Right. That's a very good question. You know, as an insurance broker, the vital role of ours is to represent the business to the insurance marketplace, you know, providing in-depth details relating to fleet safety and efforts that go beyond what an underwriter is used to seeing is what Rancho Mesa really strives to submit. The more detail and underwriter has regarding an auto submission, obviously, the more comfortable they will be with the company's program, which generally leads to more subjective credits. Now, Rancho Mesa has developed a fleet safety supplemental that dives deep into the businesses fleet program. It collects general information like fleet size driving, radius description and vehicle usage, but it also explores details surrounding safety management like safety controls or telematics accident reporting and completed safety courses. The supplemental also includes things like equipment that might be attached to a vehicle's, vehicle inspection and maintenance programs, location of overnight parking for the vehicles, personal usage of company vehicles, safeguards for storing vehicles, process for selecting drivers and reviewing motor vehicle reports, as well as pre-employment physicals and drug and alcohol testing.

AB: Okay. I think the underwriter would have a pretty good idea of the company's auto risk after reviewing all of that information. So will you explain to our listeners how the SafetyOne mobile app and website can help companies with their fleet safety program?

JH: Absolutely, Alyssa. Rancho Mesa has developed a driver training program that is accessed through the SafetyOne website. The administrator can assign the online driver training courses to the appropriate employees where they can easily be completed from a computer or mobile device. Since each employee has their own login and password to access their training, the records are always easy to locate in the platform.

AB: All right, so what kinds of trainings are included in the driver training program?

JH: The driver training courses include both a video and quiz, and they are often in both English and in Spanish. Employees watch the video and then take the quiz. This can be done as many times as needed in order to pass the course. We obviously want people to really understand the content, not just get a minimum passing score. So the program includes distracted driving, driver safety, driving defensively and driving safety course.

AB: All right. So this sounds really awesome and so many great tools for our clients that they can utilize to help lower their auto insurance cost. Is there anything else you'd like to add before we wrap up?

JH: Yes, I would, Alyssa. I would just want to remind listeners that while the auto marketplace continues to see rate increases, now is not the time for businesses to sit back idly and be complacent with their fleet safety program. Working with your insurance broker to improve your fleet safety program and sharing this information with insurance companies can have a significant effect on your auto premiums.

AB: I completely agree. And our client services team is here to help with our tool. So if clients have questions, we can definitely help them. So Jeremy, if listeners have questions about best practices for reducing their auto insurance premium, what's the best way to get in touch with you?

JH: Listeners can reach out to me via email or phone. My email address is jhoolihan@ranchomesa.com. And my direct line is 619-937-0174.

AB: All right. Well, Jeremy, thank you so much for joining me in StudioOne.

JH: Thanks for having me, Alyssa. Appreciate it.

AB: This is Alyssa Burley with Rancho Mesa. Thanks for tuning into our latest episode produced by StudioOne. For more information, visit us at ranchomesa.com, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter.