Carriers & Vendors Making News

Liberty Mutual Earns Honor

January 25, 2012

Liberty Mutual Insurance's service call centers have once again earned honors for call center customer service excellence under the J.D. Power and Associates’ Certified Call Center Program.

The nation's eighth-largest provider of auto and home insurance, Liberty Mutual is one of a select number of property/casualty insurers to have its service call centers certified for providing "An Outstanding Customer Service Experience" under the program.

Liberty Mutual's customer service reps process more than 12.6 million calls from auto and home insurance customers countrywide each year, ranging from policy updates and changes to questions about insurance products and coverage. This includes 6.5 million calls handled by nearly 1,000 employees in Liberty Mutual's five personal lines call center operations – Phoenix, Tampa, Fla., Mishawaka, Ind., New Castle, Pa., and Springfield, Mass. – and approximately 6.1 million service calls handled by nearly 1,300 employees in more than 350 local offices in the U.S.

To receive the certification, Liberty Mutual passed a detailed audit of its recruiting, training, employee incentives, management roles and responsibilities, and quality assurance capabilities, reports J.D. Power and Associates.

A random survey of callers who recently contacted the Liberty Mutual call centers was included in the audit. Call centers must perform within the top 20 percent of customer service, based on J.D. Power and Associates' cross-industry customer satisfaction research. Among the results, customers gave Liberty Mutual high scores for representatives' courtesy, knowledge, concern, timeliness in resolving a problem or question, and overall service.

"This prestigious honor demonstrates that 'customer service excellence' is more than a Liberty Mutual business goal, it's a daily operational reality," said Tim Sweeney, Liberty Mutual Insurance president, Personal Markets. "In an intensely competitive industry, our success largely depends on delighting our customers, and each day our call center professionals live up to that responsibility."

BMCC Wins Sales Contest

January 23, 2012

BMCC Insurance won the Mercury Insurance 2011 California Agency sales contest. BMCC, a multi-line insurance agency servicing both personal and commercial sectors, specializes in auto, home, life and commercial lines.

BMCC says the contest was held among P&C insurance agencies in California from July through December 2011. A winner was chosen for each of five tiers, based on agency size. The grand prize for the top six in each tier is a trip for two to the St. Regis Resort in Princeville, Kauai.

BMCC says it is the newest Mercury Insurance agent to win the award, having just signed a contract to represent Mercury several weeks after the contest had started.

Safeco Recognizes 257 Agents With Award of Excellence

January 17, 2012

Safeco Insurance is presenting its annual Award of Excellence to 257 agents – representing 228 agencies across the country – with its 2012 Award of Excellence. The annual award celebrates Safeco’s most outstanding and committed agent partners. These partners have superior underwriting skills as well as belong to an agency that qualified for membership in Safeco’s H.K. Dent Society, the company’s agency recognition program.

Safeco says recipients of the Award of Excellence are granted additional underwriting authority that recognizes the long-term value their partnership adds to Safeco. Award of Excellence recipients for 2012 by region are California, 54; Central, 39; Mid-Atlantic, 21; Midwest, 12; Mountain, 12; Northeast, 35; Northwest, 59; and Southeast, 25.

“Safeco is proud to honor these agents for their long-term loyalty with our company and solid partnership with underwriting that’s built on mutual trust and respect,” says Debbie Akers, VP for Safeco’s underwriting field operations. “Each of these qualifying agents possesses outstanding underwriting abilities that serve both their customers and Safeco.”

2012 Insurance Hall of Fame Honoree Announced

January 17, 2012

Ikuo Uno, executive advisor to the board and former chairman of Nippon Life Insurance Co., has been named the 2012 Insurance Hall of Fame winner by the International Insurance Society (IIS). Uno will be inducted at a gala dinner during the IIS 48th Annual Seminar in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June.

The IIS says the Insurance Hall of Fame award honors insurance leaders who have made a broad, encompassing and lasting contribution to the insurance industry, and who are recognized by their peers as successful leaders, innovators and visionaries. Nominees for the Insurance Hall of Fame are selected by the IIS Honors Committee, a body of senior insurance executives and academics, and voted on by the IIS membership by secret ballot, tabulated and conducted by Deloitte & Touche.

Uno has more than 50 years of experience in the insurance industry, says IIS. He is a business manager committed to long-term, stable business management with the conviction and determination to fulfill responsibilities to provide security for policyholders. Uno’s career highlights include being appointed president of the company in 1997 and serving as chairman of the Life Insurance Association of Japan in 2000 and 2004. IIS says he also played an important role as an expert member of the Financial System Council Finance Subcommittee from 2001 to 2002, on the government’s Financial System Council.

New York Life Names Top Agent

January 11, 2012

New York Life Insurance Co., a mutual life insurer, named Rodger K. Johnson as “council president,” a title given annually to the New York Life agent with the company’s highest sales and service achievements. As council president, Johnson is the top agent in the company’s national field force, which is comprised of 12,250 licensed New York Life agents.

New York Life says Johnson has represented the company for 30 years. He is a registered representative and financial advisor whose business focus is meeting the financial needs of pre-retired and retired persons, small businesses and high net-worth families.

From his office in Tyler, Texas, Johnson serves families and businesses throughout that state. He currently holds Certified Life Underwriter (CLU), Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC), Master’s of Science in Financial Services (MSFS) and Certified Financial Planner (CFP) professional designations. Most recently, he completed the Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (CAP) program with The American College, facilitating the January 2011 class.

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