BRITT/PAULK NEWS

We Welcome Reed Clawson to the Britt/Paulk Aviation Team!

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OPUS: Now Quoting Builder's Risk Wind Covergae in Tier 1 Counties

OPUS now allows quoting and binding through OPUS with wind in Tier 1 counties in the following states: AL, GA, LA, MS, NC, SC, VA. All Zip codes in these Tier 1 counties that extend to the coast will refer to underwriting. They can still be underwritten with wind, but must refer to underwriting due to coastal zones.

Professionals in the Professional Liability Industry

Professional Liability has been added to the Britt/Paulk product line. Professional Liability is offered to meet the needs of large, prestigious Insureds as well as small, local organizations. Coverages include: Directors & Officers Liability, Employment Practices Liability, Commercial Crime and Errors & Omissions.
Our D&O offers coverage for Not For Profit, For Profit, Financial Institutions, and Community Associations and Boards. EPLI offers primary coverage for private and public companies other than financial institutions, and our E&O offers coverage for Financial Institutions, School Leaders and Public Officials, Technology, Design Professionals, Multimedia, Employed Lawyers and Miscellaneous Professionals.
For more information email us at professional@brittpaulk.com

An Alternative to Filling out Apps!

Keeping with our efforts to provide convenience for our customers, Britt/Paulk now provides an option to fill out applications online and have them sent directly to the underwriting department.
Programs currently offering online fillable applications include: Environmental, Marine & Yacht, Motor Truck Cargo, and Wholesale Distributors.

Forecasters Hurricane Prediction: ACTIVE

Effective June 1, 2008

Forecasters predict the 2008 Hurricane Season will be active. When the NOAA/National Hurricane Center announces the formation of a tropical system, which threatens the United States, our ability to bind coverage may be temporarily restricted. We will endeavor to use our website and email to keep agents updated when binding restrictions are imposed. OPUS may also be temporarily unavailable.

It is the customary practice of our Carriers to limit binding during an approaching storm. It is not permissible to bind any new business or to increase any existing property, inland marine, aircraft hull or automobile physical damage coverage within 100 miles of any coastal area that is potentially impacted by the NOAA National Hurricane Center’s 5-day forecast, showing an approaching storm to specific areas. These restrictions will remain in force until the storm has passed and until 24 hours after the tropical depression/storm/hurricane watch or warnings are removed. You should contact us to determine when restrictions are lifted and if any other requirements are necessary.

During this season, it is very important that you contact your underwriter to confirm the availability of coverage. Please remember to remind your clients that pending quotes which have not yet been bound may be suspended or withdrawn, should tropical activity trigger the restrictions.

Great Advantages with Motor Truck Cargo

Motor Truck Cargo policies are now available nationally, (excluding AK, CA, and HI) and have an Admitted, A.M. Best “A+” rating or better. Motor Truck cargo allows for the transportation of personal property, removal of debris, earned freight charges, pollutant clean up and removal expenses and expenses to prevent the product from being further harmed.
The minimum deductible varies on the type of cargo and risk involved. The policy can be modified to vary the limit based on the clients needs or even increase the limit for a specific shipper or product.
The new Motor Truck Cargo program will provide several advantages including: New ventures will be considered Custom tailored policies to the insured's needs Motor truck cargo can be underwritten as stand alone or in addition to an existing Britt/Paulk program.
If any questions email us at motortruckcargo@brittpaulk.com

Here to Help with your Environmental Needs

Britt/Paulk now offers Environmental to the product line as stand alone coverage or in addition to an existing Britt/Paulk program. These policies will have national coverage with limits of up to $25 million.
Britt/Paulk Environmental offers the following: Contractors Pollution Liability, Professional Liability, Premises Pollution Liability, Products Pollution Liability, Commercial General Liability, Business Auto Coverage, and Excess Form Liability. A majority of the policies offered include cleaning of above or below ground tanks, cleaning and restoring fire damaged property, and removing or neutralizing pollutants.
If Any questions email us at environmental@brittpaulk.com

Gwen Pilot adds Workers Comp Department to the Britt/Paulk Line Up

Gwendolyn Pilot joined Britt/Paulk Insurance Underwriters February 2008 as Workers' Compensation Senior Underwriter. She brings over 27 years of commercial underwriting experience.
Gwen is a graduate of California State University Los Angeles. Prior to joining Britt/Paulk Insurance Underwriters, Gwen worked for an Atlanta insurance group as a Senior Underwriter specializing in workers compensation. Additionally, Gwen has worked as a commercial lines Account Executive.
Gwen will be located in the Atlanta office and will report to James Swing, Chief Underwriting Officer. Feel free to contact Gwen for all of your Workers' Compensation insurance needs.

Installation Floaters Added to our Builder's Risk

Installation floaters are a new policy that Britt/Paulk offers to protect the value of material and labor of work from theft, vandalism, fire and windstorm. Coverage begins when the equipment is in transit to the site and ends when the job is completed.
This policy is designed to insure the materials, fixtures and equipment that the insured is installing, constructing or rigging as part of the installation or construction project.
This is an example of Britt/Paulk’s continued efforts to provide the best coverage for our customers. If there are any questions regarding this coverage, please contact Greg Vissering at 770-214-7649 or gvissering@brittpaulk.com

Ron Wallace joins the BP Builder's Risk Team

Ronald Wallace is joining our Britt/Paulk team as Program Manager for Builders Risk, Ocean Cargo and Contractors Equipment. Ron will be located in the Atlanta office and report to our Chief Underwriting Officer Lisa Finch.
Ron is a graduate of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and has a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration. He has worked in the insurance industry for over 30 years specializing in Marine and Property coverages. For many years prior to joining our team, Ron held the position of Regional Marine Manager with 2 national insurance companies.
Ron's responsibilities will include marketing, underwriting and training. With this addition to staff we are keeping our commitment to provide quality service and products to all of our production sources.

Brant Neal overseas Eastern Region for Commercial Ag Program

Joining the Commercial Agriculture team is Brant Neal, who will be overseeing all accounts in the Eastern region for Commercial Agriculture.
Brant comes to Britt/Paulk with 33 years of experience in the insurance business; the last 28 years devoted exclusively to agriculture. He graduated with a Bachelor's degree from Pacific Christian College in California, and completed a Masters degree from California State University. His career in the insurance business has included: supervision of an eight state underwriting territory of farm and ranch business, opening and staffing a branch office, managing sales in a ten state agribusiness territory, developing coverage forms and a farm and ranch program manual; and creating an agribusiness underwriting unit that grew to $39 million in written premium.
Brant will be aiding Jon Solberg with the expansion of the Commercial Agriculture package program. This entails managing the underwriting process, monitoring market developments in pricing and coverage, and building strong company and agency relationships in order to develop and grow a profitable book of business.

2 NEW Office Additions!

We are proud to announce we've added two additional offices! Our expanded footprint includes additional offices in Stuart, Florida and Boise, Idaho.

7000 SE Federal Hwy Suite 302
Stuart, FL 34997

In our Florida office we have our National Marine Director, Steve York. Steve comes to us through a recent acquisition with Mitchell, York & Cooper.

Steve, president and one of the original founders of Mitchell, York & Cooper said, “We are delighted to become a part of the Britt / Paulk team." Steve comes to Britt /Paulk with 32 years of experience in the Marine Industry and are proud to welcome him to the Britt / Paulk Marine team.

P.O. Box 4479
Boise, ID 83711

In our Boise Office we have Charles S.(Chad) Winston, Vice President of Commercial Agriculture, Will McCurdy, Senior Underwriter and Kevin Bargen, Senior Underwriter, along with Underwriting Assistants, Leslie Tavares and Brenda Ellis.

Chad, founder of recently acquired Magnum Opus Insurance Services, comes to Britt / Paulk with 29 years of Underwriting management experience specializing in the Agricultural and Forestry industries. Will McCurdy joins Britt / Paulk in conjunction with Chad and brings his 5 years of underwriting experience to the team specializing in Commercial Agribusiness. Kevin Bargen is based in Lincoln, NE and adds another 15 years of Agribusiness underwriting experience to our team.

Our Boise team will service agents and insureds in most states West of the Mississippi River.

Britt/Paulk Insurance Agency Announces Acquisition of Magnum OPUS

Effective January 1, 2008, agriculture insurance specialist, Magnum OPUS and all of its assets have been acquired by Britt/Paulk and will begin operating as the Britt/Paulk Boise, Idaho branch office.

Magnum OPUS was founded in 2005 and provides specialized package insurance products to the agriculture and food processing industry through unique vertical insurance integration. With the addition of Magnum Opus and their expert team, Britt/Paulk will be offering an exclusive, nationwide Commercial Agriculture Package Program.

John Paulk, president of Britt/Paulk commented, “This merger provides Britt/Paulk with a Western presence and matches well with our strategy of expanding our agriculture focus beyond our current equipment and poultry confinement programs.”

Chad Winston, president of Magnum OPUS commented, "We are very excited about this merger because it will bring greater resources (both programs and companies) to our office and through us to our agency partners.”

Dene Schoerner, chief operating officer of Britt/Paulk added, “The experience and skill sets brought to Britt/Paulk through the addition of Magnum OPUS and Chad Winston along with Britt/Paulk’s carrier relationships will be a great benefit in helping us expand our agriculture presence across the U.S.”

Britt / Paulk Insurance Agency Announces Acquisition of Mitchell, York & Cooper, LLC

Britt / Paulk Insurance Agency, Inc., announced today that it has agreed to acquire substantially all of the assets of Mitchell, York & Cooper, LLC, a Florida-based Marine Insurance broker. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Mitchell, York & Cooper was founded in 1988 and provides quality marine insurance products for marinas, ship yards, marine contractors, cargo, boat dealers, and U.S. longshore and harbor workers through independent agents.

John Paulk, president of Britt / Paulk commented, “This acquisition strengthens our presence in Florida and provides our company with our first entrée into the marine products market. As a company, this is our first acquisition, but, it will certainly not be our last. We intend to continue looking for additional growth opportunities through acquisitions that will fit well with our corporate culture and our long term strategy.”

Stephen York, president and one of the original founders of Mitchell, York & Cooper said, “We are delighted to become a part of the Britt / Paulk team. The national distribution channels established by Britt / Paulk and their easy to operate Online Policy Underwriting System (OPUS) will make our marine products accessible to literally, thousands of new agents.”

Dene Schoerner, Britt / Paulk’s COO, added, “The acquisition of Mitchell, York & Cooper has opened the way for Britt / Paulk to contract with the top carriers of marine products in this country. Steve York’s decision to join the Britt / Paulk team is a real bonus. He will continue to head up the Florida operation. With Steve’s guidance, we see short and long term opportunities, regionally and nationally, to quickly expand the markets for our new marine products. We are delighted to have a marine products insurance professional with Steve’s qualifications and background to join our team.”

Britt Paulk Insurance Underwriter's New Staff!

Britt Paulk has hired on a new member to the Timber Harvesting Program! Tom LaBerge will join the team in the Carrollton office as Senior Underwriter.

Tom comes to us with 30 years of insurance experience, the last 19 dedicated to the Forestry Products Industry. Tom received his B.G.S. Degree in Environmental Psychology at the University of Kansas.

Tom will also underwrite equipment risk in conjunction with other Timber Harvesting Program product lines, expanding into the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.

With the additional staff and Britt/Paulk's continued focus to meet the needs of the timber harvesting industry, we expect these changes will result in more timely quote turnaround and customer service.