WE TAKE TIME TO UNDERSTAND THE CLIENT'S NEEDS

A large (1,000+ employees) electronic part distributor had, for several years, tried to find a way to provide disability coverage for which the employees would pay for through payroll deduction at a cost the lower paid employees could afford.

The firm had looked at programs offered by other brokers but they were either too restrictive, too expensive, or required a higher level of participation than the employer projected would be possible (i.e. 75%). The STD plans they looked at were too expensive for the administrative personnel because of the higher salaries and the short elimination period. The LTD plans they looked at were too expensive for the warehouse personnel because of their blue collar status and the long elimination period would present a financial burden beyond recovery. The firm was convinced they were stuck.

It was obvious to us that the firm needed a special plan which would meet both the needs of the administrative staff and the warehouse employees. We decided a combination of STD and LTD would be the answer. By offering a dual plan design, each employee could select the coverage which best met his/her needs and financial capability. We went to the marketplace and requested several different plan designs of STD/LTD combinations. We were very clear about the client's needs ie. low participation requirements, guarantee issue coverage, simplified enrollment, easy administration, etc. More than 10 carriers expressed interest in placing the coverage and the cost was very affordable. The client was very pleasantly surprised with our findings and the spreadsheet presentation we prepared. The structure of the plan was exactly what they needed.

In addition to plan design and pricing, we had also developed a questionnaire for each interested carrier to complete to help the client determine the most suitable choice. We evaluated enrollment procedures, billing options, enrollment meeting support, availability of handouts and payroll stuffers, quality of service personnel assigned to the group, etc. This allowed the employer to narrow the choices down to 3 reputable, highly rated carriers who responded most favorably. The client, with our assistance, interviewed each of the 3 carriers and confidently made their selection. Enrollment exceeded 60% and has grown steadily every year since its inception.