June 20, 2025 • 43 mins
What if your business faced a catastrophic event tomorrow? Would your insurance truly protect you? According to shocking statistics, around 40% of small businesses never reopen after a disaster strikes. This sobering reality formed the cornerstone of our eye-opening conversation with commercial insurance experts Kristen Lonergan and Aaron Flores from Champion Commercial Insurance.
The discussion revealed critical blind spots that most business owners have when it comes to their insurance coverage. Property sublimits, business interruption planning, and liability transfer through contracts emerged as three areas where businesses frequently remain dangerously exposed. As Kristen candidly explained, "If you take your policy and flip it over and start reading from the back, that's where all the damage is." Most business owners never examine these crucial exclusions until it's too late.
Both experts emphasized that insurance should never be treated as a commodity purchased solely on price. Instead, they advocated for building a relationship with your agent that borders on uncomfortable intimacy. "Your insurance agent needs to know more about you than your spouse knows about you," Kristen advised, highlighting that this level of transparency enables proper risk assessment and mitigation. Aaron added that accessibility and communication should be non-negotiable expectations from your insurance provider, especially as your business evolves.
The conversation also explored how inflation impacts insurance premiums, the value of customized insurance audits, and why certain industries—particularly those with large auto fleets or extensive roof square footage—face mounting challenges in securing affordable coverage. For business owners preparing for renewal negotiations, the experts recommended being proactive 90-120 days before renewal and having frank discussions about risk management strategies.
As lending requirements continue to evolve, having comprehensive insurance coverage isn't just about protection—it's increasingly becoming a prerequisite for accessing capital. Don't wait until disaster strikes to discover the gaps in your coverage. Connect with insurance professionals who will be strategic partners in your business planning and growth. Your business deserves more than minimum coverage; it deserves a champion.
If you need assistance in obtaining funding, book a free discovery call at www.tdjequityllc.net. Let us know the scope of funding needed and the amount. A broker will contact you to discuss your funding needs. And remember, at TDJ Equity Funding, we do not force your funding needs into a lender's box but find a lender's box that fits you!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Ready to get the inside scoop on equity funding?
Tune in to TDJ Equity FundingInsiders Podcast for an in-depth
look at what it takes to accessfinancial capital and maximize
your investments.
Hear from experiencedprofessionals, including bankers
, underwriters, loan officersand industry experts, as they
(00:36):
share their unfiltered storiesand valuable lessons on securing
funds.
Securing.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Funds.
Okay, we want to welcome youall to our Giving Power to the
Business Owner webinar series.
I'm your host, jacquelineJackson, with TDJ Equity Funding
, and today we have some specialguests.
We have some guests Aaron andKristen is actually from
(01:05):
Champion Commercial Insurance.
Now let's talk about commercialinsurance.
When it comes to business, wedon't really think that we need
it or even think about it.
It's like a flat tire, you know.
You don't think about a sparetire sorry, a spare tire until
you actually need it.
That's what we're trying toprevent.
We try to have these webinarswhere we can give you some tools
and some resources in yourbusiness, that kind of give you
(01:26):
some guidance on where you go,and then also we give you
experts that you can actuallyreach out to.
They will be available for youguys after the webinar.
We also have them listed on ourrefer page on our website where
you guys can actually reach outto them personally yourself.
Okay, so we want to get itstarted.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
First of all, we're going to start off with them
introducing themselves, msKristen, if you would tell them
a little bit about you as we goforward.
Good morning, I'm KristenLonergan.
I am the CEO of ChampionCommercial Insurance.
I've been in the insurancebusiness for 38, 39 years now,
worked with two of the world'slargest brokerages and large
(02:08):
notable names that you mightrecognize, from Texaco all the
way down to very small up andcoming entrepreneurial
businesses so vast experienceacross many industries.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
All right, great.
Okay, Aaron, will you give us alittle bit about you as well?
Speaker 4 (02:28):
Absolutely.
My name is Aaron Flores, one ofthe newer members to Champion
Commercial.
What I bring to the table is Ihave a lot of real estate
background.
I have 16 years of real estatebackground.
I have 16 years of real estatebackground anything from
commercial real estate,residential multifamily and
(02:49):
moving all that experience intothe insurance world and bringing
those benefits and values toour clients.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
OK, great.
So we see that we actually haveyou guys to come in and give us
some of your industryexperience and some of your
insights.
So let's start off with somequestions that we actually have.
We've actually went and polledsome of our business owners and
so they did submit some.
They did submit questions thatthey would like for you guys to
answer.
So I will answer the question,and it is up to Kristen and
(03:18):
Aaron.
Whichever one of you I want toanswer will be great.
So the question we have first,what are the most common gaps
you see in business owners,commercial insurance policies,
and how can these gaps put theirbusiness at risk?
Speaker 4 (03:34):
So I would say, from my perspective, you know
property coverage right now,property coverage and sublimits,
and when I say sublimits, youknow you have your coverage and
sublimits.
And when I say sublimits, youhave your coverage.
And then you have other limitsfor different parts of the
policy that may or not be lookedat in depth and having the
right insurance agent that'sgoing to go through those
(03:56):
sublimits and make sure yourcoverage is covered.
And that's where we're seeing alot of gaps.
So just a small example is youhave a retailer that has spent
extra money on signage outsideof his storefront.
We spent that extra money thatmay have cost $40,000.
When you look at their policyyou know maybe that sublimit for
(04:17):
the signage is only $10,000.
If that's overlooked andsomething happens to that sign,
you know who's going to be outthat extra 30 grand to get a new
sign.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Right, the business owner.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
So that's a small example.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
One of the areas where I feel like we see a great
deal of gap or lack ofattention to detail is going to
be in the business interruptionarea.
So inside of your policy youshould have a limit for business
interruption and extra expense.
This is an extremely difficultto quantify area of coverage.
(04:54):
It requires the business ownerto really get a hold of their
financials.
They need to understand theirpeak season, if they have one.
They need to understand how theflow of product or raw material
what does that look like?
How is that interrupted if theyhave a loss at their premise?
So, understanding in advancewhat your business income limit
(05:17):
needs to be.
What does your disasterrecovery plan look like?
Do you have that modeled?
Do you know where you're goingto go to keep your business
flowing if you have a fire atyour location or a loss, a
significant loss, at yourlocation and you can't function
there?
These are some of the big areaswhere we see gaps.
(05:39):
Another area, another commonarea, can be where insureds
don't understand the takeawaysor the exclusions in their
coverage.
So if you take your policy andyou flip it over and you start
reading from the back, that'swhere all the damage is Right.
Go to the back of that policy.
Read what's there andunderstand what life looks like
(06:02):
with that language inside yourform.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
OK, which is very Cause.
You're right, there'sdefinitely someone to look at
and like while we do this showis because a lot of business
owners we will do the bareminimum sometime because either
maybe lack of money, but it alsoa lot of it, and I know we've
had to talk, aaron, that it's alack of knowledge.
People do not know what theyshould have in insurance, they
(06:26):
just do the basics.
So that's why we have you here,christine.
I thank both of you so much forbeing here so we can go through
that.
So let me ask you this otherquestion and, aaron, hopefully
you can answer this how doesinflation impact the commercial
insurance premiums and whatstrategies can business owners
implement to manage the rise incost of premiums?
Speaker 4 (06:50):
I think we're going to let Kristen handle that one.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
I kind of thought about when I said.
I said she's going to know this.
Okay, Kristen, yeah, no, that'sfine.
That's fine.
Sorry, Erin, Me and you.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
We're all good and you know.
Thank you again for having ushere.
So you know, kind of reflectingback on your comment, jackie,
what, as much as we loveinsurance and you know it just
kind of oozes from every, everyorifice of our body how much we
love it Most people don't likeit.
I don't even.
I don't even like to pay my owninsurance premiums.
I don't like it.
I have teenage drivers.
(07:23):
It's horrible, I don't like it.
So we appreciate the mindset ofour business owners and the
people that are, you know, goingto tune into this, because it's
a difficult it's a difficultthing to exchange funds for an
intangible right so inflation.
It changes the impact on yourinsurance premium because when
(07:47):
there are driving costs likelabor, materials, material
shortages, labor shortages andjust general impact to the
economics across the UnitedStates as a whole, even overseas
inflation, because we do importso much right.
So these types of things arenot, they happen at such a rapid
(08:09):
pace that the insuranceindustry, the insurance
companies, have not necessarilyhad enough time to fund for
those inflationary increaseswhen they put their pricing into
effect in you know December orin.
I'm sorry, somebody's got theirmic on.
(08:30):
So when they when someone putstheir pricing model, when the
insurance companies put theirpricing model in place for the
upcoming 12 months, some of theeconomic impacts are not known
yet, because we've known our owngovernment to raise interest
rates, you know, two or threetimes in a year.
So these are the kind of thingsthat ultimately insurance
(08:53):
companies have not necessarilyfunded for them appropriately.
They do ultimately because ifthey're, if the insurance
company is underfunded one year,they're going to make up for
that funding the next year.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
The next year exactly .
And let me give a little dataon that.
As far as having an insurance,they're actually saying that,
according to the InsuranceInformation Institute, around 40
percent of small businessesnever reopen after a disaster.
Never reopen after a disaster.
Having business insurance canmitigate financial losses,
(09:27):
enabling businesses to recovermore quickly.
So that is something that'samazing.
We know we don't have thatinsurance, we don't think, oh,
it's not a big thing.
But the thing we have isbusiness, and I think we've had
this discussion that mostbusiness owners get the very
minimal because they say justenough to say I have it.
But, aaron, I know you saidearlier we talked about it when
(09:47):
it even come to loans, peoplehave to understand the lenders
are going to look for you tohave a loan policy, a policy to
actually be the amount of theloan.
So a lot of us may start, youmight start off with 250 or half
a million, but if your loan istwo million, three million, they
want your insurance to coverthat, they want you to have
general liability and they arelooking.
(10:07):
Some of my loans have required,kristen, that interruption
insurance.
Okay, so you're right.
So we definitely need to getinto that.
So let's move to the next one,also to let everybody know.
You can raise your hand andwe'll turn your mic on.
If you want to ask a question,okay, because they are here to
answer any question you all mayhave.
All right, so let's go to ournext one.
So can you explain the benefitsof having like a and I guess
(10:32):
it's more?
We're interested in it as loanbrokers because we run across it
, which is the customizedinsurance audit.
What should a business ownerexpect during this process?
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Sure, so what we mean when we say a customized
insurance audit just reallymeans sitting down with your
insurance agent and spending anuncomfortable amount of time
with them.
Really go through what you have, what you're contemplating
doing.
(11:02):
What are the financialimplications of changing course?
If I go out and buy a building,if I don't own a building and I
want to go out and invest mymoney in real estate for the tax
benefits or investment benefitswhatever they are, understand
the financial impact that thatmay bring to you.
(11:24):
Before you go out and put aloan document in place to buy a
building and then call yourinsurance agent, have these
conversations in advance.
Sit and talk about what keepsyou up at night.
You basically have to bare yoursoul.
You basically have to bare yoursoul and if your insurance
agent cannot spend anuncomfortable amount of time
(11:48):
with you, then you need to finda new agent.
Like this needs to be somebodythat you bring into the fold.
They need to know more aboutyou than your spouse knows about
you.
Like it needs to be that, thatcomfortable and that that type
(12:12):
of reciprocal arrangement.
Because if you, if you, it'skind of like trying to trying to
change the outcome of a test bycheating when we know
everything we need to know.
We will keep you out of troubleas often and where we can.
As often as we can and as muchas we can.
Does that make?
Speaker 2 (12:29):
sense.
That makes a lot of sense.
So basically, you're saying andI know it took a minute for me
to realize it too, and I know Ihad a discussion with you all
that when you're in business andyou get insurance, you know we
get it and we walk away.
So you said you don't do that.
You need to have an audit everyyear because things change
(12:50):
within your business and we mayhave to change some things.
That's basically what you'resaying now, right, I mean not
just once a year.
Speaker 4 (12:54):
I mean it could be, multiple times a year.
If you're in rapid growth mode.
If you're, you know you'rescaling.
You know you're a newer companythat's scaling and moving
quickly.
You're buying locations, you'rea franchise franchisor that's
getting multiple locations andyou're in complete growth mode.
I mean those conversations aregoing to need to be had
(13:16):
regularly.
So it just you know a itdepends on the business number
one.
But also, I mean things changeall the time with the economy,
with, you know, with you know adisaster that may happen today,
tomorrow, the next day, likethese things happen all the time
.
So constant communication, youknow, with our clients is a
(13:38):
priority.
You know that's, you know, oneof the things that we do at our
company, that we make sure thatwe have that connection, that
communication with our clients,but always constant.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
And constant.
Okay, and that makes a lot ofsense, because that's why I have
you guys on that show.
We want people to know thatit's more than just going and
getting an insurance policy.
Like you said, you need tobuild a relationship, but you
need someone that knows aboutyour business and what all you
need, and that's the thing.
We don't really do, that wejust go.
If you got insurance agentunder your name, here we come,
(14:11):
and that's what we have to stopas business owners, because
things are changing so rapidlyin the economy now that you guys
keep up with the changes.
You know what I'm saying andyou let your clients know hey,
let's come back in and let'slook at you again.
And that's what we're trying totell people.
When you have a business, makethat insurance really I mean
intentionally make thatinsurance a part of your
(14:31):
business plan.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
And that's what we kind of come into.
Well, and to your point, jackie, it's really important that we
not label insurance as acommodity.
Insurance should not bepurchased on price alone,
because I'm here to tell youthat you absolutely can have
three insurance options in frontof you, and the least expensive
does not necessarily mean thatit's the best, and the most
expensive doesn't necessarilymean it's the best.
The least expensive isn't theworst Maybe that's a better way
(15:05):
to say it.
So you can't look at it basedoff of price.
You can absolutely look at itand say, okay, I can't afford
this.
Or how do we make this moreaffordable?
And then have your agent goover the components within that
premium, within that quote, thatare movable.
(15:26):
There are movable components inthere.
What can we do to assist withthe pricing?
And they need to be able tohelp you understand where you're
insuring something, where youare going self-insured on
something, and what you arecontractually transferring away
(15:51):
to someone else.
These are the ways that we dealwith risk.
We mitigate risk, we insure forrisk or we absolutely prepare
for risk by a funding mechanismwhen we know, for example, we
need a $50,000 wind haildeductible on our building to
(16:12):
make our premium more affordable.
Okay, well, now I have a$50,000 deductible If something
hits my building.
I've got to be able to come upwith that 50 grand.
How am I going to do that?
So understand it's not acommodity, it should not be
looked at that way andunderstand all of the variables.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
I think I I'm thinking I emailed one of you
guys on a question that a personhad sent us, which was how do
you re which?
I didn't know what reinsurancetrends is?
What they said you guys knew Ididn't.
How do reinsurance trends andchanges in the commercial
property market affect small andmedium-sized businesses?
Speaker 3 (16:55):
Sure.
So the reinsurance market isthe is the financial backing to
the insurance companies that youknow there are.
There are all the names thatI'm not going to use any
specific names, but you see themall over the place.
They're big sponsors of alltypes of sporting events and
other types of events.
You know the names.
But in the background we havereinsurance companies.
(17:17):
They share in the risk that theinsurance company name that you
know.
They share in that financialrisk in the event that when a
loss occurs.
So the reinsurance companyactually sits in the background.
And they are the ones that say,if I'm going to give you money
(17:37):
and sit in this position withyou on this risk, I'm going to
share in this risk with you.
I'm just here to tell you I nolonger want roofs over 10,000
square feet, I no longer wantgun manufacturers, I no longer
want food manufacturers.
They dictate to that frontingmarket.
They dictate what they want tobe involved in to that fronting
(18:02):
market.
They dictate what they want tobe involved in.
So that fronting market that yousee plastered their names are
all over the place.
They then have to shift howthey are going to work with the
customers and work with us.
So it changes coverageavailability, it changes terms
and conditions.
It may cause one of yourfavorite insurance companies
that you've dealt with for 10years to say I'm sorry, but I
(18:23):
can't work in Texas anymore.
That's how reinsurance affectswhat we see.
The nice thing is is that thereinsurance treaties renew early
in the year January to April soyou should know by Q4 of every
year what your insurance trendsshould look like for the coming
(18:44):
year.
The disasters have been thenational disasters have been so
incredibly high and out ofaverage for the trailing five
years that even the reinsurancecarriers aren't able to keep up.
It's been a real challenge thelast three years.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
And see, and I think that's why it's important to
have you guys, and I hope andfirst of all thank everybody
again for being here.
But you all can see, by gettingan insurance agent that has
knowledge, a commercialinsurance agent, to have
knowledge to help you with yourcompany is so important.
Because I tell people thingsare changing and we had
discussion.
I mean, even in a lendingbusiness it is changing, not
from week to week, it's day today.
(19:23):
So you need someone that'sgoing to communicate with you
because the way they're lookingat insurance now, same way with
the lending business, they'renot looking at it how it was a
year ago or two years ago.
So that's why it was soimportant to have you guys come
on so people can know.
I have a question for you,aaron.
I know you can probably do thisone.
This is dealing with Forrest.
What are the key indicatorsthat it's time for that tells a
(19:46):
business owner to reassess orswitch their commercial
insurance provider?
Speaker 4 (19:55):
Because you just said how many times they do it.
But what would be the keyindicators of that?
I mean, I think honestly it'sjust accessibility.
I mean, let's just look at whoyou want to do business with in
general.
You know if you're not incommunication with your agent or
you're not getting any updateson your business and you know
things are changing orfluctuating in your business
you're downsizing, you'reselling, you're growing.
(20:18):
You know you have a lot ofmoving parts in a business.
You know if you manufacturestuff, you know things are
changing If you don't have thatcommunication back and forth
with your insurance agent tomake sure that you are covered
in a situation where thingshappen and that's what we're
here for is to help you insituations when things happened.
(20:41):
So I'd say accessibility,communication.
I mean that's 100%.
And I'll quote Ms Kristen insaying follow your gut.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
Trust your gut, trust your gut, and it's really,
really important.
Trust your gut, trust your gut,and it's really really
important.
You know your insurance agent?
I don't know.
I pride myself on the fact thatI'm largely available to my
insureds.
They have 24-7 access to me andI will tell you this is a true
story.
(21:15):
Saturday afternoon I'm in mybedroom, I'm folding laundry,
just like you do on any Saturday.
I have the TV.
On mid-afternoon, news breakhappens.
I turn, look at the TV.
There's a big fire.
It was an explosion.
Firefighters are on the sceneand I look at the building and
I'm like I recognize thatbuilding.
(21:37):
Oh run, that's one of myclients.
So I pick up the phone.
I speed dial the CFO.
He answers the phone becauseit's Saturday.
He's mowing his yard and I saidhe goes, what's up?
And I said I'm just calling tosee if you need anything.
What happened, what's going on?
He goes what are you talkingabout?
(21:59):
I said, dude, your building ison fire.
He goes what, wow, what?
And I said, yeah, it's all overthe news.
He was like, oh, my gosh.
So that seems crazy.
That's a true story.
But that is just how, beingconnected, that somebody
reciprocally in a reciprocalarrangement.
(22:19):
He's to take my call on aSaturday because he knows I'm
going to take his call on aSaturday Exactly, and that's
what we need right now.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
I mean the formality of what things used to be
compared to where it is now.
I know they talk about brandingand all of that, but I think
what will never go away isrelationships 100%.
Speaker 4 (22:39):
You said it, jackie, and just to follow up on that,
it's just good old fashionedservice, Like being there for
your, being there for yourclient, regardless.
You know, a testament toKristen like we've been there,
been here as late as it can beon on any given given, any
weekday night, if we got thingsgoing on, you know we're here
till the job's done.
You know, and even on Saturdaysher and I have had plenty of
(23:03):
conversations where you know Ineed help on something or I have
a question or I can.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
Now wait, you know you both don't sound like
insurance.
You really don't.
I just need you to know that.
Okay, keep going.
Speaker 4 (23:22):
In case in point, why I joined this firm.
I mean, it's a situation whereservice is number one.
That has always been a staplein my business in the past.
But bringing that to theforefront and joining this team
and being able to offer that toour clients is great.
And having the experiencesomebody like Kristen and our
partners you know they have somuch experience you know we have
anything that pops up, thatarises that you know we need a
(23:44):
little bit more, a little bitmore information or a little bit
more backing up.
We have a whole team herethat's willing to back us up
individually and as a team.
So it's great.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
And you know, aaron, to that point.
You know I do want to talkabout the team here and why
that's important.
Because you know you definitelyhave your account management
team that is on your accountevery single day and that person
needs to be as informed withwhat's going on with your
(24:16):
account as your agent, withwhat's going on with your
account as your agent, and whenthat team is cohesive,
communication is good.
Then really it's kind of like atwo-headed dragon If you can't
get a hold of one, you can get ahold of the other.
Everybody knows what's going on.
Depth of knowledge across theentire team is really important.
We have very, very strong teammembers here, from our marketing
(24:39):
team across to our employeebenefits team, our personal
lines team, and when we areallowed the opportunity to have
all of those lines of businessfor one insured, where we have
their benefits, their commercial, their personal, anything else
bonding, whatever else, thatallows us the opportunity to
cross communicate.
That allows us the opportunityto cross communicate and if I
(25:00):
need to know something on mycommercial side that might be
important to my benefitsproducer, I can walk down the
hall and say let's have aconversation about this so that
when those two things cometogether we don't have gaps, we
don't have surprises.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
And that is so important for us as business
owners.
I love that about you guys.
I love it.
So let's ask the next questionwhat steps can businesses take
to reduce their claim risk anddemonstrate to the insurers that
they are a lower risk client?
Speaker 4 (25:34):
Good question and at the end of the day, the more
proactive you are on mitigatingrisk, the better chance you have
, the better chance it gives usto go into a carrier, to a
broker and argue your case.
So anything from improving thebuilding from a standpoint of
(25:58):
implementing sprinkler systemsor adding video camera, your
security system, any kind ofupgrades you know to a building,
to a business that's going togive us that info to go back
whenever your renewal pops up orwhenever you know we're, you
know, quoting you.
On insurance, we have more tonegotiate with you.
(26:19):
It gives us a little bit moreleeway to help us get you a
better coverage for a betterrate.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Right, okay, and that makes a lot of sense too, in
knowing that, christy, go ahead,you as well.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
Another area, what Aaron is touching on, is risk
mitigation on property.
Another area for liability riskmitigation, Again, you know
earlier we talked about the factthat you can transfer liability
away via a contract.
You can make somebody elseeither wholly responsible or you
(26:50):
can make them.
It's called a bilateralindemnification agreement where
you are mutually responsible,depending upon what your
relationship is, particularlyfor manufacturers, that's
important.
If you are an assembler, that'simportant.
So you may put a product out onthe market but you don't
manufacture any of the pieces.
The pieces all come fromdifferent places.
(27:12):
You pull them all in-house, youassemble and you ship out.
So how do you identify wherethat loss resides if that
product is out in the publicfloat and something happens?
Right, somebody gets hurt sostrongly.
Leaning into your contracts,looking at them, going over them
(27:36):
with your insurance agent who'snot an attorney, by the way,
nine times out of 10, not sayingthat that doesn't exist, but
just mostly.
We just play attorneys on TV.
You shouldn't listen to us forlegal advice.
They just put bumpers around it, right.
But it's important to look atthose contracts, understand
(27:57):
where you need to have acontract, where you may be
lacking and what might belacking within the four corners
of that contract, because one ofthe key things that will occur
when you have a loss is yourinsurance adjuster is going to
show up, they're going to lookand assess and then they're
going to say, okay, let me seeyour lease, let's see your
(28:19):
contracts, let me see.
They want all the legal tiesand documents out there so that
they can use those documents todetermine where coverage even
gets triggered within the fourthey call it the four corners of
your own policy.
So know that your contracts aretight, know what's in them and
(28:40):
your lease agreements, becauseinsurance companies will go
there practically first thingwhen you have a claim.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
OK, that makes a lot of sense.
Documentation, documentation,what is it?
Do that?
So let me ask you guys this,and I want both of you to answer
OK at the time, not the sametime what industries are
currently facing the mostchallenge, challenges in
(29:09):
securing commercial insurance,and what advice would you give
those business owners, aaron,what do you think?
Speaker 4 (29:17):
I mean in all honesty , in this economy, I think
everything is a little bit tightright now.
I think every business isstruggling from an insurance
standpoint on getting insuranceor making sure you're covered in
the right way.
From a real estate standpoint,multifamily is extremely tough
right now with everything that'shappened on both coasts.
(29:39):
You know it's tough to getvarious things covered and and
it's tight, and having the rightcompany on knowing where to go,
having the right relationshipsto even get covered.
So you know, if you don't getrenewed because of of of a
carrier pulling out of an area,you know know you're going to
(30:00):
have to get it covered.
So having somebody that hasthose relationships to help you
go move forward is extremelyimportant.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
So so how do you recommend, what do you think for
as advice for them for dealingwith that?
They just have to go and findan insurance company, like what
you all are talking aboutbasically.
Speaker 4 (30:18):
I would just say my number will be listed and you're
more than welcome to call it.
You just call us, it's verysimple.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
It's simple, which we'll definitely get you guys on
our referral page, and we'lltalk more about that at the end.
Okay, kristen, give me youropinion.
What's your thoughts?
Speaker 3 (30:35):
You know when Aaron and I were talking through some
of the opportunities that mightcome up during this conversation
.
This is definitely one of them.
Every single business out thereis facing not an equal load of
challenge, but it's not supersimple for anyone.
If you have an auto fleet, youhave a large auto fleet.
(30:55):
That's troublesome because autoprices have gone up.
The premium has gone up 15% yearover year over year for the
last seven or eight years.
It's been relentless.
That's almost wholly and solelydriven by what we call nuclear
verdicts.
A nuclear verdict is where youhave I don't want to call it a
(31:16):
simple auto claim, but let'scall it a semi-simple auto claim
where you have some bodilyinjury involved and some of our
amazing attorneys and thesebeautiful billboards that we
find scattered throughout ourlovely city, they make their way
to this injured individual and,you know, instead of a $50,000
(31:38):
billboard claim payment, we havea $1.5 million claim settlement
.
That's a nuclear verdict.
Those nuclear verdicts areimpacting our auto pricing.
They're impacting our umbrellapricing and so if you've got
auto, you've got a fleet, you'refeeling it.
You are literally feeling itthere.
The other, the secondhand sideto that is the number of
(31:59):
hailstorms that we have here.
So we can't forget how thephysical damage piece also
affects auto pricing, right?
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Right.
Speaker 3 (32:07):
So if you've got an auto fleet, you're really
feeling it right now.
Workers' comp is the least ofour issues, unless you have, you
know, a propensity for claimsWorkers' comp.
Like you can't even look at acompany that has three or 400
employees and say, ooh, thatmight be a problem.
Not really anymore.
That's kind of one of theeasier things for us to do.
(32:27):
You have a large rooflineproperties with square footage.
Roofline square footage is areal challenge.
Like if I had to just nail itdown to two things.
These are the two areas andthat's going to cause you to
really need to have aconversation early on with your
(32:49):
agent.
I'm expecting this.
What's it going to look likeand what can I do right now?
How can we be creative aboutthat quote so that we can do
something about this price?
Well, great, it makes sense.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
It makes a lot of sense and I think what you all
are giving is what this businessoffers to go back.
Hopefully, everybody go back,and we're going to send this out
to all our people as well thatthey ask the questions.
We don't ask enough questions,kristen and Aaron, we talked
about we don't know.
So that's why I'm listening toyou guys and I've listened to
you before many times that youtalk about that.
(33:25):
You know.
Ask the questions.
Come, talk, let's find out whatout, what we need to do.
So the question I have that Idon't even know I could ask this
question, but I want to ask youhow can business owners prepare
for renewal negotiation?
I didn't know anything aboutthat.
So with their insurance toprovide us to ensure that
(33:46):
they're secure the best ratesand terms?
I didn't know we could do that.
I thought when you sent me abill, pay it and move on.
So please, let's talk aboutthis.
Speaker 3 (33:56):
You know what, if that's the kind of client you
are, you are few and far betweenyou got to ask questions, you
got to ask questions, you got toask questions, you got to ask
questions, you got to askquestions.
So I think where we're headedwith that is how do we, as
consumers, participate in theplacement and execution of our
(34:19):
insurance?
Is that really what we'retrying to get down to here of
our insurance?
Is that really what we'retrying to get down to here?
So again, you know I can tellyou at our own book of business
that we have here all of ouragents.
They're at head of it, they'reway out of head of it.
Our marketing team is way outof head of it.
We know what's coming.
(34:40):
So we are preparing ourselves toprepare our insureds.
So I don't want to say the onusis on you as the consumer, it's
partially on you, because wehave no way of guaranteeing that
your agent's reaching out toyou to say, hey, here's what's
likely coming your way and letme help you prepare for it.
(35:02):
So if that's not happening,then you know we I think you
need to this may be the yearthis needs to be the year then
that you are proactive and youdo.
You do reach out and call sothat we can, we can, help you
through some of this.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Exactly so.
That's what I'm saying.
It's something we were in theoffice talking about that
they're like, well, we get ourrenewal, we just say well.
And so you just said, well, youwant to go.
Well, I tell you what I gotabout 11 more people.
I'm going to tell them the samething, but Christy said so.
Thank you so much for thatanswer.
Speaker 3 (35:36):
Okay, we'll take care of you.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
We'll take care of you.
I know you will.
That's what we we're gonna haveto.
So, air, you got anything toadd to that?
Speaker 4 (35:43):
I.
I think she hit the nail on thehead.
I mean absolutely.
I mean just uh, preparation andbeing ahead of being ahead of
the eight ball.
Just, you know, 90 days, 120days out, where we're?
You know we're doing what weneed to do on our side to, uh,
to help prepare our clients andget ready if there's, you know,
big changes or other changes orthings or angles or things that
(36:04):
we can look forward to to, tocombat that.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
Okay, great.
So and I think that is soawesome you guys do reach out.
I know you reach out becauseI've seen some of your stuff
that you send it.
You like saying and then let mesay this about you guys too you
were right about Forrest beingand I just love you guys Easy to
talk to, easy to contact.
I send something to Aaron on aweekend about a client asking a
question of my stuff.
I said, well, I'll get backwith you when I hear from him in
(36:29):
two minutes.
Ok, so what do you need?
What are you doing?
So it's seven and it's six inthe morning to do it.
I mean, so that is great becauseyou guys do that, but that is
not what most of us get to see.
We don't even know all this isavailable, what you give.
And when you said, jack, I'llcall you, I'm like, I went with,
I'm not gonna call their name,and we had insurance with them
(36:49):
for years.
I don't remember one time, onetime they called us to say,
let's go over your insurance.
I'm just being honest.
So, and I know other we talk.
Other businesses I've talkedwith have spoken with.
They've said the same thing.
You know, know, we're likereally.
So that's why I would say we'vegot to have these guys on.
They're really good at what youdo, You're all knowledgeable
and the thing that I love thebest you guys care.
Speaker 3 (37:12):
You care, we do care, that is for sure that is Our
entire team, our entire teamhere, cares and it shows.
So thank you for saying that.
That's very meaningful.
Speaker 4 (37:33):
Thank you.
Thank you, Jackie, for havingus on.
It was definitely just aprivilege to be asked and I know
you're not connected and it wasjust we hit it off pretty
quickly.
We've been talking ever since.
Yeah, absolutely, so I love it.
Speaker 2 (37:45):
Let me ask you this so what do you all want to say
to business owners when it comesto insurance?
I want you to give your spilland say what they need to know,
because I know you guys have somuch.
So I want to give this time foryou to talk of what you want to
say to everybody.
Start with you, Aaron, thatyou'd like to let business
owners know to everybody.
Speaker 4 (38:03):
Start with you, Aaron that you'd like to let business
owners know.
What I would like to say is youknow, for business owners out
there that are, you know, havingany kind of questions or doubts
about whether they're coveredor whether they're getting the
amount of service that they want, deserve or need, if they have
anything in question, you knowwe're always willing to help and
(38:27):
, at the end of the day, that'swhat we're here to do.
We're here to protect yourbusiness.
We're here to protect you andoffer a service that's above and
beyond Very simple, wonderfulChristy, what would you say to
our audience today?
Speaker 3 (38:52):
you say to our audience today.
So for me it's if you haven'tmade really close friends with
your insurance agent, you reallyneed to.
They need to be a strategicpart of your business planning,
part of your business planning.
They need to be a strategicpart of any meaningful
(39:12):
acquisitions, whether that's ofproperty, or maybe you're
acquiring another business,you're contemplating going in a
different direction, I don'tknow.
I can sit here and list off youknow a thousand reasons why you
should have a really deep, closerelationship with your agent.
They should be a confidentialsource where you can put your
(39:35):
ideas and your thoughts withoutany concern over what that
information, how thatinformation, will affect you.
You should be able to havethese conversations openly and
with a trusted source so thatyou know exactly what you have,
what you're getting into andwhat to avoid down the road.
(39:59):
I really just think that wecan't emphasize that enough.
Don't be afraid of us.
Don't be afraid to tell ussomething.
If you don't tell us and wedon't know and we don't ensure
or teach you or tell you how totransfer that risk away or
prepare for it, that is not afun day when a claim comes up in
(40:23):
that area, you know.
Let us help you as much as wecan Go with your gut.
Speaker 2 (40:30):
Go with your gut.
Yeah, that's it, that'sChristine.
Go with your gut.
And so, before we end, I wantto say to everybody and a lot of
people are not aware of this,with some changes coming in on
the loan brokerage, on thelending area.
When it comes to insurance,we're're finding out when we
work with the underwriters thatthey're asking for your
(40:52):
insurance, but they're lookingat how long you've had it.
They are really weighing in onthat.
So and that's why we say it wasso important to hear from you
guys is because people need toknow business, know that things
have changed.
So, when it comes to gettingworking capital, insurance is
playing a major, major part thanwhat it played before, because
when you had a small amount likeup under, like $250,000, it
(41:15):
wasn't a big deal.
They do up Now, it doesn'tmatter what the amount is.
There are some of them reallylooking for you to have that.
We talked about.
I think you and I talked aboutthe key man insurance.
We had talked on that.
They're looking for you to havethat type of protection
insurance and so they're lookingfor the liability insurance.
And then I told you they alsolooking for like I said that you
(41:35):
said an intermediate when you,if you lose some loss of revenue
at a certain time, they lookingfor that.
So they're looking for that.
So it's basically somethingthat I think businesses only
need to raise their head up andlook at the insurance.
I know you're working hard andtrying to get things done, but
we really need to raise our headup and take care of something
before we actually need it.
That's why we're actually doingthis show, so I do want to
(41:57):
thank you for coming.
I'll say anything else that youguys want to say to our
audience today else that youguys want to say to our audience
today.
Speaker 4 (42:05):
Thank you, Jackie.
Thank you for having us.
Speaker 2 (42:08):
I don't want to leave nothing out because y'all got
so much information.
Kristen, I appreciate you guysso much for being here.
If anybody have any questions,definitely you can send them to
(42:31):
us.
You can put them in a chat andI'll get them to them.
And in the meantime, we do haveyou guys already featured on
our referral page at TDJ EquityLLC.
Behind me, I always wanted todo that, oh, and it works, okay.
So if you all would pleasereach out to us, reach out to
Champion Commercial Insuranceand get the help you need, just
to call them, because you allsaid they can call you guys, let
them look at what the insuranceyou have now, let them do a
little audit with you and see,you know, make sure you are
covered before you need them.
(42:52):
Okay, so, thank you again.
We appreciate you all.
You all have a great day andI'll talk to you, you guys,
later.
Speaker 3 (43:03):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (43:03):
Jackieie, thank you so much we hope you enjoyed this
episode of tdj equity fundinginsiders podcast.
If you'd like to be a guest orget in touch with us, please
visit our website attdjequityllcnet, forward slash
podcast or email us at podcastat tdjequityfundinginsidersnet.
(43:26):
Until next time, take care.
Ready to get the inside scoop on equity funding?
Tune in to TDJ Equity FundingInsiders Podcast for an in-depth
look at what it takes to accessfinancial capital and maximize
your investments.
Hear from experiencedprofessionals, including bankers
, underwriters, loan officersand industry experts, as they
(00:36):
share their unfiltered storiesand valuable lessons on securing
funds.
Securing.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Funds.
Okay, we want to welcome youall to our Giving Power to the
Business Owner webinar series.
I'm your host, jacquelineJackson, with TDJ Equity Funding
, and today we have some specialguests.
We have some guests Aaron andKristen is actually from
(01:05):
Champion Commercial Insurance.
Now let's talk about commercialinsurance.
When it comes to business, wedon't really think that we need
it or even think about it.
It's like a flat tire, you know.
You don't think about a sparetire sorry, a spare tire until
you actually need it.
That's what we're trying toprevent.
We try to have these webinarswhere we can give you some tools
and some resources in yourbusiness, that kind of give you
(01:26):
some guidance on where you go,and then also we give you
experts that you can actuallyreach out to.
They will be available for youguys after the webinar.
We also have them listed on ourrefer page on our website where
you guys can actually reach outto them personally yourself.
Okay, so we want to get itstarted.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
First of all, we're going to start off with them
introducing themselves, msKristen, if you would tell them
a little bit about you as we goforward.
Good morning, I'm KristenLonergan.
I am the CEO of ChampionCommercial Insurance.
I've been in the insurancebusiness for 38, 39 years now,
worked with two of the world'slargest brokerages and large
(02:08):
notable names that you mightrecognize, from Texaco all the
way down to very small up andcoming entrepreneurial
businesses so vast experienceacross many industries.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
All right, great.
Okay, Aaron, will you give us alittle bit about you as well?
Speaker 4 (02:28):
Absolutely.
My name is Aaron Flores, one ofthe newer members to Champion
Commercial.
What I bring to the table is Ihave a lot of real estate
background.
I have 16 years of real estatebackground.
I have 16 years of real estatebackground anything from
commercial real estate,residential multifamily and
(02:49):
moving all that experience intothe insurance world and bringing
those benefits and values toour clients.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
OK, great.
So we see that we actually haveyou guys to come in and give us
some of your industryexperience and some of your
insights.
So let's start off with somequestions that we actually have.
We've actually went and polledsome of our business owners and
so they did submit some.
They did submit questions thatthey would like for you guys to
answer.
So I will answer the question,and it is up to Kristen and
(03:18):
Aaron.
Whichever one of you I want toanswer will be great.
So the question we have first,what are the most common gaps
you see in business owners,commercial insurance policies,
and how can these gaps put theirbusiness at risk?
Speaker 4 (03:34):
So I would say, from my perspective, you know
property coverage right now,property coverage and sublimits,
and when I say sublimits, youknow you have your coverage and
sublimits.
And when I say sublimits, youhave your coverage.
And then you have other limitsfor different parts of the
policy that may or not be lookedat in depth and having the
right insurance agent that'sgoing to go through those
(03:56):
sublimits and make sure yourcoverage is covered.
And that's where we're seeing alot of gaps.
So just a small example is youhave a retailer that has spent
extra money on signage outsideof his storefront.
We spent that extra money thatmay have cost $40,000.
When you look at their policyyou know maybe that sublimit for
(04:17):
the signage is only $10,000.
If that's overlooked andsomething happens to that sign,
you know who's going to be outthat extra 30 grand to get a new
sign.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Right, the business owner.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
So that's a small example.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
One of the areas where I feel like we see a great
deal of gap or lack ofattention to detail is going to
be in the business interruptionarea.
So inside of your policy youshould have a limit for business
interruption and extra expense.
This is an extremely difficultto quantify area of coverage.
(04:54):
It requires the business ownerto really get a hold of their
financials.
They need to understand theirpeak season, if they have one.
They need to understand how theflow of product or raw material
what does that look like?
How is that interrupted if theyhave a loss at their premise?
So, understanding in advancewhat your business income limit
(05:17):
needs to be.
What does your disasterrecovery plan look like?
Do you have that modeled?
Do you know where you're goingto go to keep your business
flowing if you have a fire atyour location or a loss, a
significant loss, at yourlocation and you can't function
there?
These are some of the big areaswhere we see gaps.
(05:39):
Another area, another commonarea, can be where insureds
don't understand the takeawaysor the exclusions in their
coverage.
So if you take your policy andyou flip it over and you start
reading from the back, that'swhere all the damage is Right.
Go to the back of that policy.
Read what's there andunderstand what life looks like
(06:02):
with that language inside yourform.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
OK, which is very Cause.
You're right, there'sdefinitely someone to look at
and like while we do this showis because a lot of business
owners we will do the bareminimum sometime because either
maybe lack of money, but it alsoa lot of it, and I know we've
had to talk, aaron, that it's alack of knowledge.
People do not know what theyshould have in insurance, they
(06:26):
just do the basics.
So that's why we have you here,christine.
I thank both of you so much forbeing here so we can go through
that.
So let me ask you this otherquestion and, aaron, hopefully
you can answer this how doesinflation impact the commercial
insurance premiums and whatstrategies can business owners
implement to manage the rise incost of premiums?
Speaker 4 (06:50):
I think we're going to let Kristen handle that one.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
I kind of thought about when I said.
I said she's going to know this.
Okay, Kristen, yeah, no, that'sfine.
That's fine.
Sorry, Erin, Me and you.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
We're all good and you know.
Thank you again for having ushere.
So you know, kind of reflectingback on your comment, jackie,
what, as much as we loveinsurance and you know it just
kind of oozes from every, everyorifice of our body how much we
love it Most people don't likeit.
I don't even.
I don't even like to pay my owninsurance premiums.
I don't like it.
I have teenage drivers.
(07:23):
It's horrible, I don't like it.
So we appreciate the mindset ofour business owners and the
people that are, you know, goingto tune into this, because it's
a difficult it's a difficultthing to exchange funds for an
intangible right so inflation.
It changes the impact on yourinsurance premium because when
(07:47):
there are driving costs likelabor, materials, material
shortages, labor shortages andjust general impact to the
economics across the UnitedStates as a whole, even overseas
inflation, because we do importso much right.
So these types of things arenot, they happen at such a rapid
(08:09):
pace that the insuranceindustry, the insurance
companies, have not necessarilyhad enough time to fund for
those inflationary increaseswhen they put their pricing into
effect in you know December orin.
I'm sorry, somebody's got theirmic on.
(08:30):
So when they when someone putstheir pricing model, when the
insurance companies put theirpricing model in place for the
upcoming 12 months, some of theeconomic impacts are not known
yet, because we've known our owngovernment to raise interest
rates, you know, two or threetimes in a year.
So these are the kind of thingsthat ultimately insurance
(08:53):
companies have not necessarilyfunded for them appropriately.
They do ultimately because ifthey're, if the insurance
company is underfunded one year,they're going to make up for
that funding the next year.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
The next year exactly .
And let me give a little dataon that.
As far as having an insurance,they're actually saying that,
according to the InsuranceInformation Institute, around 40
percent of small businessesnever reopen after a disaster.
Never reopen after a disaster.
Having business insurance canmitigate financial losses,
(09:27):
enabling businesses to recovermore quickly.
So that is something that'samazing.
We know we don't have thatinsurance, we don't think, oh,
it's not a big thing.
But the thing we have isbusiness, and I think we've had
this discussion that mostbusiness owners get the very
minimal because they say justenough to say I have it.
But, aaron, I know you saidearlier we talked about it when
(09:47):
it even come to loans, peoplehave to understand the lenders
are going to look for you tohave a loan policy, a policy to
actually be the amount of theloan.
So a lot of us may start, youmight start off with 250 or half
a million, but if your loan istwo million, three million, they
want your insurance to coverthat, they want you to have
general liability and they arelooking.
(10:07):
Some of my loans have required,kristen, that interruption
insurance.
Okay, so you're right.
So we definitely need to getinto that.
So let's move to the next one,also to let everybody know.
You can raise your hand andwe'll turn your mic on.
If you want to ask a question,okay, because they are here to
answer any question you all mayhave.
All right, so let's go to ournext one.
So can you explain the benefitsof having like a and I guess
(10:32):
it's more?
We're interested in it as loanbrokers because we run across it
, which is the customizedinsurance audit.
What should a business ownerexpect during this process?
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Sure, so what we mean when we say a customized
insurance audit just reallymeans sitting down with your
insurance agent and spending anuncomfortable amount of time
with them.
Really go through what you have, what you're contemplating
doing.
(11:02):
What are the financialimplications of changing course?
If I go out and buy a building,if I don't own a building and I
want to go out and invest mymoney in real estate for the tax
benefits or investment benefitswhatever they are, understand
the financial impact that thatmay bring to you.
(11:24):
Before you go out and put aloan document in place to buy a
building and then call yourinsurance agent, have these
conversations in advance.
Sit and talk about what keepsyou up at night.
You basically have to bare yoursoul.
You basically have to bare yoursoul and if your insurance
agent cannot spend anuncomfortable amount of time
(11:48):
with you, then you need to finda new agent.
Like this needs to be somebodythat you bring into the fold.
They need to know more aboutyou than your spouse knows about
you.
Like it needs to be that, thatcomfortable and that that type
(12:12):
of reciprocal arrangement.
Because if you, if you, it'skind of like trying to trying to
change the outcome of a test bycheating when we know
everything we need to know.
We will keep you out of troubleas often and where we can.
As often as we can and as muchas we can.
Does that make?
Speaker 2 (12:29):
sense.
That makes a lot of sense.
So basically, you're saying andI know it took a minute for me
to realize it too, and I know Ihad a discussion with you all
that when you're in business andyou get insurance, you know we
get it and we walk away.
So you said you don't do that.
You need to have an audit everyyear because things change
(12:50):
within your business and we mayhave to change some things.
That's basically what you'resaying now, right, I mean not
just once a year.
Speaker 4 (12:54):
I mean it could be, multiple times a year.
If you're in rapid growth mode.
If you're, you know you'rescaling.
You know you're a newer companythat's scaling and moving
quickly.
You're buying locations, you'rea franchise franchisor that's
getting multiple locations andyou're in complete growth mode.
I mean those conversations aregoing to need to be had
(13:16):
regularly.
So it just you know a itdepends on the business number
one.
But also, I mean things changeall the time with the economy,
with, you know, with you know adisaster that may happen today,
tomorrow, the next day, likethese things happen all the time
.
So constant communication, youknow, with our clients is a
(13:38):
priority.
You know that's, you know, oneof the things that we do at our
company, that we make sure thatwe have that connection, that
communication with our clients,but always constant.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
And constant.
Okay, and that makes a lot ofsense, because that's why I have
you guys on that show.
We want people to know thatit's more than just going and
getting an insurance policy.
Like you said, you need tobuild a relationship, but you
need someone that knows aboutyour business and what all you
need, and that's the thing.
We don't really do, that wejust go.
If you got insurance agentunder your name, here we come,
(14:11):
and that's what we have to stopas business owners, because
things are changing so rapidlyin the economy now that you guys
keep up with the changes.
You know what I'm saying andyou let your clients know hey,
let's come back in and let'slook at you again.
And that's what we're trying totell people.
When you have a business, makethat insurance really I mean
intentionally make thatinsurance a part of your
(14:31):
business plan.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
And that's what we kind of come into.
Well, and to your point, jackie, it's really important that we
not label insurance as acommodity.
Insurance should not bepurchased on price alone,
because I'm here to tell youthat you absolutely can have
three insurance options in frontof you, and the least expensive
does not necessarily mean thatit's the best, and the most
expensive doesn't necessarilymean it's the best.
The least expensive isn't theworst Maybe that's a better way
(15:05):
to say it.
So you can't look at it basedoff of price.
You can absolutely look at itand say, okay, I can't afford
this.
Or how do we make this moreaffordable?
And then have your agent goover the components within that
premium, within that quote, thatare movable.
(15:26):
There are movable components inthere.
What can we do to assist withthe pricing?
And they need to be able tohelp you understand where you're
insuring something, where youare going self-insured on
something, and what you arecontractually transferring away
(15:51):
to someone else.
These are the ways that we dealwith risk.
We mitigate risk, we insure forrisk or we absolutely prepare
for risk by a funding mechanismwhen we know, for example, we
need a $50,000 wind haildeductible on our building to
(16:12):
make our premium more affordable.
Okay, well, now I have a$50,000 deductible If something
hits my building.
I've got to be able to come upwith that 50 grand.
How am I going to do that?
So understand it's not acommodity, it should not be
looked at that way andunderstand all of the variables.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
I think I I'm thinking I emailed one of you
guys on a question that a personhad sent us, which was how do
you re which?
I didn't know what reinsurancetrends is?
What they said you guys knew Ididn't.
How do reinsurance trends andchanges in the commercial
property market affect small andmedium-sized businesses?
Speaker 3 (16:55):
Sure.
So the reinsurance market isthe is the financial backing to
the insurance companies that youknow there are.
There are all the names thatI'm not going to use any
specific names, but you see themall over the place.
They're big sponsors of alltypes of sporting events and
other types of events.
You know the names.
But in the background we havereinsurance companies.
(17:17):
They share in the risk that theinsurance company name that you
know.
They share in that financialrisk in the event that when a
loss occurs.
So the reinsurance companyactually sits in the background.
And they are the ones that say,if I'm going to give you money
(17:37):
and sit in this position withyou on this risk, I'm going to
share in this risk with you.
I'm just here to tell you I nolonger want roofs over 10,000
square feet, I no longer wantgun manufacturers, I no longer
want food manufacturers.
They dictate to that frontingmarket.
They dictate what they want tobe involved in to that fronting
(18:02):
market.
They dictate what they want tobe involved in.
So that fronting market that yousee plastered their names are
all over the place.
They then have to shift howthey are going to work with the
customers and work with us.
So it changes coverageavailability, it changes terms
and conditions.
It may cause one of yourfavorite insurance companies
that you've dealt with for 10years to say I'm sorry, but I
(18:23):
can't work in Texas anymore.
That's how reinsurance affectswhat we see.
The nice thing is is that thereinsurance treaties renew early
in the year January to April soyou should know by Q4 of every
year what your insurance trendsshould look like for the coming
(18:44):
year.
The disasters have been thenational disasters have been so
incredibly high and out ofaverage for the trailing five
years that even the reinsurancecarriers aren't able to keep up.
It's been a real challenge thelast three years.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
And see, and I think that's why it's important to
have you guys, and I hope andfirst of all thank everybody
again for being here.
But you all can see, by gettingan insurance agent that has
knowledge, a commercialinsurance agent, to have
knowledge to help you with yourcompany is so important.
Because I tell people thingsare changing and we had
discussion.
I mean, even in a lendingbusiness it is changing, not
from week to week, it's day today.
(19:23):
So you need someone that'sgoing to communicate with you
because the way they're lookingat insurance now, same way with
the lending business, they'renot looking at it how it was a
year ago or two years ago.
So that's why it was soimportant to have you guys come
on so people can know.
I have a question for you,aaron.
I know you can probably do thisone.
This is dealing with Forrest.
What are the key indicatorsthat it's time for that tells a
(19:46):
business owner to reassess orswitch their commercial
insurance provider?
Speaker 4 (19:55):
Because you just said how many times they do it.
But what would be the keyindicators of that?
I mean, I think honestly it'sjust accessibility.
I mean, let's just look at whoyou want to do business with in
general.
You know if you're not incommunication with your agent or
you're not getting any updateson your business and you know
things are changing orfluctuating in your business
you're downsizing, you'reselling, you're growing.
(20:18):
You know you have a lot ofmoving parts in a business.
You know if you manufacturestuff, you know things are
changing If you don't have thatcommunication back and forth
with your insurance agent tomake sure that you are covered
in a situation where thingshappen and that's what we're
here for is to help you insituations when things happened.
(20:41):
So I'd say accessibility,communication.
I mean that's 100%.
And I'll quote Ms Kristen insaying follow your gut.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
Trust your gut, trust your gut, and it's really,
really important.
Trust your gut, trust your gut,and it's really really
important.
You know your insurance agent?
I don't know.
I pride myself on the fact thatI'm largely available to my
insureds.
They have 24-7 access to me andI will tell you this is a true
story.
(21:15):
Saturday afternoon I'm in mybedroom, I'm folding laundry,
just like you do on any Saturday.
I have the TV.
On mid-afternoon, news breakhappens.
I turn, look at the TV.
There's a big fire.
It was an explosion.
Firefighters are on the sceneand I look at the building and
I'm like I recognize thatbuilding.
(21:37):
Oh run, that's one of myclients.
So I pick up the phone.
I speed dial the CFO.
He answers the phone becauseit's Saturday.
He's mowing his yard and I saidhe goes, what's up?
And I said I'm just calling tosee if you need anything.
What happened, what's going on?
He goes what are you talkingabout?
(21:59):
I said, dude, your building ison fire.
He goes what, wow, what?
And I said, yeah, it's all overthe news.
He was like, oh, my gosh.
So that seems crazy.
That's a true story.
But that is just how, beingconnected, that somebody
reciprocally in a reciprocalarrangement.
(22:19):
He's to take my call on aSaturday because he knows I'm
going to take his call on aSaturday Exactly, and that's
what we need right now.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
I mean the formality of what things used to be
compared to where it is now.
I know they talk about brandingand all of that, but I think
what will never go away isrelationships 100%.
Speaker 4 (22:39):
You said it, jackie, and just to follow up on that,
it's just good old fashionedservice, Like being there for
your, being there for yourclient, regardless.
You know, a testament toKristen like we've been there,
been here as late as it can beon on any given given, any
weekday night, if we got thingsgoing on, you know we're here
till the job's done.
You know, and even on Saturdaysher and I have had plenty of
(23:03):
conversations where you know Ineed help on something or I have
a question or I can.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
Now wait, you know you both don't sound like
insurance.
You really don't.
I just need you to know that.
Okay, keep going.
Speaker 4 (23:22):
In case in point, why I joined this firm.
I mean, it's a situation whereservice is number one.
That has always been a staplein my business in the past.
But bringing that to theforefront and joining this team
and being able to offer that toour clients is great.
And having the experiencesomebody like Kristen and our
partners you know they have somuch experience you know we have
anything that pops up, thatarises that you know we need a
(23:44):
little bit more, a little bitmore information or a little bit
more backing up.
We have a whole team herethat's willing to back us up
individually and as a team.
So it's great.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
And you know, aaron, to that point.
You know I do want to talkabout the team here and why
that's important.
Because you know you definitelyhave your account management
team that is on your accountevery single day and that person
needs to be as informed withwhat's going on with your
(24:16):
account as your agent, withwhat's going on with your
account as your agent, and whenthat team is cohesive,
communication is good.
Then really it's kind of like atwo-headed dragon If you can't
get a hold of one, you can get ahold of the other.
Everybody knows what's going on.
Depth of knowledge across theentire team is really important.
We have very, very strong teammembers here, from our marketing
(24:39):
team across to our employeebenefits team, our personal
lines team, and when we areallowed the opportunity to have
all of those lines of businessfor one insured, where we have
their benefits, their commercial, their personal, anything else
bonding, whatever else, thatallows us the opportunity to
cross communicate.
That allows us the opportunityto cross communicate and if I
(25:00):
need to know something on mycommercial side that might be
important to my benefitsproducer, I can walk down the
hall and say let's have aconversation about this so that
when those two things cometogether we don't have gaps, we
don't have surprises.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
And that is so important for us as business
owners.
I love that about you guys.
I love it.
So let's ask the next questionwhat steps can businesses take
to reduce their claim risk anddemonstrate to the insurers that
they are a lower risk client?
Speaker 4 (25:34):
Good question and at the end of the day, the more
proactive you are on mitigatingrisk, the better chance you have
, the better chance it gives usto go into a carrier, to a
broker and argue your case.
So anything from improving thebuilding from a standpoint of
(25:58):
implementing sprinkler systemsor adding video camera, your
security system, any kind ofupgrades you know to a building,
to a business that's going togive us that info to go back
whenever your renewal pops up orwhenever you know we're, you
know, quoting you.
On insurance, we have more tonegotiate with you.
(26:19):
It gives us a little bit moreleeway to help us get you a
better coverage for a betterrate.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Right, okay, and that makes a lot of sense too, in
knowing that, christy, go ahead,you as well.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
Another area, what Aaron is touching on, is risk
mitigation on property.
Another area for liability riskmitigation, Again, you know
earlier we talked about the factthat you can transfer liability
away via a contract.
You can make somebody elseeither wholly responsible or you
(26:50):
can make them.
It's called a bilateralindemnification agreement where
you are mutually responsible,depending upon what your
relationship is, particularlyfor manufacturers, that's
important.
If you are an assembler, that'simportant.
So you may put a product out onthe market but you don't
manufacture any of the pieces.
The pieces all come fromdifferent places.
(27:12):
You pull them all in-house, youassemble and you ship out.
So how do you identify wherethat loss resides if that
product is out in the publicfloat and something happens?
Right, somebody gets hurt sostrongly.
Leaning into your contracts,looking at them, going over them
(27:36):
with your insurance agent who'snot an attorney, by the way,
nine times out of 10, not sayingthat that doesn't exist, but
just mostly.
We just play attorneys on TV.
You shouldn't listen to us forlegal advice.
They just put bumpers around it, right.
But it's important to look atthose contracts, understand
(27:57):
where you need to have acontract, where you may be
lacking and what might belacking within the four corners
of that contract, because one ofthe key things that will occur
when you have a loss is yourinsurance adjuster is going to
show up, they're going to lookand assess and then they're
going to say, okay, let me seeyour lease, let's see your
(28:19):
contracts, let me see.
They want all the legal tiesand documents out there so that
they can use those documents todetermine where coverage even
gets triggered within the fourthey call it the four corners of
your own policy.
So know that your contracts aretight, know what's in them and
(28:40):
your lease agreements, becauseinsurance companies will go
there practically first thingwhen you have a claim.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
OK, that makes a lot of sense.
Documentation, documentation,what is it?
Do that?
So let me ask you guys this,and I want both of you to answer
OK at the time, not the sametime what industries are
currently facing the mostchallenge, challenges in
(29:09):
securing commercial insurance,and what advice would you give
those business owners, aaron,what do you think?
Speaker 4 (29:17):
I mean in all honesty , in this economy, I think
everything is a little bit tightright now.
I think every business isstruggling from an insurance
standpoint on getting insuranceor making sure you're covered in
the right way.
From a real estate standpoint,multifamily is extremely tough
right now with everything that'shappened on both coasts.
(29:39):
You know it's tough to getvarious things covered and and
it's tight, and having the rightcompany on knowing where to go,
having the right relationshipsto even get covered.
So you know, if you don't getrenewed because of of of a
carrier pulling out of an area,you know know you're going to
(30:00):
have to get it covered.
So having somebody that hasthose relationships to help you
go move forward is extremelyimportant.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
So so how do you recommend, what do you think for
as advice for them for dealingwith that?
They just have to go and findan insurance company, like what
you all are talking aboutbasically.
Speaker 4 (30:18):
I would just say my number will be listed and you're
more than welcome to call it.
You just call us, it's verysimple.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
It's simple, which we'll definitely get you guys on
our referral page, and we'lltalk more about that at the end.
Okay, kristen, give me youropinion.
What's your thoughts?
Speaker 3 (30:35):
You know when Aaron and I were talking through some
of the opportunities that mightcome up during this conversation
.
This is definitely one of them.
Every single business out thereis facing not an equal load of
challenge, but it's not supersimple for anyone.
If you have an auto fleet, youhave a large auto fleet.
(30:55):
That's troublesome because autoprices have gone up.
The premium has gone up 15% yearover year over year for the
last seven or eight years.
It's been relentless.
That's almost wholly and solelydriven by what we call nuclear
verdicts.
A nuclear verdict is where youhave I don't want to call it a
(31:16):
simple auto claim, but let'scall it a semi-simple auto claim
where you have some bodilyinjury involved and some of our
amazing attorneys and thesebeautiful billboards that we
find scattered throughout ourlovely city, they make their way
to this injured individual and,you know, instead of a $50,000
(31:38):
billboard claim payment, we havea $1.5 million claim settlement
.
That's a nuclear verdict.
Those nuclear verdicts areimpacting our auto pricing.
They're impacting our umbrellapricing and so if you've got
auto, you've got a fleet, you'refeeling it.
You are literally feeling itthere.
The other, the secondhand sideto that is the number of
(31:59):
hailstorms that we have here.
So we can't forget how thephysical damage piece also
affects auto pricing, right?
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Right.
Speaker 3 (32:07):
So if you've got an auto fleet, you're really
feeling it right now.
Workers' comp is the least ofour issues, unless you have, you
know, a propensity for claimsWorkers' comp.
Like you can't even look at acompany that has three or 400
employees and say, ooh, thatmight be a problem.
Not really anymore.
That's kind of one of theeasier things for us to do.
(32:27):
You have a large rooflineproperties with square footage.
Roofline square footage is areal challenge.
Like if I had to just nail itdown to two things.
These are the two areas andthat's going to cause you to
really need to have aconversation early on with your
(32:49):
agent.
I'm expecting this.
What's it going to look likeand what can I do right now?
How can we be creative aboutthat quote so that we can do
something about this price?
Well, great, it makes sense.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
It makes a lot of sense and I think what you all
are giving is what this businessoffers to go back.
Hopefully, everybody go back,and we're going to send this out
to all our people as well thatthey ask the questions.
We don't ask enough questions,kristen and Aaron, we talked
about we don't know.
So that's why I'm listening toyou guys and I've listened to
you before many times that youtalk about that.
(33:25):
You know.
Ask the questions.
Come, talk, let's find out whatout, what we need to do.
So the question I have that Idon't even know I could ask this
question, but I want to ask youhow can business owners prepare
for renewal negotiation?
I didn't know anything aboutthat.
So with their insurance toprovide us to ensure that
(33:46):
they're secure the best ratesand terms?
I didn't know we could do that.
I thought when you sent me abill, pay it and move on.
So please, let's talk aboutthis.
Speaker 3 (33:56):
You know what, if that's the kind of client you
are, you are few and far betweenyou got to ask questions, you
got to ask questions, you got toask questions, you got to ask
questions, you got to askquestions.
So I think where we're headedwith that is how do we, as
consumers, participate in theplacement and execution of our
(34:19):
insurance?
Is that really what we'retrying to get down to here of
our insurance?
Is that really what we'retrying to get down to here?
So again, you know I can tellyou at our own book of business
that we have here all of ouragents.
They're at head of it, they'reway out of head of it.
Our marketing team is way outof head of it.
We know what's coming.
(34:40):
So we are preparing ourselves toprepare our insureds.
So I don't want to say the onusis on you as the consumer, it's
partially on you, because wehave no way of guaranteeing that
your agent's reaching out toyou to say, hey, here's what's
likely coming your way and letme help you prepare for it.
(35:02):
So if that's not happening,then you know we I think you
need to this may be the yearthis needs to be the year then
that you are proactive and youdo.
You do reach out and call sothat we can, we can, help you
through some of this.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Exactly so.
That's what I'm saying.
It's something we were in theoffice talking about that
they're like, well, we get ourrenewal, we just say well.
And so you just said, well, youwant to go.
Well, I tell you what I gotabout 11 more people.
I'm going to tell them the samething, but Christy said so.
Thank you so much for thatanswer.
Speaker 3 (35:36):
Okay, we'll take care of you.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
We'll take care of you.
I know you will.
That's what we we're gonna haveto.
So, air, you got anything toadd to that?
Speaker 4 (35:43):
I.
I think she hit the nail on thehead.
I mean absolutely.
I mean just uh, preparation andbeing ahead of being ahead of
the eight ball.
Just, you know, 90 days, 120days out, where we're?
You know we're doing what weneed to do on our side to, uh,
to help prepare our clients andget ready if there's, you know,
big changes or other changes orthings or angles or things that
(36:04):
we can look forward to to, tocombat that.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
Okay, great.
So and I think that is soawesome you guys do reach out.
I know you reach out becauseI've seen some of your stuff
that you send it.
You like saying and then let mesay this about you guys too you
were right about Forrest beingand I just love you guys Easy to
talk to, easy to contact.
I send something to Aaron on aweekend about a client asking a
question of my stuff.
I said, well, I'll get backwith you when I hear from him in
(36:29):
two minutes.
Ok, so what do you need?
What are you doing?
So it's seven and it's six inthe morning to do it.
I mean, so that is great becauseyou guys do that, but that is
not what most of us get to see.
We don't even know all this isavailable, what you give.
And when you said, jack, I'llcall you, I'm like, I went with,
I'm not gonna call their name,and we had insurance with them
(36:49):
for years.
I don't remember one time, onetime they called us to say,
let's go over your insurance.
I'm just being honest.
So, and I know other we talk.
Other businesses I've talkedwith have spoken with.
They've said the same thing.
You know, know, we're likereally.
So that's why I would say we'vegot to have these guys on.
They're really good at what youdo, You're all knowledgeable
and the thing that I love thebest you guys care.
Speaker 3 (37:12):
You care, we do care, that is for sure that is Our
entire team, our entire teamhere, cares and it shows.
So thank you for saying that.
That's very meaningful.
Speaker 4 (37:33):
Thank you.
Thank you, Jackie, for havingus on.
It was definitely just aprivilege to be asked and I know
you're not connected and it wasjust we hit it off pretty
quickly.
We've been talking ever since.
Yeah, absolutely, so I love it.
Speaker 2 (37:45):
Let me ask you this so what do you all want to say
to business owners when it comesto insurance?
I want you to give your spilland say what they need to know,
because I know you guys have somuch.
So I want to give this time foryou to talk of what you want to
say to everybody.
Start with you, Aaron, thatyou'd like to let business
owners know to everybody.
Speaker 4 (38:03):
Start with you, Aaron that you'd like to let business
owners know.
What I would like to say is youknow, for business owners out
there that are, you know, havingany kind of questions or doubts
about whether they're coveredor whether they're getting the
amount of service that they want, deserve or need, if they have
anything in question, you knowwe're always willing to help and
(38:27):
, at the end of the day, that'swhat we're here to do.
We're here to protect yourbusiness.
We're here to protect you andoffer a service that's above and
beyond Very simple, wonderfulChristy, what would you say to
our audience today?
Speaker 3 (38:52):
you say to our audience today.
So for me it's if you haven'tmade really close friends with
your insurance agent, you reallyneed to.
They need to be a strategicpart of your business planning,
part of your business planning.
They need to be a strategicpart of any meaningful
(39:12):
acquisitions, whether that's ofproperty, or maybe you're
acquiring another business,you're contemplating going in a
different direction, I don'tknow.
I can sit here and list off youknow a thousand reasons why you
should have a really deep, closerelationship with your agent.
They should be a confidentialsource where you can put your
(39:35):
ideas and your thoughts withoutany concern over what that
information, how thatinformation, will affect you.
You should be able to havethese conversations openly and
with a trusted source so thatyou know exactly what you have,
what you're getting into andwhat to avoid down the road.
(39:59):
I really just think that wecan't emphasize that enough.
Don't be afraid of us.
Don't be afraid to tell ussomething.
If you don't tell us and wedon't know and we don't ensure
or teach you or tell you how totransfer that risk away or
prepare for it, that is not afun day when a claim comes up in
(40:23):
that area, you know.
Let us help you as much as wecan Go with your gut.
Speaker 2 (40:30):
Go with your gut.
Yeah, that's it, that'sChristine.
Go with your gut.
And so, before we end, I wantto say to everybody and a lot of
people are not aware of this,with some changes coming in on
the loan brokerage, on thelending area.
When it comes to insurance,we're're finding out when we
work with the underwriters thatthey're asking for your
(40:52):
insurance, but they're lookingat how long you've had it.
They are really weighing in onthat.
So and that's why we say it wasso important to hear from you
guys is because people need toknow business, know that things
have changed.
So, when it comes to gettingworking capital, insurance is
playing a major, major part thanwhat it played before, because
when you had a small amount likeup under, like $250,000, it
(41:15):
wasn't a big deal.
They do up Now, it doesn'tmatter what the amount is.
There are some of them reallylooking for you to have that.
We talked about.
I think you and I talked aboutthe key man insurance.
We had talked on that.
They're looking for you to havethat type of protection
insurance and so they're lookingfor the liability insurance.
And then I told you they alsolooking for like I said that you
(41:35):
said an intermediate when you,if you lose some loss of revenue
at a certain time, they lookingfor that.
So they're looking for that.
So it's basically somethingthat I think businesses only
need to raise their head up andlook at the insurance.
I know you're working hard andtrying to get things done, but
we really need to raise our headup and take care of something
before we actually need it.
That's why we're actually doingthis show, so I do want to
(41:57):
thank you for coming.
I'll say anything else that youguys want to say to our
audience today else that youguys want to say to our audience
today.
Speaker 4 (42:05):
Thank you, Jackie.
Thank you for having us.
Speaker 2 (42:08):
I don't want to leave nothing out because y'all got
so much information.
Kristen, I appreciate you guysso much for being here.
If anybody have any questions,definitely you can send them to
(42:31):
us.
You can put them in a chat andI'll get them to them.
And in the meantime, we do haveyou guys already featured on
our referral page at TDJ EquityLLC.
Behind me, I always wanted todo that, oh, and it works, okay.
So if you all would pleasereach out to us, reach out to
Champion Commercial Insuranceand get the help you need, just
to call them, because you allsaid they can call you guys, let
them look at what the insuranceyou have now, let them do a
little audit with you and see,you know, make sure you are
covered before you need them.
(42:52):
Okay, so, thank you again.
We appreciate you all.
You all have a great day andI'll talk to you, you guys,
later.
Speaker 3 (43:03):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (43:03):
Jackieie, thank you so much we hope you enjoyed this
episode of tdj equity fundinginsiders podcast.
If you'd like to be a guest orget in touch with us, please
visit our website attdjequityllcnet, forward slash
podcast or email us at podcastat tdjequityfundinginsidersnet.
(43:26):
Until next time, take care.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.