Charles Hayden, owner of Hayden Mechanical Systems, in Carroll County, wanted to see how Insurance Force could help with his business insurance policies. After a long meeting with Susan Hayden, Office Manager for Hayden Mechanical, Matt Stangle, VP of the Risk Management Division at Insurance Force, came back with a unique proposal. “First, the meeting with Matt was different. He was asking questions about safety programs, hiring practices, turnover, and our culture,” says Susan. “And his proposal, from a purely price standpoint, it wasn’t that different, about a thousand less. But what was different was the additional services he proposed.  These are things we never heard from an insurance agent before.”
Matt Stangle explains, “I hear so many times, ‘my agent never asked these types of questions.’ I’m not reinventing the wheel or doing anything extraordinary. I know the insurance carriers want to insure businesses that are less likely to have a loss. Those businesses have a strong safety culture. So the first thing I want to document to the carriers is what the business is doing well.
“With contractors, typically their biggest insurance expense is workers’ comp., so it makes sense to focus there. So we offer Safety Force, a program is designed to reduce workers’ compensation premiums by reducing and eliminate losses through safety awareness and education of employees.”
Hayden held a 15 minute safety kickoff meeting, led by Insurance Force. “Our first goal is to get the employee’s buy-in. We do this by getting all the employees to sign a safety commitment board. Then we make if fun by offering cash to anyone who wants to try to answer a safety question. It’s a quick meeting, and is just the beginning, but it sets the foundation of a stronger safety culture.”
Throughout the year, Hayden will get a series of safety policies the employees will review and sign. Matt states, “this helps the business in two ways. First. we now have a documented process to show the insurance carriers come renewal time that this company is serious about reducing losses, and has the proof in hand, and secondly, it reinforces to the employee safety is important. For example, when an employee is reviewing the return to work program policy, it reinforces to not take advantage of the system.”
Keely, administrative assistant at Hayden, has also been able to take advantage of Insurance Force’s other services. “I was going to conduct an job applicant interview. I used HR Force to give me legal questions I can ask to help in our hiring process. There are so many laws of what you can and can’t ask now a days, I can’t keep track of it.  Having this resource helps me know I won’t be asking a wrong question.”
“I’ve been impressed with Insurance Force. They have been able to provide more than just an insurance policy. I feel like I have a partner looking out for my business,” says Charles Hayden.
