Just Compare!
To compare your current insurance policy with CLCA's new endorsed program, Networked Insurance:
- email us your name and phone number, and when your policy expires.
- Or, if you are in Southern California, contact Unickel Insurance, asking for Burt Gross (855) 443-CLCA (2522).
- If you are in Northern California, please contact Gina Stanley at ARM Multi Insurance Services, (855) 662-CLCA (2522).
Questions For CLCA? Email us at insurance.solutions@clca.org
Message From CLCA President Eric Watanabe
Fact Sheet
"The numbers are significant, it's not one-zees and two-zees — it's thousands. We think we're going to save $6,000 on workers comp. In this economy, every penny counts."
"I signed up with Networked in November. The process was quick and easy — seven days, if that — and they jumped on it right away. I will save a couple thousand dollars in premiums tis year. That's great news for my bottom line."
Backgrounder: All About CLCA's New Endorsed Insurance Carrier
Want the nuts and bolts about CLCA’s new endorsed insurance carrier? Want to learn more about how you can save money, or benefit from their hassle-free full-service brokers, or no-fuss, convenient web option? Click here to learn more.
CLCA Insurance Solutions
Why Did CLCA Change Insurance Program?
The short answer to this question is that the Board of Directors determined that the new program would be a better deal for members. The long answer is as follows:
CLCA received a notice of cancellation from our current program on March 30 of this year and a request to renegotiate the current endorsement agreement a couple of days later. On April 12 the association asked the current program to put its demands in writing so that we could properly review them. CLCA did not receive a proposed new endorsement agreement until approximately July 25.
When CLCA did not receive a proposal in what we considered a timely fashion, the Board of Directors decided that it had to look into other options so as not to be caught without a viable program in January of 2012. Therefore, CLCA began working on a request for proposals from insurance organizations.
After reviewing this proposal, and after hearing from an outside marketing company that we had hired to work on branding CLCA that one of the top complaints that they heard from the members they called was the fact that they no longer considered insurance as a member benefit, the Board of Directors came to the conclusion that it had a fiduciary duty to CLCA members to investigate other options for our endorsed insurance program.
To fully appreciate this fiduciary duty, it's important to understand some historical background. Many years ago CLCA established the current program in what was intended to be an affiliate relationship. We were advised in 1996 that we needed to legally separate the two entities in order to protect CLCA's non-profit status because of the amount of money that the insurance was making. The California Landscape Contractors Association Welfare Insurance Trust Fund, A California association for profit, was formed in April, 1996. The two are separate entities, legally and otherwise. In this context, the Board of Directors had a clear obligation to determine whether the current arrangement is the best arrangement for the association and our members.
CLCA received proposals from several organizations, including one from the current program. After analyzing the proposals, three were selected for interviews. After interviewing representatives from the three entities, the Board of Directors decided to endorse a new insurance provider. The following are some of the reasons for its decision:
- First and foremost, better transparency for both policyholders and the association. For example, the current program claimed that its financial reports were proprietary information. The new program had no problem disclosing this information and pledges to do so in the future.
- Better service. For example, the new program has a bigger sales force and more comprehensive geographical distribution of that staff.
- The new program has on-line access to a plethora of information as well as certificates of insurance.
- Insurance rates should be competitive, if not the best in the business, due to the new program's multi-carrier structure.
- Great track record and recommendations from existing clients of the new program.
- The new program appears to have a very careful approach to handling claims.
- A positive, "desire to please" attitude is evident from the new company's representatives.
Several members have asked me why CLCA didn't provide more information to members such as you about the investigation of insurance options and search for the best possible program that began last summer. The answer to this question is that we had a legal and ethical obligation to live up to the terms of our endorsement agreement with the current insurance program. Publicizing our due diligence effort at the time would have undermined a relationship that we had pledged to support until the end of this year.