I Value Lawyers Mutual Because of Its Policy Team
Not every professional liability insurance company has underwriters with secret superpowers.
But that’s what you find on the Policy Team at Lawyers Mutual. Take underwriter Juan Sosa. Most of the time he’s busy helping lawyers and firms obtain the right coverage for their practice needs. But occasionally he steps into a nearby phone booth and … well, you’ve got to keep reading to find out what happens.
It’s yet another everyday value of being insured with Lawyers Mutual.
To get a glimpse of what a typical day is like on the Policy Team, we reached out to underwriter Juan Sosa:
What makes LM underwriting different? “We share a common interest with our insureds – when they succeed, we succeed. Because we’re a mutual company that is owned by our insureds, we have extra motivation to deliver quality customer service. We go to great lengths to provide customer service that isn’t provided elsewhere because, at the end of the day, we’re all on the same team!”
You are a lawyer. Is this an advantage to you as an underwriter? “Yes. Before I started working at LM, I spent three years in private practice doing civil litigation. Before law school, I was a sole proprietor of a small business. I know that practicing law can be a juggling act. Lawyers generally don’t like spending precious time dealing with insurance issues but, at the same time, they want to be thoroughly educated on their coverage. I strive to make the insurance piece as seamless as possible for our insureds because I know how important it is for attorneys to focus on providing the best legal services possible.”
Tell us about a recent interaction with an insured lawyer or firm. “Just yesterday, I helped a six-partner firm walk through the insurance aspect of their firm’s dissolution process. Our policies are claims-made, which means that the policy must be active at the time of the act and at the time the claim is reported to us for the claim to be covered. For that reason, purchasing a tail policy is usually the best route in a dissolution situation. In this particular dissolution, some firm members were retiring and the others were starting their own practices. We offer free or discounted individual tail coverage policy to insureds who have been with us for 10 consecutive years or longer that are retiring or leaving private practice, which is a really nice benefit of being insured by LM. The retiring partners were keen on taking advantage of the free/discounted tail policy but were also interested in making sure that the firm and non-retiring partners would have coverage for acts that occurred during the life of the firm.”
How was the insured feeling before the call? “Stressed. They assumed that the firm would be faced with a big bill to purchase a separate tail coverage policy.”
How did the insured feel after call? “Relieved and surprised. Because the non-retiring partners chose to insure their newly established law firms with Lawyers Mutual of NC, we were able to transfer the prior acts coverage for the non-retiring partners to their new firms’ policies and give free four-year tail coverage policies to the retiring attorneys. Because the non-retiring partners chose the same or lower limits on their new policies, their premiums were either roughly the same or lower than they were on the old policy. They were pleased and surprised to learn that they were able to insure their dissolving firm’s prior acts without getting a big bill! That isn’t always possible (e.g. when former attorneys are joining existing firms that either aren’t insured by us or firms that are unable/unwilling to put their prior acts exposure on their policy). But it is nice when it works out this way!”
What part of your job do you like best? “I like giving money-saving surprises the most. But I also like clearing the fog about how our policy works. I often warn insureds not to ask too many questions or they’ll end up knowing more than they ever wanted to know about their insurance policy.”
What is your secret superpower? “I know the correct pronunciation of every questionably-pronounced word in the English language, so just ask. (Hint: asking me how to correctly pronounce pecan may or may not alert me to your thoroughness, which may or may not positively affect your premium).”
Want to test Juan’s superpower? Give him a call today.
Learn more about Lawyers Mutual underwriting here.
So why do you value Lawyers Mutual? How can we provide even greater value? We’d love to hear from you.
