Business Moves
Safety National Casualty, Colemont
Safety National Casualty Corp., a Missouri-based provider of excess workers’ compensation insurance, and Colemont Insurance Brokers launched a new program for non-subscriber employers in Texas. The new program, TExcess, provides excess coverage for occupational injury benefit plans and liability protection for employers’ indemnity.
Safety National has been writing excess and deductible workers’ compensation coverage for self-insured employers since 1942. TExcess provides comprehensive coverage over a self-insured retention similar to self-insurance and deductible programs.
St. Louis-based Safety National Casualty Corp. is a licensed property and casualty insurance carrier in the state of Texas. It offers a range of alternative risk funding products for workers’ compensation through independent insurance agents and brokers.
SWBC
San Antonio-based insurance and financial services firm SWBC, formerly Southwest Business Corporation, launched a campaign to increase awareness of its recent name change and new slogan: “We do that too.”
The company explained that for years SWBC has struggled with name recognition in the San Antonio area. The company decided to use SWBC as it does business in all 50 states and its old name gave the impression the company was regionally focused.
Chairman Charlie Amato said using Southwest Business Corporation also gave people the perception the firm only does business with other businesses.
The new slogan is meant convey the message that the company offers many products and services to businesses, families and individuals.
SWBC offers personal and business insurance, employee benefits, mortgages and investments.
At the end of 2006, SWBC’s gross revenue was $120 million, a number that increased by 54 percent to $185 million at the end of 2007. The number of employees grew from 730 at the end of 2006 to 947 at the end of 2007. Currently, it has 1,024 employees.
Farmers Group
Farmers Group Inc. is offering an auto insurance discount to Texas policyholders who have vehicles equipped with electronic stability control (ESC) technology.
The 5 percent discount began May 1. It applies to the collision coverage portion of an auto policy.
ESC is designed to help prevent a driver from losing control of the vehicle during high-speed maneuvers or on slippery roads. Stability control is most important for top-heavy vehicles, which are involved in more serious single-vehicle collisions and roll over more easily.
ESC is an extension of anti-lock brake technology with additional sensors continuously monitoring how well a vehicle is responding to a driver’s steering input. When the sensors detect that the vehicle is straying from the driver’s intended line of travel, ESC brakes individual wheels to keep the vehicle under control.
Farmers President of Personal Lines Jeff Dailey said a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) report released in July “found that electronic stability control reduces fatal crashes involving a single car by 36 percent. The corresponding percentage for SUVs, pickups and vans is 63 percent. Fatal single vehicle roll-over crashes are reduced even further — 70 percent for cars and 88 percent for the other vehicles with ESC.”
Hallmark Financial Services
Fort Worth, Texas-based Hallmark Financial Services Inc. plans to repurchase up to one million shares of the company’s common stock in its first ever stock buyback program.
Hallmark is the parent company of American Hallmark Insurance Co. of Texas, Phoenix Indemnity Insurance Company, Gulf States Insurance Company, Phoenix General Agency, Hallmark General Agency, Texas General Agency and Aerospace Insurance Managers.
The company said any current stock purchases will be funded from excess capital currently held at the holding company resulting from the issuance of $25,000,000 of trust preferred securities in August 2007.
Hallmark Financial Services’ business is geographically concentrated in the south central and northwest regions of the United States, except for its general aviation business, which is written on a national basis.