Hi all,
Here's the deal:
We have been SCIF brokers for over 5 years. The recent collapse, essentially, of the company has in my opinion made them nearly impossible to work with. They reject applications without offering reasons and are practically non-responsive in many cases (with the exception of a few people there). In one case, I have been emailing an underwriter over there for a quote for 3 weeks, over and over again, with no response.
I can deal with the usual stuff that is common with companies in trouble (long hold times and rude CSRs that are also issues over there) but the effect it is having on our new business is unacceptable. I get tat they are the last-resort carrier for WC in CA but do they really have to start acting like the DMV?
Is there anyone out there with advice on how to deal with this or who to talk to over at SCIF to get some answers? I'd really appreciate it. I'd also appreciate any input from SCIF employees if you people read these boards. Also, feel free to share your pain if you are a broker having the same issues.
Thanks for reading.
PB
SCIF (California) - need your advice/opinions
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paulbennings
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Re: SCIF (California) - need your advice/opinions
Hi PB,
Dealing with SCIF is pretty tedious, especially with all the recent changes and layoffs. They changed many of their internal procedures that have affected brokers.
The quote turn around time can take any where from 1-3 weeks, depending on which service center is handling the application. We used to deal with one assigned underwriter for both NB and RW Underwriting which made things a bit simpler but now applications are being distributed amongst all their service centers so it's hard to track the UW, let alone get them on the phone or to reply to e-mail.
Whenever I don't receive a reasonible response time or turn around, I contact one of the underwriting supervisors or manangers. If they don't respond, I'll usually forward an e-mail with the trail of unanswered e-mails to our marketing rep and she'll start calling e-mailing/calling the underwriter and we finally receive a response. Of course I only do this in extreme cases after weeks of not receiving a quote or getting a problem fixed on a policy.
Also, I try not to bombard the underwriters with calls or e-mails because that won't help. These people are extremely overworked and stressed out so the last thing I want is to get on their bad side.
If SCIF is the only option, I set the expectation with the client up front and let them know there's a 2-3 week turn around. I know they need WC ASAP but there isn't much we can do to speed up the process but complain or just wait. I'd rather wait instead of dealing with the stresses of chasing down underwriters. I also use SFO as much as possible and call Customer Service very seldom.
I do hope they improve these service issues soon. They should start accepting broker down payments online instead of giving us 5 days to snail mail pmt or the rescind the policy!
Happy Selling!
Eric
Dealing with SCIF is pretty tedious, especially with all the recent changes and layoffs. They changed many of their internal procedures that have affected brokers.
The quote turn around time can take any where from 1-3 weeks, depending on which service center is handling the application. We used to deal with one assigned underwriter for both NB and RW Underwriting which made things a bit simpler but now applications are being distributed amongst all their service centers so it's hard to track the UW, let alone get them on the phone or to reply to e-mail.
Whenever I don't receive a reasonible response time or turn around, I contact one of the underwriting supervisors or manangers. If they don't respond, I'll usually forward an e-mail with the trail of unanswered e-mails to our marketing rep and she'll start calling e-mailing/calling the underwriter and we finally receive a response. Of course I only do this in extreme cases after weeks of not receiving a quote or getting a problem fixed on a policy.
Also, I try not to bombard the underwriters with calls or e-mails because that won't help. These people are extremely overworked and stressed out so the last thing I want is to get on their bad side.
If SCIF is the only option, I set the expectation with the client up front and let them know there's a 2-3 week turn around. I know they need WC ASAP but there isn't much we can do to speed up the process but complain or just wait. I'd rather wait instead of dealing with the stresses of chasing down underwriters. I also use SFO as much as possible and call Customer Service very seldom.
I do hope they improve these service issues soon. They should start accepting broker down payments online instead of giving us 5 days to snail mail pmt or the rescind the policy!
Happy Selling!
Eric