New Brokerage Opens for Eldercare Business

Northern Virginia Firm to Balance Value for Both Carriers, Agents

Retail insurance agents seeking better service from their brokers have a new resource: K&B Underwriters, LLC. The development could be a welcome relief to agents who have struggled for attention in the tight marketplace of the past few years, in which demand far exceeded supply.

Founded by insurance veteran Bryan Baird, K&B is a wholesale brokerage that strives to better meet the needs of both retail agents and underwriters. As the firm’s CEO, Baird notes that K&B’s initial focus will be insurance and risk management for the eldercare industry, including nursing homes, assisted living facilities, home health care agencies, independent living facilities, and group homes.

For the past several years, Baird was president and 50% owner of another national wholesale firm, where he established a reputation for aggressive growth and personalized service. But earlier this year, Baird detected a softening in the eldercare insurance market, and decided to launch his own firm. “To differentiate ourselves,” he explains, “we created a business model that is as user-friendly to agents as it is to underwriters. It seemed like the hard market had created a business model that catered to underwriters and forgot about customers.” As president and CEO of K&B, Baird expects his new firm to increase competition in the underwriting field, adding, “It’s a win-win situation for our agents and their customers. We know the eldercare insurance business, we can give more timely quotes, and we’re built from the ground up to serve more effectively.”

The new firm opened its doors in August, and is fully staffed for the busy renewal season. Baird and his former partner agreed they would both compete for the older firm’s business and its employees, and Baird notes that K&B Underwriters succeeded in attracting all the employees he wanted to bring with him to the new firm. “We had remarkable results,” says Baird. “Of all the employees I asked, 100% came on board — including every single producer.”

K&B has licenses or pending licenses in most states, and can do business in all states with licensed retail agents. The firm will offer retail agents commissions competitive with the current marketplace. K&B is offering products through the major players who write policies for long term care facilities, and two new products that will be exclusive to K&B. According to Baird. “While almost all of our agents have direct access to some of our carriers,” he explains, “they prefer working with us because of our strong hit ratio.” Most of these carriers typically quote on about one-quarter of the submissions received directly from retail agents. However, adds the firm’s founder, “when the agents submit through K&B, these same carriers will quote on as much as 95% of the submissions and, of those, approximately 70% will result in orders to bind.”

Baird is optimistic about the response his new firm is getting. “We’re in great position to meet the needs of this market. With the renewal season coming up, we believe we can provide much better responsiveness and results.” Looking further ahead, Baird says his firm is close to announcing a new medical malpractice offering, and may eventually become a risk-bearer as well.

Contact:
Bryan Baird
(703) 761-7088
bbaird@kbunderwriters.com

Topics Agencies Underwriting