Risk Control: Helping Agents Win and Customers Manage Risk
At Westfield, risk control professionals work alongside agents, underwriters, and customers to better understand operations and exposures. Most risk control surveys are conducted in person, and for many new applicants, they happen early in the quoting process.
This boots-on-the-ground approach can help Westfield identify potential concerns and understand the strengths of an account before coverage is bound.
Expertise Built Around the Risks Customers Face
Westfield risk control professionals bring knowledge across a wide range of industries and exposures. In Middle Market, that includes target segments such as manufacturing, construction, real estate, and hospitality. In Agribusiness, team members have experience with exposures ranging from grain bins and farm equipment to food safety, insulated metal panels, and fertilizer and chemical risks.
“Bottom line, our folks are extremely knowledgeable in this space and are a valuable resource for our agents, underwriters, and customers,” said Dave Ruppel, Vice President of Agribusiness.
That expertise helps agents have more informed conversations with customers about the risks affecting their businesses — and the steps they can take to manage them.
Getting the Full Story Behind a Risk
An application and loss history provide important information, but they don't always tell the complete story.
Shawn Leonard, Head of Middle Market, shared the example of a large construction account with more than 100 vehicles and a complex mixed-use property exposure. The account had experienced a significant auto loss, but an on-site meeting involving Westfield's field manager and risk control team revealed what had happened since the loss occurred.
The customer had invested in telematics, strengthened driver screening standards, and improved hiring practices. By seeing the operation and talking directly with the customer, Westfield could better understand how the business had responded to its loss experience and improved its risk profile. Risk control also helped address questions involving a tenant's powder coating operation and the documentation needed to keep the opportunity moving forward.
“Risk control was not just there to point out the problems,” Leonard said. “They helped us understand the account, validate the positives, work through any concerns, and give the agent and customer confidence in the outcome.”
The result was more than an underwriting decision. The customer saw the time and expertise Westfield invested in understanding its business — and ultimately chose Westfield.
Helping Prevent Losses Before They Happen
Risk control can also deliver value long after an account is written.
During a service visit to a cattle slaughterhouse, a Westfield risk control professional and underwriter discovered that the main valve for the facility's sprinkler system had been shut off because of a heating issue. The customer had not been notified that the sprinkler system was effectively out of service.
Westfield is also using technology to help eligible Agribusiness customers identify potential problems earlier. Examples include HSB thermographic imaging, which can help detect equipment issues before failures occur, and Ting sensors, which can help identify potential electrical fire hazards in farm dwellings. These services are included in the premium for eligible customers, subject to eligibility requirements.
Bringing Specialized Insight to Agribusiness
Risk is continually changing, particularly in areas such as food safety. Westfield's Agribusiness team is working to help agents and customers stay informed about those changes.
Ruppel pointed to food safety as one example. Even well-managed operations across the food value chain can encounter biological, chemical, and physical hazards. Understanding evolving food safety expectations can help agents become more informed advisers to commercial agribusiness customers.
Westfield is also investing in education and expertise. Risk control team member Ben Peetz, for example, is pursuing a food safety and quality assurance designation from Purdue University. The team has also provided targeted education for agents, including training on farm fleet and farm equipment controls at Westfield's Ag Agency Invitational.
A Team Approach That Supports Agents
Agents don't have to approach complex risks alone. Westfield encourages agents to participate in risk control survey appointments and collaborate early with field underwriting and risk control.
“On complex middle market opportunities, we are at our best when the agent, the field manager, and our risk control representative develop a shared strategy early in the process and sit across the table together with the customer,” Leonard said. “That is where we can truly understand their business, work through the concerns, and create practical solutions.”
For agents, that collaboration can create an opportunity to demonstrate more value to customers. Instead of focusing solely on coverage and premium, the conversation can include how to identify exposures, improve safety, and reduce the potential for future losses.
Ruppel sees that value extending to both new and existing business.
Put Risk Control to Work for Your Agency
For your next Middle Market or Agribusiness opportunity, consider bringing Westfield risk control into the conversation early. Connect with your Westfield field manager to discuss the account, determine how risk control can help, and consider joining the customer visit.
It can give everyone at the table a clearer view of the risk — and help you show customers the value of having Westfield alongside you as a long-term carrier with risk control expertise.
