Board Pleased with UMI’s Continued Success Insuring UM Churches
Nashville, Tenn. – Chuck Hamilton, President of United Methodist Insurance (UMI) is pleased to announce that UMI has selected Swiss Re (rated A+ by A.M. Best) as its new reinsurance partner, effective January 1, 2015. Swiss Re, the world’s second-largest reinsurer and founded in 1863, operates through offices in more than 25 countries.
“The new reinsurance arrangement with Swiss Re offers to UMI the tremendous experience and stability of Swiss Re in reinsuring church insurance programs, as well its broader appetite for coastal risks, large churches and annual conferences than we have had in the past. We are very excited to be able to offer to churches a very competitive and comprehensive insurance program,” Hamilton stated.
Also, the Board of the United Methodist Insurance Company (UMI) met in Nashville in November to review the company’s future plans, as well as its progress since its inception in 2012. Specifically, UMI has:
• Forged strong strategic partnerships with top-rated and highly qualified reinsurers, insurers and insurance service providers who believe in the company and its potential for growth;
• Created a comprehensive package of insurance protection designed specifically for the needs of churches;
• Established a very good reputation and credibility with churches and annual conferences by handling claims in a professional and appropriate manner; and,
• Achieved a remarkable 120% growth in the number of insured churches since inception.
Rev. Steve Hundley, Chairman of the Board, said, “We are very pleased with the progress of UMI, and believe it offers our local churches and annual conferences a superior risk management program.”
UMI provides The United Methodist Church with significant benefits:
•Participating churches are properly insured, based on current property valuations and the local church’s needs. Past surveys of annual conferences highlighted that 20% of UMC churches were severely underinsured, and 30% of churches surveyed either had no insurance or were grossly underinsured for volatile exposures like sexual misconduct, workers compensation and directors’ and officers’ liability. Historically in the UMC, there have been many losses in which the local church was significantly underinsured or uninsured.
•UMI provides badly needed risk management services to churches, such as loss control and risk management advice, which are not widely available in today’s insurance market.
•Stability of insurance premium prices year to year, enabling churches to budget without fear of large premium swings from one year to the next.
•Marketing services are provided by staff that focuses only on church insurance. UMI does not use commission-based insurance salespeople or independent agents who may lack knowledge of insurance for churches. Additionally, our customer service representatives average more than 23 years of insurance experience, which equates to service at the highest professional level.
•UMI offers tremendous client satisfaction. Today, UMI has church clients in 38 annual conferences in more than 36 states. For the October 2013 renewals, more than 98% of churches elected to renew their insurance with UMI; for the October 2014 renewal season, more than 99% of churches chose to stay with UMI. These results dramatically outpace insurance industry client retention averages of 87%.
If you have any questions, contact Chuck Hamilton, President of UMI, at 615-369-2398, or contact UMI at 855-606-6505.