Renewal Specialist - Lead Worker

About the role

This role focuses on serving as a lead worker in the Renewal Specialist department, assisting with quality, compliance, and customer-facing measures. It involves providing technical support, mentoring, and assisting with enterprise projects.

Responsibilities

• Mentor and support Renewal Specialist staff.
• Assist employees with technical questions.
• Review, prioritize, and assign work coming into the unit.
• Monitor completion of daily assignments to ensure timeliness.
• Review work of employees within the unit to assist with coaching/mentoring.
• Identify, coordinate, and communicate potential workflow and procedure changes with Quality and Workflow Team.
• Orient new employees to the departmental and unit procedures.
• Audit and review work of employees within the unit.
• Aid in the establishment and monitoring of goals and objectives for the unit.
• Represents the unit in meetings regarding projects, processes, or issues.
• Participates in on-the-job training of employees new to the role.
• Completes system implementation impact lists and compliance updates.
• Responds to basic and complex policy inquiries and provides direct customer service to Agents.
• Calculates and determines renewal eligibility and insurability for policyholders.
• Develops appropriate pricing based on loss history, audit results, STI, PM scores, and hazard exposures.
• Approves or declines renewals for profitability and/or continuation of coverage using corporate underwriting guidelines within their Letter of Authority.
• Recommends declinations to the Business Development Consultant (BDC).
• Evaluates group program renewals to incorporate proper placement of renewal accounts in or out of the program based on pricing needs, eligibility of the program, and loss history.
• Reprices renewals due to competition, market fluctuations, multi-state repricing, or to retain profitability using in-depth knowledge of each BDC's repricing needs.
• Evaluates by analyzing state rate reductions/increases to maintain profitability, add/remove schedule credit/debit, or move from one company tier to another.
• Approves endorsement requests received from the service center and agents.
• Reviews and evaluates inspection reports for policy changes requested from rating bureaus and/or state agencies.
• Provides endorsement quotes to agents when requested.
• Communicates with agency personnel on policy issues regarding reasons for non-renewals and cancellations.
• Provides ad hoc mod promulgations for BDCs and agents.
• Reviews AFXpress submissions for errors and ensures they meet corporate underwriting guidelines.
• Aids in the preparation for agency audits.
• Serves as a back-up to BDCs for phone and email inquiries regarding new and renewal business while BDC is out of office, including documentation of records and briefing BDC on any pertinent issues when they return.
• Thoroughly assesses claim history of indemnity and medical claims.
• Composes a summary of details relating to complex claims to add to the underwriting file.
• Mentors Service Center employees.
• Trains and mentors working out of class staff as well as new employees on the duties of the job.
• Responds to basic and complex policy inquiries and provides customer service to agency staff.
• Evaluates and determines governing class code changes due to audit findings or bureau inspection reports to properly classify the policy holder based on their business operations.
• Contact agencies to notify of changes in pricing or add credit to help offset any increased price as appropriate.
• Work with agents to reallocate payrolls if additional class codes are added to the policy.
• Investigate and determine appropriate responses to Independent Bureaus, NCCI, internal and external audit inquiries.
• Provide technical support to agents with their online tools.
• Foster agency relationships by timely responses to renewal pricing and policy inquiries.
• Work with minimum supervision.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in insurance and/or a related field with progress towards or completion of Insurance Institute of America (IIA) or other insurance-related designation(s).
• Three (3) years experience as a Renewal Specialist - Small Accounts.
• Three (3) years as an Underwriting Technical Specialist (I/II), including one (1) year as a Underwriting Technical Specialist II, with demonstrated technical decision-making and interpretation of policy contract language and underwriting knowledge.
• Experience with interpretation of and application of manual rules across multiple states and regulatory authorities.
• Master’s degree in business, insurance, or related field with progress towards or completion of Insurance Institute of America (IIA) or other insurance-related designation(s).
• Three years AF Group experience working with underwriting/bureau rules, procedures, policy and audit information and research of business elements pertinent to policy structure; reviewing and approving endorsement requests or customer service experience resolving premium billing and premium transaction activities for agents and policy holders.

Skills/Knowledge/Abilities (SKA)

• Objective review of the work of others to ensure quality output.
• Demonstrated knowledge of team workflow and ability to re-prioritize work as needed for self and others.
• Effective communication and interpersonal skills.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines.
• Advanced knowledge of spreadsheet software with the ability to use ten-key.
• Knowledge of computers and database software.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Proactive and independent thinking with a long-term perspective in addressing customer needs.
• Technical knowledge of policy exposures, implications of changes, and identifying unique situations.