Two steps closer to better coverage
Getting a self-insured workers’ compensation policy is a simple two-step process. First, we invite you to explore our services below and see for yourself what separates SCHB Self Insurers Fund from other workers’ compensation insurance providers. Second, find an agent in your area who can help you secure the policy that’s right for you. It’s that easy.
POLICYHOLDER SERVICES
Superior Customer Service
We believe our policyholders should never have to wait days for a phone call to be returned or to be bounced from one department to another for an answer to their question. Each new policyholder is assigned to a single customer service representative (CSR) who is responsible for providing personalized service and support on a variety of matters. Your CSR gets to know your business and works closely with you or your designee to ensure your workers’ compensation policy management experience is positive.
Each CSR has her own direct telephone number that rings at her desk. We do not use any automated telephone answering systems during our business hours. When you call us, you talk to a living, breathing, attentive person.
Your CSR is your advocate. If she cannot resolve an issue for a policyholder, she takes the matter to the appropriate manager to get the matter resolved in an efficient and effective manner. Time and time again, our policyholders have said our dedication to excellent customer service and the care they receive from their CSR is one of the top reasons they continue to insure with us.
Premium Payment Flexibility
We embrace advanced technologies to give our policyholders all the efficiencies associated with a major carrier. Our policyholders have direct and complete online policy management capabilities at their fingertips through our self-service portal. Policyholders can do everything from filing their monthly payroll report online to paying the premium through ACH bank draft. Policyholders can also pay their premium by credit card by contacting their CSR. Some policyholders grant access to their personal CPA or bookkeeper to file their monthly payroll reports for them. We see this as your policy account, and you manage who has access to it as well as what they can do within the account.
Our self-service portal is just that. You can obtain everything you could possibly need, including copies of your current and past policies, all the detailed billing and payment history during your tenure with us, and obtain necessary forms, guideline documents, and policy-related information directly from your computer through any common web browser.
A wide variety of additional online content is also provided to our current policyholders, which is only accessible through the self-service portal. This content includes current and archived newsletters, printable policyholder guideline materials, reference documents, our company’s direct-dial telephone directory, policy and claim-related forms, scholarship information as well as links to pertinent regulatory and educational materials.
Advanced Technology
We currently have two payment plans for our policyholders. The vast majority of our policyholders elect to pay their policy premiums monthly based upon the work they performed during the prior month. Instead of a fixed monthly premium that does not take into account the cash flow fluctuations in the construction industry, our policyholders’ premium is tied directly to their own business cycle. When jobs are few and far between, you pay less towards your premiums, thereby easing some of the financial burden that occurs during slow times. You may not have control of the weather but we give you direct control of your workers’ compensation insurance premiums.
For those policyholders who wish to pay for their premiums at a fixed monthly rate, we offer monthly payments spread over nine months. For short-term policies that do not have sufficient remaining months for nine payments, the number of monthly payments is reduced for short-term policy year and reverts to nine payments for subsequent years.
RISK CONTROL AND SAFETY
Helping Policyholders through Education
Safety is important to our policyholders and us for a number of reasons. Accidents result in more than just monetary consequence. For us and other SCHBSIF policyholders, they erode our financial position. For the affected policyholder, accidents cause job delays, potentially disrupting cash flow, and ultimately lead to higher insurance coverage costs. In a worst-case scenario, the policyholder can lose workers’ compensation insurance coverage making it very difficult to compete for future contracts.
We are available to assist our policyholders with implementing proven safety programs and standards that mitigate the risk of suffering job-related accidents. We offer a variety of educational programs ranging from general safety education to onsite, tailored group presentations designed to specifically address a policyholder’s needs. We are committed to keeping safety at the forefront regardless of the size of the account or the nature of the business. Eliminating accidents before they happen benefits everyone.
Experienced Team of Safety Professionals
Our team of risk control and safety professionals is led by a former OSHA compliance officer with years of construction industry safety experience. That experience is made available to our policyholders through a variety of educational and assessment offerings throughout the year. Whether the policyholder is a large operation or a small family business, all can benefit from our risk control experience and services.
Whether you’re implementing a safety program from scratch or reviewing an existing program, our risk control staff can help with onsite support services to develop benchmark metrics that reinforce a commitment to a safe job site or shop.
CLAIMS MANAGEMENT
Proactive Claims Management
We subscribe to a proactive claims management philosophy. We believe that a claim must be actively managed from end to end. This approach ensures that all the parties, the injured worker, the policyholder and SCHBSIF realize the best possible results. The overall cost of the claim is lessened through active management while the injured worker still receives all their legally entitled benefits. The policyholder’s premium increases are held in check and we don’t end up paying unnecessary costs because the claim wasn’t attended to immediately.
Experienced, Dedicated, Claims Department
Our Claims Department is just that, ours. With more than 60 years of combined claims management experience, the claims team is dedicated solely to our policyholders and their employees. They manage the claim through its entire life-cycle from the First Report of Injury to the final settlement. Through this active management process, they are able to mitigate the overall cost of each claim while ensuring the injured worker is treated promptly and properly so that he or she can return to work at the earliest possible date. This management approach mitigates the overall cost of the claim as well as reduces the collateral costs to the policyholder due to lost time and reduced capacity.
Our Claims Management & Risk Control Partnership
Our claims and risk control teams work hand-in-hand to ensure losses are minimized. In the event of an accident, Risk Control and Safety works with both the claims adjuster and the policyholder to resolve any issues that may have contributed to the accident. This assessment reviews the circumstances surrounding the accident as well as the policyholder’s operations to identify corrective actions that will ensure a safer work environment and avoid future accidents. Additionally, the Risk Control and Safety consultants relay their findings and solutions to other members of the RCS team so they might impart the knowledge to other policyholders whenever similar operational circumstances are observed. RCS and Claims management also evaluates the information for potential incorporation in future safety seminars.
PREMIUM AUDIT SERVICES
Professional In-House Auditors
The value of seeing the same auditor year after year may not be evident until you’re finding yourself working with someone who doesn’t know your business or your recordkeeping practices. Developing a working relationship with someone new can be time-consuming. Our policyholders generally see the same auditor each year. There is no need to explain how and where you keep your records, the type of work your company does or the jobs your employees do. Our auditors know your business and you know your auditor.
Each of our auditors has years of experience working with those in the construction business. They understand how to assist you in reducing your workers’ compensation coverage costs and can help you with a wide variety of recordkeeping matters that will make your annual audit a painless experience.
Year-Round Support
Few industries are as cyclical as construction. Boom times seem to always be followed by lean times, it is just a matter of time. When the cycle turns up, there is no real way to predict what form a recovery will take. Will your business look like it did before or will you be doing different kinds of work that require different kinds of employees? Did you just land a new contract and you’re going to be hiring someone new to do the work but you’re not sure which class code you should use? Our auditors are available throughout the year to help you stay on track so there are no surprises at the end of the year. Did you receive a Certificate of Insurance from one of your subcontractors but something just doesn’t look right about it? Let your auditor examine it before the workers are on your work site. Your auditor understands that you’re in the construction industry and not providing bookkeeping services. They’re here to help you navigate unfamiliar grounds.