Erin Bender, CIC -- Transportation Underwriter

Erin began working at Midwest General Agency in 1996. She is a graduate of Chippewa Valley Technical College where she earned a Technical Diploma in Medical Office Specialist and Accounting Assistant programs.  She started in the Office Services department in 1996, was promoted to transportation underwriting assistant in 1997 and to transportation underwriter in 1998.  She has completed the INS series of insurance courses and earned her CIC in 2002.

Favorite Book:  Can’t think of any off hand.  I read a lot of children’s books lately (young children at home J)

Favorite Movie:  Dirty Dancing, Sixteen Candles (they are oldies, but goodies)

What do you like to do when you are not in the office?  Spend time with my family

What food is always in your refrigerator?  Cheese

If you were an animal, what would you be?  A cat, they sleep a lot.

If you could go back in time, whom would you visit and what would you talk about?  My grandma, I would ask her more about her life & attempt to learn all of her wonderful skills.   

Likes/Hobbies:  Listening to music, looking for bargains

Dislikes:  I am not the biggest fan of sports.

What’s one thing you’re willing to share about yourself that would surprise most people?  Sad, but true, I do like reality shows. 

You can now quote special event liability using our web rater. It's quick! It's easy! And most important, it's available when you need it. Go to our home page, click on Web Quoting Systems and select Special Events Liability.

Products available for on-line quoting:
1-4 Family Dwellings (DPP)	1-4 Family Dwellings (Commercial Lines)
Apartments	Beauty/Nail Salon/Barber Shop
Clothing Store	Community Association Product (CAP)
Comprehensive Personal Liability (CPL)	Condo / Renters Package (HOP)
Convenience Store/Delicatessens/Grocery	Electronic Store
Employment Practices Liability (EPL)	Fitness Centers
Janitorial Services	Laundromats
Lessor's Risk Only	Liquor Stores
Main Street Mercantile	Mobile Home Parks
Non Profit Directors & Officers (NDO)	Personal Umbrella (PCL)
Real Estate Errors & Omissions (REA)	Residential Condominium Unit Owners
Restaurants	Truckers
Vacant Buildings	Vacant Land

Direct Bill for the American Reliable farm product is now available.

We have waited for direct bill for our farm product with American Reliable for a long time; and now it is finally here. We are very happy to have this new option for our agents that write farm business with us. We have always had a great product with competitive pricing. Our direct bill option gives you a great opportunity to write new business with one of the best farm companies in the nation.

The payment options are as follows:

2 Pay – Required minimum premium is $500. 50% is the required down payment. The next installment is due in 5 months.

4 Pay - Required minimum premium is $750. 30% is the required down payment. Payments are due in 60, 120 and 180 days from the effective date.

9 Pay – Required minimum premium is $1,500. 23% is the required down payment. Payments are due every 30 days for 8 months.

**There is a $10 installment charge on all installments (not required on the down payment). If writing new business or renewal business direct bill the check must be made payable to American Reliable.**

For more details on the farm program and direct bill contact the Farm Underwriters:
Kim Mayer – Agribusiness Underwriter, AFIS API WISC, ext. 256
Teri Goulet – Underwriter, WISC, ext 246

Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems (EIFS), or synthetic stucco, is a multi-layered exterior wall system used on the outside of residential and commercial buildings. EIFS provides great insulation as well as a look that many consumers find attractive. The major problem with EIFS is its ability to retain moisture thus resulting in mold. There have also been cases where the synthetic stucco masks termite problems. Most contractor's general liability policies contain a broad EIFS exclusion which excludes all coverage for any EIFS related work. We have a carrier that not only quotes EIFS contractors, they love to write them. To provide a quote, we need Acord applications with a description of the applicant's experience. The minimum premium for the class is $20,000 so the company is looking for the larger EIFS contractors. We have several EIFS contractors already written and would love to help you write more! Please contact a Midwest General underwriter if you have any questions.

Have you heard about MRSA (the staph superbug resistant to many forms of antibiotics)? Time Magazine and 60 minutes have both highlighted this health threat in the past several weeks. In some communities, the school districts had to incur the extra expense of sanitizing classrooms and deal with the media blitz when several students contracted MRSA. Other potential contagions, such as the Avian Flu, Norwalk virus, TB, E. coli, Salmonella, or Legionnaires' disease remain threats and could close down any organization's operation overnight! Fortunately, one of our markets now has a solution with their new Outbreak Extra Expense Coverage. Click here for details!

Midwest General Agency has added 18 new USLI web raters to our website including Restaurants, Truckers GL, Vacant Property, Fitness Centers, plus 14 others. There are now a total of 26 raters in our OnLine quote system. Check them out! We have discontinued the TOPS system. We have multiple markets for TOPS classes that aren't duplicated with our new raters. Send them in... we'll do the quoting for you.

Earlier this year, we posted a change in options we were making available to our customers. We thought it would be appropriate to remind you that we will produce the insured's copy of the policy on paper with an agents copy on our website for any agency that requests to be set up this way. In that case, you WILL NOT receive a CD from us. If you would like us to make this change for your office, please send an e-mail or written request to John Higgins or me. John's email address is jhiggins@mgarws.com. If you prefer to have policies delivered as they are now, there is no need to send us a message confirming this as we will not make this change unless we are asked to

Midwest General Agency would like to announce the arrival of a new Child Day Care Product with United States Liability Insurance Group (USLI). Applications are available on this website. USLI Child Day Care Product Advantages:

• USLI is A++ rated by AM Best
• Competitive rates based on average daily attendance
• Admitted product available in Wisconsin and Minnesota
• Defense reimbursement for alleged acts of owners for additional charge
• $5000 Medical Payment coverage is provided on a primary basis for children enrolled at center for no additional charge
• Will consider operations with pets, with children having special needs and with drop in exposures
• Property limits up to $3,000,000 available for fire protection classes 1-8
• General Liability limits available up to $1,000,000/$3,000,000
• Abuse or Molestation limits available up to $100,000/$300,000
• Professional Liability is included with the General Liability

One notable advantage of the United States Liability Insurance Group (USLI) Child Day Care product is the $5000 of Medical Payments for the children enrolled at the center for no additional cost. Most companies exclude medical payments for the children, which then forces the center to purchase a separate accident policy. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the new USLI Child Day Care program, please contact one of our P&C underwriters for assistance. You can find a list of our underwriters in the directory section of this website.

Just a reminder. . .a building is considered as vacant if less than 70% of the building is not rented or not used for customary operations. (1995 CP forms) We have multiple markets for vacant dwellings, commerial properties, warehouses, and vacant land. Our hit ratio on vacant is very high so why not let your favorite Midwest underwriter quote and write your next vacant risk?

When we met with our Agents Advisory Committee last month, they suggested that we make a change to the electronic policy process because of the different technology levels of our customers, We listened to what they had to say and we are going to offer another option, We will produce the insured’s copy of the policy on paper with an agent’s copy on our website for any agency that requests to be set up this way. In this case, you WILL NOT receive a CD from us. If you would like us to make this change for your office, please send an e-mail or written request to either John Higgins, our IT director, or me. John’s e-mail address is jhiggins@mgarws.com. If you prefer to have policies delivered as they are now, there is no need to send us a message confirming this as we will not make the change unless we are asked to. Bob Race rrace@mgarws.com

We have a new direct bill payment option for the American Reliable farm product. Down payment and up to 9 installments available. Go to the application tab and print out App ID #257 (American Reliable Farm Premium Indication Worksheet) to get a quote. Check out our great service and competitive rates. Let us quote some accounts with American Reliable and American Bankers for your agency.

Come and hear about our preferred/standard farm & equine markets at a Road Show near you. Click on the Road Show button on our home page and sign up to learn more about the farm and equine product we have available. You will also receive 3 free continuing education credits for attending. Can’t wait to see you there!