Newsbrief Archive

Changes to statutes of limitations and recent court decisions are making sexual misconduct liability increasingly difficult to underwrite. In light of anticipated market volatility, we’re taking steps to limit our future exposure to sexual misconduct liability in commercial lines policies.

Coming coverage changes for Custom and Express policies

For new business and endorsements to existing business, on policies with effective dates July 1, 2024, or later, we will no longer offer sexual misconduct liability coverage. Beginning Aug. 1, 2024, a sexual misconduct exclusion will automatically attach to new policies.

For existing business, on policies with renewal dates Oct. 1, 2024, or later, we will be removing sexual misconduct coverage.

• For policies with forms that specifically include sexual misconduct liability coverage, policyholders will receive a notice advising them of the change in coverage.
• For policies without sexual misconduct liability coverage forms, policyholders will receive a notice letting them know we’re attaching a sexual misconduct exclusion form.

These changes apply to both primary (BOP and general liability) and umbrella policies.

*Note that renewing policies with sexual misconduct liability coverage will continue to be referred to underwriting to ensure they meet underwriting guidelines.

Need to update a policyholder’s address? Add an additional insured or newly purchased piece of equipment?

Now you can service your clients’ inland marine endorsements directly in eCLIQ^® without sending an email request to Liberty Mutual. This allows you to provide your clients with a better experience and makes helping them easier and faster than ever.

Submitting the endorsement in eCLIQ results in the endorsement being processed up to one week faster than when you submit an email request. About 80% of the time, your endorsement will be processed immediately. If the request needs to be reviewed by an underwriter, we’ll aim to get back to you within three business days.

How it works
Servicing your own endorsements is easy. In eCLIQ, simply click the hyperlinked inland marine policy name or the arrow to the left of it to open a dropdown menu. Then click Start Endorsement.

More information
For step-by-step guidance on servicing endorsements, check out our agent reference guide. If you have additional questions, check out our on-demand training or call the Agency Interface Support Group at 888-451-8414, Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern.

As a reminder, you can also service your own BOP, commercial auto, general liability and workers compensation endorsements without sending an email request. We’ll be rolling out this functionality to additional lines of business in the near future, and we’ll let you know as it’s available.

Doing business with us is even easier with eCLIQ Simple. Check out these recent changes:

• Improvements to Driver Information fields: If any drivers on the policy have a compound first or last name (i.e. Sarah-Ann or Sarah Ann), you can now enter their full name using a space or hyphen. Additionally, you can now enter a middle initial and/or select a suffix from a dropdown menu within the Driver Information section, leading to more accurate driver information.
• Enhanced trailer selection: Once you enter the VIN, year, make, model and select a trailer type within the Vehicle Information modal, you will see a range of images and descriptions for common trailer styles to choose from, enabling more accurate trailer selection.

If you have questions about any of these changes, please reach out to your underwriter or territory manager.

The industry-leading PaceSetter® program has turned new producers into top performers for over 25 years. Established by State Auto, the program is now available to select Liberty Mutual small commercial producers.  

During the intensive, year-long program, new producers develop marketing, sales and underwriting expertise to write more profitable, targeted business, which can increase quality business production, new agent retention and contingency payments.  

PaceSetter features and benefits: 

• One-to-one weekly virtual sales consulting 
• One-year subscription to the PaceSetter sales reporting system (Salesforce) 
• Weekly, virtual group sales meetings 
• Incentive opportunities for each PaceSetter producer and agency sponsor, including a program registration fee refund and sales travel incentive program 

Ready to put your new producer on the path to success? 

<Learn more>

A surety bond is an agreement entered into by three parties — the surety company, the principal and the obligee. In the agreement, the surety company guarantees the performance and/or legal or regulatory obligation by the principal to the obligee. Here are some key differences between surety bonds and traditional insurance policies:

• Surety bonds are an agreement between three parties, while traditional insurance policies are an agreement between two parties.
• Surety bonds protect the obligee, while traditional insurance policies protect the insured.
• With surety bonds, there is no expectation of loss, while traditional insurance policies are calculated by pooled risk.
• Surety bonds are project specific, while traditional insurance policies are usually term specific.
• Surety bonds are based on a penal sum, while traditional insurance policies are based on policy limits.

Contract bonds and commercial bonds

Contract bonds and commercial bonds are the two main types of surety bonds. While contract bonds are typically written for construction projects, where the obligee is the project owner and the principal is the contractor, commercial bonds are written for a multitude of different industries.

Some common types of contract bonds are bid bonds, performance bonds, payment bonds and warranty/maintenance bonds. Some common types of commercial bonds are court bonds, license and permit bonds, public official bonds and fiduciary bonds. Check out this in-depth guide to learn more about which surety bonds are often required by various industries.

More information

Whether your needs are for contract or commercial bonds, Liberty Mutual® Surety has you covered! As the world’s largest surety, we have the strength and expertise to help contractors and businesses of all sizes access the bonds they need to thrive.

To learn more or get started, visit the surety bonds page.

Since 2017, Agent for the Future has been providing independent agents the resources and insights they need to grow and succeed.

The newly launched Agent for the Future Advisors team – bringing to the table more than 50 years of combined experience advising independent agents – can help you use those resources and insights to make your agency more efficient, adaptable and profitable.

Agent for the Future Advisors offer tailored guidance on vital topics, including:

• The latest research on insurance trends and shifting consumer expectations
• Digital tools and technology to help you adapt to industry changes
• Effective sales enablement tactics and customer engagement strategies

To learn more and get started, visit Agent for the Future.

Due to weather-related catastrophes, record inflation, the high cost of rebuilding and other industry-wide liability trends, Liberty Mutual has faced heavy losses and deteriorating loss ratios in the hotel/motel segment for quite some time.

Given these persistent adverse market conditions, we will be discontinuing new business for hotel and motel operations effective June 1, 2024. This change applies to all lines of business.* Note that we will also begin to non-renew existing policies later in 2024. We’ll notify you once we have a clear timeline for when these non-renewals will begin.

We understand the inconvenience these changes will create and hope the advance notice will give you and your customers enough time to explore other options for coverage.

*Builders risk policies for hotels and motels will remain within appetite.

States affected: AZ, FL, IA, ID, NJ, NY, PA, VA, VT and WI

Late last year, we updated the model we use to assess and underwrite risk for workers compensation. Effective March 22, we added the business owner’s credit-based insurance score to our underwriting model to underwrite these risks even more accurately.

How it works

When quoting a new policy, you will be asked to provide the business owner’s name, home address, date of birth and permission to run a soft credit check, which will not affect the owner’s credit. For businesses with multiple owners, enter information for the person primarily responsible for day-to-day financials, such as the chief financial officer.

You will have the option to skip a credit check for an initial quote, but keep in mind that we will need to run a credit check before you can bind the quoted policy. Quotes generated without a credit-based insurance score may not be accurate.

Declined risks

If eCLIQ^® declines a risk after you provide the business owner’s information, it will indicate if the credit-based insurance score was a contributing factor.

In these cases, you will be given the option to send your customer an Adverse Action Notice describing the reasons for the decline through the agent portal.

Our new commercial auto product in eCLIQ^® Simple™ offers enhanced pricing segmentation, flexible coverages and a much faster, easier quoting experience. What’s more, expanded eligibility allows you to quote most commercial auto risks!

You’ll have the most success writing multiline accounts with the following risk characteristics:

• Retail, general/health/professional services, real estate, food manufacturing and carpentry industries
• Well-established businesses (15+ years)
• Older vehicles (15+ years)*
• Drivers age 40+ without violations
• Quotes with heavily populated driver lists, preferably with at least as many drivers on the policy as there are power units
• Claims-free businesses
• Smaller fleets with 1-4 power units

*Older vehicles typically have lower repair costs and lower annual mileage than new vehicles.

Learn more about auto in eCLIQ Simple by visiting the agent portal – and be sure to sign up for our instructor-led webinar taking place Jan. 27.

Note that, with the launch of our new auto product in eCLIQ Simple, we’ve discontinued the legacy auto product we’ve offered through the eCLIQ platform. You are currently only able to quote new commercial auto business in eCLIQ Simple. This change only applies to new business and does not affect existing policies.

In Connecticut, our comprehensive cyber suite endorsement will soon be available for monoline general liability (GL) and business package policies with effective dates on or after June 1.

With cyber suite for monoline GL and business package policies, your clients will enjoy expanded limits of up to $5 million to provide protection for more complex business exposures.

Offered through The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company and replacing the data security endorsement, cyber suite gives your small commercial clients more robust coverage for today’s digital world.

To learn more about cyber suite for monoline GL and business package policies – including how to quote it – check out the on-demand training and visit the product page.

We want to be your first choice for quality multiline commercial business, so we’re making key investments in our products, quoting platform, underwriting tools and appetite guidance. Here are a handful of the changes we’re making – with more to come.

• We’re taking pricing and underwriting actions to make our commercial auto product more competitive for quality multiline accounts.
• We’re updating eCLIQ to make it easier to do business with us, such as declining out-of-appetite risks earlier in the quoting process.
• We’ve added an up-to-date snapshot of our appetite to the agent portal to give you a clear view of what we want to write today.

The new appetite pages on the agent portal are the best place to go to learn about our state-specific industry and class appetite and preferred policy characteristics. Get started.

Have a risk in mind? Look it up! All you need is the business’s state and business description or class code.

Starting Feb. 19, trailers with a load capacity greater than 2,000 pounds that are classified as “service/utility trailer” will be updated to the correct classification — “trailer” or “semi-trailer,” as applicable — effective with the policy’s renewal. Trailer classification will be confirmed using manufacturer and model information. This change may result in premium impacts.

Trailers with a larger load capacity represent more risk in the event of a loss and must be rated appropriately for the exposure. Inaccurate data and improperly rated policies lead to premium leakage, which drives higher rates at new business and renewal.

Use these definitions to help ensure a better client experience:

• Service/utility trailer — any trailer or semi-trailer with a load capacity of 2,000 pounds or less.
• Trailer — any trailer with a load capacity greater than 2,000 pounds, other than a semi-trailer.
• Semi-trailer — a trailer with a fifth-wheel coupling device for use with a truck-tractor, with load capacity over 2,000 pounds. This includes bogies used to convert containers to a semi-trailer.