Did you know you can get email alerts to help you keep up with your clients’ claim developments?  Through SFM Agency Manager (SAM), you can get alerts about the following:

• Submitted, closed or re-opened claims
• Claim reserve activity (reserves are set or increased over an amount you specify)
• Claim payments (payments made greater than an amount you specify)
• Changes to claim status or litigation status
• Policy cancellations
• Policy renewal due in a specified number of days

Additionally, you have the option to set up alerts for whichever policyholders you choose.

To set up or manage your alerts, click on “manage alerts” in SAM. If you have questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to your SFM underwriter.

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SFM’s online resource catalog offers a wide range of educational resources designed to help policyholders prevent injuries, manage their claim activity and learn more about workers’ compensation. Also included are materials to help agents market their accounts with SFM.

SFM – the right choice for small business

A handout describing the benefits of breaking out work comp and making SFM your partner. It explains the benefits of a monoline carrier and illustrates SFM services that make us the right choice for small businesses.

​States where SFM provides coverage

Shows the states where SFM provides workers’ compensation coverage and the additional states we cover for employers’ out-of-state operations.

Visit the agent marketing materials page for more resources like these.

Claim packet – What to do if someone is injured at work

If someone is injured at work, this packet gives employers the materials they need to report the claim and help the injured worker return to work safely and quickly.

Employer liability limits

When employers purchase workers’ compensation insurance policies, a coverage called employer liability insurance is also included. This “Did you know” fact sheet provides basic information on this coverage.

Ergonomic tips for working from home

This presentation addresses common sources of working at home discomfort, provides education and offers ideas to improve your home office space when working from home.

Encourage your policyholders to download these resources from SFM’s online resource catalog and visit the site often for the latest materials.

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Here’s a look at the promotions, awards, retirements, and other milestones of SFM underwriters so far in 2023.

January

• Heather Wylie transferred from the Special Investigations Unit to the Small Business Accounts team as an Underwriter
• Willie Kirchoff transferred from Claims Representative to Underwriter on the Small Business Accounts team

March

• Underwriter Patty Paulson retired after 38 years at SFM

April

• Michelle Reif transferred from the Premium Audit team to the Small Business Accounts team as an Underwriter
• Small Business Marketing Representative Mark Lewis made stops at 16 agencies as part of the “North Star Roadshow”

May

• Andrew Miller joined the Iowa/Nebraska/Kansas Accounts team as a Marketing Underwriter
• Jeff Magee was promoted to Marketing Underwriter Specialist on the Iowa/Nebraska/Kansas team
• Robbie Anfinsen was promoted to Senior Underwriter on the Small Business Accounts team

June

• Jason Kelley was promoted to Senior Underwriter on the Small Business Accounts team
• Senior Marketing Underwriter Ben Cason, who is on the South/Metro Accounts team, earned his Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation

July

• Underwriter Debbie Sherman retired after nearly 34 years at SFM
• Jenna Lefebvre was promoted to Marketing Underwriter Specialist on the North/Metro Accounts team
• Senior Marketing Underwriter Connor Ferguson, who is on the North/Metro Accounts team, earned his Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designation

August

• Phil Roberts joined the Underwriting Technical team as an Underwriting Support Representative

September

• Robbie Anfinsen was promoted to Marketing Underwriter on the North/Metro Accounts team

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SFM increased written premium and market share in every one of its core states in 2022, and results so far this year show continued momentum. Premium for the first quarter of 2023 came in well ahead of projections, up 12% from the same period the prior year.

Long-standing partners know that we believe in steady, measured growth, which brings value to both established partners and newly appointed agents.

Comparing market positions by state

SFM’s premium share is on the rise in all of its core states, according to an industry report issued this spring by SNL Financial. SNL, a data analytics firm within the S&P Global organization, issues an annual insurance industry study that compares market share and ranks carriers within each state of operation. While SFM’s presence as a leading carrier in its core territory is nothing new, this report provides important independent corroboration of SFM’s position in the market.

SFM’s carrier ranking in its top five states, based on 2022 written premium

(listed in descending order of total premium)

“In addition to expanding the lead we’ve held in Minnesota for over 20 years, it’s great to see that the majority of our growth is coming from our other core states,” said Senior VP and Chief Marketing Officer Mike Happe. “For example, we saw written premium in Wisconsin jump from $35 million to $51 million, showing strong growth in both the voluntary market and our assigned risk plan business.”

While building on its strong presence in the original five core states, SFM has also been making great strides in the more recently-added Kansas, Indiana and Tennessee.

Continued growth, new opportunities in Kansas

SFM began writing small business accounts in Kansas in the fall of 2020. Since that time, premium growth and loss performance in the state have been outstanding. In fact, between the years 2021 and 2022, SFM’s Kansas rank leapt by 16 positions according to the market share report.

“One thing that’s really helped us establish a presence in Kansas has been our relationship with Marysville Mutual and its agents,” said VP of Regional Business Shawn Miner. “Right out of the gate, this multi-line carrier embraced SFM as its work comp partner, and it’s been critical to our success.”

Recently, agents in Kansas have asked us to expand beyond small business and write their larger accounts as well. SFM chose to invite Kansas accounts over $25,000 in 2023, backing that decision with a commitment to add in-state staff to better serve these larger policyholders.

“We’ve been thrilled with our growth in Kansas,” Miner said. “To help with our growth, we’ve begun hiring underwriting and claim staff in the state to help provide an even higher level of service for our Kansas insureds.”

Positive early indications in Indiana

In the first 18 months since SFM made Indiana its seventh core state, progress has been remarkable. Policy count and premium are growing at a steady rate (with SFM’s Indiana rank jumping a whopping 21 places from the prior year in the SNL report).

“Our business in Indiana is really hitting its stride,” said Mark Lewis, Small Business Marketing Representative. “Indiana has proven to be a great state to do business in and we’re excited to see our growth continue there in the coming years.”

Tennessee market off to a strong start

SFM officially entered its newest core state of Tennessee in January of 2023. An instrumental step in the success of this new endeavor has been a partnership with Farmer’s Mutual of Tennessee (FMT Insurance), a multi-line carrier that immediately recognized SFM’s ability to serve its agents’ work comp needs.

“We’re pleased to get off the ground so quickly with these new relationships,” said Business Development Specialist Cody Allen. “Thanks to the support and efforts of our strategic partner (FMT Insurance), as well as referrals from existing agencies in our other states, we’ve quickly built up a solid agency force and new business is already exceeding expectations.”

SFM is actively working to recruit new agency partners, welcoming additional referrals throughout its expanding territory. If you know any agents who would be interested in learning more about working with SFM, don’t hesitate to refer them to Cody Allen. He can be reached at 952-838-4207.

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Did you know that agents can play a role in their clients’ good hiring and safety training practices? Claims statistics show that new employees are more susceptible to injury. Those work comp claims come with a cost to the employer and can impact a company’s premium.

In this article, we’ll share some of our top tips for hiring and onboarding, and how you can pass this information on to your clients to help them get the right person in the role from the beginning and instill safety training from the start.

The right interview questions can help employers find safety-minded candidates

Asking about an applicant’s disabilities or past work injuries is prohibited by state and federal laws; however, employers can glean helpful information by asking other, related questions.

For example, an employer can use the job description to demonstrate the requirements of the role and ask whether the candidate can perform the tasks listed.

Employers can also ask them about their previous workplace safety training and if they feel ongoing safety checks are important.

Keep in mind that as part of the job offer, employers have the option to require a new employee to sign the job description to confirm that they can perform the duties outlined. Then, if a work injury does occur, the employer has the employee’s affirmation of capabilities documented.

Keep safety top of mind while training a new hire

Employers should include safety training as part of new hire onboarding and then follow up afterward to reinforce the training. SFM Loss Prevention experts recommend checking in three, six and nine weeks after a new hire is onboarded to answer any questions they have and to reinforce the safety training they heard early in their new role.

Share hiring resources

SFM offers several resources to help employers with the hiring process. We encourage agents to share these resources with their clients.

Hiring best practices CompTalk – This downloadable handout for policyholders offers hiring tips from the application period to the interview and through the job offer and vetting steps. Share this handout with clients so they can evaluate their current hiring process and make any helpful additions or changes.

How to hire the right people – This blog post written for policyholders is an easy-to-understand breakdown of hiring best practices. The link to this piece is easy to share with clients the next time you email them.

This is not intended to serve as legal advice for individual fact-specific legal cases or as a legal basis for employment practices.

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SFM writes business in more than 400 class codes including key industries such as construction, healthcare, manufacturing, hospitality, social services and nearly any other “main street” business you can think of.

The following lists of our top 20 new business class codes by policy count and premium will give you an idea of where we’re seeing the most success.

Top 20 class codes by policy count

This chart shows SFM’s top new business class codes by policy count over the past three years.

Top 20 class codes by premium

This chart shows our top new business class codes by premium size over the past three years.

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SFM recently hosted another educational webinar for our policyholders and agents titled “The Fundamentals of a Return-to-Work Program” and it’s still available for you to view. In it we discussed the importance of a good return-to-work program for any business type and outlined actions employers can take to positively impact the process.

Head to sfmic.com/webinars to watch the webinar recording. You can also view previous webinars and quick excerpts on work comp topics including loss prevention basics, winter slip and fall prevention, best practices for injury reporting, a breakdown of work comp benefits, avoiding litigation and much more.

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SFM’s online resource catalog offers a wide range of educational resources designed to help policyholders prevent injuries, manage their claim activity and learn more about workers’ compensation. Also included are materials to help agents market their accounts with SFM.

Make SFM your workers’ comp insurer. It’s the right choice.

A handout describing the benefits of breaking out work comp and making SFM your partner. It explains the benefits of a monoline carrier and illustrates SFM services that make us the right choice.

The right choice in workers’ compensation for schools

Learn why SFM is the workers’ compensation carrier of choice for school districts throughout its territory.

Claim packet – What to do if someone is injured at work

If someone is injured at work, this packet gives employers the materials they need to report the claim and help the injured worker return to work safely and quickly.

Experience modification factor CompTalk

Understanding and tracking the experience mod can be the single most effective thing employers can do to control their workers’ compensation premium. This resource helps explain the importance of the e-mod for policyholders.

Safety Orientation Success Guide

New hires are at increased risk for workplace injuries. Safety education is critical to maintaining a safe workplace. Employers can use this step-by-step guide to train employees in safety on the job.

Encourage your policyholders to download these resources from SFM’s online resource catalog and visit the site often for the latest materials.

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SFM is planning to participate in several insurance industry events in the coming months.

• July 12-13 Combined Agents of America Summer Series
• August 29-30 Big I Iowa Annual Convention
• September 25-26 Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) of Minnesota 2023 Annual Conference
• September 26-28 Iowa Association of School Business Officers Fall 2023 Conference
• October 1-3 Big I Independent Insurance Agents of South Dakota 2023 Annual Conference
• October 4-5 Minnesota Home Care Association Annual Meeting
• October 21-24 Big I Insurors of Tennessee 2023 Annual Convention

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SFM soared to new heights in 2022, and the company’s remarkable financial results are only part of the story. We continue hearing from our agents and policyholders that we’re delivering on our commitment to provide excellent customer service.

“With results this positive, it’s tempting to look back and talk about what a great year we’ve had,” said SFM Senior Vice President Steve Sandilla, “but we remain focused on delivering the highest level of service to our partners.”

In addition to the valuable feedback that SFM representatives receive directly from agents,

policyholders and injured workers, we also gain insights from survey data.

In a survey of agents conducted last August, more than 93% of respondents answered that they find it “easy” or “very easy” to work with SFM. The rating of “very easy” was the most common choice, coming in from nearly 60% of responding agents.

In November, SFM sought input from policyholders whose annual premium falls above $10,000. As with the agents, these customers were asked to rate how easy it is to do business with SFM. This time around, 91.5% of respondents said either “easy” or “very easy.” In fact, 62% of policyholders chose “very easy,” up from 57% the year before.

“We interpret these results as an important vote of confidence in SFM’s service-first approach,” Sandilla said. “We lead with the needs of our customers, knowing that positive results will naturally follow.”

Here are a few operational highlights from 2022:

• SFM’s industry leading customer retention rate has long been a testament to strong relationships with partners. In 2022, SFM saw a new high-water mark, with a policyholder retention rate of 96.8%.
• SFM brought in 6,600 policyholders, adding more than $28 million in new premium.
• Total written premium for the year came in at approximately $250 million.
• SFM’s combined ratio came in under 100% for the 11th year in a row.
• The SFM Foundation announced 13 new scholarships for students whose parents were seriously injured or killed on the job. This brings the historical total to 216 scholarships, representing $3.2 million in funding.

SFM’s book of business has grown to over 30,000 policyholders, covering approximately 500,000 workers across a wide spectrum of workplaces. As a servicing carrier for the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Assigned Risk Plan, SFM’s Superior Point division adds approximately 15,000 policyholders. SFM was also selected to serve up to 20% of the Wisconsin Worker’s Compensation Insurance Pool, accounting for 3,300 employers in that plan in 2022. In addition, SFM Risk Solutions provided third-party-administration service to 36 self-insured clients in 2022, including two large groups with over 1,600 individual member organizations.

SFM continues to grow its territory of operation, now stretching well beyond its original home in the upper Midwest. Having recently added Kansas and Indiana to its list of core states, the company is now in the process of appointing agents in Tennessee.

According to Sandilla, SFM’s independent agency partners are integral in the successes described above. SFM’s approach is to grow lasting relationships with both agents and policyholders that result in long-term mutual prosperity.

“Agents who bring their accounts to SFM can do so with confidence that their clients will receive the best customer service in the business,” Sandilla said. “Our top measure of success is and always has been delivering customer service that’s second to none.”

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