GUARD Southeast Insider Session

The meeting focused on territory-specific training for the Southeast region with Berkshire Hathaway GUARD. Chris Bone, Director of Wholesale Regional Partnerships, and his team introduced GUARD's vision to become a leader in the small and mid-sized commercial space, highlighting their commitment to agents and brokers, comprehensive product suite, and strong service. The team discussed GUARD's history, product offerings including workers' compensation, BOP, commercial auto, and commercial umbrella, and their presence in 50 states plus DC. They also mentioned their tiered pricing structure and various writing tiers under different subsidiary companies like Norguard, AM GUARD, and EastGuard.

 

Chris presented updates on GUARD's workers' compensation and business owner policy offerings. Key highlights included plans to expand the number of class codes from 130 to 300+ and reduce underwriting questions from over 1,000 to around 200. GUARD has written nearly $50 million in net new workers' compensation business year-to-date, and their business owner policy offers coverage up to $50 million with various optional add-ons. The commercial auto program targets service, delivery, and light/medium vehicles with up to 49 units on schedule, focusing on vehicles with a gross vehicle weight up to 45,000 pounds and values up to $75,000.

 

Chris presented an overview of GUARD's current insurance products and future plans. He discussed their "tuned-up auto product" (Auto 2.0) available in 6 states with enhanced flexibility, and noted that GUARD typically requires 5 years of driving experience in most states, except 9 years in Florida. Chris outlined plans to develop a monoline General Liability product in 2026 and property options in 2027, aiming to offer more modular coverage options beyond their current comprehensive Business Owner Policy. He also detailed GUARD's target industries, focusing on small to mid-sized commercial businesses, with a preference for risks under $15 million in TIV and under $5 million in revenue, particularly emphasizing artisan contractors, automotive service businesses, and habitational properties.

 

Chris presented GUARD's target market parameters and underwriting approach for commercial insurance, focusing on small to mid-sized businesses with fewer than 15 employees and payroll below $2.5 million. He outlined specific industry targets including hotels (excluding Florida), habitational properties (also excluding Florida), restaurants, and lesser risk retail properties, while noting geographic limitations and specific exclusions in certain states. Chris introduced new processes including in-house rating for hospitality businesses with 6+ locations and a supplemental application system, and highlighted GUARD's "get to yes" underwriting philosophy aimed at helping partners compete and win business through comprehensive underwriting and flexible terms.

 

Chris presented updates on GUARD's tools and services, highlighting the new 60-second appetite checker for quick market assessment and plans to improve the quoting process with fewer questions later in the year. He discussed value-added services including loss control resources, claims support, and the Policyholder Service Center which allows clients to access self-service functions through a mobile app or web browser. The session concluded with a question about 24-hour gas stations, where Nathaniel confirmed they are generally an option for GUARD with the requirement of an on-site attendant, though specific state restrictions like Florida and Georgia would need to be verified.