Poorly Managed, Internal Organizational Disaster, Future is Highly Questionable
Pros
- As a regional, mutual carrier, the company still has somewhat of a family feel to it - Employees who are successful aren't just a number, management often knows them by name - Never had any issues with the benefits - company does 401K and still has a pension as well, though not the old defined type - Always loved the people that I worked with for the most part
Cons
- Highly questionable financial condition, combined ratio below 1.00 only twice in past 13 years and even then only slightly. - A- stable AM Best Rating which has not improved in years and is not likely to, will only be downgraded or continue to be affirmed A- at best - Company has depended on investment income to basically make their profit, not from underwriting/insurance operations - this has been the case for many years. Now that investment income is drying up, there's nothing left to offset their expense crisis except the cash flow underwriting they've been doing. - UW management and marketing management talk out of both sides of their mouth. UW's are pressured endlessly to make sales goal each month. UW's are sending over vast amounts of bound business that are not fully underwritten to make the goal, and work on documenting the checklist/file later, sometimes several months. UW management knows this is happening and will join HO UW/QC in condemning the UW if a poor file is noted, while at the same time commending them for meeting or exceeding the sales goal. - Company is run by marketing, not underwriting. The underwriter is moved around by the marketing manager and marketing rep like a pawn on a chess table. UW is never asked for input in territory/agency reviews. UW is told what agencies are going to be the top agents and where the UW's focus will be. There is no team in this sense. Marketing rep will not support you and will shift blame to UW when goal is not made. In my time at the company I only knew one marketing rep who was trustworthy and honest, and it wasn't my own. - Incredibly top-heavy company, too much management and too many analysts looking over your shoulder while there are barely enough people to do the actual work - Internal operations structure and organization is a disaster and incredibly inefficient - talk to any independent agent who has Utica National in their office and ask them about how good they are at getting policies out quickly and correctly, or what great customer service they have. You won't find any who feel that way. - Corporate management consists of lifers only, very insular, company is reflection of Central NY: never change and be suspicious of outsiders who even mention change - Board of Directors are all local, Central New Yorkers who have no clue about insurance operations, and look at being on the board as their community service. They're about as useful as a rubber stamp. No one in corporate management is held to task as compared to a Board of Directors for a stock company. - Preferential treatment is given to certain underwriters. Quality checking on underwriters is not objective. I've witnessed this first hand and all the underwriters on the floor know it. - Company has been engaging in cash flow underwriting for the past 18 months or so as they only now found out that they haven't grown in the prior 5 years. They're desperate to grow as they have an enormous expense issue/expense ratio. The solution they've provided is not really to address the expense side, but just write make a mad, rabid dash to throw premium on the books and offset the expense. - Manager and Supervisor leadership on the floor is poor. Basically, if you've worked there a long time, that must mean you know how to manage people and are a qualified leader. - The middle market underwriter in the region is expected to be not only that, but also the small biz UW, UA, customer service rep, rater, etc. You'll be working on a $200,000 premium account, but have to stop and work on every small monoline $900 WC or auto policy that comes to you. Agents have no idea who to talk to on renewals, small or large, so you get the calls and emails all day long asking you to help them, asking you to do an endorsement, asking you to do optional quotes, asking you about audit problems, asking you for worksheets. Aside from a Home Office pool of UA's who only run and import a few reports, and often incorrectly, you have no UA whatsoever. You're responsible for reviewing all the loss control surveys, following up on outstanding info like supplemental apps and MVR's/MVR issues, documenting UW checklists with report findings, narratives, etc. on all files, including a $900 monoline WC policy for a restaurant. Bottom line, do not be an UW at Utica National. I know several individuals who came over from another company before I left and regretted it.