It is that time of the year when you will be receiving sales calls informing you that there have been important changes on the State and Federal Labor Law posters.We are aware of those changes and are in the process of compiling these updates ~ please expect your new 2016 updated labor law posters to arrive at the end of December.
By Megan Brown, Vice President of Sales & Marketing
As a followup to all of the announcements and details of our Annual Meeting, I thought that it would be interesting to give you an idea of how it went. We had the largest turnout in our 39-year history and my goal is to carry this momentum into our 40th year. The agenda was packed with presentations from Denise Williams, a Performance Consultant from the University of Michigan who discussed distracted workers and the effects that it has on work productivity. Martha Yoder, the Director of MIOSHA provided proactive approaches to creating a safe and healthful worksite. John Karlen and Chris Doebler presented details on the company overview and financial status. During the meeting, MTMIC also signed the 2016 MIOSHA Alliance which assists our members in raising awareness of MIOSHA’s rulemaking and enforcement initiatives, provide training and education as well as enhance communication and outreach related worker productivity. The food was excellent, the company was great and the meeting ended on time. We hope that you will join us next year.
By Glenda Moyle, Premium Accounting Manager
Well, we have started working on the January 2016 renewals. I have been working on these for over 30 years and it’s hard to believe that another year has sped by.
If you have an effective date in January, you should have already received your payroll renewal form asking for new estimated payrolls for the 2016 policy year. The goal is to accurately estimate payrolls which reduces the chance of a surprise audit of additional premium.
A common question I hear is what do we do if the payroll estimate form is not returned to MTMIC? Well, we use the higher of your 2014 audited payrolls or your current policy (2015 estimated) payrolls for your quote. It is never too late to send the form back to us. We can always revise your payment schedule.
If you need another copy of the payroll form please contact me at Glenda.moyle@mtmic.com/blog
Just recently, MTMIC achieved a couple of milestones. For the first time in our nearly 40 year history, we broke through the 800 member mark. Second, MTMIC’s asset value passed the $50 million mark. Both of these results are based on our member’s loyalty and dedicated staff. Building member loyalty comes from two sources. The first source is that we have a dedicated Board of Directors. These board members represent the owners/member’s interests every day and their skillsets built over the years, demonstrates that they know how to create member value by giving staff the freedom and support to improve member services.
The second source that builds member loyalty is the MTMIC staff, which is filled by unusually tenured veterans. One of the most frequent contacts is with Glenda Moyle, the MTMIC Premium Account Manager who handles billing and underwriting service questions. What you may not know, is that Glenda has been with MTMIC (and our previous Trust Fund) for nearly 35 years. She knows most of our members, some of their family, and lots of policy details for most accounts. The next frequent contact is Donna Motley, our Vice President of Claims. With her number two, Cindy Boyce, they both have more than 20 years with MTMIC. Other frequent contacts are with our loss control staff, with Chris Doebler, our CFO, and of course our Marketing Vice President, Megan Brown and Marketing Assistant, Patty Allen. A common thread with all the MTMIC staff, is member commitment and tenure. I have had the privilege of leading this team since August 1, 2013. Our employee turnover rate in 2013 was 0%, 12014 0% and 2015 0%. Yes, I am the newest employee.
The board and staff’s focus has been simple. Make sure that all accounts are funded properly to ensure claim payments and secondly, when there are profits above this funding requirement, those profits are OWNED by our members. In March, $2.5 million was returned to our members. At the October Annual Member’s meeting, we will have the first discussion about the dividend for March of 2016. The Annual Member’s meeting is Thursday, October 15th at 11:30 and will be held at the Inn at St. John’s in Plymouth. I am pleased to pass on these two significant achievements and hope you can attend the Annual Meeting to hear the first words about the 2016 member dividend.
Have you registered for the Annual Meeting on October 15th?
Registration is now open.
Please contact Glenda Moyle at
(800) 274-5606 ext. 1315
with questions.
We look forward to seeing you there
The MTMIC Board of Directors is made up of 9 member owners that are from large, medium and small companies. Their individual companies duties consist of: Five of the nine are business owners, two are Chief Financial Officers, one a firm’s Human Resource VP and one is a retired shop owner. These Board members’ businesses receive the same benefits as your company when dividends are declared. As expected, their first obligation is to make sure the financial condition of the company is secure before dividends are declared.
At the August MTMIC Board meeting, Chris Doebler, our Chief Financial Officer reviewed our financial numbers through the first half of 2015. Let me share a couple of the numbers with you:
(Year over year)
- Number of Members: 771 – an increase of 3.6%
- Revenue: $9,438,000 – an increase of 3.2%
- Profit: $1,265,000
By Ruth Kiefer, Loss Control Manager, MSc, ARM
Many of you have been with us for a very long time, and may remember when we first formed our safety alliance with the Consultation, Education, and Training (CET) Division of MiOSHA in 2007. This alliance was created in order to help our policyholders improve their shop safety and provide up-to-date education and safety training from former compliance officers. Who else would know better right?
Since that time, we have conducted over 122 joint visits with CET. Many of you have formed a valuable relationship with them and invite them back on a yearly or bi-yearly basis. Since we have found this to be a positive experience for the majority of our policyholders, we are renewing our alliance once again.
During a regular business week I receive notices from outside vendors, state associations, and government bulletins. Most of the time there is nothing exciting to report from them; but last week I received two that were interesting. The first was a report from the state on the number of time loss injuries for Michigan employees. In 2007, the state recorded 11,262 time loss injuries. Three years later in 2010, time loss injuries had decreased to 9,566. And then in 2013, the number was 7,109. This study goes on to give credit for management’s focus on improved employee risk management, but they also credit changes in the manufacturing process and the reduction of hazardous work. Overall; this data does give us a good story on the improvement in employee safety. I wanted to pass these numbers on to you to give credit for the important role you play.
The Annual Meeting is October 15th
11:30 am – 2:00 pm
at The Inn at St. Johns
Watch for more information to follow.
On some of my monthly notes, I try to answer questions that I get frequently from members. Here is one topic that comes up a couple times a month from different members. Question: What is the financial stability of MTMIC? Does MTMIC have a “Best” rating? If not, why not?
First, a common measurement of financial strength in the insurance industry is how much surplus a company has. Surplus is the amount of financial cushion a company has in the event that losses exceed the premium. As of March 31, 2015, MTMIC had a surplus account of $17,950,415. Industry experts often say that the ratio of surplus to premium should be one to one. MTMIC has $0.94 that is surplus for every $1 of premium.
One of the most common questions during a member’s renewal process is “What is my experience modification? And how is it calculated?” Often this leads to another question that goes something like, “I had no losses last year but my experience mod went up, why?”
Let’s cover the big picture and the first question. The goal of the experience modification is to reward Michigan employers with lower than expected losses for their classification codes and payroll. The opposite is also true. Michigan employers with higher than expected losses in their rate classification receive a “debit” experience modification, which is a mod above 1.00. We have some members with experience modifications in the 60s, such as one today was .62. That employer at the very beginning of the rating process receives a 38% discount off of the standard rate. We also have a couple employers with experience modifications above 2.00. For these employers, their starting point in the rating process is twice the standard rate.
A critical part of controlling your workers’ compensation premium is controlling your losses. By the way, MTMIC is eager to help you with your loss control needs.
By Chris Demeter, Senior Loss Control Consultan
Due to the changes to the Recordkeeping Standard, the OSHA “Job Safety and Health It’s The Law” poster was updated to reflect those changes. According to OSHA, previous versions of the poster is currently acceptable. The changes to the Recordkeeping Standard was addressed in the December 2014 MTMIC newsletter. Previous newsletters can be obtained through the MTMIC website: http://www. mtmic.com/blog/
Martha B. Yoder, Director
Michigan Occupational Safety & Health Administration (MIOSHA)
MTMIC is pleased to announce that Martha B. Yoder will be speaking at our upcoming Annual Meeting in October. Martha will be discussing how to Be Proactive in Creating Safe and Healthful Workplaces.
On March 1, 2012, Martha B. Yoder was appointed Director of the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA). In that role, she oversees the MIOSHA program, which is responsible for enforcing workplace safety and health standards and providing consultation, education and training, and outreach services. She is also responsible for overseeing the Wage and Hour Program, which protects the earned wages and fringe benefits of Michigan workers.
Last month I wrote you about the fun of delivering 2.5 million dollars’ worth of member dividend checks. We had 544 member checks. The average check amount was $4,596.00 which equates to 19.6% of the individuals paid premiums. Probably another interesting statistic, for 106 members their dividend was greater than 50% of their annual workers compensation premium. As a reminder the dividend had two parts, part one was a loyalty dividend for all members with policies by 12/31/12 that were still insured on February 19, 2015. The second part of the dividend was based on the loss ratio of your individual account. The Board thought, all members should be rewarded and those will great loss histories should get a bonus.
Many wonderful stories came out of our “surprise” deliveries. I had many myself. Special fun with Julie Grimm at Star Cutter Company, Celeste and Dennis Johnson at Thread-Craft, Inc., the management team at Symmetry Medical, and Maritza Gaskin at AB Heller. Regarding the loyalty piece, I should mention that both Star Cutter and AB Heller have been with MTMIC and the Trust before since 1976. Yes 39 years.
Just as important as old “news” is new “news”. Please mark your calendar on October 15th for the MTMIC annual members meeting. It is a quick moving 2 hour luncheon at Inn at St. John’s in Plymouth. At this meeting, not only do we have two speakers, we will also complete the first review for the next dividend. It will be interesting.
Please plan to attend.
Denise Williams, PhD, MS, SPHR, SHRM-CP
We are excited to announce that one of our speakers at the MTMIC Annual Meeting will be Denise Williams, PhD., MS.SP
HR, SHRM-CP. Denise will be speaking on The Distracted Worker: A Hidden Risk to Employee Health and Productivity. Denise is a Performance Consultant serving the staff of the University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers (HHC.) In this role, Denise collaborates with leadership and employees to create, support, promote, and optimize a culture of inclusion, equity, and diversity that welcomes and supports the health of staff and patients. Her liaison work supports recruitment, employment, education, training, and retention of superior staff to position the University of Michigan Health System as a national exemplar in the areas of health equity and inclusion.
Are you going back to the Inn at St John’s in Plymouth? We are.
The 2015 annual members meeting is October 15th.
More information to follow…
What does giving MTMIC members $2,500,000 look like?
At the February 19, 2015 MTMIC Board meeting, after assessing the financial strength of the company, the Board approved a dividend of $2,500,000 payable to members in March. The dividend was made up of two parts: Part 1 – $1,000,000 goes to all members with policies prior to 12/31/12 who are active members as of February 19, 2015. Part 2 – $1,500,000 goes to the members with the same dates as Part 1, but who also have great loss histories for the years 2010 – 2012. With these Board parameters, the staff of MTMIC went to work on the project. On March 10th staff produced 548 member checks. When looking at the check amounts, staff decided delivering these checks would be a great way to say congratulations to members and also thank them for their loyalty. So the account assignments were made and 5 MTMIC staff members job for the next two weeks became check deliverers similar to “Publisher Clearing House” check delivery types. From the pictures you could see we were well received.
Many fun comments came out of the visits. A couple members asked if the check was real. While I was making surprise check deliveries, I also checked in with staff to see how their visits were going. Our Loss Control Representative, Chris Demeter, wrote me “It’s all good. I think after they hear the amount and see the check, my hair could be on fire and they wouldn’t notice.” On one of my deliveries, the female owner said, “I know who you are.” I replied, “Really, we have never met.” She went on to say, I am “cuter” in person than the picture in the Newsletter. She won the award for kindness. It is the Board’s desire that this dividend is not a one-time event. Staff will remain focused on claims adjudication and Loss Control input. You are the most important part of managing MTMIC Claims. For an early heads up, the first review of the 2016 dividend will occur at the MTMIC Annual Members luncheon which is Thursday, October 15th, at the Inn at St. John’s in Plymouth. We hope you will attend and get the first preview for what is in store for March of 2016.
Finally, thanks for a terrific 2014 year. Staff will stay focused to do a repeat in 2015.
GREAT NEWS TO ANNOUNCE!
A benefit of being part of a small mutual/owner directed insurance company is that the profits that are generated are owned by its members. This is in contrast to commercial carriers where profits are owned by the stockholders. After writing about this topic for the last three months, the MTMIC Board at their February 19th meeting reviewed the 2014 results and determined that a policyholder/member dividend is in order. The Board of Directors, the management team and staff are proud to announce a $2,500,000 dividend. $1,000,000 is to be shared by all members with a policy inforce on February 19, 2015 that had coverage 12/31/12 and prior. An additional $1,500,000 dividend is being shared by members that meet this criteria plus have a loss ratio of below 40%.
We thank you for these great results. This dividend is the result of aggressive claims management, hands on loss control practices and most importantly our policyholder member’s commitment to reducing loss costs.
Dividend checks are being delivered by MTMIC staff, your brokers and the post office beginning as early as March 10th. The MTMIC Board also made it clear that they want to distribute dividends in the future as long as company results warrant it. Congratulations on the MTMIC 2014 results.
Great news to start 2015. As mentioned in previous newsletters, the MTMIC Board approved a dividend resolution late last year directing management to prepare required documentation for a 2015 members/owners dividend if the 2014 financials supported such. As Chris Doebler, MTMIC CFO, and our actuary wrap up the claims numbers for December 31, 2014, I am pleased to say that is the case. MTMIC management has the resolution and supporting detail for the Board to review and vote on at the February 19th Board Meeting. It is anticipated that the Board will approve a plan that includes members’ payments to go out in March. I also expect consistent with the Board’s prior instructions that the dividend will be member loss ratio based. That is the accounts with good loss ratios will be included in the distribution. Their instruction “let’s make sure that the members who contributed to the good results get the benefit of it”. The dividend will also likely have a years of service credit. The longer the account has been a member the larger the dividend.
I hope the above gives you a clue of what is coming. I do not know the final chosen parameters or exact amounts. The Board will determine those at their meeting. I can tell you that giving back profits to member companies is what a small mutual company is about. We operate to provide our members/owners with the best service we can at premiums that are financially sound and excess profits earned belong to members/owners.
By Chris Doebler, CPA, Chief Financial Officer
Did you know that you can make your monthly premium payments without ever having to write or mail a check? Over 1/3 of our policyholders remit over 1/3 of our monthly premiums via AutoPay, and you can too! Your payments will be spread over 12 months instead of 10 and will automatically be debited from your checking account on or about the 10th of each month. All you need to do is return the Authorization for AutoPay form that is included with your annual renewal package and we’ll take it from there. You can even sign up mid-year by directing us to take your remaining scheduled payments via AutoPay.
If you have any questions about AutoPay or wish to sign up and need an Authorization form email Chris Doebler at chris.doebler@MTMIC.com or call (248) 488-1172 ext 1012.