The Tire Industry Association (TIA) is joining with Meadowbrook Insurance Group to offer a comprehensive workers' compensation insurance package to TIA members.
``Meadowbrook's expert claims management and loss-control programs improve your workers' compensation history, which in turn drives down premium costs,'' said an article in the September/October issue of Today's Tire Industry, the Bowie-based trade association's official magazine. ``Meadowbrook can work with TIA members to share the risk and minimize the exposure.''
As a part of the program, Meadowbrook offers advice and training to participants on how to control loss and insurance expenses. This includes aid in accident investigation, interpreting safety requirements from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), establishing in-house programs for safety, detecting workers' compensation fraud and bringing workers recovering from injuries back to work.
The most appealing benefit of the insurance program, TIA said, is the opportunity it gives participants to share in potential dividends.
At the end of a year, if the total premiums Meadowbrook collects exceed the total losses it pays out, program members receive a share of the surplus. Because dividends are reduced by the claims all participants file, the dividend program gives participants a further incentive to improve their safety performance.
Before introducing the Meadowbrook program, Universal Underwriters Group-which continues to provide product liability, life, health and employee benefits insurance to TIA members-would offer workers' comp insurance informally to TIA members, said Roy Littlefield, TIA executive vice president. Universal doesn't specialize in workers' comp insurance as Meadowbrook does, he added.
``We've been dealing with Meadowbrook for 20 years, and this should be a fantastic program,'' Mr. Littlefield said.
In addition to the Meadowbrook and Universal programs, TIA also continues to offer product liability insurance for its retreader members through Scottsdale Insurance Co., a TIA spokeswoman said.
For more information on the workers' compensation insurance program, call (800) 726-9006 or contact the dedicated Web site at www.wcpolicy.com/tia.