As we look back on the first half of the year, I am amazed at all the Foresight team and partners accomplished. For many companies, 2023 has not been without its challenges, yet as we sail into the back half, the wind is at our backs.
Our Mission
Foresight’s mission is to bring workers home safely. We bundle Safesite, our proprietary risk management technology and services, with every workers’ comp policy we write. This empowers insureds to improve their workplace safety. This isn’t just a perk or a way to “check a box” for compliance. Our offering has been proven to reduce claims frequency by 17% on average. In the first half of 2023, we had nearly 90% adoption by our insureds who logged over 36,000 safety activities.
Geographic Expansion
2023 saw us bring our safety services to more insureds in more places than ever before. California remains our core market, and in the first half of the year, we began writing in Georgia, the Carolinas, and Florida. We’ve doubled down on central states with a renewed focus on Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas.
This brings our authorized state count to 16: California, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah. And there are more to come.
Around the corner, will be the ability to write in a 17th state, Colorado.
Writing Paper Upgrades
Our efforts were bolstered by a rating upgrade to our writing paper. Transverse, our fronting partner, finalized its acquisition by Mitsui Sumitomo (MS&AD Insurance Group) at the top of the year, becoming MS Transverse. With this, came an upgrade from A- to A by AM Best (and this on top of a reserve rating upgrade from A- VII to VIII last year). This further demonstrates the strength of the paper behind Foresight and opens up new opportunities for us and our broker partners.
Appetite Expansion
In the spring, we received welcome news from the WCIRB and the California Department of Insurance. California classifies solar panel installers with general electrical services. But most solar panel work is done at heights, on rooftops, making the rate of the assigned class inadequate. This technicality prevented us from bringing our competitive rates and safety services to one of California’s growing industries. Now, through close work with our government counterparts, we have secured a proprietary subclass code and corresponding rate that will allow Foresight to write workers’ comp for solar installers in the Golden State.
This appetite expansion builds on top of earlier expansions to include dairy farms. Agribusiness ventures are one of the core parts of our book. Now being able to cover “hooves on the ground” gives us even more reach in this key part of the economy.
New Hires
Finally, our team is processing a greater volume of submissions, serving more quotes, and binding more business as we implement efficiencies in our processes and invest in people and infrastructure. This summer, we are welcoming new hires to the team including experienced commercial underwriters.
All of this gives me great confidence as we move into the second half of the year. I am grateful for our team, insureds and partners who are integral to our success.
