Farmers Mutual of Tennessee

Deploying a Modern Platform to Accelerate Operations and Pursue New Opportunities

Growth at Farmers Mutual of Tennessee (FMT) had stalled. Agents found it difficult to write new business, and manual, paper-intensive processes slowed the team down. FMT’s policy system was a quarter of a century old, and little had changed.

During a severe spring tornado season, FMT experienced the largest claim event in its history. It was a crisis that had the entire company working for weeks to process stacks of paper claim files. Afterward, FMT made the decision to move to a new platform.

FMT learned of BriteCore thanks to positive word-of-mouth in the mutual insurance carrier community. After a very successful implementation, the BriteCore Platform went live just as FMT celebrated its 100th anniversary

The company immediately benefited from BriteCore’s intuitive workflows and automation, saving days each month that had been lost reconciling prior systems. BriteCore’s value was further underscored when the company weathered its second-largest claims event. Instead of shuffling paper for weeks, BriteCore enabled the claims team to assign new claims as fast as they were received. Insurance adjusters were inspecting damage within hours, and 90% of the claims were paid within one week.

Since implementing BriteCore, FMT has nearly doubled gross written premium (GWP) without adding staff. Looking ahead, the company plans to use the BriteCore Platform to enhance underwriting, add new integrations, and explore new LOBs and growth opportunities. Through harnessing BriteCore’s capabilities and potential, FMT continues to be a vibrant force for service and change in the communities it serves and in the broader mutual insurance community

Farmers Mutual of Tennessee: Neighbors Helping Neighbors

FMT is one of only two property-casualty insurance companies domiciled in Tennessee that writes business statewide. Holding firm to mutual values of neighbors helping neighbors, FMT sells its products primarily through local, independent insurance agents who genuinely appreciate their policyholders because they live, play, and work in the same communities.

FMT exists to provide good coverage at a fair price. The company is devoted to being financially sound and delivering honest and fair service to its policyholders, partners, and community. The team at FMT is committed to doing whatever it takes to serve others without regard to title or status. They strive to exemplify the company’s values of family, integrity, service, and stability.

Moving Past Paper and On-Prem System Limitations to Cloud-based Capabilities

A number of years ago, FMT’s leadership was growing concerned as written premiums had stalled. Agents didn’t like to write business with FMT because they were using an old, Citrix-based quoting system. Internally, the company was wrestling with a 25-year-old policy administration system. The system was very paper-intensive, and did not track notes or documents. FMT had installed a separate document management system, and employees routinely spent hours reconciling information between the two different systems and paper-based files.

Setting the Stage for Success with BriteCore’s Cloud-based Platform

FMT began a search for a new system. The company learned of BriteCore through positive word of mouth in the mutual insurance community and after conducting a visit with another mutual insurer that had recently modernized its systems. BriteCore emerged as the clear frontrunner in FMT’s core system search, but there was still some internal debate over the timing for a new system.

Then a CAT event occurred that underscored the need for immediate change. A historic storm during spring tornado season became the largest claim event in the company’s history. Within a few days, FMT received thousands of claims. It was a crisis that had everyone in the company, regardless of role, spending weeks processing stacks of paper claims.

The FMT team made the decision to move off their old systems after the storm claims were processed and the crisis was over. The team selected the BriteCore Platform for its user experience, its future business potential, and the strength of the platform’s user community.

BriteCore provided automated processing, streamlined workflows, and support for notes and documents. It was intuitive and efficient, and it eliminated much of the paper that had been such a burden.

FMT recognized that continuous development of BriteCore’s cloud-based platform would provide access to new functionality. BriteCore also offered integration with FMT’s partners. After using a system static for decades, the FMT team valued a platform that would continue to evolve and offer new capabilities.

FMT was also drawn to the BriteCore customer community, which reflected the broader mutual insurance community. BriteCore had fostered a vibrant community of customers that provided assistance and mutual support.

After an efficient and collaborative implementation, BriteCore went live just as FMT was celebrating its 100th year in the mutual insurance business.

New Capabilities Accelerate Operations and Open New Opportunities for Growth

Upon implementing BriteCore, FMT saw immediate and longer-term benefits that were substantial.