Farmers of Marble, PA
BriteCore Platform delivers major efficiency gains and business growth for mutual insurer
Adopting a Modern Platform to Position the Company for Future Growth
Farmers of Marble, PA (Farmers) had been using an on-prem policy administration system for many years. However, the system’s future was not clear. Farmers became increasingly concerned that the legacy system would be unable to support the company and meet its future needs.
Widespread business disruption from the pandemic in 2020 underscored the risks of relying on an on-prem system. Farmers experienced firsthand the limited ability of their on-prem system to support remote and hybrid work models.
To identify a new core insurance system, the company began a rigorous vendor evaluation process that included consultations with other insurers and support from an external consultant. The BriteCore Platform emerged as the winner based on its strong functional capabilities, its team’s excellent engagement, and BriteCore’s large and active user community.
During a phased implementation with deployments for personal lines, commercial lines, and the BriteCore policyholder portal, Farmers realized immediate benefits. In the first year on the BriteCore platform, the company saw a 10% increase in DWP. Farmers realized efficiency gains from nearly a dozen integrations. For example, hours were saved each week with the Mass Printing integration for document printing and mailing. With BriteCore, new users could be onboarded rapidly. New employees could be trained for general inquiries in a day, and agents could learn the system in an hour.
With its adoption of the BriteCore Platform, Farmers of Marble has freed itself from the limitations of its former legacy system and significantly improved operational efficiency and system flexibility. The company is looking forward to the future with confidence, knowing that with BriteCore, it has a modern, scalable core platform that meets the needs of its staff, agents, and policyholders and enables Farmers to achieve new levels of business growth.
Farmers of Marble, PA: Competitive, Timely, and Efficient
Farmers of Marble was founded in 1881 to fill a void when other insurance companies refused to provide coverage to rural property owners in Pennsylvania. Over its history, the company has expanded its underwriting coverage to include a variety of multi-line coverages and has acquired several other mutual insurers. Today, the company serves Pennsylvania property owners through independent insurance agents throughout the state. Farmers of Marble strives to provide competitive insurance coverage for homeowners, commercial properties, farmowners, mobile homeowners, seasonal and tenant occupied dwellings while striving to provide timely and efficient customer service.
Moving from On-Prem Limitations and an Uncertain Path to Cloud-based Capabilities
Farmers had been using an on-prem policy administration system that met the company’s needs for many years. However, this legacy system was difficult to learn and use, relied on time-consuming manual processes, and had an unclear future. The insurer was increasingly concerned about the system’s ability to support the company and meet Farmers’ future business needs.
The 2020 pandemic resulted in broad business disruption and highlighted for Farmers the risks of depending on an on-prem system. Farmers experienced firsthand the system's limited ability to support remote and hybrid work models that were essential for nearly all insurers at the time. This challenging experience with their legacy system reinforced the need for Farmers to shift to a modern, cloud-based platform that could provide greater flexibility and support future business growth.
Care and Diligence with System Evaluation Leads to BriteCore’s Cloud-based Platform
Farmers approached their search for a new core insurance platform with careful planning and due diligence. The company consulted with a number of other regional mutual insurers to gather feedback on vendors and learn from their experiences. A key learning from these discussions was the need for Farmers to treat this new core system selection as a broad business improvement initiative that would involve significant change and an overhaul of operations, along with the adoption of new technology.
The company hired an external consultant to assist with its system evaluation and selection process and serve as a strategic advisor for the process. Farmers began evaluating a half-dozen vendors, narrowed to two finalists, and selected BriteCore as the winner due to the platform’s functional strength and alignment with their business requirements. BriteCore provided a cloud-based, scalable platform with end-to-end capabilities, a large number of pre-built integrations, and full support for the insurer’s lines of business (including niche products). The company was also impressed with the responsiveness and excellent support of the BriteCore team during the evaluation process and with the large and active BriteCore user community that included many mutual insurer peers.
A Modern Platform and Key Integrations Drive Operational Efficiencies and New Growth
During a phased implementation process, Farmers realized immediate benefits as they deployed personal lines, commercial lines, and the BriteCore policyholder portal:
10% increase in Written Premium
In the first year on the BriteCore Platform, the company experienced a 10% increase in DWP – nearly all from new business – with no increase in staff. The insurer is projecting future growth at similar or greater levels, but it has no plans to hire additional staff thanks to the efficiencies gained from BriteCore.
Immediate time savings from third-party integrations
Farmers saw immediate benefits from nearly a dozen integrations implemented with Britecore. For example, with the prior system, employees spent up to 10% of their time printing and mailing documents. Now, with BriteCore’s integration with Mass Printing, the in-house document management has been eliminated and Farmers’ staff have saved hours each week.
Rapid onboarding and improved agent experience
Due to staff retirements, the insurer experienced turnover in several positions while implementing BriteCore. While its prior system was difficult to learn, thankfully, new employees could be trained on BriteCore in a day to handle general inquiries. Additionally, agents could learn the new BriteCore system in an hour and required much less ongoing support.
Vendor integrations that enabled Farmers to automate business processes directly from the BriteCore platform included:
- e2Value: provides web-based property valuations for commercial, residential, and farm and ranch properties.
- IVANS: Automates the distribution and servicing of insurance products.
- MassPrinting: Manages and processes document printing from any location with an internet connection and addresses a vital component of disaster recovery.
- Mutual Inspections Bureau (MIB): provides on-site inspections and underwriting surveys for residential, commercial, and agricultural properties.
With the adoption of BriteCore, Farmers of Marble has freed itself from the limitations of its previous on-prem policy system and achieved significant gains in operational efficiency and improved system flexibility. The company is excited about the future and has confidence that, with BriteCore, it has a modern, scalable core insurance platform that enables its team to meet the needs of its expanding agent network and policyholders while delivering greater levels of business growth.
