One of the keys to success is that we bring together enough premium volume to give us leverage when we deal with the insurance companies. Where appropriate, we've even brought some JPAs together. The solutions can, and often do, include some level of self insurance. We've helped the public entities put together programs that include a lower level of self insurance with an excess layer at the top level and a blended layer in between the retention and the excess layer where there is opportunity for dividends. We find that this helps maintain underwriting credibility since that dividend potential often serves to reinforce the need for careful risk management and this is reinforced by peer pressure.
Nobody wants to be the risk manager of the public entity that blew the dividend for the group.
Tom notes that because the program business involves such a strong emphasis on loss reduction, it has been the most profitable business for the agency. We are trying to bring this message home to all our clients and are working to create additional programs in which many of them can participate. The agency is continuously involved in looking through its current book of business to find opportunities to create programs. You can stumble across one. You can get run over by another agency that has put together a successful program and then scramble to catch up.