The SEMA organization helped set up a program through Alliant Insurance Services for automotive aftermarket installers. I use them for my shop.
From SEMA:
On the surface, it may seem that obtaining appropriate and adequate commercial insurance should be a fairly straightforward transaction. According to Corwin, that’s not always the case.
“One of the challenges that companies in the specialty installation market segment face is trouble finding a carrier willing to provide what they’re looking for—garage liability, property and garage-keepers coverage. Another concern is that those companies often don’t have an agent who even understands their businesses.”
To help address those and other challenges, Alliant teamed with SEMA in 2007 to offer an insurance program specifically tailored to meet the needs of SEMA-member companies whose primary business is to sell and install aftermarket accessories. The program—known as Installer’s Edge—now falls under RevPro, Alliant’s industrywide automotive banner. It offers comprehensive coverage that includes up to a $5 million limit, garage liability, garage-keepers legal liability, property and non-owned auto.
“Installer’s Edge is one of our longest-standing programs, going on 11 years, and it’s been very successful,” Corwin said. “When Franco was putting it together, it was founded on the premise that we were looking at an underserved market.”
A prime example—and one that differentiates Alliant from others in the insurance business—is the ability to service first-time insurance buyers, Ganino noted.
“Most insurance providers don’t want the first-time insured,” he said. “They want them to have acquired years of experience and four years of no losses. But as long as they can provide a bio that talks about their education and experience in the trade, we can give them an experience-rated discount to get them insured. That’s been a big plus for us, and hundreds of clients as a result.”
An independent agency (not to be confused with an insurance company), Alliant’s strength lies not just in industry knowledge and flexibility but also in its capacity to serve all segments of the aftermarket industry, Ganino said.
“The over-arching message that we’re trying to communicate to the marketplace is that RevPro is the service effort on our behalf for SEMA that serves all aspects of the aftermarket within the insurance spectrum,” he explained. “SEMA identified that its members have an insurance need and was savvy enough to hire an agency that is large enough to handle the girth of SEMA and nimble enough to vertically align with a number of different segments in the industry.”
To learn more about Alliant’s insurance offerings, stop by booth #20757 in the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center during the SEMA Show, call 800-390-9099 or visit
www.seiainsurance.com.
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