The surplus traces provider started writing non-admitted householders’ insurance coverage in coastal areas of Alabama, Mississippi, and South Carolina in December 2022. It additionally has state approval pending in North Carolina.
Ken Gregg (pictured), CEO of Orion180, advised Insurance Business that the transfer is about having extra management over the agency’s e book of enterprise.
“It’s been in the plans from the inception of the company. We want to be able to control our customer experience and what we’re able to bring to the market,” Gregg stated.
“When you’re an MGA, you’re primarily a distributor of product. For us, the natural progression is to become your own carrier and control your product, control your pricing, and control the experience.”
The timing was ripe for Orion180 to make the strategic shift, in accordance with Gregg. The firm has produced round $150 million in written premiums in below 5 years, and its scale of manufacturing had a reached some extent the place turning into a provider was the pure subsequent step.
“We’ve been putting it together for the last year and a half,” the CEO stated. “We got to the point of critical mass to make the transition.”
‘Expect more’ from Orion180
Headquartered in Florida, Orion180 serves greater than 80,000 policyholders throughout the US Southeast. It has secured an A “Exceptional” ranking from rankings company Demotech.
It plans to develop its current footprint and add further traces of companies later this 12 months. The provider at present operates in Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, and can quickly step into Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan.
“For us, it’s about natural progression. We’re expanding up through the West, and then we’re probably going to into Florida as well, which is where we operate anyway,” stated Gregg.
Further enlargement will come because it “makes strategic sense” to Orion180, which goals to be a nationwide supplier of insurance coverage options.
While its greater than 1,500 companion businesses wouldn’t be impacted by the transition, Gregg emphasised that the transfer can be about making certain continuity and making certain that brokers have an important expertise with Ortion180’s tech platforms.
“Our tagline is ‘expect more,’” he stated. “We want to bring flexibility and technology [to agents] and to help them do a better job of providing those solutions to customers.”
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