ShelterPoint Life Receives Insurance Team of the Year

Insurance Advocate Magazine Recognizes ShelterPoint Life’s Achievements in Proactive Educational Outreach and Preparation for Paid Family Leave

ShelterPoint Life Insurance Company (“ShelterPoint Life”), New York’s largest statutory disability (DBL) insurance carrier¹ received the Insurance Advocate magazine’s  “Insurance Team of the Year” award on Thursday, January 25th, 2018 in recognition of ShelterPoint Life’s extraordinary preparation, education, and communication of NY Paid Family Leave (PFL) throughout 2017.

In  presenting the award Steve Acunto, Publisher of Insurance Advocate, stated , “ShelterPoint’s achievements in proactive, educational outreach have affected the community most favorably. This new law could have otherwise created disruption for the producer community, employers, and employees in New York State, were it not for ShelterPoint’s intelligent, careful approach to the implementation of the new law.”

Periodically, the 129-year-old Insurance Advocate cites a company, person, or other leader who has distinguished themselves in service to the insurance industry itself and, by extension, the insuring public.

Richard White, CEO of ShelterPoint Life, notes, “I am very proud of what we have accomplished as a team in regards to PFL thus far, and this is reflected in our recognition by the Insurance Advocate. While our 18-month build-up is winding down and all systems are a GO, this is just the beginning of PFL for New Yorkers. My sincere thanks to our PFL team for their tireless work to implement PFL and make this happen for the hundreds of New Yorkers who have already submitted a first claim to ShelterPoint. I also want to express my appreciation to the Department of Financial Services and the Workers’ Compensation Board for their hard work and cooperation in working with insurance carriers and employers during the critical Paid Family Leave roll-out stage.”  (continued…)

The award was officially presented to ShelterPoint Life during an awards luncheon with select industry representatives among 100 guests at The Carltun at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow.

Additionally, ShelterPoint Life received a Certificate of Recognition from New York Senator Todd Kaminsky for its outstanding service to the community with respect to Paid Family Leave awareness and education.

Katrin Atienza, AVP Marketing at ShelterPoint, explains “PFL meant more to us than just rolling out another product; it is a groundbreaking step for New Yorkers. Coupled with our market position in DBL and being recognized as “DBL Experts” in the industry, there was no question for us that we needed to step up and become the “PFL Experts” as well. We felt the responsibility to do the right thing. And that was – and still is – to educate New Yorkers through useful resources whether they’re a ShelterPoint customer or not. We started our proactive educational outreach a year before PFL became effective. This included translating the complex language from the new law and regulations into easy-to-understand, plain English so that we can help people understand what this new mandate means for them and help reduce the stress during the transitional process into PFL. With that, it was critical to put education over brand. This even meant giving PFL its own visual identity.”

For more information about Paid Family Leave, visit ShelterPoint Life’s educational PFL site www.NewYorkPFL.com

1 State of New York Workers’ Compensation Board, form DB-680, 2014 – applies to statutory disability premiums under ShelterPoint Life Insurance Co. only.

Photography by John Ellis Kordes and Gina Marie Balog