NBFAA seeking member data for insurance program

March 20, 2003 SILVER SPRING, Md. - The National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association is making a push to collect vital data from its members for a new insurance plan. The NBFAA is in the process of developing a risk retention group (RRG) with Marsh Advantage America. The RRG is designed to work like an insurance company, with the ability to issue its own policies and do its own underwriting at a cost savings for members. For the past several months, the NBFAA has been collecting loss history data from its member companies. However, some companies have been reluctant to provide the data, or have returned incomplete surveys. Now the NBFAA has come up with an incentive program to push members to provide the data which officials say is necessary to determine the RRG’s premiums. According to NBFAA Executive Director Merlin Guilbeau, any member who returns a completed survey by April 1 will receive an additional 5% off their first year premium and the state with the most completed surveys at the end will also receive $500 for their scholarship fund. “We saw a nice influx of surveys getting completed and also additional new surveys coming in (because of the incentives),” Guilbeau said. Guilbeau adds that the NBFAA will continue to accept data from members even after the April 1 deadline. “We can still submit them all the way to the time we start the RRG,” he said. “Anything that will continue the loss history is to our benefit.” David Wilson, president of the Connecticut Burglar and Fire Alarm Association, said that he will continue to urge his membership to send in their data. “We’re certainly try to get those numbers in so the data will accurately reflect the loss history,” Wilson said, adding the cost savings of the RRG will be the equivalent of two to three years of NBFAA dues for his company. According to Marsh’s Tom Perry, the more data that can be collected from members will lead to the best possible insurance rate when the NBFAA rolls out the RRG. Perry adds that data provided by members will only be used in relation to the RRG, and will not be used in any other way. “All information is held extremely confidential,” he said. The NBFAA is hoping to roll out the RRG at the North American Monitoring Technology Exhibition in Orlando, Fla. in May.