Clements Worldwide’s Director of Commercial Insurance Discusses Marketing, Partnerships, and Plans for Expansion

Mr. Scott Lockman is the Director of Commercial Insurance for Clements Worldwide. Mr. Lockman has been in the insurance industry for more than 18 years and was known for his work as a Senior Vice President of Marsh and Wells Fargo Insurance Services. 

As Clements Worldwide offers more products than a standard IPMI company, we’ve asked Mr. Scott Lockman to give us some insights about marketing specialized products to expats worldwide. 

Mr. Lockman also shared insights on keeping a good relationship with agents and brokers, as well as the future plans of Clements Worldwide in terms or office and product expansion.

Q: Clements has more than IPMI to offer to expats around the world. Can you tell us about your commercial specialty and other services that make your company unique among other IPMI providers?

Our commercial business was built on a dual platform of group health customized for living abroad and then insurance in high-risk markets that could go from the most standard products like property and general liability to evacuation and kidnap & ransom. 

We have worked over decades to provide customers with the best group health product for overseas employees that includes approved doctors and providers all around the world across every speciality, many who will take direct payment, a mobile application that finds these physicians and will translate common medical phrases and medication names, and best-in-class medical evacuation options.

For the high-risk markets, we are often called the broker of last resort because when organizations are hoping to do a large project in someplace like Iraq or Libya they struggle to find insurance to protect their assets – property and people.  As a cover holder with Lloyd’s of London and due to our experience with other key carriers, we can often secure insurance for businesses who have been turned down by other brokers for a variety of solutions in these markets. 

Q: You have just launched a new high-limit disability product, could you please tell us more about it?

Clements Worldwide is now offering high-limit, loss-of-income coverage for professionals abroad. Clements’ International Disability insurance has no exclusions for acts of political violence including civil unrest, riots, or war and terrorism, providing the right protection for expatriates living in today’s complex geo-political climate. This borderless coverage, offered in collaboration with Lloyd’s of London, is specifically designed for the unique risks of individuals working abroad and protects their income if an accident or illness prevents them from performing their occupation.

Clements thought this was an important product to bring to our customers because we see a significant lack of coverage and also know that those working abroad struggle to find affordable options.  In developed nations, statistics shows that 25% of professionals face disability at some point in their career. For expatriates, government workers, contractors, non-profit or international organization employees working challenging jobs in high-risk countries, this number is likely to be much higher.Additionally, 69% of the private sector workforce has no long-term or permanent disability insurance. A standard, employer, provided disability policy may not provide sufficient benefits to meet an expat’s financial needs.

The International Disability insurance program features both temporary and permanent options. Both options offer high-limit benefits to address the needs of internationally based individuals, ensuring protection and a safeguard that guarantees their lifestyle is secure should anything happen.

Q: Since your company offers a wider range of products worldwide, what are the biggest challenges you face when it comes to reaching out to expat communities in different countries about different international insurance vs. local insurance?

There are certainly times when expats can find cheaper local insurance, but as soon as we can actually talk to them on the phone they understand the differences.  The limits on local insurance are generally very low, particularly for liability.  And local courts are often very generous involving lawsuits against expats from locals.  So for example if you are in a car accident and hurt a local, will your local policy really cover that – probably not?  We also often find that many local policies don’t protect you if you are hit by an uninsured motorist.  Finally, this all presumes, depending on your market, you can get someone on the phone or receive the benefit of any insurance coverage you procured locally.  People need to do their research before they decide to go with a local policy – for auto and other policies as well. 

Q: Which of your products is the most challenging to market for expats?

On the individual side I don’t think it is much different than it is for the domestic business – term-life and disability products require a lot more education than our other products.  Many people have some type of coverage from their company and think they are protected, but financial planners typically would suggest you have coverage that is 8-10 times your existing salary, particularly if you have young children.  No employers really provide that amount of coverage, but that requires a lot of individual education.  Also, as I described above, the chances of having a disabling event at some point in one’s life is high due to an illness or accident is high and many people would only get a portion of their salaries paid by their employer which would not support their lifestyle.  Financial planners often are a good referral point for us since they are consistently telling their clients they are under protected as it relates to a disabling event or a premature death.    

Q: Do you have any plans in place for expansion in other parts of the world?

We have operations in 170 countries, so our expansion plans often include following significant clusters of customers geographically.  When we opened our office in Dubai, we were really looking to service the humanitarian aid sector working in the Middle East and Northern Africa.  We are continuing to build that business, and with a relationship with Dubai Starr Sigorta in Turkey we also see that as a key commercial market.  At the same time, we see a lot of personal line opportunities in those markets particularly for life insurance and disability. 

We have been talking for several years about opening an office in Asia, which is another area with large clusters of both commercial and personal line customers.  Right, how we use partnerships like one with One World Cover to penetrate certain markets and when the time is right we will open an office, probably in Singapore. 

Q: How do you create and nourish a relationship with insurance brokers and agents?

Our product set offers brokers an opportunity to immediately expand their often domestic based product line with an international offering which is increasingly critical as individuals and organizations go global.  PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts a 50 percent growth in overseas assignments by 2020 so more and more customers will be looking for borderless medical insurance coverage and other insurance solutions.

As the international experts, we can set up our relationship with independent agents and brokers to be as “hands-on” as they want.  We are available to go on sales calls, provide marketing plans and support, and help with servicing if the broker chooses.  We know that we succeed when you succeed so we are willing to do whatever we can to make that happen.

By partnering with Clements, you also know that you are getting a best-in-class and flexible product.  If you are selling this as an add-on to a customer with a large domestic health business, you don’t want to risk that relationship with just any partner or carrier. 

Clements Worldwide has a global broker network of 182 organizations and is always looking to increase this distribution channel.

Q: Are there things lined up for Clements in the future?

We are particularly proud of our general evacuation products that can result in staff evacuation with salary continuation for a number of factors including epidemics, environmental disasters, security concerns, or political violence.  We built this coverage to reflect the changing geo-political climate. 

Also, we are seeing a lot of our future growth in more traditional products – like auto insurance – but that are targeted to changing demographic realities.  Many traditional insurers are still reluctant to provide auto insurance to people just moving to a country.  This trend of leaving your home country whether you are a highly skilled medical worker looking for a better future or someone leaving a war-torn area is a new reality, and we don’t think that trend will diminish any time in the near future.  We will continue to be on the forefront of ensuring these people have an insurance option.  As a result, we think Europe will experience a lot of growth over the next decade.