News Releases

Nationwide Risk Consulting and SecondLook Incorporated Announce Their Joint Venture on Cost-Saving Services for the Self-Insured Market

NEW YORK--(Business Wire)--June 12, 2009
Nationwide Risk Consulting, Inc., a premiere insurance consulting firm and SecondLook Incorporated, the leading U.S. claims subrogation specialist for P&C carriers, self-insureds and state and local governments, have partnered together to provide claim cost reduction services to self-insured markets in the insurance industry.

"Through Nationwide Risks` vast broker network throughout the United States, Second Look and Nationwide Risk will have the ability to reach companies who have self-insured clients for one or more of their insurance needs," stated Edward J. Kelly, Jr., Chief Executive Officer of Nationwide Risk Consulting. "This partnership," Kelly continued, "will allow our broker market and their clients to take advantage of claim recovery programs offered by SecondLook Incorporated." 

Nationwide Risk Consulting, Inc. markets premium recovery and other cost-containment services to thousands of companies across the nation resulting in the recovery of millions of dollars in overpayments to insurance carriers. 

"We are very excited about working with Nationwide Risk to broaden and deepen our reach into the market," said Edward S. Jordan, President of SecondLook Incorporated. "The Company has developed a terrific recovery platform, has sophisticated technology, and is tenacious at pursuing recovery." "I am very enthusiastic about this partnership with Nationwide Risk. I am looking forward to developing new relationships with Nationwide Risk`s brokers and to significantly improving the recovery levels of their clients." 

SecondLook Incorporated is widely recognized as one of the most sophisticated and innovative subrogation specialists in the United States. The Company has successfully processed millions in subrogation claims since 1989. Their purpose-built technology platform provides a highly efficient and effective means to recover on subrogation claims. Furthermore, the system provides complete and real-time transparency for clients. A vast number of companies rely on SecondLook to help reduce the dollars paid in claims by maximizing their subrogation recoveries through highly effective subrogation outsource solutions.

Now, through the combined services of both Nationwide Risk and SecondLook, self-insurers can take advantage of world-class expertise and recovery technology. This service is available at no up-front cost to the client. Both
Nationwide Risk and Second Look share in a percentage of financial recoveries. "Until now," Kelly stated, "the cost of bringing these services to a broad national market was too high. Through our broker network and their affiliation
with self-insured clients, and our relationship with SecondLook, we can now offer this cost-saving measure to a wide range of self-insured companies." 

For more information on Nationwide Risk Consulting, its Working Partners program, or any of the services they provide, Contact Brian Kelly at Nationwide Risk, 631-580-4202, Ext. 136 (bkelly@nationwideriskconsulting.com). To inquire about subrogation programs, contact Joseph Garafola, Vice President of SecondLook Incorporated at 631-585-8220 (joseph_garafola@2ndlook.net). 

Nationwide Risk Consulting Rolls Out Second Injury Fund Recovery Program

HOLBROOK, N.Y. March 23, 2005: Nationwide Risk Consulting, Inc., of Holbrook, NY, a leader in workers compensation cost-containment, today announced a comprehensive Second Injury Fund Recovery program that can return significant overpayments to companies across America.

"The rise in the cost of workers compensation insurance is a national problem for employers," stated Edward J. Kelly, President of Nationwide Risk Consulting. "For that reason, Second Injury Funds have become an increasingly important part of cost-containment to employers and insurers."

"For many years, Nationwide Risk has steadily gained a national reputation for its expertise in workers compensation premium audit, restatements of experience and worker classifications and re-drawing of premium rates," Kelly continued.

"Now, we have partnered with Alternative Risk Concepts (ARC) of Wakefield, MA, a recognized leader in securing dollar recoveries and reserve savings from Special Funds throughout the United States. By working with ARC to offer a second injury program, we are able to give our clients access to superior expertise in virtually every area of workers compensation -- from premium analysis to claims handling."

Ken Paradis, President of ARC, explained, "Both in its complexity and in its potential to provide a significant return to a client's bottom line, second injury recovery is an obvious area for our firms to cooperate in. By pooling our workers compensation insurance experts, as well as our considerable investments in software and technology, we can provide an even better service for our clients."

Individually, Nationwide Risk Consulting and Alternative Risk Concepts have saved and recovered for clients many millions of dollars. By partnering to take advantage of their discrete areas of expertise, Nationwide Risk and ARC now offer clients the ability to look at all parts of their workers compensation coverage and ensure that their workers compensation premium is being calculated using the most current data and while benefiting from the most carefully managed claims handling services available.

To learn more about Nationwide Risk Consulting's Second Injury Recovery program and other services, call: Steve Rosenberg at 631-580-4202 ext 177. CONTACT: For Nationwide Risk Consulting, Inc. Susan Barros, 212-867-0228

News Release
Edward J. Kelly, Jr. Named to the American Society of Workers' Comp Professionals (AMCOMP) Board

New York City, October 12, 2000: The American Society of Workers' Comp Professionals (AMCOMP) recently named Edward J. Kelly, Jr. - President of Nationwide Risk Management Services, LLC. in Holbrook, NY-- to its Board of Directors

AMCOMP, based in New York City, is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to professional excellence in the field of workers' compensation insurance. AMCOMP provides a professional designation to workers' comp practitioners, evaluates current trends in the industry, and furthers ethical standards by promoting uniform guidelines and principles.

"I am honored by my appointment to the AMCOMP Board," says Kelly. "The society serves an important role in the workers' comp insurance industry. Maintaining the highest possible ethical and professional standards is clearly good for the insured -and, with reputation a key driver of customer loyalty, clearly good for practitioners."

Nationwide Risk Management Services, LLC., helps companies, government entities, and non-profit organizations contain administrative costs by auditing and verifying their Workers' Compensation insurance premiums. Nationwide and its affiliates have successfully reduced these costs for thousands of clients across the United States.

Kelly earned his A.A.S. degree from the Sate University of New York, his B.S. from the New York Institute of Technology and his M.S. from New York University.

Kelly resides in East Islip, New York with his wife Diane and two sons, Edward and Brian.

The Journal of Commerce
Press Release

Many companies are paying too much for their workers comp policies, mainly because their insurers are putting them in the wrong categories. (Mis)class action BY MARGO D. BELLER Journal of Commerce Staff It's July. For one out of three U.S. companies, it's when new workers compensation insurance policies go into effect. Are you paying too much? Many firms do, mainly when their insurers misclassify them as those in categories with higher frequencies of injured workers.

Workers compensation pays for medical care and physical rehabilitation of injured workers and replaces their lost wages while they are unable to work. The worse a company's record of injured workers, the higher the premium can be upon renewal. That can be a big sock to the pocketbooks of small and medium-sized firms. And that's why they are hiring their own auditors to make sure they're not overpaying. These miscalculations are not a deliberate act, just a simple process that gets out of control. The insurance carrier does an audit every year, but the main purpose is to make sure the carrier is paid the proper premium. Secondarily (the company) is making sure the employer's not cheating by misclassifying employees or doing other unsavory things, but insurer audits do little to save money for misclassified companies. You can have 500 people who manufacture widgets, but in the manufacturing department there may be two to three supervisors, a secretary, a dispatcher. Because these people are on the manufacturing department's payroll, they just get lumped in with workers who have a greater potential for injury. And that forces rates up. That happened at C.M. Smilie & Co., a manufacturer of industrial machine components in Ferndale, Michigan, and a TMC customer.

"We were continually being overcharged by our insurance company," said Alfred Olson, the company's controller. The audit discovered wrong payroll and workers compensation classifications, he said. Once the proper changes and calculations were made, the firm found it had saved $80,000.

Not every employer is paying more. For instance, in Virginia the National Council on Compensation Insurance filed for a 1.5% decrease in the loss costs on which insurers base their rates, and a 2.9% decrease in premiums paid by the high-loss firms insured through the state's assigned risk plan. Marie Kinietz, an NCCI director, attributed the decrease to cost savings worked out by insurers and employers such as modified and light duty return-to-work programs, and managed care as a way of capping worker medical costs. But in five states, including Ohio, employers buy workers compensation through a state-run monopoly. "You have to use the state fund or be self-insured," said Jay Waters, director of corporate risk management for Forrest City Enterprises, a real estate developer in Cleveland that is self-insured for its Ohio operations. That can be costly in these states considering the number of state-imposed requirements on employees, managed care and recordkeeping. But Mr. Waters' company is "very lucky," he said. "Our workers comp experience is very good. It doesn't mean we're not trying to improve, but we don't have a huge number of repetitive strain injuries."

The Wall Street Journal
Business Bullettin a Special Background Report on Trends in Industry and Finance

THE WRONG CODES can play havoc with workers' compensation costs. There are hundreds of codes that specify workers-comp insurance rates for different jobs, and they can e very confusing, says Paul Brown, general counsel of the Risk & Insurance Management Society in New York.

Mistakes are common, notably at small firms, says TMC Premium Analysis Inc., a cost-containment outfit in Babylon, N.Y., that ferrets out errors for a percentage of the recovery. Addiction Research & Treatment Corp., a substance-abuse treatment-center in Brooklyn, got a $250,000 refund and lower rates after the staffers were recoded by the insurer as clinic workers from hospital employees, says Sam Duvoor, controller. Dave Holcombe, risk manager at International Speedway Corp. in Daytona Beach, Fla., says a major error at big firms is delegating the task of auditing codes with insurers to the payroll staff, since being able to explain all jobs is crucial. The Speedway petitioned for and got a separate code for an ancillary operation and cut the unit's premium 20%.