NATIONAL NEWS ZONE......

* ZURICH (http://www.zurichna.com/) announced its entry into the Risk Retention Group (RRG) and Self Insurance Groups (SIG) markets. The announcement was made at the Arizona Captive Insurance Conference in Phoenix. Zurich’s North America Commercial Alternative Solutions Group is now taking its expertise to the owners and members of RRG, SIG and Pooling Groups.

Services will include: Solutions-oriented underwriting teams experienced in alternative risk transfer (ART) and self insurance markets; Excess reinsurance capacity; Tailored claims services handled by experienced adjusters dedicated to self-insured customer needs; Risk control designed for specialized industry segments to help reduce loss drivers; Policy issuance services and access to Zurich’s admitted forms and state filings.

• Employers can now get a quick readout on how their workers’ comp procedures stack up against best practices at http://www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com/. The free quick-check is based on 10 key questions that cover management commitment, claims administration, post-injury response, return to work, cost containment, and fraud detection. Employers get a quick score from 1 to 100 and advice for improvement.
  
  The quick-check is available via the homepage http://www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com/. Optionally, it can be private-labeled and customized for associations, organizations, brokers and insurance companies.

The Workers’ Comp Quick Check™ is part of Amaxx Risk Solutions’ online Workers’ Compensation Injury Management Tool Kit®, based on decades of workers’ comp cost-techniques proven to cut costs 20 percent to 50 percent. The Workers’ Comp Quick Check gives employers a rough estimate of their National Workers’ Compensation Management Score (NWCMS), which is a comprehensive assessment of a company’s operational best practices. The NWCMS can be purchased through RIMS® at http://www.RIMS.org/wc, where RIMS members get a 25% discount, or through Advisen at http://corner.advisen.com/wc. More information can be obtained by calling Advisen’s Merri Bastone at 212-897-4800.