Trident's Sue Coates talks tech, emerging risks and the future

Paragon’s Trident Public Risk Solutions is a public entity insurance, risk management and claims solutions provider for municipalities, counties, public schools and public utility districts. Sue Coates, a longtime veteran of the business, leads the team in providing all lines of insurance for property and casualty, including professional lines like public officials E&O, educators legal liability, employment practice liability and law enforcement liability.

Coates, raised by a mother who worked as a fire department dispatcher, grew up in and out of the fire station. There was a scanner in her living room, where her mother would listen to the calls. Because of that, she had a front-row seat to just how critical first responders are to a community in times of crisis. A service mindset became a part of her DNA.

Coates brings that ethos to Trident. We sat down with her hoping to garner some perspective on her business and for the broader sector. And, not surprisingly, she delivered.?

1. What emerging/evolving risks are on top of your mind and agents’ minds???

“Topping the list are climate change, issues of social justice and resulting tension in the law enforcement and political landscape, social inflation, and cybercrime – all of which contribute to volatility and bearing consequences for insurance. The pandemic has further challenged all industries to respond to the public health crisis and at the same time, adapt and evolve service delivery and embrace technology at an accelerated pace. While the world was evolving rapidly, public entities also had to adapt while still providing critical health and human services, emergency first response, educational and other public services."??

2.?How is Trident responding to these risks??

?“We’re focused on managing the potential for volatility so we can deliver stable products and services over the long term.?Enterprise risk management is critical for public entities; insurance is a key component in risk funding and the risk management strategy. We’re dedicated to helping public entities through times of volatility.?By taking a long view, we can plan around emerging risks with an eye toward minimizing consequential impacts to pricing and policy terms. We are taxpayers in the communities we insure, and we live where we protect. We treat our solutions like they’re personal because they are. It’s not always about the lowest price. It’s about the fairest price that brings predictable long-term sustainable solutions that serve the public interest."?

3. What are the market implications??

“The market is experiencing capacity reduction and changes for many lines of coverage, particularly property. With weather changes and growth in communities, some coverages are more expensive with fewer options available than five to 10 years ago, in some cases, insurance coverage may be entirely unavailable. Costs of professional liability claims have put pressure on public officials, school leaders and law enforcement. Cybercrime is rising still with added exposure due to people working at home, where there often exists a gap in personal home technology and cyber security. Public entities are having to adapt technology, processes and policies to protect access to sensitive data, while continuing to provide access to public records. Tech upgrades and implementation of tighter cyber security protocols has become a top concern requiring a radical reprioritization. The public entities that successfully adapt and continuously evolve their risk management to contemplate this shifting landscape will be best positioned to support their communities."

4. What is the focus of 2022 for Trident??

?“The core of our focus is unchanged: deliver value to all stakeholders through terms, conditions and solutions based on what the market needs. We provide products and services our agents and public entities need and ask for. We are more focused than ever at adapting our priorities to better align with our risks’ opportunities and challenges.?And as we put forth solutions for insurance coverage, risk management and claims, we have contemplated what's required to ensure a long-term sustainable program,?such as solid foundational underwriting while recognizing the impacts of emerging risks.?We use predictive modeling to help inform our individual risk decisions and to inform our capacity management.?By balancing the needs of policyholders and re/insurance carriers, we achieve long-term stability for all stakeholders.?We are leveraging our deep understanding of the public sector class to make sure they can focus more on their communities, and less on the insurance buying process."?

5. What is Trident’s long-term vision beyond this year??

“Using technology to allow agents, brokers and entities to come to us online, find answers to questions and, in some cases, even secure an insurance purchase indication in a few clicks. ?Couple our expertise with available data and add a simplified process to support public entity administrators and risk managers who have important jobs and lots on their plates. ?When I look to the future, I see an immense opportunity to take something that is currently complex and make it less so.?If we can do that, we will deliver added value and lighten the load for public servants."