DeCotis Specialty Insurance has hired Jessica Wrigley to lead its commercial lines team
DeCotis Specialty Insurance is pleased to announce that Jessica Wrigley, a 14-year veteran of the insurance industry, has joined its leadership team as director of commercial lines.
In this role, Jessica reports directly to Tom DeCotis, president and CEO. Her responsibilities include overseeing the commercial lines division, managing key customer and carrier relationships, developing new business opportunities and supervising high-value renewals. In addition, Jessica will work closely with the other members of the leadership team to develop the company’s annual goals and support its sustained growth.
Jessica’s insurance career began in 2010 at Liberty Mutual Insurance. She served in a variety of roles while at the property and casualty insurance carrier, including customer service representative, lead service specialist and sales. Following a six-year stint at Liberty, Jessica transitioned to the other side of the industry, joining an independent insurance agency as a producer and sales executive for both personal and commercial lines. Most recently, Jessica served as a senior territory manager and marketing representative for national carrier Safeco Insurance.
Tom DeCotis says, “Jessica is a highly experienced insurance professional with a 360-degree perspective of the industry and in-depth knowledge of products across all lines of business. Throughout her career and various roles, she has demonstrated a strong commitment to meeting and exceeding financial and operational goals and building meaningful relationships internally and externally. She is a great fit for DeCotis’ fast-paced and proactive environment.”
Jessica earned a Bachelor of Science in business, management and marketing from Merrimack College and a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Certificate from Cornell University. She holds both a property and casualty insurance license and a life and health insurance license for Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. In addition, Jessica is a certified insurance service representative (CISR) and a commercial lines coverage specialist (CLCS).
About joining DeCotis, Jessica says, “It’s both an exciting and challenging time to be in the insurance industry in general, and particularly on the wholesaler side, so I’m thrilled to be at DeCotis. I look forward to working with the most skilled and dedicated people in this arena and providing access to the best surplus lines and specialty markets solutions for the complex and unique risks of our insurance agencies and their clientele.”
About DeCotis Specialty Insurance
Founded in 1989, DeCotis Specialty Insurance is an independently owned and operated surplus lines wholesaler and MGA, headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. DeCotis provides insurance agents with access to property, casualty, and specialty products in the surplus lines marketplace. Any wholesale broker can provide an agent with a quote, but for unprecedented underwriting knowledge, local expertise, and assistance making sure your insureds have the right solutions for their needs, team up with DeCotis.
DeCotis Specialty Insurance Expands Commercial Lines Team
Providence, RI — DeCotis Specialty Insurance is pleased to announce the addition of two new Commercial Lines team members: Lori Lyle (CIC, AAI), who takes on the role of Senior Commercial Lines Account Manager, and Jay Downie (CISR), who joins DeCotis as a Commercial Lines Insurance Broker.
In his new role, Jay will work closely with his fellow team members and DeCotis leadership to cultivate new business opportunities and fuel profitable growth across the firm’s Commercial, Professional, and Specialty Lines. Jay started his insurance career as an agency support specialist for a large national carrier nearly 17 years ago. Since then, he has gained a broad perspective of the industry, serving in a variety of sales, operations, and management roles, including spending many years working on the agency side. Most recently, Jay was a territory sales manager for The Hanover Insurance Group.
CEO Tom DeCotis says, “Jay is a dedicated industry professional with knowledge across a wide array of product lines. He is also a skilled problem solver that our agents will be able to count on to find solutions for their insureds. But what truly sets Jay apart is his ability to build strong relationships. He will be instrumental in helping us develop and maintain long-term connections with our existing agents and new partners.”
As Senior Account Manager in Commercial Lines, Lori’s primary responsibility will be to assist the firm’s production team with the evaluation and management of existing Commercial Lines accounts and new business opportunities. In this critical role, Lori will help market and place monthly renewals, prepare quote comparisons, assess policy submissions for gaps in coverage, and more. Lori joins DeCotis after spending nearly four decades on the commercial insurance retail side. Most recently, she served as client executive at Cross Insurance.
Tom DeCotis says, “Over her many years in the industry, Lori has developed expertise in client retention, cross selling, account rounding, and marketing. Her spirit of collaboration, strong analytical and negotiating abilities, and extensive commercial lines knowledge and account management skills make her an invaluable asset to our customers and our company.”
By adding these two well-established industry veterans to its Commercial Lines team, DeCotis enhances the wealth of knowledge already at the firm, which is widely recognized for its local expertise, fast decision-making, and exceptional underwriting and account placement capabilities.
According to Tom, “We offer our partners an incredibly broad spectrum of personal, commercial, professional, and specialty insurance products. But, as importantly, we also set an extraordinarily high service standard with our professional, personable, flexible, and efficient team. These two areas will continue to be our focus and help us build on our reputation of being the go-to resource for specialty insurance in the market.”
About DeCotis Specialty Insurance
Founded in 1989, DeCotis Specialty Insurance is an independently owned and operated surplus lines wholesaler and MGA, headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. DeCotis provides insurance agents with access to property, casualty, and specialty products in the surplus lines marketplace. Any wholesale broker can provide an agent with a quote, but for unprecedented underwriting knowledge, local expertise, and assistance making sure your insureds have the right solutions for their needs, team up with DeCotis.
DeCotis Specialty Insurance Hires Ludmila Koval as Director of Digital Services
DeCotis Specialty Insurance is pleased to announce that Ludmila Koval (CPCU, AIS, AINS), a successful marketing, communications, and IT professional, will serve as its first-ever Director of Digital Services.
As Director of Digital Services, Ludmila will be responsible for continuing to build out DeCotis’ digital online quoting platform and managing all related digital services. In addition, Ludmila will help train DeCotis agents on how to use the company’s online quoting tools and will act as a liaison with all vendors associated with the digital platform.
CEO Tom DeCotis says, “While this position may be new to our company, Ludmila has served in very similar roles at other insurance wholesalers for many years. We are thrilled she is bringing her knowledge and expertise to DeCotis and know she will play a critical role in supporting our agents and their clients.”
While Ludmila has a long list of achievements in the insurance industry, her career did not take a traditional route. In 2006, she arrived in the United States from Ukraine, with a wealth of advertising and media know-how that she had accumulated as a journalist, radio host, and public relations manager in her home country. While still learning English, Ludmila landed a job as an administrative assistant at a managing general agent and excess and surplus lines broker in West Springfield, Massachusetts. She subsequently advanced from that entry-level position to senior marketing and business development roles with the company. Today, Ludmila is a 15-year veteran of the insurance industry and well known for her skills in digital strategy, website and quoting portal development, and business processes automation.
About her new role at DeCotis, Ludmila says, “Throughout my career, my passion has been about developing innovative solutions to address the needs of agents and their customers. That’s why I am so excited about spearheading the reinvention of our online quoting platform as well as driving many other marketing and tech initiatives at DeCotis in the future.”
About DeCotis Specialty Insurance
Founded in 1989, DeCotis Specialty Insurance is an independently owned and operated surplus lines wholesaler, headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. DeCotis provides insurance agents with access to property and casualty products in the surplus lines and specialty markets. Any wholesale broker can provide an agent with a quote, but for unprecedented underwriting knowledge, local expertise, and assistance making sure your insureds have the right solutions for their needs, team up with DeCotis.
DeCotis Specialty Insurance Hires Bergstrom as a Broker Based in Rhode Island
DeCotis Specialty Insurance has hired Jessica Bergstrom as a broker based in its Providence, R.I., office.
Bergstrom has more than 20 years of experience as an underwriter in both standard and surplus lines markets. In her new role as a broker, she will focus on maintaining and developing her relationships within DeCotis Specialty Insurance’s network of agents and carriers.
DeCotis Specialty Insurance is an independently owned excess, surplus and specialty lines insurance wholesaler that acts both as a wholesale insurance broker and managing general agent for independent agents. The agency was founded in 1989 with its first office in Providence, R.I. The company has since expanded, opening branches in the greater Boston and Baltimore areas.
DeCotis Specialty Insurance Introduces PRIZM online portal.
Making Your Life Easier.
Today, we’re proud to offer our agency partners a new tool designed with their needs in mind. PRIZM is our new online portal providing direct access to our Commercial and Personal lines binder programs. PRIZM provides registered users with online access to our in-house quote facilities, allowing them to quote and bind acceptable accounts from their own workstation or laptop.
Incorporating a comparison quote function, instant ratings, full referral support, and credit card payment options, Prizm will help users quickly respond to their clients’ needs. Additional features will be added over time, increasing PRIZM’s functionality and value.
PRIZM is available now.
Registered users can begin using PRIZM immediately by visiting www.decotisprizm.com to try PRIZM for themselves. For agents not yet registered, setup is easy; email DeCotis at Prizm@decotis.com to begin the process. Once a username and password are created and sent to them, newly registered users will be ready to see what PRIZM can do for them. We think they’ll like what we’ve built for them.
Need more information? Still have questions? Contact us or call one of our agents for answers.
Tom DeCotis Appointed as President of New England Surplus Lines Association
DeCotis Specialty Insurance announces that Tom DeCotis, CEO, has been appointed as the new president of the New England Surplus Lines Association.
With this appointment, Tom now leads a group of wholesale surplus line brokers/agents and supporting affiliates who specialize in providing service and support to these brokers and agents. The association’s main goals are:
- To improve business conditions in the specialty risk insurance industry and support the insurance agency system
- To distribute educational information for the betterment of the specialty risk insurance industry
- To promote professionalism among members
- To maintain liaison with other segments of the insurance industry, particularly insurance commissioners, regulatory authorities, insurers, and insurance producer groups
Please take a moment and congratulate Tom along with us.
Jocelyn Dewey Receives CPCU Designation
We would like to congratulate Jocelyn Dewey, COO at DeCotis Specialty Insurance, on receiving her CPCU designation.
As those in the insurance industry already know, receiving the CPCU designation is a grand achievement. The process can take years to complete and requires the individual to have comprehensive knowledge of all aspects of property-casualty insurance. This knowledge is reinforced by rigorous exams on insurance laws, accounting, risk management, and ethics. It is not an exaggeration to say that the CPCU designation is considered the “CPA of the insurance industry” and reflects Jocelyn’s continued devotion to the industry.
We’re extremely proud of Jocelyn’s achievement and all that it represents. This is just another sign that when clients work with Jocelyn or DeCotis Specialty Insurance, they’re working with people in the industry who are devoted to providing outstanding customer service.