News Release

Oct 16, 2003

Media Contact: Elizabeth Hammond

803-264-4626; Elizabeth.Hammond@bcbssc.com

Columbia, S.C. - The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) has awarded Companion Property & Casualty Insurance Group a servicing carrier contract for the Virginia Workers' Compensation Insurance Plan. 

Companion expects to process more than $100 million in premiums in Virginia during the contract's three-year term expiring at the end of 2006.

Companion competed with numerous large national property and casualty insurance companies to win this contract. The contract allows Companion to retain work from a previous contract and increases its share from 35 percent to 45 percent of the total assigned risk plan.

"Our employees have provided an exemplary level of service on our work in Virginia," said Companion Property & Casualty President Charles M. Potok. "We are pleased to be able to not only retain our work but add to it for businesses and their employees in Virginia."

A workers' compensation insurance plan is a program approved by state insurance regulatory authorities in which workers' compensation insurance may be secured by eligible employers unable to obtain such coverage in the voluntary market. These plans are also referred to as "assigned risk plans."

Servicing carriers provide workers' compensation insurance to employers who in good faith are eligible to be assigned under each state's plan. Servicing carriers are selected through a bid process that considers the carrier's prior performance, its proposed plan of operations and the fee it will charge. Services include underwriting, policy administration, claims administration, claims processing, premium audit, loss control, billing and collections.

NCCI Holdings, Inc., based in Boca Raton, Fla., is a shared-services organization serving the workers' compensation industry. It administers workers compensation servicing contracts for numerous states.

Companion Property & Casualty Insurance Group, a subsidiary of BlueCross and BlueShield of South Carolina, is a regional leader in property and casualty insurance in the Southeast and several Middle Atlantic states. Headquartered in Columbia, S.C., Companion offers workers' compensation insurance, a variety of commercial package policies, commercial auto and property insurance for residential condominiums. Companion has an "A-" Excellent rating (Financial Size Category VII) from the A.M. Best Company.