Trust The DBL Center to manage DBL, Paid Family Leave, and ancillary lines
One of the benefits of working with The DBL Center is to have a specialist in your corner that understands required and ancillary benefits. For larger insurance brokers, these benefits might make up a small piece of their revenue. But they can tap into this money and expand their book of business by letting the DBL Center do the bulk of the work.
“You have to provide employee benefits to be a full-scale insurance solution,” said RJ Impastato of Foa & Son, an international insurance broker specializing in business insurance of every type, as well as employee benefits including health coverage, for global companies with a U.S. presence. “The DBL center is the key to making this a no-brainer.”
We recently chatted with Impastato to discuss the positive impact using The DBL Center has had on his business. The two companies go back 15 years, when Michael Cohen, DBL Center founder David Cohen, and RJ had lunch together and RJ heard the story of how David Cohen brought TDI to Hawaii. In recent years, Foa & Son and The DBL Center began working even more closely, enabling Foa & Son to better serve a growing base of multinational clients.
The top industries Foa & Son serves include food & beverage, construction, real estate, not-for-profit, municipalities, and luxury retail brands. In an insightful conversation about Foa & Son and how working with the DBL Center has helped them serve their clients, Impastato mentioned names such as Dolce & Gabbana and Ferragamo.
When working with brands headquartered overseas with a U.S. presence, the insurance broker needs to understand the rules of each state in order to provide the right benefits package. “We didn’t specialize in DBL and paid family leave. We didn’t know all the companies. We didn’t have the time to bid it out to everyone,” Impastato said regarding The DBL Center’s role in expanding their book of business.
In many cases, Impastato said, the account executives aren’t even aware of the statutory benefit requirements in each state. “DBL and ancillary is a fine-tuned business. There’s no other company I’m aware of that specializes in DBL and has been this successful for this long,” Impastato said. “When you’re looking for a professional, you want a specialist. Mike is a home run. He’s been doing this for decades. He knows what he’s doing. That’s what you look for in a partner.”
With Foa & Son account executives managing multiple policies, ranging from employee benefits and workers compensation to property & casualty, general liability and inventory insurance, they don’t always know the ins and outs of every policy. Plus, although DBL, TDB, and PFML are now required benefits in a growing number of states, they still represent a small piece of the overall account for any business.
“The account exec can rely on Mike Cohen and his staff because they know it well,” Impastato said. “They rely on The DBL Center to inform them of what needs to be done and, in some cases, even do it for them.”
Plus, The DBL Center’s relationships with top carriers helps companies leverage lower premium rates and better packages. “Mike can get insurance companies to do backflips,” Impastato said in the candid manner he used throughout the interview.
He went on to tout a few other benefits of working with Cohen and his team. “Mike is amazing at getting back to people very fast. He genuinely cares and wants to help people. Response time is amazing. And he doesn’t care if the premium size is 2 cents or $20,000. He will help you.”
