Rob Bowen likes to get things done right — and done fast. A veteran of the Navy and Fortune 500 financial services companies, Rob founded Patriotic Insurance Group in 2014. By emphasizing service, integrity, accuracy and efficiency, he’s built Patriotic Insurance Group into a beautiful (his term) company in a relatively short time. The agency helps clients in NY, NJ, CT, PA and VA manage their personal and business risks and insurance costs.
One thing Rob does not like is checks. He doesn’t like chasing down clients to get paid, or waiting for checks to arrive in the mail, or sending checks to the broker or carrier and waiting for them to clear.
Introduction to ePayPolicy
About two years ago, Rob was listening to “The Insurance Guys” podcast. Scott and Bradley had Todd Sorrel on, talking (as usual) about speeding up insurance payments. Rob was sold. He gave Todd a call and said, “Sign me up.”
“I love that it does one thing and does it really well,” Rob says. He’s a big fan of Insurtech in general, but insists his vendors have an insurance background. They need to “understand my daily pain and talk my language.” He’s wary of companies that try to be a jack of all trades and a master of none. “Stick to your knitting” is the phrase he used. Clearly, he’s happy with the lane we’ve chosen, and the fact that we stay in it!
How Patriotic Insurance Group and their clients benefit
Rob lives by the K.I.S.S. principle. “I send clients a link, they put in their info, and it’s done.” In two years he’s only had one client who struggled with using the payment portal. “I’m transparent that there’s a fee to use the service,” he says. “Some clients pay by credit card because they want the points. If it’s a large payment, I’ll encourage them to go with ACH, which is just $3 per transaction. Clients who use ePayPolicy love it.”
He remembers one client who mistakenly paid the net amount instead of the gross amount of their invoice. But ePayPolicy solves that problem with a customized link that prefills the amount due — no room for human error. It’s also seamless and fast. “I get an email when the money is there. Ninety percent of that money is the carrier’s, not mine. It’s easy to reconcile, and within 24-28 hours, I’m able to pull my commissions out.”
Rob is also big on APIs. His agency is in the process of switching their AMS to HawkSoft. “Once we get the basics and other integrations down, we’ll pull in ePayPolicy. It will make everyone’s life easier.”
Advice to other agencies
“I don’t know why this is a decision point for an agency in 2021,” Rob reasons. “Checks are a pain in the neck. It’s only $20 a month (for the basic subscription). Even if it was $20 per payment, the time you spend chasing down a slow-paying client or waiting for the Post Office these days is worth it. It’s very helpful and saves so much.”
He concludes: “If you do any agency pay, you need to do this. Just get ePayPolicy. I don’t know why you wouldn’t.”
