Monoline: Beyond the Coverage
An educational podcast for insurance professionals that dives deep into personal umbrella insurance, industry trends, risk mitigation, and sales strategies. Hosted by Senior Underwriter Janessa Vanderheyden, each episode features expert insights, real-world case studies, and practical advice to help agents grow their business and better protect their clients.
Monoline: Beyond the Coverage
Your Frequently Asked Questions, Answered
Janessa Vanderheyden and Nina McVicker answer our users' most frequently asked questions about Monoline's personal umbrella insurance. These questions and more can be found at Monoline's extensive Help Center, which is continually updated.
From target risk professions to loss history requirements, we break down exactly what makes a client eligible for coverage. You'll learn about required underlying limits ($300K for homes, 250/500 for auto), how we handle recreational vehicles and collector cars, and our stance on properties with small farm exposures versus true farm and ranch policies. We also clarify our coverage position on vacant land, international properties, and rental exposures.
The episode provides a comprehensive look at our payment processes and policy management features that agents consistently praise. Unlike traditional carriers, Moneline allows midterm endorsements at any time through a user-friendly dashboard, with a renewal process that balances automation with agent control. We explain how our platform handles special scenarios including California Fair Plan policies, international drivers' licenses, and permissive use drivers through our follow-form approach.
Most valuable may be the insight into how our support works – with real team members monitoring chat features to provide immediate assistance. As Nina explains, "Our tech is all in-house, so anything we want to change, we can do relatively quickly." Have questions we missed? Reach out via our website chat or email help@monoline.com to experience our responsive support firsthand.
Visit monoline.com to experience our revolutionary platform that's making personal umbrella insurance a breeze for agents across the country. Follow us on LinkedIn for the latest updates!
Welcome to Monoline: Beyond the Coverage, the podcast that goes deeper than policy limits to explore why personal umbrella insurance matters more than ever. I'm Janessa Vanderhey den, and today we're answering your most frequently asked questions. We do have an extensive help center, accessible at monoline. com and inside our platform. It includes a detailed FAQ, some of which we'll cover today, as well as platform walkthrough videos, marketing materials and more. Everything is searchable and neatly organized by category so you can get the answers you need in seconds. In this episode, we're addressing the most common questions we get, so you can better understand the platform that many of you have come to know and love. Let's jump in. Joining me today is our podcast producer and Monoline's digital marketing manager, Nina McVicker, who's here to read your questions.
Nina:Hey, Janessa, I'm excited to be joining you. Usually I'm in the background for our podcast, but it's super fun to have a microphone for this one. We've gotten some great questions from agents lately and I'm really glad we get to dig into them today. Some of the most frequent questions we get are about eligibility, so we're going to start out with a bunch of those.
Nina:All right, first up, what occupations are considered target risk for Monoline?
Janessa:People with a lot of public exposure are considered target risk. So it's going to be those influencers, athletes, public officials, entertainers I know there are also professions that kind of teeter that line. So when you are in the platform, if you click yes, there is a description box that pops up. So I'm just looking for as much detail as possible as you can, as you can provide, as you can as you can provide.
Janessa:Also, if they're A-list celebrities, really well-known people, please keep in mind that this still is an admitted product, so a lot of those people still may need to go EAS or go onto that side, but still always happy to take a look at them and let you know and provide some feedback on that. Our coding application has this question right up front, so you'll see it as one of the eligibility questions. It will pop over to me for review. So, again, just try and give me as much information as you can and then I will be doing my own review on the back end as well.
Nina:Perfect. Next one. We hear a lot. How many losses are acceptable for a household?
Janessa:Great question. This is one that comes up a lot. This was also in regards to. I kind of want to touch on household and auto losses as well, because this is a question that's on our eligibility page. So we are looking at fewer than four losses with total liability under $25,000. So this is on the home and that auto portion as well. What we consider liability is BI and third-party property damage, and we're also looking at the past three years for this one Also, I also want to know if there are any open claims for these risks. So that's another question on our eligibility page that has a little description box that will pop up. So, if it is open, just again give me as much detail as you can on why the claim is open. If there is open BI or third-party property damage, though, it is going to be an automatic decline.
Nina:Great, and a good reminder too, is we have our eligibility questions are all up front, so you'll know, before you get too deep into the data entry, whether or not your client is a good risk for us All right, and what underlying limits are required before an umbrella can be bound for home and for auto?
Janessa:Okay, we required 300K liability on the home and then 250, 500 on autos, or that combined limit of 300 CSL. Rec vehicles, secondary homes, boats, all need to meet that 300K mark for liability as well. In the platform you're going to see blue bubbles over each of these. If you click on those blue bubbles, all of our eligibility requirements will pop up on the side. So I really encourage you guys to utilize those blue bubbles to double check everything.
Nina:Do we cover farms or farming operations?
Janessa:No, we do not.
Janessa:If the underlying is written on a true farm and ranch policy, that will be ineligible with us. But if there's a property with just a small farm exposure with some chickens and goats, there's no actual farm policy in place, we are fine with that.
Nina:What about vacant land or vacant lots?
Janessa:Yep, we are good with them. Urban lot is three acres or less and a rural lot is 450 acres or less. The underlying policy needs to be at least 300K and the underlying insurer has to be AM Best rated B-plus or better.
Nina:Great, let's talk toys. Do we cover trailers, motorcycles, RV boats, jet skis, etc?
Janessa:Yes, we cover all the toys. Again, when you're in the system, if you click yes, you're going to see blue bubbles over each of those descriptions. Please click on those, because we do have those eligibility requirements that pop up and you can double check to make sure that they meet all requirements.
Nina:Perfect. What about antique or collector cars?
Janessa:Yep, those are totally fine as well, as long as you're on the underlying policy. If it's a large collection, we will probably come back and just ask how often are they driving them? Are you taking them to trade shows? Just for some more underwriting information. But we are okay with all of those.
Nina:Do we require MVRs?
Janessa:We do not require MVRs. We don't need them on this product. Specifically, when we have our excess product, that is something that we will be running, but we don't need them here.
Nina:Great, what's considered a major violation?
Janessa:Great question. We get this question quite often too. I want to reiterate in the system over major violations there is a blue bubble, so when you click on that you'll see a full list of all of that. But things like DUIs, reckless driving or license suspensions fall into that category. They don't automatically disqualify a client unless they are under 21 years old. If they're under 21 and they do have one of those major driving violations, it will be ineligible. Anybody over 21 can have one major violation.
Nina:Got it. All right. Let's talk about availability and range of coverage. Does Monoline cover homes outside the US?
Janessa:While our coverage is worldwide, we cannot schedule properties outside of the United States or sit above any international properties.
Nina:Okay. What states is Monoline available in?
Janessa:We are in 43 states and counting, so Monoline is available in all states except Alaska, New York, New Jersey, Minnesota, Oregon, Maine and Florida. We're working hard to continue our expansion and will soon be available in all states except Alaska. We'll send our users announcements as we open up in those states though.
Nina:Perfect.
Nina:Do we offer UM/UIM if there is no auto?
Janessa:We do not. There needs to be an active underlying auto policy to trigger UM/UIM coverage. So right now we do not.
Nina:Okay. We get a lot of questions about payments. Specifically, do we offer monthly?
Janessa:billing, yes, I think, payments, this is going to be our biggest section out of this FAQ podcast, so we are full pay only. We do not offer installment plans and we don't have any plans on offering that. So it will be full pay direct bill prior to binding or any endorsements.
Nina:And what payment options do we offer for the full pay?
Janessa:We take all credit cards and then we also have e-check options, which you'll get a little bit of a discount if they choose that option. We also have this really cool option where you can send a link to your client. They'll click on the link. It essentially just takes them to the payment page box. They can select credit card or e-check, put in the information, submit payment. Then you are going to receive an email saying that your client just made payment and that's when the policy documents in your policy dashboard will start generating and that's where you'll be able to manage the policy moving forward.
Nina:Great. And then how do midterm endorsements work?
Janessa:Monoline is super unique in that you can make endorsements anytime throughout the life of the policy, and it's super easy. So if you have a login that policy dashboard that I was just talking about you'll just jump into that and then you can make any endorsements that you need to. You don't need to have them refer over to me to do so. Once you go in and make the endorsement the payment method we just use whatever payment method is saved on file. If you need to update it, though, you have every option to do that. If they want to change credit cards or do a bank account, or if that credit card expired, we will go ahead and just charge that payment method, and then, if there is a refund, we will just charge whatever payment method is on file again, unless the effective date is 30 days past the effective date of the policy. If it falls outside of that timeline, we do have to send a paper check to your client, so that is the method that they will get.
Nina:Awesome. What happens if the policy is canceled midterm?
Janessa:Any refund due is issued to the method of payment on file simple, fair and fast, just like the rest of the platform.
Nina:And then, how about renewals?
Janessa:Our renewals are automatic. This is something we added to our platform based on agent request. It's important so that there's never a lapse in coverage, and we've made it automatic while keeping the agent in control, so you guys will have access to everything in the renewal. I know the word automatic sometimes can seem a little scary because that sometimes means you won't have control of it, but we've given you full control of everything.
Janessa:In your dashboard there's a tab for renewals, so 45 days out before the renewal date, the agent will get an email notification that the quote is 45 days out from the renewal, with a link to that quote. The agent can then click in the email or find the quote in their dashboard and review the quote. Any changes that need to be made can be made from there. If no changes are needed, the agent doesn't need to do anything. 30 days from the renewal date, the insured will get an email notification, along with you being copied as the agent, that their quote will renew in 30 days and encouraging the insured to get in touch with you guys if any changes are needed.
Janessa:Again, if no changes are needed, the agent doesn't need to do anything. At the renewal date. We'll automatically bill the method of payment on file and email the new policy documents to both the insured and the agent. At that time the renewed policy will also be available to the agent in their dashboard. But again, you have access to do anything from when that 45 days is out from the renewal. So if you need to change the payment method on file, if you don't need the renewal policy anymore, there's an option to do not renew, you can change limits. So again, you have full access to everything on the quote.
Nina:Perfect, yeah, and agents love this. It sounds scary, it sounds really big, but the folks who have been through a renewal process say that it is just fantastic. Okay, so let's talk about some special cases and scenarios. Does the Monoline umbrella include reputational damage?
Janessa:No, it is not covered by our policies.
Nina:Okay. Do we require the primary home to be listed?
Janessa:No, we do not need the primary home. We can sit over just a short-term or long-term rental if needed. The only time we're going to want the full package is if the rental underlying policy is written with Steadily insurance.
Nina:Okay, and how many rentals will we sit over?
Janessa:We will sit over 40 four- zero of those rental properties.
Nina:Will we write over a California FAIR plan policy?
Janessa:Yes, we will sit over the FAIR plan, but they have to have a DIC policy in place that carries the underlying liability of at least 300K. So you have to have that DIC policy in place, Otherwise we cannot just sit on the figure plan.
Nina:Do we write over CPL policies?
Janessa:Yep, as long as the underlying policy includes that liability, which it should, since it's a CPL
Nina:Right.
Nina:Do we accept drivers with international driver's licenses?
Janessa:Yep If they're properly licensed and insured in the US. It's something we see more often and we're happy to accommodate when possible.
Nina:Here's another one: Does Monoline extend coverage to permissive use drivers?
Janessa:We have been getting a lot of questions around permissive use drivers, especially with the market tightening up guidelines on that. Monoline is a true follow-form policy, so if the underlying policy extends coverage to permissive use drivers, then we would as well. If the underlying policy excludes permissive drivers, on the underlying we would not cover that. Our policy states that a covered person is any person or organization who is covered under your primary insurance, subject to the same coverage terms, conditions, limitations and exclusions contained in your primary insurance.
Nina:Great. That's all the questions I have for now. Thanks for answering all those. These are questions we get every day and it's really great to get them answered in this more public format. I want to note that we got all these questions via our online chat. On every page of our website and every page of our online platform there's a little blue chat icon at the bottom right. It looks like a little conversation bubble. I would just encourage our listeners to click on that and get their question answered.
Nina:We are all monitoring that chat as a group. So it's real humans. It's really Janessa. It's really our coworkers that are on that chat ready to answer your questions at all hours. We all see them pop up and whoever gets to them first we'll answer them. If it's a question we get frequently, or even if it's just something we think is important for folks to know, we'll add it to our FAQ. So our FAQs on our website that are easily accessible are constantly being updated, and sometimes we'll get feedback from these chats that lead to changes and improvements in our platform or products. Our tech is all in-house, so anything that we want to change, we can actually do it relatively quickly. Our goal is to make our platform as easy to use as possible, and our users help us to do that. So thanks for all your questions, and if you have another one, pop it in the chat and we'll get that answered for you.
Janessa:Thanks, Nina. That was a great deep dive and thank you for walking through all of these with me.
Nina:My pleasure, it was fun.
Janessa:That brings us to the end of today's episode. If you have a question that didn't get answered here, reach out via our online chat or email us at help at model linecom. We're always happy to hear from you and make sure to subscribe and follow us on LinkedIn for more insights into the world of personal umbrella insurance. Thanks for listening!
