Could your agency survive a disaster?

If your office were destroyed in a natural disaster, or severely damaged by a burst water pipe, how long would it take to get back up and running? How would you serve your clients? And where would you quickly find the phones, computers and even office chairs and desks you’d need?

“There’s a lot to think about during a disaster,” says Taylor Busby, vice president of marketing for Agility Recovery Services, which provides business-continuity services. “Replacing all of those little things you take for granted – and doing it quickly – can be a huge obstacle.”

Safeco knows how important business continuity is in our industry. That’s why we have partnered with Agility to offer agents a discount on the company’s service. We’re the first carrier to partner with Agility to this degree.

How it works
For a monthly subscription fee, Agility provides its members – which number more than 1,000 agents – access to a pool of resources for use in case of emergency. Agility maintains this equipment in distribution centers around the country. If your company needs generators, servers or even a mobile office setup, Agility ships it to your location – and will deliver everything you need to get up and running within 48 hours.

Aside from the monthly fee, members pay only Agility’s net out-of-pocket recovery cost in an emergency. These could include shipping, bandwidth fees (for phone and Internet service via satellite, for example), etc. “We are not in the business of profiting from disaster situations,” Busby says. "We bill members only for our out-of-pocket costs."

Not just for agencies
Of course, an Agility membership is useful for more than just insurance agencies. Your commercial clients can benefit as well – Agility’s service is ideal for small- and medium-sized business with 10-500 employees. And Agility has a partnership program for agents who generate business for the company, Busby says.

Monthly membership rates for Safeco agents start at $230, a savings of $20. Once signed up, agents enter their business and equipment needs on the MyAgility Web site, ensuring that in an emergency, they don’t have to remember how many servers or phones they need – Agility will already know. It also allows members to store critical documents, such as insurance policies, product warranties, and data back-up procedures.

“The site is an eye-opener,” Busby says. “Often, until becoming Agility members, our customers hadn’t really sat down and looked at everything they would need to get back up and running again.”

Agility Recovery Solutions
Agility provides members (who pay a monthly fee) access to a pool of resources for use in case of emergency.

• Cost: Membership starts at $230 per month for Safeco agents. In the event of an emergency, Agility promises to get the equipment necessary to get a business operational delivered within 48 hours. The company then bills members for its net out-of-pocket recovery costs.
  
• Contact: For more information, or to contact Agility, go to the company’s Web site at www.agilityrecovery.com.