International Solutions

TCS has created an international solution to meet the current challenges faced by global law firms to provide the same disability coverage for both domestic and foreign partners. Up until now, due to a number of factors, law firms with an international presence have been unable to offer the same disability coverage to both domestic and foreign partners.

TCS has a proprietary international disability insurance product that offers:

Seamless Coverage

High Limits

Competitive Pricing

 

TCS Insurance has worked closely with M Financial Group, a premier financial services design and distribution company, and Global Benefits Group, a managing general underwriter (MGU), to create a truly seamless international disability insurance product. This coverage was modeled after group LTD policies available to U.S.-based partners. Current TCS clients benefiting from this solution include a large global law firm headquartered in New York City.

The development of this international solution was facilitated by the influence of M Financial, the largest independent distribution system for life and disability insurance in the U.S. With more than 120 independent firms across the country—including TCS—M Financial has the scale, expertise, and reach to create differentiation for clients.

This international solution is available on a proprietary basis and can be accessed exclusively through TCS and other M Financial Member Firms. As such, it will not be available through the regular brokerage community. It is important to note that substantially all of the insurance risk is ceded to General Re, an AAA rated carrier in the Berkshire Hathaway Group.

The current options available in the market place, which attempt to insure partners using coverage from a few limited sources, are not ideal and here is why:

• Foreign Coverage is a patchwork of different plans available from the countries in which the partners work. Because there are only a small number of partners to insure in each country, there are economies of scale, which makes the coverage very expensive, and guaranteed issue is not offered (which requires partners to prove they are healthy). Further, because benefits and provisions vary widely by country, the objective to offer “seamless” coverage cannot be met.

• Domestic Coverage has been offered by U.S. carriers willing to extend their group insurance coverage to many of the locations where international partners are domiciled. However, the maximum group LTD benefit available is $35,000/month, which falls short of the needs of most top firms, and as a result, firms have to rely on the other sources for the additional coverage (see Foreign Coverage). In addition, there is an increasing concern that the U.S. coverage extended to foreign partners could face legal challenges.

• Specialty Coverage, usually offered through specialty carriers such as Lloyd’s of London, can be attractive because of high limits and the availability of uniform coverage in most locations. The coverage does, however, have serious issues. The definitions within the contract are very restrictive and as such, would cause a serious discrepancy between what is offered domestically and abroad. The monthly maximum limits may be consistent but the provisions/definitions are often completely different, creating inequity between domestic and foreign partners.

TCS continues to be a leader in creating proprietary products to meet the specific needs of our clients.

For more information on TCS international solutions, please call (800) 533-9439.