NY-based insurance carrier changes name in anticipation of national expansion
Great Neck, NY, August 4, 2014 – Effective today, The First Rehabilitation Life Insurance Company of America (First Rehab Life) changed its name to ShelterPoint Life Insurance Company, and is hereby ringing in a new chapter in the company’s history. Ownership and management of the company remain unchanged.
The company has grown to become the largest writer of New York State Statutory Disability Insurance (DBL) with currently over $70 million in covered premium* and over 150,000 covered employers for this line of business alone, all of which was sold by independent insurance Agents and Brokers. Now, as ShelterPoint Life, the company is looking to expand nationally through its newly acquired subsidiary, develop new products in the context of a changing health insurance environment, andcontinue to increase web-based capabilities that empower their producers, policyholders, and members alike.
Richard White, CEO, explains the driving factors behind the name change: “As we have evolved over our 42-year history, it is time to go with a name that is more reflective of who we are and what we do. We chose a name that expresses our mission of offering benefits that are simple, to the point, and which embrace our commitment to shelter our clients. At the same time, we are growing. It’s a very exciting time since we just acquired an insurance company that is licensed in 48 states; so, we were looking for a name that illustrates our next chapter and will give us a nationwide identity.”
From a policyholder’s perspective, the name change means business as usual. To ease the transition, all ShelterPoint Life envelopes and key correspondence are cobranded with First Rehab Life. Policyholders will be notified via mail and receive an endorsement for their policies. While the ShelterPoint Life name change has been officially finalized in New York, the company’s state of domicile, it is in the process of obtaining approval of the new name in other states in which First Rehab Life has been licensed. Policyholders outside New York will receive a name change endorsement in the future – but in the meantime, they may start seeing or hearing the new companyname in communications, such as billing, claims or other correspondence.
ShelterPoint Life’s location, claims addresses, and phone numbers remain the same, while new web and email addresses are necessary to reflect the changed name. The new URL is www.shelterpoint.com.
*Source: DB-680 reports as filed by all statutory disability carriers with the State of NY, at time of report covered premium was at $65m.
About ShelterPoint:
The ShelterPoint family of companies consists of ShelterPoint Life Insurance Company (formerly First Rehab Life) and ShelterPoint Insurance Company.
ShelterPoint Life was founded in 1972 as The First Rehabilitation Life Insurance Company of America (First Rehab Life) and is headquartered in Great Neck, NY. Since its inception, ShelterPoint Life has grown into New York’s largest* statutory disability carrier and holds the rating of A-(Excellent) by A.M. Best Company and A- by Standard & Poor’s. Through the years, ShelterPoint Life has added additional employee benefits to its product portfolio and currently insures more than 150,000 employers and over 1.3 million members. In 2014, First Rehab Life changed its name to ShelterPoint Life Insurance Company.
A Florida-domiciled carrier was acquired in 2014, which was renamed ShelterPoint Insurance Company. This newly acquired entity is a whollyowned subsidiary of ShelterPoint Life and is licensed in 48 states and territories.
