Samuel Summers - Partnering in Business Protection - Sihle Insurance Group

08/31/2026

Two businesses with identical payroll. One pays $85,000 in workers' comp premium. The other pays $120,000.

The difference is a single number called your Experience Modification factor — your MOD (aka "E-Mod", "Experience Mod") — and if you have employees, it's one of the most consequential numbers in your business.

Here's how it works.

Your MOD can be thought of as a scorecard for you business. It compares your workers' comp loss history over a rolling three-year window against similar businesses in your industry. A neutral MOD is 1.00. Below 1.00 you're a credit and pay less than standard. Above 1.00 you're a debit and pay more.

On a business with $100,000 in standard workers' comp premium:

• A 0.85 MOD pays $85,000
• A 1.20 MOD pays $120,000

That's a $35,000 gap every year on the same payroll. Compound it over a few years and you've either funded a hire, a piece of equipment, or a distribution to yourself...or lost it.

Here's the part most owners don't realize: your MOD isn't something that happens to you. It's something you build. Return-to-work programs, claims management, safety culture, and documentation all flow into it. A proactive carrier claims team can shave points off your MOD year over year. A passive one lets losses drag it up for reasons that have nothing to do with new injuries.

Three things worth checking:

1. Your current MOD in writing — and what it was three years ago
2. Which specific claims are driving it up (and whether any are still open that shouldn't be)
3. When your agent last walked you through the calculation itself, not just the premium

A MOD is the closest thing in commercial insurance to a business metric you can actually manage.

More on this in The Commercial Insurance Buyer's Playbook. Link in the comments.

08/24/2026

A friend made this. And honestly... manifesting. Why not, right?

Until the call comes, here's where things actually stand.

The Commercial Insurance Buyer's Playbook has been out for a few weeks and the response has been better than I had any right to anticipate. Thank you all for that.

Business owners are buying it. Business owners are reading it. Business owners are reaching out with the exact kinds of questions I wrote the book to answer — which either means it's working, or means I need to write a longer book.

A few things I've learned along the way:

People care about specificity. Concrete numbers and dollar figures land. Abstract concepts don't.

Commercial insurance is something people have wanted to understand for a long time. Nobody had made it accessible in a way that respected their time. That's what this book tries to do.

The book is on Amazon in paperback, hardcover, and Kindle. Link in the comments.

And Oprah — my calendar's open.

08/17/2026

A $400,000 claim. A valid policy. And zero dollars paid.

It happens more often than you'd think, and it usually comes down to two words most business owners have never had explained: claims-made.

Here's the scenario.

A consulting firm makes a professional error in year three of their coverage. The affected client doesn't discover the problem until year seven — four years later. By then, the consulting firm has switched carriers twice, let their old policy lapse, and never purchased tail coverage.

The client sues for $400,000. The current policy denies the claim (the error happened before the retroactive date). The prior policies are inactive. The tail was never bought.

Covered on paper. Paid nothing in practice.

Here's the distinction that determines the outcome.

An occurrence policy covers losses that happen during the policy period, regardless of when the claim is reported. Year-three error, year-seven claim, year-three policy responds.

A claims-made policy only covers claims that are both made and reported during an active policy period. If coverage lapses, if the retroactive date doesn't go back far enough, if tail coverage was never purchased, the claim doesn't get paid.

Professional liability is almost always claims-made. Cyber liability typically is too. Some general liability policies are quietly sold claims-made to save premium — which is one of the worst tradeoffs a buyer can make without realizing they're making it.

Three things to check on any claims-made policy you carry:

1. The retroactive date — ideally it goes back to when you first purchased that line of coverage
2. Prior acts coverage — confirm there are no gaps if you've switched carriers
3. Tail coverage availability and cost — critical if you ever exit, retire, or sell the business

These aren't optional details. They're the difference between coverage that works and coverage that exists on paper.

I cover this and the other quiet policy mechanics that cost businesses the most in The Commercial Insurance Buyer's Playbook. Link in comments.

08/10/2026

Hiring three agents to shop your insurance simultaneously feels like due diligence. It's actually the opposite.

Here's what business owners don't see when they do this.

The insurance "market" is smaller than it looks. The carriers writing your industry, in your geography, at your size...there might be eight to fifteen of them. When you put three agents on your account, each likely submits to those same carriers.

The underwriters receive your business three times, often with different exposure data, different loss narratives, and different framing.

The underwriter's takeaway is NOT "this is a desirable account being competed for."

It IS "this risk is being shopped indiscriminately and the buyer isn't serious."

Underwriters have full desks. They prioritize accounts where they have a real shot at writing the business. A risk that's been submitted by three competing agents gets deprioritized, declined, or quoted with conservative terms to hedge against the noise. Meanwhile your standing in that market - (fun fact: yes, you have one) - takes a hit that compounds at every future renewal.

The better answer is one well-equipped agent with the right carrier relationships submitting a curated, thorough package to the best-fit markets. That's what advocacy looks like.

Three competing agents create market fatigue. One strategic agent creates leverage.

This is one of the most consequential mistakes I see established business owners make, and it's the kind of thing nobody tells you until it's already happened.

More on this in The Commercial Insurance Buyer's Playbook. Link in comments.

08/03/2026

If you own commercial property, this clause has probably never been explained to you. It should be.

COINSURANCE.

Most property policies carry a coinsurance clause set at 80%, 90%, or 100%. In plain English: you're required to insure the property to at least that percentage of its actual replacement value. If you fall short of that threshold when a loss happens, the carrier reduces your payout proportionally as a penalty.

A simple example.

You insure a building for $600,000. A fire causes $200,000 in damage. The adjuster determines the actual replacement value at the time of loss was $1,000,000, and your policy carries an 80% coinsurance clause. You were required to be insured to at least $800,000. You were at $600,000... that is 75% of what you needed.

The carrier pays your $200,000 claim at 75 cents on the dollar. You receive $150,000.

That's a $50,000 penalty on a single claim, triggered by a clause most owners didn't know existed.

The fix isn't complicated. Get a current valuation. Ask your agent which coinsurance percentage is on your policy. Confirm your limits align with the real replacement cost. If you can get an agreed value endorsement, even better — that waives the coinsurance requirement entirely for the term of the policy.

This is one of the most expensive misunderstandings in commercial property insurance, and it's almost always preventable with a five-minute conversation at renewal.

I cover this and other commonly-misunderstood clauses in The Commercial Insurance Buyer's Playbook. Link in the comments.

07/29/2026

The book is live!

A few weeks ago I told you it was coming. Today, The Commercial Insurance Buyer's Playbook is officially available on Amazon — paperback, hardcover, Kindle... and wherever books are sold!

I wrote this because most business owners I work with have at least one coverage gap they don't know about. Not because they're careless. Because commercial insurance is complex, technical, and rarely explained well at the point of sale. Owners pay their premiums, hope nothing goes wrong, and find out at claim time whether their coverage matches what they actually thought they had.

The playbook is my attempt to change that conversation. It covers how carriers really evaluate a business, why shopping the market the wrong way backfires, what an agent is and isn't paid to do, where coverage quietly fails most often, and how to approach renewal as a strategic decision instead of a reactive one.

Written for established business owners — not insurance professionals. It's not a textbook and it's not a sales pitch. It's the conversation I've wanted to have a thousand times.

Thank you to everyone who reached out after my last post, everyone who read early chapters and pushed back, and everyone who has been a client, mentor, or friend along the way. This wouldn't exist without you.

Link in the comments.

If the book ends up being useful to you, an honest Amazon review means more than I can describe. The first thirty days matter most for a new release.

07/27/2026

Great news! Legal system reform has put restrictions in place targeting legal system abuse.

Less insurance litigation = better premiums. "Average premiums fell in 51 of 67 Florida counties in the first half of the year."

In the first half of 2026, Florida saw a 25% year-over-year decline in personal residential lawsuit filings.

06/23/2026

About a year ago, I started writing down the things I wish every business owner knew about their commercial insurance program before we ever had our first conversation.

What started as notes became a draft and the draft became a book.

Next month, The Commercial Insurance Buyer's Playbook will be available on Amazon.

It's not a textbook. It's not a sales pitch. It's the practical guide I wish existed for business owners who want to make smarter, more intentional decisions about their insurance — without becoming insurance professionals themselves.

More details to come. If you're someone who'd want an early look, drop a comment or send me a message.

04/16/2026

As connectivity rises and AI matures, the threat of cyber attacks becomes increasingly threatening to businesses and consumers. Identity theft, phishing scams and AI-powered deepfake audio and video attacks are examples of rising threats occurring as technology and AI advance.
Consumer education is the first line of defense, but business and personal cyber insurance offer a valuable safety net against costly claims.

The personal cyber insurance market is expected to grow and mature in 2026.

03/27/2026

Hurricane season could be quieter this year

Fewer storms doesn't mean less danger, forecasters warn.