Western National Insurance Company

Carrier appetite summary

Western National is a U.S. super-regional carrier writing through independent agents, with commercial lines availability shown for AK, IA, ID, IL, MI (Michigan Millers only), MN, MT, ND, NV, NY (Michigan Millers only), OR, SD, UT, WA, and WI. Core commercial offerings on the official site include Commercial Auto, CPP, Commercial Umbrella, Fire and Allied Lines, General Liability, Inland Marine, and Workers’ Compensation; Commercial Umbrella is written only in conjunction with other commercial insurance and requires Western National to insure the primary underlying coverages. CPP is positioned as a package solution combining Fire and Allied Lines, Crime, ISO Inland Marine, and General Liability. Commercial Auto is also described as written in conjunction with other commercial policies. For personal lines, Watercraft / recreational vehicle business is tied to a Western National Personal Auto policy, and Dwelling Property requires a Western National Homeowner / Condo Unit Owner / Renter policy. Published underwriting detail located on the official BOP underwriting manual indicates the program is designed for better-than-average businesses. General BOP guidance includes bindable property limits by protection class/construction up to $1.0M to $2.0M in Protection Classes 1-8, with much lower automatic limits in Protection Classes 9-10; buildings over 50 years old are referred; older buildings should have roof, plumbing, heating, and wiring updated to within 30 years; risks in business less than 3 years are referred; more than 2 property/liability/crime losses in the past 3 years trigger underwriting review and prior loss runs may be required; some accounts may require on-site inspection; Hired/Non-Owned Auto is intended only for incidental non-delivery use, and delivery service is ineligible. BOP eligible occupancies include certain office, mercantile/retail, processing/service, contractor, wholesaler/distributor, restaurant, and condo unit-owner risks, subject to class-specific rules. Published preferred/eligible characteristics include: offices up to 6 stories / 75,000 sq. ft.; retail/mercantile and wholesaler risks generally up to 35,000 sq. ft. and $6M sales per location; most other eligible risks up to 75,000 sq. ft. and $50M annual gross sales per location unless otherwise noted; contractors limited to classes in the manual with max $1.5M payroll ($300k in IL), office/shop up to 35,000 sq. ft., no work above 3 stories, subcontracted work not over 30% of annual gross sales, no equipment leasing, and unrelated sales capped at 25%. Restaurant eligibility is relatively selective: only listed restaurant classes are BOP-eligible, each location must stay at or below $2M annual sales and 5,000 sq. ft., ownership/management must have at least 3 years’ experience, location must be in Protection Class 1-8, off-site stand/concessionaire operations are not eligible for BOP, and live entertainment should be referred. Limited-cooking restaurants are favored over heavier cooking operations and must keep seating to 30 or fewer, beer/wine to 25% or less of sales, no other alcohol, catering to 10% or less of sales, no seasonal closures over 30 consecutive days, no food trucks, and no delivery if HNOA is desired. Published restricted/declined BOP classes include automobile repair/service stations; auto/motor home/mobile home/motorcycle dealers; parking lots/garages unless incidental; bars and pubs; most condominium associations other than office/residential; buildings occupied wholly or partly for manufacturing; insureds with locations used for manufacturing; household personal property; habitational risks generally; places of amusement; many financial institutions unless lessor’s risk only; unoccupied/vacant buildings; massage/reducing/electrology and tanning exposures; and mixed-use buildings with ground-floor office or mercantile and apartments above. Contractor ineligibility is broad and includes general contractors, crane operations, boiler/alarm/fire-extinguishing/elevator/escalator/computer work, private-label manufactured products, certain mechanical contractors, demolition/blasting/wrecking/high-pressure boiler/LPG work, insulation, hazardous material or pollution abatement including asbestos/lead/radon, automatic door/garage door work, heavy construction, drilling/excavation/grading, steel erection, pipeline work, sandblasting, scaffolding/hoists/towers, window installation/replacement, ship repair/painting, swimming pools, tree removal, waterproofing, wood/coal stove installation, commercial boiler work, foundation work, and fire suppression/sprinkler work. Notable class-specific nuance: the BOP manual states apartment building endorsement availability is only for existing in-force business, which suggests new apartment habitational opportunities are limited or not a target in this form. Broker/producer notes available from official sources: Western National partners exclusively with independent agents; commercial submissions for the Western Region are directed by email to commercialsubmissions@wnins.com per the posted commercial contacts PDF; and underwriting contact sheets are published with named team members. Overall operational take: target established, better-than-average small to mid-sized standard commercial accounts in approved Western/Midwestern states, especially office, mercantile, service, selective contractors, wholesalers, and tightly defined restaurant risks; avoid habitational/new apartment business, manufacturing, bars, delivery-heavy or amusement exposures, and contractors with heavy-hazard operations. Submission quality should include complete applications, loss history when applicable, class-specific supplements where required, and enough building/operations detail to satisfy age, protection class, payroll/sales, subcontracting, and occupancy eligibility tests.

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