Press Room

Welcome to the Combined Insurance Press Room. Here you'll find executive biographies, news, press releases and other pertinent communications.

Combined Insurance News

 

Combined Insurance has again been named one of the 50 highest performing insurance companies in America

Ward Group, the insurance industry leader for benchmarking and best practice identification, has once again named Combined Insurance on its prestigious annual Ward's 50 list. Annually, Ward Group analyzes the financial performance of approximately 800 life-health insurance companies domiciled in the U.S. Looking at results spanning the last five years, the organization reviews financial measures such as return on average equity and return on total revenue and additional criteria to measure efficiency of company operations. Combined Insurance has been a member of this elite group for several years; after dropping off the list in 2009, we have been rated as one of the top performers again for the past two years.

We're proud of  this recognition and believe it illustrates our financial strength and continued viability in the industry and in the marketplace.

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Please Note:

Combined Insurance customers residing in the states of Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio who have been adversely affected by the March 2012 storms may be eligible for an extension of the grace period for premium payments as well as the timeframe for submitting claim proof of loss. To request and extension or if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Customer Care Center at 800-225-4500. In addition, a letter containing further details will be mailed to policyholders who reside in the affected areas shortly.

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Press Releases

11/16/2011:

Combined Insurance has been designated a 2012 Top Military Friendly Employer® by G.I. Jobs

11/11/2011:

Combined Insurance Recognized for Military Veteran Recruiting and Hiring

09/13/2011:

Sales Offers Opportunity for Unemployed

08/30/2011:

Combined Insurance Recognized as a Top Performer

06/21/2011:

Combined Insurance’s Worksite Solutions Names Chris Martin President

05/27/2011:

Countdown To Medicare—Are You Ready?

View All Press Releases

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Combined Leadership

Click on an executive’s name to view his biography.

Global Leadership

Brad Bennett - President, Combined Insurance

Mr. Bennett is responsible for global management and growth of Combined Insurance. He joined the company in 2012 after more than 17 years with AIG. Working primarily in Asia, he started with the company in Thailand and was responsible for agency growth and development. His most recent position was Chief Operating Officer and Head of Distribution for Chartis Companies in Japan. Prior to his time at AIG, Mr. Bennett spent nine years with Allstate Insurance Company.

Bill Clark - Senior Vice President, Global Claims

Mr. Clark is responsible for global claims management including identifying and implementing best practices throughout the company. He joined Combined Insurance in 2010 bringing with him nearly 30 years of technical, operational, and process re-engineering experience in claims. Prior to joining the company, he worked for ACE USA and Group Claims developing and implementing solutions to enhance the claims decision making processes and improving operational efficiency.  Prior to that, he ran a regional claims service organization for TIG. Before TIG, he held roles of increasing claims responsibility with The Hartford and Reliance National.

James L. Coleman - Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer

Prior to joining Combined Insurance in 2007, Mr. Coleman served as Chief Marketing Officer of Culligan International Company, a water treatment and filtration services company, since 2005. From 2000 to 2005, Mr. Coleman was Vice President of Marketing at Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company. Prior to 2000, Mr. Coleman held a variety of marketing leadership positions with Mobil Corporation.

Dean Demos - Chief Information Officer

Mr. Demos joined Combined Insurance in 2001 bringing with him more than 30 years of project management, governance, business analysis and systems development experience in information technology with Aon CSG, CNA, Ameritech and Amoco/BP. In his current role, Mr. Demos is responsible for global governance and controls, systems stabilization and management and the customer and agent self-service system.

Mark Hammond - Chief Financial Officer

Prior to joining Combined Insurance in 2009, Mr. Hammond spent more than 25 years in public accounting, financial services and insurance with Deloitte & Touche, where he was an Audit Partner, and with Aviva, where he served as CFO for Aviva North America as well as holding other finance leadership positions in the U.S. and with Aviva's predecessor entities and divisions, AmerUs and AmerUs Annuity Group.

Chad Helin - General Counsel

Mr. Helin is responsible for all legal and compliance matters for Combined Insurance. Prior to assuming this role in 2012, Mr. Helin served as Assistant General Counsel in Global Litigation at ACE, which he joined in 2007. Previously he was a litigator with O’Melveny & Myers and Shook, Hardy & Bacon. Mr. Helin holds a bachelor’s degree from Kansas State and a law degree from New York Law School.

Steven E. Lippai - Executive Vice President and Chief Actuary

Mr. Lippai has spent his entire career at the company, initially joining in 1971. During his time with Combined Insurance, Mr. Lippai has been involved with the complete spectrum of the accident, disability, health and life insurance products. He has managed actuarial functions, service center operations and the development of new initiatives. He currently works to improve product line performance, increase the effectiveness of Combined Insurance business units and develop product strategies for expanding operations. In addition, he initiated and manages the company's Enterprise Risk Management program.

Todd Stevenson - Senior Vice President, Human Resources

Prior to joining Combined Insurance in May 2006, Mr. Stevenson spent 12 years at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in various senior human resources positions; recently, he was Senior Vice President of Compensation for Retail Banking. He joined First Chicago Bank in 1994, and was involved in human resources integration with the Bank One and JPMorgan Chase & Co. mergers

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United States Leadership

Click on an executive’s name to view his biography.

Ralph Gaudio - Senior Vice President, Chief Agency Officer

Mr. Gaudio began his career in the insurance industry as a sales agent with Hearthstone Insurance Company, then part of Combined Insurance. In the more than 30 years since, he has held numerous sales leadership positions with Washington National Insurance, Kansas City Life and various divisions of AIG. Mr. Gaudio returned to Combined Insurance in 2009 where he is responsible for leading and further developing the company’s agency sales model.

Chris Martin - President, Worksite Solutions

Mr. Martin joined Combined Insurance in June 2011 bringing with him nearly 20 years of experience in management and development of worksite-style businesses including 17 years with Trustmark, a life and health insurer and employee benefits provider. In addition to his extensive experience, Mr. Martin holds a bachelor’s of economics from Yale University and a master’s of management in marketing and organization behavior from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Dale Snow - Senior Vice President, North American Operations

Mr. Snow joined Combined Insurance in 1998. Prior to that, he spent 20 years with Prudential Insurance Company of America where he developed the company’s first Customer Management Division for its U.S. Individual Insurance business unit. In his current role, Mr. Snow is responsible for the development and ongoing management of customer relationship management programs for North America involving customer service, communication and retention activities.