The policy renewed itself every year, and for a long time, that was fine.
For years, West Michigan Orthopaedics had its malpractice coverage on autopilot. The renewal came, the invoice was paid, and the practice moved on to the next thing.
“We were with the same broker for a while, and the premium just kept going up,” said Meredith Emelander, the practice manager. “There wasn't a reason to question it — until there was.”
The reason came when the long-time broker retired. The relationship that had made things feel handled was gone, and the practice had to decide what to do next.
The reason it kept getting deferred wasn't doubt. It was time.
Meredith knew the market should be checked. She also knew what checking usually looked like — calls, forms, applications, chasing quotes across multiple carriers, and translating what came back.
“Anything malpractice-related tends to take longer than you think,” Meredith said. “It's not the kind of thing you can squeeze in between everything else.”
So the renewal went out again. And then again. Until Sheltra reached out.
The best part was how easy it turned out to be.
Sheltra offered to benchmark the practice's coverage against the market. One short meeting, a handful of documents, and the team went to work — running the practice through multiple A-rated carriers and comparing what came back.
“Tail, nose coverage, limits — all of it was walked through in a way that actually made sense,” Meredith said. “I didn't have to become an expert in malpractice insurance to make a good decision.”
Same coverage. An A-rated carrier. 26% less than before.
“I didn't really have to do anything other than provide 2–3 documents. Sheltra took care of the rest.”
And it doesn't stop at the switch. Sheltra re-benchmarks the practice against the market every year, so staying in the best position isn't on the practice's plate either.
“This was so much easier than what I was expecting switching malpractice insurance carriers or brokers to be.”