ShelterPoint Life Ranked Top 50 Performer by Ward

Trusted leader of benchmarking identifies top financial performers of nearly 700 life-health insurance companies

Anupam Garg

2021-07-22T07:00:00.0000000 2021-08-23T07:46:26.9400000

ShelterPoint Life is honored to be recognized on Ward’s Top 50 List of  Life-Health Companies for 2021. Each year, Ward Benchmarking analyzes the financial performances of 700 life-health insurance companies domiciled in the United States to identify the top performers. Being included on Ward’s Top 50 Performers List means that ShelterPoint Life has been acknowledged for excelling in managing expenses and the efficiencies of our operations.

This award was presented by Jeffrey J. Rieder, Partner and Head of Ward, and released to the public in a webinar on July 20, 2021. “It is an honor for ShelterPoint Life to be included in such an illustrious group of companies," said Richard White, CEO of ShelterPoint Life.  "We focus on providing a stable and consistent set of group insurance products to businesses and their employees and families as well as growth and dedication to financial stability and control.”

Ward Benchmarking is a leading provider in benchmarking and best practices studies for the insurance industry. Ward’s methodology for evaluating these top companies is through safety and consistency measurements, as well as performance tests, which ShelterPoint Life has successfully passed through the analyzed five-year period (2016-2021).  Staff levels, compensation, business practices, and expenses are all areas that are analyzed in order for insurers to measure results, optimize performance, and improve profitability. For more information on Ward Benchmarking and for a full list of the Top 50 performers, please click here.

COVID-19 and ShelterPoint Preparedness

Precautionary measures to keep our commitment to our customers while ensuring the safety of our employees

SuperUser Account

2020-03-16T10:00:00.0000000 2025-08-01T02:51:46.4930000

PLEASE NOTE: The Emergency Paid Sick Leave Law expired on July 31, 2025, ending COVID-specific paid leave. Learn more here.

As the situation surrounding COVID-19 (the illness caused by the novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2) continues to evolve, we are sharing this update on ShelterPoint’s preparedness and precautionary measures we are taking. On a high level, these include employees working remotely and servicing our customers while keeping our employees safe. We have a dedicated team monitoring the constantly evolving information closely to assure our business continuity plan is functioning effectively. As of now, ShelterPoint has taken the following preventive steps:

ShelterPoint’s Commitment to our Clients

Keeping our commitment to our customers remains a priority during the COVID-19 outbreak. Some of the steps we have taken to mitigate potential impact on processing and paying claims, answering questions, and providing information, include:

• Cross-training staff on critical functions to help to minimize service interruptions or delays.

• Identify critical priority functions and shift resources to support these areas.

• Testing technology to ensure we are able to shift critical tasks as needed.

• Continuous pandemic planning that accounts for different variables and scenarios, such as increase in claim volume or closure of our buildings.

Protecting ShelterPoint Employees

The health and safety of our employees is very important to us. We have already put into place social distancing steps to reduce staff density in our offices and thereby help minimize COVID-19 exposure to our employees. This includes:

• Suspending business travel and attendance at conferences or similar large events. 

• Limiting in-person meetings with our brokers and clients wherever possible.

• Requiring employees who return from certain travel to work from home and “self-quarantine” for at least 2 weeks.

• Enabling and directing a growing number of employees to work from home.

• We have deployed technological capabilities to facilitate an increasing number of employees to work remotely.

• Implementing enhanced workspace cleaning to help limit the spread of germs for those who currently remain in the office.

As the situation evolves, we are prepared to add additional protective measures.

What to know about COVID-19 (novel Coronavirus) and state-mandated NY Disability and Paid Family Leave

We have received many question about COVID-19 and how it relates to NY State Disability (DBL) and Paid Family Leave. You can read our running list of FAQs here.

ShelterPoint Continues to Closely Monitor the Situation

We will continue to closely monitor the COVID-19 outbreak and remain flexible to adapt quickly under these hard-to-predict circumstances. All of us at ShelterPoint are dedicated to keeping you informed. Check back here for updates as things continue to evolve. If you have questions email customerservice@shelterpoint.com.

This blog post is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal counsel. Please consult with an appropriate professional for legal and compliance advice. Any Disability Benefits Law (DBL) and/or Paid Family Leave (PFL) information is as of the blog post’s date stamp; it is based on the applicable statutes and regulation,  and may change as regulations evolve or NY State issues guidance regarding DBL or PFL regulations. Have more questions? Email us at pflquestions@shelterpoint.com

Introducing: DBL & PFL Claim Portal Mobile App

Yiu Tso

2018-10-18T12:00:00.0000000 2021-12-27T13:43:27.8370000

ShelterPoint members are already loving our Claim Portal  for their Paid Family Leave (PFL) and statutory short-term Disability claims, and now we’ve made it even easier with our innovative, proprietary mobile app! 

The Claim Portal mobile app is as full featured as our online Claim Portal  – and then some.  If you are on-the-go with your new little one or recovering from an injury, this app can help avoid delays and expedite claims –which, ultimately, may help you receive your benefit payments faster. 

So what’s new with the app?

• The mobile app’s Push Notifications provide reminders to submit forms, provide return-to-work information, etc.
• Quickly snap a picture of your form and upload it right from your phone

If you have already registered on the Claim Portal, just use the same login for the app
 

This mobile app is now available for all employees covered by ShelterPoint Life’s DBL/PFL, who go out on disability or take Paid Family Leave.  Download and start using it today!

Have questions about claims, or other Paid Family Leave topics? Ask our PFL experts at pflquestions@shelterpoint.com.

Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, and iPad are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries and regions.   App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.

Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.

This blog post is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal counsel. Please consult with an appropriate professional for legal and compliance advice. Any PFL information is as of the blog post’s date stamp; it is based on the applicable statutes and regulation,  and may change as regulations evolve or NY State issues guidance regarding Paid Family Leave regulations. Have more questions? Email us at pflquestions@shelterpoint.com

Introducing: ShelterPoint DBL & PFL Claim Portal

Client information available 24x7

Stephanie Haber

2018-04-23T12:00:00.0000000 2020-12-22T07:57:07.8270000

We understand that life has different priorities when you’re out on a disability or Paid Family Leave claim. Figuring out when to expect your next benefit payment or what additional paperwork may separate you from your next payment shouldn’t be anything to worry about.  So, in order to help our members, who are out on a claim be able to focus on the things they really need to focus on in these times, we created an innovative proprietary online claim portal for 24/7 Disability and Paid Family Leave claim management!
 

This new online tool is now available for all employees covered by ShelterPoint Life’s DBL/PFL, who go out on disability or take Paid Family Leave.

ShelterPoint Claim Portal from ShelterPoint on Vimeo

If you have a claim with ShelterPoint, registration for an online account is fast, and easy as 123.  All you need is your: 

1. Social Security Number
2. Claim number
3. Email address

This provides around-the-clock access to:

• An easy overview dashboard with your current claim status
• See if any action needs to be taken to assure continued processing of your claim
• Check the history of the benefit payments we’ve issued
• See important notifications regarding your claim
• Sign up for alerts via email when action needs to be taken to keep claim payments going
• Sign up to receive claim forms electronically

…and much more!

If you’re a ShelterPoint member check it out here!

Download your updated Claims Roadmaps that now include the claim portal information:

• Bonding
• Caregiving
• Military

ShelterPoint Life Wins APEX Awards

Anupam Garg

2017-09-04T12:00:00.0000000 2022-12-28T14:04:40.2470000

ShelterPoint Life Insurance Company (“ShelterPoint Life”),  in collaboration with marketing firm Ethology, has won two distinguished awards for 2017 from APEX, the Awards for Publication Excellence, an entity in its 29th year of identifying excellence in communications and publishing.  APEX Awards are based on outstanding graphic design, editorial content and the ability to achieve overall communications excellence.

The ShelterPoint Life Paid Family Leave microsite was recognized in the categories of Social Media, Blog Content – NY Paid Family Leave Blog, and Websites, Site Design & Illustration - NY Paid Family Leave Microsite Design, the sole winner in this category.

ShelterPoint Life initiated this microsite and blog content shortly after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the new Paid Family Leave law in 2016.  Effective as of January 1, 2018, it is “essential for us to educate our brokers and policyholders on this new program as it is unfolding,” commented Katrin Atienza, Assistant Vice President of ShelterPoint Life.   “We are pleased that the microsite has been recognized for its elegant user experience in site design and clear communications on New York Paid Family Leave."

To view the articles and design of this microsite or to learn more about NY Paid Family Leave, please visit NYPaidLeave.com.

ShelterPoint Life Moves Home Office

Yiu Tso

2017-05-01T09:52:00.0000000 2021-12-27T14:48:57.9000000

The day New York's Paid Family Leave (PFL) was passed in April 2016, ShelterPoint Life made a commitment to implement PFL and to ensure a smooth transition for everyone involved - from policyholders and brokers to employees.  Since then, we have been working diligently because as the industry leader in DBL, we are ready to become the industry leader for PFL as well.  "We're all in."

Thanks to this tremendous opportunity, we've outgrown our current office. As part of our preparations to administer Paid Family Leave, we need more space for additional staff. 

Effective May 1st, 2017, our new corporate headquarters is at:

1225 Franklin Avenue, Ste. 475
Garden City, NY 11530

All phone/fax numbers and email addresses remain unchanged.  
Your clients will receive address change endorsements for their policies in a formal notification via mail.

Learn more about Paid Family Leave coming to New York right here.

ShelterPoint Life Brings Home APEX Award For Corporate Identity

Anupam Garg

2015-07-08T12:00:00.0000000 2020-12-22T08:02:26.7330000

We are excited to announce that ShelterPoint Life Insurance has received the 2015 APEX award for corporate identity and logo design.   

This award reflects months of creative planning and research culminating in a new corporate identity for our firm, formerly known as The First Rehabilitation Insurance Company of America.  We sought a name that illustrates our next chapter and will give us a nationwide identity. The new name was chosen from among 250 options that the project team conceptualized.

“Along with the new name, it was time for a new corporate visual identity that reflects the new chapter in the company’s history, including a new logo and a fresher look of materials and collateral,” added Katrin Atienza, AVP Marketing, who spearheaded the creation the creative rebranding effort. “The overall goal for the new corporate visual identity was to be simple, clean, modern, symbolically reflective of the new name, and to mesh well with the industry while standing out of the crowd. Our team completed this with a small but strong, can-do-all, in house team over several months. Crowdsourcing was one of the tools we leveraged a lot: we used crowd sourced focus groups and surveys during the name and logo selection,” she continued.

The icon component of the final logo reflects the name in form of a map pin that points to the “point of shelter” and incorporates a cut-out “S” that is “sheltered” by the shape of the pin. 

Official Release: ShelterPoint Life Partners with National Vision Administrators

Updated plans will offer better service to members

Yiu Tso

2015-06-26T11:38:00.0000000 2022-07-15T11:05:00.0830000

Great Neck, NY, June 26, 2015-- ShelterPoint Life Insurance Company is partnering with National Vision Administrators, L.L.C. (NVA), one of the largest national vision networks and benefit administrators, to provide enhanced network benefits and claims processing capabilities for its policyholders.

The partnership allows ShelterPoint to leverage NVA’s negotiating power to reduce the cost of its vision benefits for its members by utilizing NVA’s national network of over 40,000 eye care professionals, including retailers and independent doctors.

ShelterPoint will have the flexibility to create custom plans based on the individual needs of its clients. In addition, ShelterPoint’s members will have access to NVA’s stellar vision benefits administration practices and a live 24/7/365 call center.

“We’re excited about partnering with a long-established leader in vision benefits,” said Richard White, CEO of ShelterPoint, “and NVA is the perfect fit for our wider mission of keeping group benefits simple and to-the-point for all of our small business clients.”

The NVA vision plans will be available beginning July 1, 2015.

About ShelterPoint

The ShelterPoint family of companies consists of ShelterPoint Life Insurance Company (formerly First Rehab Life) and ShelterPoint Insurance Company.

ShelterPoint Life (formerly The First Rehabilitation Life Insurance Company of America, short First Rehab Life) was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Great Neck, NY.  Since its inception, ShelterPoint Life has grown into New York’s largest* statutory disability carrier. 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 wholly-owned subsidiary of ShelterPoint Life and is licensed in 48 states and territories.

About NVA

NVA has a long history of providing innovative and cost-effective vision benefit programs for its plan sponsors and their subscribers since 1979.  Providing millions of people throughout the United States with vision care programs, NVA serves employers in both the private and public sectors, unions as well as MCOs, third party administrators and health care purchasing coalitions.

NVA’s ever-growing vision provider network consists of tens of thousands of highly qualified, licensed eye care professionals. The network includes ophthalmologists, optometrists, and opticians, independent practitioners as well as optical retailers in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.

Official Release: ShelterPoint Life launches Nurse HelpLine

24/7 answers to health concerns for small groups.

Yiu Tso

2014-11-25T12:00:00.0000000 2022-07-15T11:01:58.5230000

Great Neck, NY, November 17, 2014: ShelterPoint Life Insurance Company (ShelterPoint Life) has partnered with AliCare to launch a Nurse HelpLine service effective November 2014.

This Nurse HelpLine provides unlimited access to experienced Registered Nurses in a dedicated US-based call center, most of whom have an average of over 20 years of experience and emergency room training. The nurses are prepared to answer questions about a variety of health care concerns and provide immediate health information on topics such as heart attacks, diabetes, headaches, depression, dermatology, anxiety, mental health, pregnancy, pain, rashes, and colds.

This service is available around the clock and on holidays to assure that people can get medical information whenever the moment of need arises. Hold time to speak to a nurse is generally less than a minute to assure callers' concerns are addressed quickly. It helps the caller determine, for example: "Is that pain in my jaw serious? Nurses assess each caller's health status and answer health-related questions to help them decide whether self-care or seeing a health care provider is the better option. All calls are confidential and are documented in the caller's personal medical file with the HIPAA-compliant Nurse HelpLine service.

Since the Nurse HelpLine is not insurance, there is no deductible or copay; all dependents and family members in the same household are covered. Those who prefer to listen to general health information can access the Audio Health Information Library with over 1,000 topics, many of which are also available in Spanish.

Studies show that approximately 1 out of 3 families avoid an unnecessary Emergency Room visit per year, and that callers avoid about 2 unnecessary physician office visits per year if they have access to a nurse help line.* This results in a win-win for both employer and employee: for families who use this service, it means potentially saving on unnecessary copays or deductibles; and for employers it may translate into less time away from work.

These advantages are even more impactful in a small business setting.  Small businesses may find it more difficult to obtain a nurse help line as part of their health insurance plan, which makes ShelterPoint's Nurse HelpLine an attractive and affordable service.

ShelterPoint's Nurse HelpLine is available for small groups and sole proprietors on a stand-alone basis.

*HealthCare Leadership Council: The Future is here-Transforming American Healthcare Through Private Sector Innovation, p13.

About ShelterPoint:
The ShelterPoint family of companies consists of ShelterPoint Life Insurance Company and ShelterPoint Insurance Company.. ShelterPoint Life (formerly The First Rehabilitation Life Insurance Company of America, short First Rehab Life) was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Great Neck, NY.  Since its inception, ShelterPoint Life has grown into New York's largest* statutory disability carrier. 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 wholly-owned subsidiary of ShelterPoint Life and is licensed in 48 states and territories.

About AliCare:
AliCare Medical Management offers clinically based care management programs designed to promote optimal clinical outcomes, cost savings and patient satisfaction. AliCare is an affiliate company of Amalgamated Life Insurance Company, a New York based life insurance company established in 1943, which is rated "A" by A.M. Best Company.

Official Release: First Rehab Life Changes Name to ShelterPoint Life

NY-based insurance carrier changes name in anticipation of national expansion

Yiu Tso

2014-08-04T12:00:00.0000000 2022-07-15T10:19:05.3700000

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 InsuranceCompany, 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, and continue 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 company name 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.

AboutShelterPoint:

The ShelterPoint family of companies consists of ShelterPoint Life Insurance Company (formerly First Rehab Life) and ShelterPoint Insurance Company.

ShelterPoint Life (formerly The First Rehabilitation Life Insurance Company of America, short First Rehab Life) was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Great Neck, NY. Since its inception, ShelterPoint Life has grown into New York's largest* statutory disability carrier. 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 wholly-owned subsidiary of ShelterPoint Life and is licensed in 48 states and territories.

Forward looking statements disclaimer:
This press release contains forward-looking statements and information – that is, statements related to future, not past, events. Such statements are based on the current expectations and certain assumptions of the management of ShelterPoint family of companies(ShelterPoint Life Insurance Company and ShelterPoint Insurance Company,collectively ShelterPoint), and are, therefore, subject to certain risks and uncertainties. A variety of factors, many of which are beyond their control,affect their operations, performance, business strategy and results and could cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Risks may include, but are not limited to uncertainties in connection with: disposing of business activities,certain strategic reorientation measures; the performance of its equity interests and strategic alliances; the challenge of integrating major acquisitions, implementing joint ventures and other significant portfolio measures; the introduction of competing products or technologies by other companies or market entries by new competitors; changing competitive dynamics;the risk that new products or services will not be accepted by customers targeted by ShelterPoint and its subsidiaries or affiliates; changes in business strategy; its relationships with governmental bodies and customers;developments in the health care market, legislation, and regulation; changes to the independent insurance broker/agent industry; approvals of the State Insurance Departments; and various other factors. Should one or more of the risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in the relevant forward-looking statement as expected, anticipated, intended, planned,believed, sought, estimated or projected. ShelterPoint neither intends to, nor assumes any obligation to, update or revise these forward-looking statements in light of developments which differ from those anticipated.