18 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • MARCH 2021
WYNNE’S BRADLEY & PARKER CEO WYNNE NOWLAND WAY
BY CLAUDE SOLNIK
Wynne Nowland leads Bradley & Parker,
an insurance, risk management
and financial services firm based in
Melville. We talked with the CEO about
being trans, as well as developments
in the insurance industry, including
managing Covid.
What was it like as a trans person
coming out? My personal experience
was probably considerably easier than
most. It was a fairly easy transition. I
was accepted extremely well by my colleagues,
“If the insurance industry paid all the claims out
there because of Covid, the industry could be
not just the people who work
in my company, also our client base, insurance
company partners and vendors.
How did you let people in your life
know? I picked a date and then I made
sure that they were made aware of
what I was doing. Nobody likes big
surprises like that! I sent out a series
of emails to people, letting them know
what was going on. To people like my
butcher and dry cleaner and even some
favorite restaurants, I sent a snail mail
telling them what was going on. So the
next time I walked in, they knew what
to expect.
Was this something that you had
wanted for many years or only more
recently? If I go back to my childhood, I
always felt uncomfortable in my gender
and confused as to why I felt the way I
did. Back when I was 5 years old, this
wasn’t a topic. As time went on, I always
felt the same way. There didn’t seem to
me to be options to do anything about
it. As time marched on and this became
more public and the internet made it
easier to get information, I went through
a gradual process.
To what do you attribute your company’s
longevity? We just celebrated our
80th anniversary last year. We think
it’s a core belief in doing the best we can
for our clients and our team. We’ve tried
to adapt to times with technology and
customer engagement.
Why aren’t companies typically covered
for the pandemic? When they
write insurance policies, they come
up with actuarial tables that develop
the rates. Like most of us who didn’t
contemplate this could happen, neither
did they. If the insurance industry paid
all the claims out there because of Covid,
the industry could be bankrupt.
Is the insurance industry recession
proof? I like to say the insurance
business is not recession-proof, but it is
recession-resistant. Most insurance that
companies carry can’t be eliminated as a
cost-saving measure. To the degree that
companies stay in business, they still
need insurance. As payrolls and sales
went down for some clients, that could
drive insurance premiums down.
What things can individuals or
companies do to drive down premiums?
Working with a qualified
insurance advisor, companies
can work to be safer, which
ultimately can reduce premium
costs. For instance, when
they hire an employee who
will be driving, they check
their driving record. There
are risk-management techniques,
steps companies can
take to lower the risks they
have.
What are some other examples?
If you’re a manufacturer,
make sure that
any machinery that could
injure workers is properly
monitored and has the
proper locking devices.
If a contractor uses a subcontractor,
make sure the
subcontractor has the proper
insurance. If you own a building,
make sure a sprinkler is
installed and working.
How are you and the insurance
companies working
with individuals and
companies amid Covid? There was a
mandated component: We won’t cancel
your insurance even if you don’t pay.
Then there were voluntary things that
the industry and many brokers did to
help customers. Many personal insurance
companies lowered automobile
insurance premiums and
refunded some of the
premiums. People
were not driving
as much,
so there was
less risk.
That was
fairly common.
We
r e a c h e d
out to customers
to
see how
they were
doing. In
c a s e s
where their businesses slowed down
or temporarily closed, we got insurance
carriers to voluntarily reduce some of
those premiums.
Do you think the insurance industry
could cover future pandemics? I think
at some point and probably more so
now with the new administration in
Washington, they’ll come back to
the question as to how to cover
something like this in the future.
They did that in 2001 after
9/11. A lot of the 9/11 claims
weren’t covered either. They
developed a new coverage,
terrorism coverage, partially
underwritten by the federal
government. We’ll probably
see something like that.
CORNER OFFICE
Bradley & Parker CEO Wynne Nowland recently came out as transgender.
bankrupt.”
/LONGISLANDPRESS.COM
