In March, WSDA and WDIA officially extended their partnership with The Dentists Insurance Company (TDIC) for five years through March 2024. With this extended partnership, WSDA will continue to endorse TDIC and WDIA will continue to serve as the exclusive broker for TDIC in Washington. 

In late 2018, regulators approved the merger of Northwest Dentists Insurance Company (NORDIC) into TDIC, its parent company for the last two years. NORDIC was purchased by TDIC from WSDA and Moda Health in 2017.

“WDIA is excited to continue its relationship with our long-time professional liability partner as the company transitions fully into TDIC,” said WDIA President Dr. Amir Ganji. “While the name on your policy has changed, the support and service from WDIA and TDIC (formerly NORDIC) staff will remain the same. Like WDIA, TDIC is focused on dentists and governed by dentists.”

TDIC supports dentists by offering professional and business liability insurance and other coverage to more than 19,000 dentists in ten states. TDIC was founded in 1980 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the California Dental Association.

“We are grateful for WSDA and WDIA extending their partnerships with us by endorsing TDIC as a recommended insurance provider,” said Daniel Davidson, DMD, chair of the TDIC Board of Directors. “They know TDIC has a nearly 40-year history of protecting dentists and always has the best interests of policyholders at heart.”

The selection of TDIC as WSDA and WDIA’s ongoing partner was the result of a thorough request for proposal (RFP) process that was mandated by the 2018 WSDA House of Delegates. The task force that oversaw the process developed the RFP application, thoroughly screened applicants, held in-person interviews, and conducted reference checks on several companies.

“The task force carefully reviewed RFPs from several professional liability carriers and interviewed four strong finalists,” said RFP Task Force Chair Dr. Nathan Russell. “Ultimately, we unanimously selected TDIC because we were impressed with the company’s commitment to dentists and its plans for enhancing the coverages offered to Washington dentists in the years ahead.”

“Policies for TDIC’s clients in other states are different than the policies inherited from NORDIC,” said RFP Task Force Member Dr. Blake McKinley, Jr. “Once TDIC is able to fully integrate both companies and complete an internal system upgrade, several changes will be made to our existing TDIC policies that we believe will make our already great policies even better. We look forward to sharing these exciting changes in the future.”

Task force members also considered TDIC’s ability to provide both professional liability and business owners’ protection options an important factor in the decision-making process.

“TDIC’s work in supporting policyholders during recent wildfires in California exemplified the first-class support we were looking for in a partner,” said WDIA Director of Insurance Services Matt French. “We are never able to plan when bad situations will arise. So it’s good to know that when they do, TDIC jumps in quickly, long before many other companies will return your first phone call.”

WDIA Staff Reorganization Will Enhance Professional and Business Liability Support

Over the past 18 months, WDIA has undergone a strategic assessment and examined ways the agency can more fully support its growing number of clients. One of the major takeaways of this process was to assign WDIA staff to specific insurance lines. 

Megan French, WDIA’s longest serving employee, has assumed a new role within WDIA as Professional Liability Specialist. Megan is the first point of contact for Washington dentists looking for professional liability and business owners’ protection.

“We believe focusing Megan on our TDIC insurance offerings will allow us to maintain the quality service our members have come to expect from WDIA as the agency continues to grow,” said WSDA Executive Director Bracken Killpack. “Megan already has extensive knowledge about TDIC’s policies and she is well suited to help our TDIC policyholders just as our Medical Specialist Padraic Moran helps our medical insurance policyholders.”

While the full WDIA reorganization has been developed and approved by WDIA leadership, its implementation is an ongoing process as new staff are added and trained. More updates about WDIA will be shared in the months ahead. 

For more information, call WDIA at (800) 282-9342 or visit wdiains.com.

Professional Liability Task Force Members

WSDA would like to thank the members of the task force for dedicating several hours to running the RFP process. 

Dr. Nathan Russell, Chair (WSDA Secretary Treasurer and WDIA Director)
Dr. Puneet Aulakh (WDIA Director)
Dr. Chris Pickel (Former WSDA and WDIA Director)
Dr. Blake McKinley, Jr. (WSDA Director)
Bracken Killpack (WSDA Executive Director)
Matt French (WDIA Director of Insurance Services)
Rachael Ream (Partner, Studebaker Nault, PLLC)