Creating a True Partnership Between Title Agencies and Underwriters

September 30, 2021

WFG National Title Insurance Company recently published a whitepaper that explores the title agent-underwriter relationship in detail.

Titled, “Creating a True Partnership Between Title Agencies and Underwriters,” the whitepaper examines how title agencies can collaborate with their underwriter to streamline operations and drive revenue.

“A number of states have recently enacted rating structures that will directly impact the title insurance industry and its pricing structure,” said Patrick Stone, executive chair and founder of WFG. “If legislative changes trigger actions by federal and state regulators to drive down premiums, those independent title agents who have not established cooperative, optimal working relationships with underwriters will be at a disadvantage.”

Nearly 1,600 title agents currently work with WFG and many of them count on their underwriter for certain necessary functions through WFG’s program.

WFG refers to it as “Blocks,” a name that underscores the modular structure of the program. These “Building Blocks for Business” support WFG’s agent network with a set of turnkey back-office processes available for title companies to use to build out their own businesses more efficiently, the company said.

“These are services that do not necessarily have a market identity, and that can be used successfully without in any way compromising a title agent’s established position in their market,” Stone explained. “Through this program we have given title agents access to WFG’s national corporate services to use as an integral part of their own businesses. They plug directly into their operations, individually or in combination, based on their needs.”

The whitepaper details the following Blocks:

  • Title & Settlement Solutions
  • Expense Management
  • Information Security
  • HR Management
  • Compliance Solutions
  • Marketing & Sales

“We believe the rapid growth of our title agent network is largely attributable to the popularity of our unique agency model, which leverages WFG’s national coverage and local expertise to provide cost-effective solutions and operational efficiencies through our WFG Blocks program, which enables agents to convert fixed costs to variable ones,” said Gene Rebadow, executive vice president of agency operations for WFG.

As a result, WFG’s overall market share continues to increase, too. Year-over-year between Q1 2020 to Q1 2021, it rose by 14.5 percent and is expected to continue to grow through the balance of the year.

“Last year was a banner year for us and we are excited to report with confidence that WFG is well on the way to surpassing those historic 2020 revenue figures in 2021,” said Steve Ozonian, WFG’s CEO and president.


Contact ALTA at 202-296-3671 or [email protected].