Layoffs at Kemper

According to layoffs tracker site thelayoff.com, there have been numerous layoffs at Kemper , an insurer serving around  6.2 million policies and working with 34,500 agents and brokers.

Impacted locations include Alabama, Arizona, California and Florida. In terms of the number of individuals let go, Kemper disclosed that it has let go of a little more than 3% of its personnel.

“Like most insurance carriers, particularly those who write personal lines, the longer-term economic impacts of the pandemic—primarily significant prolonged inflation—have required us to make changes to our businesses which have led to a lower volume of policies in-force. That reduced volume means we have to respond accordingly, including making some tough but necessary decisions to adjust our employee count.

We laid off just over 3% of our workforce, or 339 employees; the majority in the P&C claims area. Impacted employees are able to apply for other roles within Kemper and were provided with further instructions.”

Claims adjusters and managers, PIP adjusters, total loss managers and their teams were all affected by the layoffs. One anonymous commenter said Melissa Hill, who had worked for AmFam, Hiscox, and the now-defunct Blackboard Insurance before joining the carrier just 11 months prior, is also impacted by this move.

The news comes after we had heard that Kemper is looking to pull out of the California market and that its subsidiary – – has the authority to offer renewal/rewrite offers in California. The following comment from Kemper clarifies its approach:

“Kemper remains committed to the California specialty auto insurance market over the long term and will continue to write new business and offer renewal policies to our current customers. We have no plans to exit from the state. Based on a commitment made to the California Department of Insurance in 2018, after we acquired Infinity Property and Casualty Company, we are consolidating our three specialty auto insurance product groups (Alliance United, Infinity and Kemper Specialty) into a single go-forward solution under the Infinity product. Since California law requires that we withdraw the companies being assumed by Infinity, we have submitted the appropriate withdrawal applications. In advance of the filings, we reviewed our plans with the CDI and reiterated our commitment to the California marketplace. Customers in the companies being assumed will receive renewal offers and our goal is to retain and serve as many of those customers as possible. This product consolidation will help to simplify our product offerings, reduce confusion in the market, and better position us to continue serving the underserved communities in the state with affordable and easy-to-use products for years to come.”