Business News: Nixon and Co., Agero, Pacific Gas and Electric

SCM Insurance Services had acquired Michel & Cully Claims Services, or MCCS, an independent adjusting firm based in Springfield, Illinois.

SCM said the company will be folded into its Nixon & Co. team, a multi-line adjusting service based in St. Louis, Missouri.

MCCS has served Central Illinois since 1973 by providing a variety of property, auto, and liability claims services, SCM said in a press release. The acquisition will allow Nixon to increase its service capacity, broadening the company’s range of expertise and expanding its geographic reach across the entire states of Indiana and Arkansas along with the southern half of Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio, the company said.

SCM, headquartered in Edmonton, Canada, first entered the U.S. market in May of 2017 with the acquisition of Nixon & Co. In 2016, Nixon acquired Allmark Services, Inc. It also formed a partnership with Ouellette and Associates that brought the company’s entire group of professional adjusters to join the Nixon team, the company said.

SCM said services will remain the same and business will continue as usual at MCCS.

Agero Inc., which provide driver assistance software and services to consumers through contracts with insurance companies and vehicle manufacturers, announced that it has adding 275 jobs to its call center in Clarksville, Tennessee.

Agero said the new hires represent a 42 percent increase of the site’s employee base. The company said it is expanding its facility in Clarksville to accommodate the expansion, which will bring its total workforce in Tennessee to more than 1,500.

Agero said added 13,921 square feet of production floor to the Clarksville “contact center,” more than double the previous work space. Over 100 new workstations are already open and more are planned to be installed by the first quarter of 2020, the company said.

The new employees hired in Clarksville will be assigned to 15 separate programs, including roadside assistance, consumer affairs and connected vehicle services, three specialized service event escalation teams and the Agero Provider Advocate Group, the company said.

The Clarksville center has experienced 300 percent employee growth since opening in 2012, the company said.

“Clarksville is a thriving, vibrant city that plays a significant role in the continued success of our contact center and Agero’s business overall,” stated Will Fugette, Clarksville Contact Center director.

Pacific Gas & Electric urged residents who were displaced by the 2017 Northern California wildfires and the 2019 Camp Fire to file a claim with the Wildfire Assistance Program before the deadline passes on Nov. 15.

PG&E said it anticipates making its final payments under the program during the first quarter of 2020. As of Oct. 18, As of the independent claims administrator in charge of the program had received nearly 11,500 claims and has made payment on 5,200 eligible claims, the utility said.

To qualify for tpayments, applicants’ primary residence must have been within the boundary of either the 2017 Northern California wildfires and 2018 Camp fire at the time of those events, PG&E said. Applicants also must establish proof of identity and certify that they are not requesting payments for an expense already paid for by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

PG&E said it is providing $105 million for the fund from its cash reserves and will not seek cost recovery from its customers. The fund is separate from PG&E’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding, which barred any new claims from creditors filed later than Monday.