a.
The renewal that can't be explained.
Comp comes back up 30% and the story doesn't hold. Sometimes the answer is a better carrier. Sometimes the whole structure is wrong, and a PEO reprices the stack instead of the line.
// for independent insurance agents & brokers
You spot the fit.
I do the underwriting.
I'm Victor Difusco, an underwriter at Cornerstone PEO. Most of my best clients started as a broker's hunch: a renewal that didn't make sense, a class mix nobody checked. This page is the whole playbook: what to look for, what to send, and what happens after.
Cornerstone PEO · Family-owned · Medford, NJ · Thousands of client companies nationwide
01
How to spot a PEO fit
You see these patterns before anyone else does. When one shows up in your book, the client probably needs this conversation:
b.
Payroll admin eating the client alive.
Multi-state hiring, garnishments, tax notices. The client didn't start a business to run payroll. That's the PEO's entire job.
c.
An audit produced a surprise bill.
Estimated payroll, year-end true-up, a five-figure invoice nobody budgeted for. Pay-as-you-go comp inside a PEO ends that cycle for good.
d.
Benefits renewal sticker shock.
Small-group health renews at plus twenty and the client has nine employees. PEO group buying power is the honest fix. Not a better quote on the same broken pool.
02
What to send me
Everything below fits in one email. I read submissions the way I was trained to: loss history first, class mix second, story third.
Send this
- Complete loss runs, currently valued
- Accurate class codes, payroll split between office and field
- Current dec pages and the mod worksheet if you have it
- An honest narrative: tell me what happened, not what you wish happened
A clean submission gets an answer in days, not weeks. Sloppy ones sit while I chase the basics.
Skip this
- Marketing decks about your agency: I don't need them
- A quote you already gave them: I'll price it myself
- Vague payroll totals with no class split: I'll just ask for it
- Pressure for a same-day answer: fast yes, never a rushed yes
When I can't see the risk clearly, I can't approve it. A clean, honest submission beats a polished one every time.
03
My commitments to you
The reason brokers send me their clients a second time.
1
Your client stays your client
I don't poach books. Ever. The relationship you built is yours. I'm the underwriter behind it, not a second agent. Everything goes through you.
2
Looped in on everything
Quotes, declines, conditions: you hear it the same time they do, usually first. No surprises, no end runs around you.
3
An honest no
If a PEO isn't the answer, I say so and send them back to you with the reason. A fast no beats a slow maybe, and it keeps your credibility intact.
The partnership part. This is a real strategic partnership, not a favor. When someone you send my way becomes a Cornerstone client, you share in the economics. The details are simple and in writing before anything starts. Email me and I'll lay them out.
04
Send a submission
One email. Loss runs, class codes, your honest read. I'll take it from there, usually within a business day.
Victor Difusco · Underwriter, Cornerstone PEO · 1 S Main St, Medford, NJ 08055