TPA Real Talk: What Public Entities Taught Me About National Accounts

Kara shares the personal side of her professional experience handling Third Party Administration. Find out more about her team’s people-first approach to workers’ compensation for clients in the second of this 3-part series.

When I first started looking at Third Party Administrators (TPAs) as a risk manager, if I saw a company that handled mostly public entities, I probably would’ve written them off as “not national account material.”

In my head, there was a line: public entities on one side, big national corporations on the other. Different worlds, different challenges.

Now that I’m running a TPA with deep public entity roots, I see how wrong I was. And more importantly, how much I was missing.

Here’s what I didn’t realize then: the adjusters and supervisors who manage public entity claims are some of the most strategic, disciplined, and customer-focused people in this industry. Why? Because they’re often working with little to no money; our taxpayer money.

Every decision is scrutinized, every dollar stretched. They don’t have the luxury of over-reserving or letting things drag out. They have to find creative, practical ways to resolve claims, and they have to do it in a way that holds up under the brightest possible spotlight.

Think about the kinds of claims they’re dealing with: police officers injured in the line of duty, teachers hurt in classrooms, EMTs and construction crews working under pressure, service workers keeping cities running, even judges and elected officials. These aren’t faceless files. They’re people with visibility, impact, and a whole community behind them.

Handling those claims takes a mix of empathy, backbone, and a customer service mindset that most companies would love to replicate.

And here’s the kicker: those skills translate directly to national accounts. If you can navigate the politics of a city council meeting while managing a complex claim, you can certainly handle a Fortune 500 CFO’s questions about reserves. If you can resolve a high-profile injury with taxpayer dollars under public scrutiny, you can find cost savings and smart strategies in the private sector.

The truth is that public entity experience is not a limitation—it’s an advantage. It produces adjusters and leaders who are strategic thinkers, excellent communicators, and laser-focused on outcomes. The kind of people any national account should want to run their claims.

So, my perspective has shifted. What I once would’ve dismissed, I now see as a differentiator. And as Davies grows its national presence, I plan to lean into that, not hide it. Because the best national programs aren’t just about scale; they’re about the caliber of people behind them. And in that sense, public entity experience isn’t just relevant. It’s a game-changer.