HomeWise Insurance Group

Dale Hammond serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of HomeWise. An industry veteran, he brings many years of executive level experience to his role, as well as Florida market expertise from his previous position leading First Floridian.

Most recently, Hammond was President and CEO of Kemper Auto and Home where he led the company's personal lines operations and managed its transition from Kemper to Unitrin. Hammond joined Kemper from Travelers Insurance Company where he spent several years in senior positions, including leading the company's personal lines operations. As President and Chief Operating Officer of First Floridian, he established and directed the company's first operations in Florida.

In addition to his role at HomeWise, Hammond is involved with many industry organizations and has served as the Chairman of the Institute for Business and Home Safety. He is the Immediate Past Insurance Co-Chair for Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. Hammond holds the CPCU designation and graduated from Saint Louis University with a Bachelors of Science in Industrial Management.

Tim Journy brings more than 30 years experience to the Senior Vice President/CFO post at HomeWise where he is responsible for all of the company's financial and accounting functions. Journy joined HomeWise from Metlife, Inc. where, most recently, he was Senior Vice President and General Auditor for the New York-based financial institution. Journy's high-level experience includes extensive internal audit oversight, "Best Practice" program implementation, and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.

Prior to Metlife, Journy served as Executive Vice President, Controller & Chief Accounting Officer at Compass Bancshares, Inc. Earlier in his career, he held a senior accounting position at Banc One Corporation and was a partner at KPMG Peat Marwick. Journy holds a B.A., Accounting from Illinois State University and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Institute of Internal Auditors.

As Chief Claims Officer, Steve Backman oversees the company's claims handling and day-to-day claims operations. With more than 19 years experience in the property and casualty insurance industry, Backman has been involved in the preparation for and aftermath of over 20 catastrophes in the Southeastern United States. These include a variety of claims handling functions related to hurricanes and tropical storms, including CAT Site Management. Backman was most recently with Travelers of Florida, and, prior to that, served in a variety of claims-related capacities with USAA and the Florida Farm Bureau Insurance Companies. Backman is currently a member of the Board of Directors for the Florida Advisory Committee on Arson Prevention and was a panel speaker at the 2004 and 2007 Wind Insurance Conferences. He graduated with a Bachelors of Arts degree from the University of South Florida and possesses the CPCU and AIC designations.

Diane E. Falcone serves as General Counsel for the HomeWise affiliated companies and is responsible for providing all non-claims related legal services to the HomeWise companies. A graduate of Villanova University School of Law, Falcone has over 15 years experience providing legal services to personal lines insurers. Her most recent position, prior to joining HomeWise, was as Corporate Counsel for Kemper Auto and Home.

With more than 30 years of actuarial experience in pricing, reserving and product development, Tim Paddock joins HomeWise forming a new Actuarial and Pricing unit. Prior to joining HomeWise, Tim was Chief Actuary for the Western Reserve Group and he previously held positions at The Netherlands Insurance Companies (now Liberty Mutual) and Hanover Insurance. Tim is a graduate of the University of Lowell, a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society, and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries.

With more than 30 years experience in insurance, Dotti Brink oversees the underwriting operations at HomeWise, including supervising day-to-day operations for the company's customer service center. Brink's career includes serving as Underwriting Manager, and Regional Manager of Underwriting and Customer Service for Colonial Penn. She also held the positions of Director of Program Integration, and Director of Insurance Operations at USAA where her responsibilities included managing special programs, and overseeing policy service. Her career started as an underwriter of special lines at Progressive. Brink holds a BA degree from St. Leo University.

Steve Sandford brings more than 30 years experience to his role as Vice President for Product Management and Compliance for HomeWise. His responsibilities include ensuring compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements, state filings and rate development. Most recently, Sandford served as Regional Product Manager at Kemper Auto and Home. Prior to that, he held various roles at CNA, including Underwriting Director, Program Manager and State Strategy Product Team Leader. Sandford is a graduate of Loyola University and holds a CPCU designation.