Brokers are suffering on an etrading issue, which is hurting their business 

By Content Director Saxon East 

It is costing brokers millions in held-up sales, as well as aggravating customers and agonising staff - and it is only getting worse.

Welcome to the world of etrading referrals.

This year’s etrading survey from Insurance Times revealed that the number of brokers waiting one or two days for a referral had surged from 25% to 44%. 

This means that just under half of brokers are having to wait ridiculously long times for insurers to respond on referrals. 

The issue has clearly got worse during the pandemic, with insurers using the crisis as an excuse. But, as broker Jon Newall pointed out during our webinar at Biba’s annual conference today, insurers have had a full year to sort the issue out. 

What can brokers do? Brokers need to monitor referral times and scale back premium, or even blacklist insurers taking too long to respond. 

There is a wide choice of insurers to choose from on both the software houses and extranet sites, so brokers can cope with scaling back on commitments to the worst performing insurers.

It’s unfair to blame all insurers, as some show good response times according to our research.

Certainly though, some insurers have allowed a culture of ‘let’s blame the pandemic’ to creep into working practices. 

etrade

But nothing will get insurers moving quicker than the threat of lost revenues.

etrading report 2021

The 2021 Etrading Results are in - please visit the new 2021 etrading star ratings to witness who brokers highly rated over the last 12 months!

Broker challenges for 2021

This is a big year for brokers. Personal lines brokers have to deal with the FCA regulatory crackdown on products and pricing.

SME brokers will also have to show fair value on commercial products, even though complacency has crept in and little action has been taken.

Added to all of this, brokers are on the front line with their customers, many of whom will have felt let down by not being covered during the pandemic - only to find their premiums are being put up as the market hardens.

During these turbulent times, the last thing brokers need is slack service from insurers on etrading. It’s time they let their voices be heard.