The commercial insurance market is a tough place to be, and it looks like it will only get tougher. A soft market mixed with constant consolidation means the smaller broker has to box clever to survive.
But all is not lost. The view from the market is there is enough business for brokers of all sizes to survive (page 12) - as long as brokers find their niche.
And when it comes to fulfilling the needs of one-niche brokers offer the advice and service SMEs need and want. But with insurers focusing more on SMEs directly, this is a cause for concern for brokers (page 20).
Research shows that 15% of SMEs would consider buying insurance online, which equates to half a million customers.
And if this trickle started, it could end up with SMEs flowing towards online and direct providers, removing the broker from the chain. Will this happen? Brokers themselves are not powerless here and still hold control of the SME market.
On technology, Imarket has hardly lived up to its launch billing as the electronic commercial market of choice for brokers and is still failing to persuade the more technophobic broker of its validity (page 14). One view is that next year will be a sea change in the progression of Imarket.
Only time will tell if this proves to be the case, but Imarket has a history of empty promises as far as the broker is concerned.
One of the less healthy developments for brokers, but possibly inevitable, is the commoditisation of products. As Defaqto notes, (page 33) when it comes to cover for hotels and pubs there are opportunities for insurers to provide more tailored products.
Our fascinating in-depth analysis of a commercial claim after the Buncefield disaster proves that, as an industry, lessons have been learned from the Carlisle floods (page 6).
And what the whole Buncefield experience shows, is the industry works best when it works together.
