Does the shift of less complicated risks onto online platforms make life easier for brokers, or reduce their access to underwriters?
Brit Insurance is set to become the latest major player to expand the use of its electronic trading system in small business and personal lines, underlining the growing importance of technology in day-to-day trading.
But is the trend for insurers to shift less complicated risks onto e-commerce platforms good news for the broker, who could benefit from speedier decisions, or bad news, meaning that the ever-elusive underwriter becomes even harder to contact directly?
The answer depends how the insurer manages the system. Some companies have already provoked the ire of brokers with inflexible sets of standard questions and their refusal to discuss exceptional cases over the phone, or even face-to-face. In such instances, the internet may be seen as an excuse for the insurer to avoid contact with the broker and dodge difficult questions.
But Brit, like some other insurance firms, explicitly states that the move “will leave regional underwriters free to work on more complicated risks”. If this works, it could mean that brokers get the double benefit of being able to transact simple business more quickly and efficiently, while finding regional underwriters with more time and inclination to look closely at complex cases.
Coupled with the emerging trend for opening regional centres where broker and underwriters can trade face to face – as evidenced in recent weeks by Brit and R&SA – this suggests that insurers are thinking seriously about their relationships with brokers in the regions, and are keen to stay close.
As technology continues to revolutionise working practices in all professions, not just insurance, new models of working will emerge. The trick is take the best of these, and use it alongside the best of the old models. If insurers can manage to do this with their e-commerce systems then they, as well as the brokers, will benefit.
