Helping Independent Agents Compete and Evolve

This post is part of a series sponsored by CoreLogic.

Even with advancements in the direct-to-consumer channel, independent agents (IAs) continue to be a dominate distribution channel for property & casualty carriers.

Why? Trust. According to Accenture’s 2013 U.S. Personal Lines Survey, nearly 70 percent of consumers trust their agent to provide advice about the best products. Independent Agents (IAs) are impartial and have the ability to offer personalized services. They’re known for having deep-rooted, local market knowledge; with many having built close-knit community relationships that span several generations.

But emerging technology, digital commerce and new players are changing the game. Because many IA’s business strategy centers on sustaining long-term relationships with existing and profitable customers, the channel has yet to experience the total effects of the millennial “I want it now” generation. While their parents may prefer to conduct business locally, the buying habits of Millennials are much different in that they prefer the convenience, speed, and purchasing ease of e-commerce. To effectively compete with the emergence of insurance offerings from online retailers, IAs will be looking for ways to provide value to homeowners of all generations.

Collaboration between carriers and comparative rating vendors can help agents achieve this goal by reducing the time it takes to quote and bind a homeowner’s policy. This becomes especially relevant during the home-buying process. Extremely stressful and full of last-minute details, some homeowners overlook the need to provide proof of Homeowners Insurance coverage at loan closings. Imagine a scenario where an agent receives a frantic phone call from his customer. The agent wants to provide the best product for his customer, but spends nearly 20 minutes entering property information at each carrier’s portal with no guarantee that the quotes will be based on a consistent and accurate reconstruction cost.

A quicker and less stressful scenario would be one-time entry of the customer’s new address by the agent into a comparative rating platform. Then, a single RCT™ valuation of the new home would be generated from pre-fill property and building cost data and electronically sent to multiple carriers. The agent is able to provide value to the customer by getting an accurate policy bound in a timely manner without having to ask multiple questions about the new property—information that the new homeowner may be lacking.

Bottom line? To keep the IA distribution channel healthy, carriers and third-party comparative rating vendors should continue to work together to enable a faster, more streamlined point-of-sale experience for the agent and the agent’s customer.

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