The Future of Independent Agents: Added Client Value Through Bolt-on Services

Independent insurance agents face a crossroads. Traditional insurance products such as auto, home, renters, and even small commercial are becoming increasingly commoditized. Carriers streamline offerings to keep premiums competitive, and direct-to-consumer websites let customers compare coverage in minutes. Agents whose businesses are built solely on selling these commoditized products risk becoming obsolete.

But there is an opportunity for independent agents to save themselves: technology-enabled bolt-on insurance products. By offering value-added services that go beyond basic coverage, agents can elevate themselves from transactional sellers to trusted advisors. In doing so, they will build stronger client relationships, reduce churn, and create additional revenue streams that extend well beyond standard insurance policy commissions.

Bolt-on products are supplemental services layered onto core insurance offerings. While roadside assistance or wellness discounts are familiar aspects of this genre, the next wave of bolt-ons will be increasingly sophisticated, tech-driven, and client-specific. For insurance agents, these tools allow them to better understand client risk exposures, address holistic needs, and demonstrate ongoing value in ways online marketplaces cannot replicate.

By recommending bolt-ons that address the specific risk mitigation needs of their clients, agents prove they aren’t just selling a policy; they are actively looking for ways to protect clients and their assets. That is the type of value-add that cements loyalty in an otherwise commoditized market.

While many bolt-ons already exist, including tenant legal expense coverage, pet injury coverage, roadside programs, equipment breakdown coverage, or health and wellness initiatives, technology is driving the most exciting new opportunities to protect clients and provide additional revenue streams for agents. Here are a few forward-looking examples that highlight the potential:

• Cyber protection for individuals and families. Most small business clients are familiar with cyber liability coverage. But cyber protection as a bolt-on for individuals is an underdeveloped market. With identity theft, online scams, and ransomware affecting families as much as corporations, new tech-enabled policies are emerging that combine insurance coverage with proactive tools: credit monitoring, password management apps, and even family-friendly cybersecurity coaching. For agents, these in-demand bolt-ons bridge the gap between traditional coverage and digital-age risk while simultaneously positioning them as forward-thinking advisors on 21st-century exposures.
• Smart home and IoT risk services. As more households install smart thermostats, water leak detectors and security systems, insurers are experimenting with bolt-ons that connect to these devices. These preventative programs don’t just provide claims coverage; they prevent losses before they happen. For example, a smart water monitor linked to an app can alert homeowners, and their insurer, about a leak before it floods the home. This type of bolt-on is a natural extension of the insurance promise: not just to pay for losses but to help avoid them.
• Gig economy and lifestyle-specific coverage. Another emerging category of bolt-ons tailors coverage to nontraditional work and lifestyle patterns. Consider micro-insurance that activates when a client drives for a ride-share company or rents out their home for short stays. Or think of lifestyle bolt-ons tied to travel, such as instant luggage protection or access to telemedicine while abroad, offered via mobile platforms. These on-demand, tech-enabled products give agents new ways to serve clients whose needs evolve beyond nine-to-five jobs and standard living arrangements.

Legal services products like document review or mediation insurance, which is a new product we introduced in the U.S. this summer, illustrate additional value-add for agents to provide peace of mind in areas clients don’t always consider until it’s too late.

Many early-stage entrepreneurs, small businesses, and even individuals who may own a handful of rental properties often avoid seeking appropriate legal review or advice due to the associated costs.

With legal bolt-on services, individuals and small businesses get affordable access to not only AI-driven but human attorney-led legal document services, as well as the opportunity to seek advice from licensed attorneys to avoid potential costly litigation.

For agents, the key is to weave these options into a broader client conversation, positioning them as essential components of a comprehensive strategy rather than peripheral additions.

There are two primary reasons why bolt-on products should be central to the modern agent’s strategy:

Agents don’t have to invent these solutions themselves. Many bolt-ons already exist, and more are coming to market every year. The key is to ask carriers what they offer, request new bolt-on products where they are lacking, and proactively introduce them to clients.

In doing so, agents take ownership of their business evolution. They are no longer mere intermediaries in the insurance transaction; they are curators of a complete suite of services that help protect clients across their personal and professional lives.

The future of independent insurance agents won’t be written by price comparisons or automated quote engines. It will be defined by their ability to provide ongoing value through technology in ways technology alone cannot replicate. Bolt-on products, whether familiar or emerging, are a critical part of that equation.

By embracing bolt-ons and the growing value they offer, agents can transform themselves into indispensable advisors and ensure their own relevance in a rapidly changing industry.