The Expert Podcast

The new market for commercial lines of insurance might be a great opportunity for clients to get better deals and better coverage. What's happening? Well, brokers or agents are now starting to go directly to the insurers to get policies rather than through a middleman or some type of MGA.

What does that mean for you as a client? It means that your insurance agent or broker, if they're smart, can now procure your insurance policy directly from the underwriter rather than having to go through some third party. That may get you more coverage, it may be cheaper, and it also might be a faster turnaround.

The last time you did your insurance, how long did it take you to send all the loss runs and fill out the Accord forms and all the details you needed to get your agent to get you coverage? Some of that might be ending, and here's why: retail insurance brokers are going to direct carriers and away from wholesale brokers. Wholesale might seem better, but it's one step in between; it's like a middleman.

For new submissions and clients, the reason why is because the retail brokers are very good and transparent and retain renewals. So, if you don't have to go through a broker, you may not have to jump through as many hoops, and you may get faster response times.

If you are ready for renewal, your policy is coming up, or you need additional coverage, make sure that you check with your agent to see if they have other options besides the last one that you did. There may be more coverage options by going directly to the insurance company.

Here's a good stat: on any given risk, you could go to 20 markets and get 20 quotes. That's what we're seeing right now. Three years ago, you could go to 30 markets and get one call or beg to get a quote. It's a different marketplace, so there's a lot more availability.

If your policy is up for renewal anytime soon, make sure that you're getting good quotes from your agent. Or maybe shop with another agent or broker. If they've dealt with you well and they treat you the right way, you don't necessarily want to jump ship, but you just want to make sure that they're exhausting all the possibilities of your different coverages.

Every agency has so many clients that they can't shop for everyone thoroughly every single year. So, if you're the squeaky wheel and ask them to look around at some other options, you may find you have either different coverage availability or even lower premiums that have materialized in the last year that you can benefit from.