In Focus: How can brokers showcase their value to insurers via specialist schemes?

WE ASKED: How can brokers showcase their value to insurers around specialist schemes and acquire necessary sector-specific expertise?

Russell White, chief executive, Peach Pi

The two key things we like to see from our partner brokers are experience and data.

Experience is often gained by a broker immersing themselves in their customers’ sector or trade.

This can be achieved through partnerships with trade associations, specific affiliations or by building a strong network within a particular industry over time.

The broker needs to understand the [specific] needs of that niche set of customers, along with the various challenges and risks they face.

Data is important too. This extends beyond information on premium and claims performance.

Of course, being able to show a track record of profitability for a scheme is important to insurers.

[However], great scheme brokers are also able to provide market insight data, including detailed target market data and pricing data.

In the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) commercial schemes space, we are also seeing an emergence of brokers who are digital marketing experts. They are able to utilise data analytics to establish market gaps for products and launch them with agility and confidence.

Brokers who can [bring both of the above to the table will] will certainly grab the attention of insurers looking for intermediary partners to develop specialist schemes’ business!

Louis Willison, London schemes manager, Hiscox UK

Being authentically involved is incredibly important when it comes to schemes brokers.

They need to demonstrate their expertise not only to insurers, but also to their distribution targets, whether that is the end customer or an association or buying group in the target sector.

Meanwhile, one of the most important factors to making a success of a scheme is trust through the chain and that broker is the key component.

Customers need to feel understood. They also need to feel supported by appropriate service that helps them grow their core business and reassured that it may not be matched in the standard market.

[Therefore], brokers play a key role in understanding what would truly make a difference for their clients as a unique group in terms of their coverage needs.

Partners, such as trade associations and buying groups, also need to feel confident. They have the ears of the industry or sector they serve and are trusted to act in their best interest.

The best way of building that confidence is demonstrating value through being actively involved in the sector. That means knowing their members needs and following industry trends or discussions so that they can properly protect them from future risks or legislative change.

If brokers can demonstrate expertise in respect of the customer and their industry, it’s much easier to collaborate and create the right proposition. If brokers get these elements right, then insurers will naturally feel that confidence.

Luigi Maggio, director, McCarron Coates

It is vitally important, as brokers, that we demonstrate value to our insurer partners.

This alignment, driven by a schemes and expertise-focused approach, ensures that we share the same appetite for growth.

By leveraging a focused approach on schemes and expertise, we can facilitate the delivery of greater profitable growth.

This is achieved through the utilisation of our skills and knowledge in the specific sector, providing a more refined understanding of underwriting features, risk exposures and industry pressures.

As a broker, working in a tri-party relationship with insurers and industries can deliver additional value by making necessary changes within the service proposition, providing foresight of current and future pressures and allowing time for a proactive response to support the sector.

Ultimately, it’s important when operating in schemes to commit to a long-term strategy and build an open transparent relationship so brokers and insurers work together to continually review and improve market propositions.

This ensures greater value is provided to clients and the scheme continues to be a success in terms of growth and profitability.

Lee Scott, director of commercial schemes division, Howden

The benefit of a scheme for an insurer is that it provides them with access to distribution channels they do not currently have or education in a sector they have yet to explore.

The key to any successful scheme partnership lies in the data that is captured, analysed and then used to drive decision-making. 

This process also demonstrates the tight underwriting controls that are in place. These controls aim to deliver positive results for all parties involved and contribute to the longevity and continuity of the market.

Working with affinity groups within the sector ensures that the scheme remains up to date with developments and changes in the sector, which allows policy cover to be constantly reviewed for suitability purposes.

It also enables risk management concepts that are specific to the trade area to be progressed and reduces the risk of loss and non-insurance related interruptions to the business.

Where broking teams focus solely in one area of industry and spend time in the sector that they serve, they gain an in-depth understanding of the risks that businesses face and how to mitigate these and have a clear understanding of the audience they work with which always helps to ensure the smooth running of a scheme.

 Ross Dingwall, managing partner for Scotland and the north, Partners&

Specialist schemes provide a great opportunity for brokers to add value to insurers – both through the relationships they have with their clients and the insight they bring into these specialist areas.

Broking is inherently relationship-based – partnering with both the client and the insurer is critical to be successful.

Good brokers develop their understanding of the risks and challenges facing their clients and consequently have specialist insight into those sectors, which they pass on to insurers.

This knowledge is used to present those risks within the appetite of the underwriters. Brokers focused on schemes tend to build relationships with affinity partners and the like, enabling them to scale quickly.

Retention tends to be stronger because the solutions are designed specifically for the specialist area, bearing in mind the issues that are characteristic in that sector.

A good example is our photography scheme, Aaduki. The team is made up of people who love photography and they’ve been working in the sector for 10 plus years.

There aren’t many risks that they haven’t come across before and have therefore designed our photography scheme with the insurer to address those specific issues.

Equally, our recruitment scheme team has many years’ experience working with recruitment companies and are specialists in the risks and challenges facing businesses in that sector of the economy, so can provide insightful and meaningful advice to their clients.