Bob’s blog: get yourself on the scene

Welcome to the first of my blogs on behalf of the Institute of Insurance Brokers.

As the IIB’s ‘new kid on the block’, I’d like to develop a theme for these blogs around the kind of issues that face my own insurance broking business on a day-to-day basis with suppliers and clients – those that you too might face.

I’d like to offer some useful advice, tips and comment and would welcome feedback from you, so please do let me have your own thoughts and ideas on the various topics I write about using Insurance Times’ feedback facility, or if you want me to talk about something specific, let me know.

Just for the record, blogging is something we should all do … whether that takes the form of a regular newsletter to the clients or insurer partners, or a weblog. Getting messages out to the stakeholders in your business is paramount to its success.

My first blog subject is claims and how we, as brokers, deal with them.

In my experience, which spans nearly 30 years, it seems that there aren’t too many brokers visiting clients in the event of a loss, whether a significant one or even a relatively minor issue. Going on site with adjusters (and assessors in some cases) is infrequent in the broking community yet this is the very time to demonstrate that there’s more to insurance broking than just selling the product.

Regrettably we’ve had clients who’ve suffered some catastrophic events over the last couple of years and, although the claim is picked up by insurers and dealt with, in most cases, in a reasonable manner, it has always been our practice to visit the site as close to the date of loss as possible, to meet with the adjuster, to appoint an assessor where necessary and just to be around to offer a helping hand.

All our clients who’ve had that experience have offered particular thanks that one of our brokers turned up just to be there when it was important to the client to have some support. Insurance is, after all, as we all state at the time of the sales process, a very complex business. Being involved, even on the periphery, is the way to demonstrate to a client that you are the expert you professed to be some months or years earlier.

It’s also a good way of getting to know the adjuster handling your client’s loss, putting some personal time in for your client and ensuring that the claim is dealt with in the best interests of the client.

In some circumstances, adjusters do get it wrong – they can’t necessarily know about local solutions to making repairs, finding new premises, sourcing replacement plant, even selling smoke-damaged stock to mitigate the loss and business interruption claim.

Ideas to get to a positive solution are often discussed in those first few days and if you’re around to bring anything to the table to help, you’ll keep that client for many years to come.

You’re not being paid specifically for the task but you are ensuring that the promise to pay by the insurer you recommended for your client is being met.

If you want to keep the client, this is one way of improving the odds. I believe it’s one of our critical success factors. So get out there when your client needs you most – you know it makes sense.

Bob Pybus is a director of the Institute of Insurance Brokers and director of NPA Insurance Broking Group.