More brokers favouring live chat over phone calls for eTrade queries

Most brokers are embracing live chat when eTrading as the insurance sector continues to become more digitised.

That was according to Nikki Lidster, head of SME trading and UK retail at Zurich, who said that the insurer was now handling more live chat requests than phone calls.

Digital trading has become more widely used since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, with insurers investing in claims portal technologies to reduce the cost of handling standard business and free up underwriters’ time.

In its 2024 manifesto, published in January 2024, broking trade body Biba said that achieving a “sweet spot” between technology and people was key to enhancing service, with brokers wanting people available in insurers’ operations to help when there is a referral or clarification required.

While phone calls are key to accessing that human contact, Lidster said that live chat was starting to become the “preferred method of communication for trading with Zurich”.

Speaking during an Insurance Times webinar in association with Zurich last week (22 July 2024), she claimed: “From a trading perspective, if I just look at last year’s numbers, at Zurich we handled 90,000 live chats compared to 60,000 phone calls.

“If you go back to [before] Covid, no way we would have been getting live chat numbers that big.

“But we’re absolutely seeing the drop in phone calls [and] the increase in live chats as brokers really embrace the digital journey.”

Communication

Lidster made these comments after Zurich secured strong results in Insurance Times’ Five Star Rating Report: eTrading 2024.

Published on 14 May 2024, the report showed that brokers trading via insurer extranets gave Zurich Online a maximum overall five star rating.

And when it came to trading with an insurer via a software house platform, Zurich UK again managed to score an overall five star rating.

While brokers have spoken fondly of Zurich’s digital trading capabilities, however, Lidster stressed that the insurer was also available through the phone should a firm prefer this.

And regardless of the method of communication, she said that the insurer’s aim was to answer both types of calls within 120 seconds.

“Just to reiterate, if [live chat] isn’t right for you, that’s cool, we’re available via phone as well,” Lidster said.

“But we are definitely seeing the shift in terms of brokers enjoying the live chat experience.”

Mark Thomas, chief executive of Compare Insurance, added that he was “amazed” that some firms did not have a live chat facility, stressing that the tool was key to helping improve service standards.

“I’m still amazed that there [are] some composite insurers out there that still don’t have live chat facilities,” he said.

“It’s absolutely, from our perspective, pivotal – that’s how we run our business.”

Big risks

Meanwhile, Thomas also spoke about brokers’ perception of eTrading, saying there were some that thought it was mainly useful for smaller and non-complex situations.

John Batty, technical director at Bridge Insurance Brokers, said during a previous Insurance Times webinar in April 2024 that there were now “far too many technical risks” that can end up going through some models.

“The worry I have is what sort of risks are being put through that eTrade route – are [brokers] forcing things through but changing the odd answer to make it fit, [for example],” he said.

However, Thomas said eTrading was not “just a portal or a way of placing small, simple policies”.

“Our first port of call is to put everything via eTrade,” he added.

“There’s still a misconception in the industry that eTrade is for your smaller and simpler risks, when in reality you can run a lot more complex risks and larger value cases now via eTrade.”