4 Red Flags of a Bad Broker
Disclaimer: I rely on my 25,000+ hours of experience as an insurance and benefits broker, not AI, for my insights.
1. Lack of Communication
Only hear from your broker once per year? Is it like extracting water from a stone for answers to simple questions? Big red flags ??.
Why would any broker NOT want to know about their client, the insured members & their user experience, good or bad? If bad, was it preventable in any way. If good, that’s important infor to know.
There’s no excuse other than apathy.
Their job is to be on your side, have a pulse of what’s going on and not just check-in with you once per year when it’s time to renew.
2. Your employees don’t know who the main contact person is
For groups, there should always be an insurance seminar to explain how things works, things to look out for and for the broker to introduce themselves as the main point of contact to field general questions.
The larger the group the harder it is to manage this, but for SME groups, your employees should know exactly who to talk to, who to ask questions to, etc. Your HR person doesn’t need to field questions & be the middleman between employee & broker.
Litmus test: ask 3 random employees who their insurance broker is & find out.
3. You’re directed to the insurance company’s customer service team
This one grinds my gears, especially knowing how much effort I’ve invested in building an in-house customer service team who works on behalf of our clients (for free).
One of the biggest reasons to use a broker is to have someone on your side (you, your employees & family) for when situations arise .
If you’re being directed to speak to your providers’ customer service team, then why are you using a broker? What value-add are you getting?
Sounds like a way to shirk responsibility and do the least amount of work possible.
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4. Lack of Online Reviews
In my experience, if you provide a good service, you ask for a review and people are more than happy to oblige.
Limited or no online reviews could just mean the broker is new or they don’t prioritize asking for them.
If a broker doesn't care about social proof I’d bet they’re also very old school with many other areas of their business.
Final Thoughts
Any one of these things isn’t necessarily a sign you have a bad broker and it’s time to change. Cumulatively if there are multiple red flags that consistently happen, then you might want to look around.
Litmus test: Scale of 1-10, how does your broker handle
- Questions & policy admin
- Direct billing & claims
- Crisis management
A good broker works on behalf of their clients year-round, through the good & bad. They have a finger on the pulse of what’s going on, they are there for you & your employees, from sign-up, to middle of the year to the renewal.
While they may not be the ultimate decision maker, a good broker makes the process easier and can get more favorable results by using their expertise & relationships with the providers.
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Quinn Miller | Founder & Managing Partner
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Insurance ? EAPs ? Retirement ? HR Software
? Email: quinn@eb-asia.com
? Express Interest: https://39rn239r0fc.typeform.com/request-quotes