The Importance of the Broker in Today’s Market: Why Empowering Brokers Elevates the Whole Industry

We recently shared an article on social media that listed “insurance broker” as one of the best jobs of 2019. It was great to see the broker role painted in such a positive light – as it should be! The broker role is rewarding; brokers provide valuable risk management support and counsel to their clients, and they make a real difference in protecting businesses. We started Vindati with this in mind, and made it our goal to build a system that would allow brokers do what they do best – serve clients – and relieve them of burdensome paper piles and administrative time.

When InsureTech came on the scene, many thought the broker would disappear. But we say “long live the broker” – and here’s why…

It has long been accepted that purchasing market standard coverage requires a professional insurance expert to interpret complex language and evaluate options. As coverage gets more complex, players in the marketplace increase exponentially, and InsureTech continues to rewrite the rules of the industry, the insurance language-ridden underwriting and claims experiences require an advocate and an expert now more than ever.

I think that business interruption coverage is a good example of this need in action, simply because it is a critically important coverage for commercial property and business owners to have, yet it tends to be buried as sub-coverage inside a larger policy. Businesses need to be sure that if they suffer a catastrophic incident, they will have the coverage in place to help them get back in business as quickly as possible. A knowledgeable agent or broker is critical to ensure proper coverage is in place, as well as to provide advocacy and support at the emotional time of a claim.

From the carrier standpoint, the involvement of a broker is also critical. Without a professional guide advising the customer, carriers would be placed in the role of educating on top of trying to execute processes. It’s in the insurer’s interest to have broker advocacy and advise in place to ensure a fair marketplace and a good customer experience.

The temptation might exist in our digitally-enabled world to cut out the middleman role. But purchasing coverage independently is simply not a good idea for a commercial insurance consumer, nor is it in the insurer’s best interest. Trying to obtain adequate coverage without someone to help you understand quotes, marketplace dynamics and standards is asking too much of the consumer. And even should a business manage to sort it all out, they’d be left with no advocate at the time of a claim, impacting the process on both sides of the table.

The bottom line is that the broker role is powerful – now more than ever. As a broker, you’re in control of creating value for your clients. You nurture your customer relationships, Vindati makes sure the process is simple – and that our bindable quotes arrive pass-along ready in an instant, so you can service your customers on your own timeline, not on ours. We consider brokers our important partners in this process, and we’ve worked hard to provide you with more efficient ways to understand marketplace dynamics and leading coverages that help you meet your customers’ needs effectively.  

I encourage the industry as a whole to stand with us in supporting, elevating, and celebrating the broker role. In the end, the entire insurance value chain will reap the benefits.