All Brokers Are The Same?

We had contacted a substantial family owned company who were dealing with a large provincial broker and had done so for many years. The Managing Director was reluctant to obtain alternative proposals due to the following -

• Already dealing with a large provincial broker he felt he would be getting both the best price and service available
• There was no new "revolutionary" approach to insurance
• All brokers have access to the same markets 

We explained we could offer a fresh approach and initiated an early pre renewal meeting identifying the following issues -

• Due to substantial claims history the client was on a money "swapping" exercise with premiums chasing claims
• Service offering from the current broker was not exhaustive - i.e. no health and safety advice, infrequent contact, etc
• Current broker was recommending renewal with the current insurer at an increased premium as the only option, due to the perceived poor claims experience

   Our actions -

• We undertook a detailed analysis of the current claims history, identifying trends and reasons for same
• We arranged for advice from Bells Safety Solutions to review the clients health and safety procedures with particular emphasis on areas involving previous claims, and put in place improved procedures and policies as necessary
• We arranged a precover survey from another insurer with whom we had discussed the risk and armed with updated health and safety and claims information succeeded in obtaining a quote accordingly

   The result -

• We obtained a 20% premium saving with an alternative insurer
• The claims analysis identified some discrepencies on claims reserves and we succeeded in obtaining some reduction on outstanding figures which obviously had premium reduction benefits for the client
• The improved health and safety practices reduced the liklihood/potential of any future claims and the percieved risk to insurers
• A wider policy wording than that previously on offer

   Conclusion -

• We were able to demonstrate to the client that our detailed approach did make a difference and that all brokers are not the same