Helping Brokers

Helping UK Brokers Get More From the Market

In return for contributing, once or twice a year, just 20-30 minutes of their feedback on their insurers’ performance, our thousand-plus participating brokers each receive, free of charge, an exclusive annual Respondents’ Guide – the most powerful, practical, user-friendly business tool available in the broker market. The Guide enables brokers to:

• benchmark their existing Insurer panel
• identify the best markets for each risk
• hold underperforming insurers to account
• learn those worth using – and those best avoided
• keep ahead of industry developments
• look after their clients better – and retain more of them

If you’re a Broker interested in receiving these tangible business benefits – at no charge – please contact: peter.joy@incisivemedia.com.

Don’t take our word for it. For a selection of broker comments on the 2009-10 Respondents’ Report, see below.

Brokers’ Comments on the 2009-10 Respondents’ Guide

• ‘A well put-together and well-presented report and very thorough.’ Sales Manager, independent broking firm, Tyne & Wear

• ‘My co-Directors are all interested in what the report says. I hope to get it back soon!’ Client Services Director, consolidator, Surrey

• ‘It is very good indeed and I use it all the time when insurers are coming to see me and telling me how good they are!’ Director, consolidator, South West

• ‘This was a thorough and well thought-out report. The information you provided and the insights you offered were very useful indeed.’ Head, specialist independent broker, Sussex

• ‘The report is both informative and well-written and I like the format. It has brought a couple of insurers to my attention, both of which we are now looking to obtain agencies with.’ Director, independent broker, West Midlands

• ‘This is an excellent report. The data you provided gives us ammunition when we are reporting on business where the prospect’s programme is with ‘poor’ markets.’ Compliance Officer, independent broker, Manchester

• ‘I found the report very useful. It opened our eyes to some high-performing providers that we never previously dealt with. We subsequently followed this up by opening an agency with NMU.’ Director, independent broker, Yorkshire

• ‘An excellent, comprehensive publication. We use it as an integral part of our broking process to distinguish our insurers on factors other than price. It provides an excellent reference point and added-value service, particularly around an insurer’s delivery on service and claims.’ Operations Manager, independent broker, Leeds

• ‘Your report is very useful as it gives you a realistic market view of insurers’ strengths and weaknesses and can change your own personal view of them. It also aids when choosing the markets to approach for clients, enabling you to tailor your markets to specific needs.’ Account Executive, independent broker, London

• ‘I was very impressed with the insight report, in terms of quality and content, presentation and scope. Perhaps the most useful aspects of all were the comments relating to insurers of which we have little or no first-hand experience. We will use the report as an ongoing reference point, as inevitably in the future we will need information about an unfamiliar insurer.’ Manager, specialist broker, West Midlands

• ‘The report made astonishing reading. It is superb – and very useful, as it provides direction as to which insurers are serious about growing their business whilst delivering that all-important service at every stage of the process. For brokers, TCF is of course key to general insurance, especially when placing and renewing business: how could a broker recommend an insurer that is performing badly, as EVIDENCED by your report?’ Manager, independent broker, South West

• ‘My CEO, Company Secretary and Managing Director were all interested in my copy of the Insurance 360 report. The presentation and layout are extremely user-friendly. I myself found it very useful – and the results threw up some surprises regarding the level of service provided. It has reminded me that I should not fall into the trap of using the same insurers each time and that if we do not utilise the rest of the market, we are opening ourselves up to losing business to other brokers that are.’ Account Executive, independent broker, London

• ‘It is extremely informative. It does give us an idea of which insurers are doing well and helps to keep us abreast of insurers we are missing out on and should maybe look to do more business with. It is also extremely interesting to see how the insurers we deal with are viewed generally. The layout is perfectly clear and extremely easy to follow. We are not a large brokerage, so we do not have a large amount of time to research what other insurers are like or how they are performing. The report format is perfect and tackles all the insurers we are ever likely to be dealing with.’ Partner, independent broker, Surrey

• ‘The report is excellent – and extremely valuable from a New Business point of view. Being able to show clients how their current insurer is performing against an insurer you may be trying to use to win the business is a very useful tool. The graphs give a very simple, yet clear view of how companies perform – something not wasted on clients who do not have time to trawl through page after page of text. From a broker point of view, it enables me to gauge who I might want to work with more in the future, especially if something is difficult to write or the timescales are tight. PS – any chance I can get another copy? My RMD looks like he is going to ‘borrow’ this one at any moment, so I’m probably never going to get to finish it!’ Business Development Executive, broker-consolidator, Leeds

• ‘I found the report of great interest on a number of levels. The presentation was excellent and user-friendly. Aside from the pure interest element, the report is a very useful management tool. We have a requirement to treat customers fairly. In management meetings, I have to prepare a report to the management team about the claims service of the various insurers we use and warn if I perceive that service is not up to scratch. The report helps to back up our observations where there are any deficiencies in service and as a result, helps us to ensure that we comply with FSA TCF requirements. It is also a useful tool if we are considering using an untried market. It is easy to find statistics that confirm the financial status of an insurer – but much harder to find evidence of the degree to which they actually deliver on service. It is all very well an account handler getting on well with a particular underwriter, but that is of no use whatsoever if an insurer seems physically incapable of handling a claim properly when one arises.’ Divisional Director & Manager (Claims), independent broker, London