How to jazz up your mid-market submissions
Personalized insurance applications are the key to securing insurance policies for mid-market commercial clients amid hard market cycles, panelists said during Canadian Underwriter’s ‘Mastering the Middle Market’ webinar Tuesday.
Underwriters still highly prize client data and documentation in submissions from brokers. But brokers who can craft compelling narratives in their client submissions have an upper hand in securing policy coverage, or negotiating better terms and limits for their clients.
“It’s our chance to tell a compelling story about our clients, their growth story, the passion they have within the business, and the amount of commitment and investment they’re making towards risk improvement,” said Falak Kothari, senior vice president and national corporate leader of manufacturing at Marsh McLennan. “We almost look at this as a pitch to insurers, right? A lot depends on the market conditions.”
As for how far brokers should take creative liberties in their submissions, Kothari said “you can be as creative as you want.”
Creative submissions may include pictures and infographics that help convey how your client operates or manages risk.
“That narrative really helps,” said Sarah Scott, vice president of commercial insurance at Wawanesa. “And even pictures can be part of the narrative too…because as underwriters, we’re trying to picture the organization and the operations and what they’re going through.”
Eric Osborne, chief growth officer at Navacord, said risk reviews are an important part of preparing a successful submission. “It’s important if you have the opportunity to do a risk review with the client to include that in the submission.”
A risk review should include claims details, he added, “but also give an image of the client — tell their history of their operations and how they’ve grown, and any policies and procedures they have in their business.”
There is room for negotiation between brokers and underwriters on policy terms, said Osborne, but he said specific asks from the client are helpful. “It’s…important in mid-market submissions to identify the terms and conditions and coverage that you want, and be specific about the limits, and don’t be generic about that in your submission,” he said.
For an underwriter, what really differentiates between client submissions is the ability of clients to convey their risks clearly. Also, underwriters like to see clients who have strategies for limiting their exposures. Relationship-building with the broker helps with that.
“There’s a huge trust factor in this, too,” says Scott. “We would be [remiss] if we did not note that relationship with the broker…[W]hen brokers are telling this [client’s] narrative, [the underwriter] understands where the broker is coming from [because] they’ve worked with them before.”
As for brokers, preparing and pitching successful submissions to underwriters is an opportunity to demonstrate your strengths as a trusted advisor to your clients.
“As brokers we should be proud of the submissions that we put into the marketplace, because it’s the one opportunity to represent our clients to underwriters,” says Osborne.
Feature image by iStock.com/bowie15
