How satisfied are agencies with insurers' digital capabilities in personal lines?

Perhaps no other business segment in insurance has seen the ripple effects of distribution changes like personal lines. Agencies and insurers focused on the segment are often the pioneers of innovative, new approaches in distribution. In recent years, agencies have progressed leaps and bounds in automating business with carriers that continue to invest in and deploy new digital capabilities to partners.

A new SMA survey of personal lines agency and broker executives indicates that although agencies are not completely satisfied with insurers’ digital offerings across the sales and service value chains, significant advancements have been made in the past year. The “P&C Agency Distribution: Digital Strategies and Plans for Personal Lines for 2023” report shows that agencies are the least satisfied with carriers’ submission/data ingest capabilities during the sales process, with only 44% expressing satisfaction in the area. On the other hand, agency satisfaction with insurers’ policy inquiry and billing inquiry capabilities has improved year-over-year, increasing by 20% and 31%, respectively. These rises in satisfaction suggest that the time and investment insurers have committed to certain digital servicing capabilities are paying off with agent partners who expect on-demand access to real-time information.

SMA’s research also uncovers the investment opportunities insurers may be missing out on to enhance business with distributors. An evaluation of sixteen unique digital sales capabilities and seventeen digital servicing capabilities reveals some insurer investments are not lining up with agency needs. Consider that a third of agencies want proposal tools, yet only 6% of insurers say they actively invest in the capability.

With the changing technology and economic landscapes and ever-evolving expectations of agencies/brokers, insurers in the personal lines segment must continue their digital transformation journeys while considering what works and what doesn’t for distribution partners. Continued success between agencies/brokers and carriers will rely on collaboration to serve policyholders better and drive profitability. 

For more information on agencies’ digital strategies for the next year, read our recent research report, “P&C Agency Distribution: Digital Strategies and Plans for Personal Lines for 2023.” This report is part of SMA’s research series designed to provide actionable insights for carriers on distributor plans and expectations.  An upcoming series of research reports will be published based on surveys with agencies, brokers, MGAs, and others in the distribution channel, including insights from ReSource Pro’s large footprint of distribution clients. Contact the author for more information on this new research and advisory services offerings for distribution.

This blog entry has been reposted with permission from SMA.