Berkley CEO Tony Wheatley on helping brokers in a challenging market

Berkley Insurance Australia (BIA) was one of the insurance companies to receive an Insurance Business Australia (IB) Brokers on Insurers award 2022, where brokers ranked 12 insurers in 11 categories.

The latest IB Brokers on Insurers survey found that brokers deemed “turnaround times – new business” the most important category, with 20.24% saying that times had improved in the past 12 months, and 77.38% saying that times had worsened due to work-from-home arrangements.

Despite facing challenges, BIA CEO Tony Wheatley said BIA remained resilient and helped its broker partners throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The firm earned a gold medal in the “turnaround times – new business” category of the IB Brokers on Insurers survey due to its focus on making brokers’ job more efficient.

“We understand that if we provide quotes within 24 hours, that makes the broker’s job easier and increases the chances of that broker winning the business,” Wheatley said.

Additionally, during the COVID-19 lockdowns, BIA focused on providing brokers with relevant webinars and other training opportunities that came from the same underwriting teams dealing with brokers every day.

“At the end of each session, we took the feedback provided and fine-tuned our approach to ensure we were meeting brokers’ needs,” Wheatley said.

Wheatley added that BIA differentiates itself from competitors by teaching its employees to commit to working hard for their brokers and insured customers, an ethos that is essential to a people-centred business like insurance.

Learn more about BIA’s achievements despite the impacts of the pandemic and other factors by checking out its profile here. You may also check the rest of the winners of this year’s Brokers on Insurers by reading the IB Brokers on Insurers 2022 report.