In this hard market, many insurance carriers are calling a time-out on new appointments. They’re being more exclusive and often declining to work with smaller agencies, or even larger agencies that may offer more growth than they can handle. Profitable year-over-year growth is getting harder to achieve and agents need more options. Additionally, some agencies find themselves with reduced contracts from carriers, so they don’t get access to the carrier’s full suite of products. The solution for many is working with an agency network or aggregator that offers risk placement services.
Top networks (like MarshBerry’s FirstChoice) have a dedicated Risk Placement Team (RPT) who act as an intermediary between their member agencies and carriers – specializing in expanding their market access and helping them find coverage for their clients.
The value of a top network RPT includes:
Getting new appointments with carriers
An agency network’s RPT can provide quotes from a broader range of carriers that member agencies do not directly have appointments with – thereby indirectly providing access to markets they do not have on their own. This offers members the ability to write classes of business they may otherwise be unable to write, positioning the member agencies in a favorable light with the carriers.
Increase carrier value proposition
Another value of top RPTs is their ability to act as an incubator for your agency. The RPT helps you build a book of business by writing business on your behalf, allowing you to test if the carrier is a good fit when you’re unsure which carrier you may need. Once the carriers are open for new appointments again, the members may have built up a book of business with the identified carrier(s) who will view them more favorably as a partner.
Making one-off business simpler
A top RPT can assist your agency with those unique or rare business requests. For example, perhaps a client owns a garage, and even though you don’t write a lot of garage insurance, your client is asking you to write this account. You don’t need a direct appointment with a carrier that handles this type of coverage, because ultimately, you’re not going to specialize in this industry. An RPT will write that on your behalf, so you don’t have to put time and effort into something that’s outside your growth strategy.
Getting deeper carrier insights
An experienced RPT has regular meetings with their carrier partners – uncovering what they’re looking for and what’s profitable – then use those insights to place accounts on behalf of network members. This comes into play especially when working on middle market accounts because the producer can rely on the expertise of the RPT to help place the account and explain the underwriting criteria. The RPT should also inform their members on why carriers do or don’t want to write an account, providing deeper educational information on carriers.
Is FirstChoice, a MarshBerry Company, right for you?
FirstChoice is the nation’s number one agency network and offers access to a highly experienced, knowledgeable, and dedicated Risk Placement Team. This team operates as a valued partner in helping members reach their goals and build value. Best of all, agency members own the business and receive a split commission, as opposed to taking a large commission cut. FirstChoice helps their members streamline operational efficiencies, develop trust with carrier partners, and reduce their loss ratio, all to increase overall agency profitability.
If you are not a FirstChoice member and are interested in learning more about membership and the Risk Placement Team, visit FirstChoice.
If you have questions about Today’s ViewPoint or would like to learn more about how MarshBerry can help your firm determine its path forward, please email or call Mike Haselden, Senior Vice President, FirstChoice at 214-919-9635.
