Key Takeaways
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Insurance is still largely considered a grudge purchase that people are seeking to cut corners with – which can lead to them being underinsured.
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We need to use our expertise and our role as trusted advisors to guide people away from purchasing inadequate policies. This highlights the importance of educating clients, and thereby building external industries’ understanding of what we do.
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The reputational damage dealt to our industry by COVID-19, due to the behaviour of some insurers, continues to linger. We must continue to work to assuage this damage in the next few years – earning back the trust of clients, both existing and prospective.
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Digitalisation is becoming increasingly important, with opportunities provided by AI and third-party data to better understand risk and to prioritise service.
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Markel will be at this year’s BIBA Conference, where they will be announcing the winner of the Broker Service Champion award.
Quotes of the Episode
“The biggest challenge is, lets be brutally honest, for most SMEs, for most business owners, insurance is not the most exciting purchase in the world. The danger of this, and we’ve seen it through similar cycles in the past, is that it’s the one purchase that they seek to make savings from. Where we always have to continue to learn as an industry is to not go chasing the cheapest rate or seeking reduction, because that leads to all sorts of problems in terms of unsustainability, and all those other things that we’ve seen in the past.” Richard Brooks, Markel
About the guests
Richard Brooks is the Broker Development Director for Markel UK, with over 30 years of experience in the industry. In this role, he is responsible for the business’ business development activity across the country, overseeing the front-of-house salespeople who interact with Markel’s broker partners nationwide.
As such, he is very well-placed to speak to the issues facing brokers, interacting with them either directly or through Markel’s salespeople on a daily basis. This grants him a broad understanding of the key market problems affecting brokers, alongside the other aspects that they find satisfactory or enjoyable.
About the Host
Sarah Myerscough is the Sales and Marketing Director of Boston Tullis Group. The founder of The Insurance Brokers Podcast, she brings a wealth of experience and a fresh perspective on communication in the insurance sector. Boston Tullis works with insurance professionals to build effective communication both internally and externally through podcasting, event reporting, videography, and internal communications facilitation.
Resources
https://thebibaconference.org.uk/
