Why Local is the Golden Touch of Insurance

Any amount of new insurance technology and innovation will increase connectivity and collaboration among insurance professionals, but it will also bring the power of two local brains sharing experience working together to solve local insurance problems. The combination will not compare.

Read the following: Why do insurers overcomplicate language?

Let me explain what I mean. As you may not know, Insurance Business is published in his six countries or regions of the world (United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Asia Pacific, Australia and New Zealand). As part of that, our editors interview insurance experts from coast to coast and border to border.

The geographical spread is immeasurable. For example, according to worldpopulationreview.com, Canada’s total land area is 9,879,750 km², more than the United States (9,831,510 km²) and Australia (7,741,220 km²). On the other hand, Asia is the world’s largest and most populous continent.

When it comes to risks, no two risks are the same. The risk of a small business in eastern Canada may look the same on paper or to an automated computer algorithm as the risk of a small business in western Canada 6,000km away, but that risk must be taken into account. There are regional nuances that must be The same applies to other countries or regions where the insurance business has publications.

Brokers have greatly benefited from increased connectivity in the insurance industry. There is no doubt about that. With our relationships with international insurance companies, we now have access to intellectual capital from insurance and risk professionals around the world. This is a boon that was inaccessible in the not too distant past.

However, no matter how bright and talented a person is, he or she cannot understand the culture or “feel” of a place or its people unless they have been there or experienced it firsthand. This is not something that can be entered into a database to run automated risk assessment and underwriting tools. It comes from lived experience.

It is understandable why insurance brokers in areas far from major cities and financial hubs are frustrated by centralization. This is the tendency of an insurer to serve communities far from his one central (often city-based) location.

It is difficult for a broker to work with an underwriter who truly understands and understands local nuances. For brokers, “Can you give this client a little leeway? I know about all the great work they’re doing in their communities. It’s a one-off and a very powerful tactic.

Simply put, brokers do their best to advise and support their customers when they have to spend valuable time explaining and discussing the differences between non-local insurers and locals. is difficult.

read more: Broker-underwriter: You scratch my back, I scratch your back

I also understand why insurers want to centralize. Reduce operating costs by eliminating satellite offices and shrinking your workforce. And with many people investing heavily in technology, it makes sense to get the most out of these tools.

Despite all the recent advances in technology, and the remote work and virtual trading behaviors we’ve learned from the pandemic, stepping onto the ground in every region where insurers do business will continue to transform the relationship between insurers and brokers. Only then will customers receive the bespoke and personalized service they have come to expect from insurance transactions.