Strategic Partnership Helps CIC Agents With Finding Markets

One of the worlds most dominant insurers, an e-commerce portaland an insurance educator are utilizing their respective standingwithin the insurance industry to offer independent agentspreferential treatment in a sometimes difficult market toaccess.

Using its well establish e-commerce technology, Dallas-basedMarketScout has teamed up with New York City-based insurer AIG andthe National Alliance for Insurance Education and Research to offerCertified Insurance Counselors unique access to AIG through“CICSelect” (www.cicselect.com).

The alliance, say executives from MarketScout and the Austin,Texas-based National Alliance, which runs the CIC program, is abenefit to all three.

AIG, explained Richard Kerr, chairman and chief executiveofficer of MarketScout, is gaining access to markets outside of itsnormal major broker portfolio, and MarketScout is adding anotheravenue for agents seeking solutions to their clients coverage need.Agents who have obtained the CIC designation get the opportunity toaccess AIGs markets for their clients through a streamlinedservice, said Dr. William Hold, president and co-founder of theNational Alliance.

“This is groundbreaking,” observed Mr. Hold.

“AIG is not always easy to communicate with, although they writea big book of business. Their penchant is to write with largerbrokers and high books of business. They would admit that they arenot really geared to [small- and mid-size agencies],” Mr. Holdpointed out, adding that this is the first time an insurer hasgiven such exclusive access to agents with a specific educationaldesignation.

AIG, said Mr. Kerr, was looking “for a better distributionsystem into the independent agency force.” The company reasonedthat there are agents out there producing good business but who donot have contacts with AIG, and it is business that AIG would havean interest in, he said. After some discussions, the three decidedto form this strategic partnership offering exclusive, easy accessto AIGs products to the 60,000 insurance professionals in the CICprogram.

MarketScout administers the “CICSelect” Web site that allowsthese agents to obtain quotes for almost all of AIGs offerings. Theexception is for some personal lines and life and health insurancecoverage, said Mr. Kerr.

The process for the producer is that after he or she submitsbusiness through the “CICSelect” Web site, MarketScoutrepresentatives pre-underwrite the account before forwarding it toAIG for a quote, explained Mr. Kerr. How quickly the agent gets thequote back depends on the business, he continued. It can range fromfour hours for a submission for workers compensation, to 30 daysfor more complicated business. All notification is done by e-mail,including receipt of certificates (hard copies can be sent if theagent desires).

The major advantage, Mr. Kerr noted, is that in such a difficultmarket as exists today, the agents business “receives immediaterecognition” from AIG, and relatively quick solution, at the samecommission rate as if they had gone through traditionalchannels.

Mr. Hold also explained that this relationship allows agentswith clients who own a growing business the opportunity to placethe account with a carrier geared toward large accounts when theirtraditional contacts fail them.

“We are concerned with making the CIC agent as competitive asthey can be,” Mr. Hold said. “There is nothing more frustratingthan for an agent to be working with an account, watching it growand grow, and then losing it because he does not have the marketsto serve that account.”

For the National Alliance, the partnership brings additionalvalue to the CIC designation, but no income to the organization,said Mr. Hold. It does, however, help promote the CIC program, henoted.

“This is an interesting way to communicate with a large groupand not be worried with each agent individually.” Mr. Holdobserved.

Several calls to AIG for comment from a representative were notreturned.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Property &Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, July 22, 2002.Copyright 2002 by The National Underwriter Company in the serialpublication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as anindependent work may be held by the author.