Commercial insurance buyers are listening to advice from their agent or broker and are using a single carrier to buy more than one line of coverage, according to a survey obtained exclusively by NU Online.

The third annual Wausau Multiline Productivity Poll of buyers found that 66 percent of respondents (up from 58 percent last year) said their agent or broker "always or usually" encourages them to place multiple lines of insurance with one carrier.

"Three-quarters of these financial executives said they would like their coverages placed and priced by one multiline underwriting team, rather than a separate underwriting team for each line of business," Mark Fiebrink, president and chief operating officer of Wausau Insurance, told National Underwriter.

What's behind this? "Two-thirds said that a multiline approach, in their view, is more likely to insure a fairer price, broader expertise and knowledge of their business," he said.

From the insurer side, he noted, "the reason we want to have our underwriters look at more than one line of business is so that we can get a much deeper appreciation for the unique aspects of the account and the risks we would be insuring."

He added that other benefits to insurers include having a "better appreciation of their loss prevention programs they may already have in place, or being able to identify ways of improving loss prevention programs that we could help implement at those companies."

This approach, Mr. Fiebrink said, would help reduce the overall cost of risk. Additionally, "the more we know about a risk and the more comfortable we have become with that risk, the more willing we are to tailor pricing to the unique aspects of the risk--so a much fairer price can be established."

Reasons why buyers may not wish to work with insurers on a multiline basis might include professional liability or niche needs for directors and officers liability, "where they would want to go to another carrier anyway," he noted.

The survey focused on the desirability of multiline and the perceptions of total cost of risk. The independent survey of 200 financial executives was conducted by Guideline, a national market research firm. A similar sample of financial executives, from predominately midsized companies, was polled over the past two years with many of the same questions, the company said.

Seventy-one percent of respondents, compared with 69 percent last year, said their agent or broker "always or usually" counsels them to consider the total cost of risk, in addition to the direct cost of premiums and deductibles, when considering property and casualty coverages.

Another 22 percent, compared with 18 percent last year, said their agent or broker "sometimes" counsels them to consider the total cost of risk.

Among other key findings:

For the first time, the annual survey shows more than half of respondents (52 percent, compared with 46 percent last year) regard the "total cost of risk" more important than "direct costs" when considering quotes for property and casualty coverage.

For the third year in a row, 60 percent of respondents estimated they save at least $2 in lost productivity expenses for every $1 saved by reducing claim expenses for workers' compensation. And for the second year in a row, about half of the respondents estimated they save at least $2 in lost productivity expenses for every $1 saved by reducing claim expenses for other lines such as general liability, commercial auto and property.

A large majority of respondents (80 percent this year) continue to integrate multiple (at least two) lines of coverage with one carrier. Among those who have combined at least two lines of coverage with one carrier, 92 percent (up from 89 percent the past two years) said they achieved significant efficiencies (saving at least 4 percent per year).

Mr. Fiebrink said Wausau will continue to explore multiline trends and the ultimate cost of risk. The Wausau Multiline Productivity Poll on the company's Web site, www.wausau.com/poll, will continue to be updated and revised annually.

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