The deepening economic slowdown has middle-market companies reassessing their insurance broker relationships and adopting a more bottom-line approach to securing insurance coverage, a new poll has found.

According to a survey from Stamford, Conn.-based Greenwich Associates, businesses have begun to de-emphasize broker customer service in favor of a much stricter focus on obtaining the best value and price in their insurance purchases.

The findings reverse past trends where middle-market companies selected their insurance brokers largely based on the quality of customer service provided by competing firms, Greenwich Associates said.

More than 18,000 interviews with U.S. middle-market companies (defined as companies with $10-to-$500 million in annual sales) were conducted during the 2008 study, the consulting firm said.

As part of this research, the firm asked companies to name their insurance brokers and carriers, and to rate both their satisfaction with these providers and their willingness to recommend these providers to other companies.

"This finding clearly reflects the deterioration of the economy and the revenue and cost pressures faced by U.S. companies," said Greenwich Associates consultant Bill Bruno. "Simply put, in this environment, companies cannot afford to overpay for insurance coverage."

The study results clearly indicate that companies are becoming less willing to rely entirely on carrier recommendations from their brokers and more inclined to research the capabilities of individual carriers on their own, Greenwich Associates said. Likewise, companies increasingly are holding brokers accountable for the carrier recommendations they do make, it added.

While businesses are giving less consideration to brokers' ability to provide general risk management advice and their overall problem-solving ability, customers are looking for brokers to be knowledgeable of property-casualty products, and prompt follow-up and closure are taking on added importance.

"Based on these findings, we can make at least one strong conclusion: The recession is forcing middle-market companies to be much more diligent and discriminating," said firm's consultant David Fox.

"Executives of these companies must feel that they are getting high-quality coverage and service for the best possible price, and they must feel that their brokers are working as their true partners. Any broker that fails to deliver on these counts is at risk," he said.

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