Improved electronic interface between agents and carriers is enjoying wider agency acceptance and growth, according to a survey conducted by the Real Time/Download campaign. The survey, conducted earlier this year, received nearly 2,200 responses from agency and brokerage professionals in all 50 states and Canada.

Adoption of real-time rating tools within agencies and brokerages has increased considerably since a similar survey conducted in fall 2011 as the campaign reported a 32 percent increase in the last 18 months.

“We're encouraged to see increased use of these tools,” says Stu Durland, campaign co-chair and vice president and co-owner of Seely & Durland Insurance in Warwick, N.Y. “With strong competition on many fronts, it's important that independent agents and brokers have—and use—tools that can help them remain strong.”

Personal lines workflows, including download (95 percent) and real-time rating (83 percent), are seeing the greatest adoption. Real Time and download are less broadly used in commercial lines. Commercial lines download is used by more than three-fourths of respondents that write commercial policies. Real-time rating for commercial lines is used by 50 percent of agencies and brokerages with a commercial lines book of business.

Respondents report they save a significant amount of time by using these technologies. For example, those who use personal lines download save nearly an hour and a half per employee per day.

Personal lines real-time rating saves agencies and brokerages roughly an hour per personal lines employee per day. Commercial lines download saves nearly an hour per commercial lines employee per day, while commercial lines real-time rating yields just over half that amount of time savings.

Respondents indicate Real Time and download deliver a wide range of benefits besides time savings.

“These include improved information accuracy, better activity documentation, easier password maintenance and other efficiency gains,” says campaign co-chair Joyce Sigler, vice president and corporate secretary at Jones & Wenner Insurance Agency in Fairlawn, Oh. “Real-time tools also free up time that can be devoted to selling and account rounding, and they help agents quote more business more quickly.”

Real-time inquiry and service activities are performed by three-fourths of respondents, up considerably from roughly one-half of those who reported using them in 2011. Those who use them save, on average, 53 minutes per employee per day.

Special Reports /

Survey Reports Large Increase in the Use of Real-time Rating Tools

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