Insurance Clusters May Bring Comparative Rating To Small Agencies
The advantage of joining an insurance cluster, say executives, is the economy of scale it offers to small agents while allowing them to remain competitive with larger agencies.
In this technological era, speed and efficiency are also critical to satisfying the client, it would seem, and one way of meeting that need is the ability to give quotes quickly and easily.
For agents of the Iroquois Buckeye Group, a member of the Iroquois Companies based in Olean, N.Y., the advantage is not only enjoying the buying power of an insurance agency cluster, but also enjoying the ease and speed of an Internet rating system without a lot of the associated costs, says the groups head.
Jeffrey P. Flarherty, president of the group in Wadsworth, Ohio, has developed his Web site to access a comparative rater for his member agents working specifically in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.
"All insurers are building their own mouse trap," declared Mr. Flarherty, "I make it simpler to get comparative rates and go from there."
Unlike other raters, says Mr. Flarherty, his access to "PriorityRate" administered by Priority Data Systems in Omaha, Neb., is custom tailored for use by his member agents, not for special insurance placements, but as a tool for daily placement of coverage for homeowners and auto insurance.
"I use this as a freebie to my agents," explained Mr. Flarherty, whose agents not only enjoy the ease of finding comparative quotes through the single site, but also can enjoy discounted rates.
The process of putting this service together for this Iroquois group branch began three years ago when Mr. Flarherty sat with his brother Patrick and sister-in-law Annie to develop a simple Web site with their company Envisage Inc., (www.envisagegroup.com) of Northfield Center, Ohio. They developed the Web site over the years to make it more interactive for agents.
When he decided it was time to take the site to a higher level, incorporating the rater system, he worked with ClearEvolution in Cleveland (www.clearevolution.com), and completed the site within three months, starting it up in January of this year.
The rating system is geared to be simple and easy for agents to use, Mr. Flarherty said. And it is not a limited site, boasting 21 carriers to help his agents place insurance.
What makes the system more unique, Mr. Flarherty said, is that it is the only rater of its type serving the area.
A transaction that at one time required a series of faxes and phone calls is now completed over the Internet and in real time. Agents not only get the information they need, but also can get a quote and proposal via the site. This differs from company sites where, Mr. Flarherty said, an agent gets a price but has to make additional contacts, either by fax or e-mail, to complete the transaction.
Mr. Flarherty and another Iroquois group manager are planning to develop a similar rater for some commercial lines, he said.
"[Technology] is driving agents to my site, because I am offering them everything they need to use to do their business," Mr. Flarherty observed.
Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, October 21, 2002. Copyright 2002 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.
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