IIABA Chairman Outlines Plan To Battle Direct Writers On Personal Lines

Independent agents are tired of losing personal lines market share to direct writers and they will be fighting back in 2011, said the new chairman of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA).

Mike Miley, a client executive at the Gibson Insurance Agency in Plymouth, Ind., knows well the challenges independent agents face at both small and large agencies.

Starting out on the life insurance side of the business, he ran a small agency before joining Gibson Insurance. His experience runs from a small agency dealing in personal lines to handling large commercial accounts in an agency that today numbers 93 employees with a history dating back to 1933.

As chairman, Mr. Miley said one of the major priorities during his tenure will be taking the steps necessary to turn around the market erosion independent agents have experienced in the personal lines market. The primary impetus for this will be making the Trusted Choice brand the IIABA created into a national brand for independent agents.

To further promote the Trusted Choice brand, the IIABA is creating an Internet portal named CAP, Consumer Agent Portal. As more and more consumers do their initial shopping for insurance over the Internet, the aim will be to drive business toward independent agents by improving the search results.

"What we found is that a lot of inquiries go to the Internet, but consumers want a person to buy from," explained Mr. Miley. "Our challenge is to get the independent agent to the consumer before the direct writer."

While much detail cannot be divulged at this time, Mr. Miley said CAP is designed to move independent agents higher up on search engine results so the Trusted Choice brand comes in at least at number two or three.

"Research shows we have a good model here and we are excited about it," he said.

"We need a good consumer brand and feel Trusted Choice will drive traffic to this portal," he explained.

For IIABA members, as they all become Trusted Choice members, they will be paying extra for the marketing of the program, Mr. Miley noted, but the move has not received much negative feedback.

"It gets us back in the game in personal lines," said Mr. Miley.

As for the health of the independent agent, he said "it has never been stronger," adding, "We are seeing a lot of new members from the direct writer ranks."

The merger and acquisition environment presents some challenges to growing the number of agencies, but there is some satisfaction in realizing some agents find bigger is not better and return to the independent agency ranks by starting up an agency again, Mr. Miley said.