The Insurance Times and its partner Norwich Union, have been visiting every corner of the UK having organised regional round tables discussing topics such as broker consolidation, regulation resulting from the financial crisis and outsourcing.
To end the series, a discussion hosted by Krishnan Guru-Murthy, the Channel 4 news presenter, was held in Birmingham, wherein Guru-Murthy asked the panel and audience if independent brokers are going to be able to survive the current climate of consolidation and economic difficulties.
From a customer perspective, there is probably no better time than realising the benefits offered by brokers as their expertise and market knowledge, particularly surrounding developments in the industry, could prove invaluable.
Whilst the temptation may be there, this is not really a good time to fnd yourself under-insured as this is actually a time to protect the value in both your home and business.
Therefore, from a broker perspective, you are probably more important than ever to your customers.
From an underwriting point of view, insurers need to feel assured that the broker knows their customer well.
The subject of commission payments and the apparaent power struggle between brokers and insurers was also discussed.
Not surprisingly, larger brokers continue to try and push commission payments up and Norwich Union, for example paid out 26% in commission in 2008, up 4% on 2006 across all ines of business.
Insurance companies are however looking very closely at the profit realised by their individual broker network partners and with individual reviews on a case by case basis, some brokers could see commission levels squeezed. Something they claim they cannot afford.
It appears therefore that the days of brokers being in the better bargaining seat when it comes to negotiating commission levels is nearing an end and insurers are starting to stand their ground.
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