To whom are insurance agents responsible? They are paid by the insured but also by the insurer, so there could be a conflict of interest. I have found that agents like the one I am using don't want to be bothered with queries.
Renewal time is coming up for me so, a propos, can anyone comment on the A Plan Insurance agency?
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Why do you feel the need to employ one? Unless you have a very specific and unusual need, a web comparison site is miles better.
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>> don't want to be bothered with queries.
With the advent of a client base that will switch suppliers for a quid, they see no reason why they should do anything at all which will increase their costs and thus their charges.
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I hark back to the good old days of insurance brokers who would search their CP/M based files which were sent to them once a month on floppy disk, for the best prices.
Cover note written out for you there and then and policy docs in the post 7-21 days later.
Their offices were usually an ex-estate agents and almost always just outside the town centre, cheaper rent and on street parking nearby.
Thing is, when you made a claim they would deal with it for you. A few risible offers from the insurance company when my car was written off was batted back by the broker. Each one sent to the broker from the 3rd party's insurer who forwarded to me with a compliment slip and a note saying something like "I'm obliged to forward this to you but they're taking the mick, let me sort it for you".
Now I realise the third party insurer was probably on his books as well but it felt like a personal service and when I popped in to discuss next years quote or update details on a new car I was always greeted warmly with a smile and a coffee.
It may be a few pounds cheaper now, but I think we have lost something.
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>>It may be a few pounds cheaper now, but I think we have lost something.
We've lost *loads*, the stuff you mentioned and more, all of which I was prepared to pay higher premiums for.
But now people want cheap and will switch for a tenner.
Ditto airlines, ditto supermarkets ditto every other damned thing where people want the cheapest possible price and then wonder what happened to the service.
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20+ years ago a son had a Volvo 480 - he loved it but it was getting on - 7 years old.
Traded it in or a Honda Prelude, 3 year old and 12K miles - immaculate. Insurance for a 23/24 year old was proving tricky - Norwich Union Direct was charging £450+ for the Volvo & would not cover the Prelude because he was under 25.
Eventually tracked down a good price from a local insurance broker - under £400 - Guess the Insurer - Yep - Norwich Union.
NU Direct & NU through Brokers had different rules & regulations & obviously different rates for Brokers.
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People always did want cheap but the internet has made it possible. It's also led to a situation with insurance, utilities, internet, subscription TV etc. in which new customers will be boarded at the most favourable prices for their 'lifetime value' so disloyalty is rewarded and loyalty necessarily penalised.
I remember using a broker for car insurance, that was the default way of doing it and probably the only distribution used by many mass market insurers. But my hope even then, especially then, was that the broker would find me the cheapest deal.
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>> But my hope
>> even then, especially then, was that the broker would find me the cheapest deal.
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Yes, but they earned a decent commission that meant they could run an office and provide a service.
The commissions made by the current crop of on line brokers is still reasonable and can be a significant percentage of the insurance policy’s cost but it’s spent on flashy websites and expensive advertising at the expense of customer service.
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Insurance, along with broadband and energy, have reversed the historic paradigm.
In the good old days the business model was based on customer retention as winning a new customer was far more difficult/expensive than retaining and existing one. Sales costs were high pre comparison websites and I suspect the commissions to agents reflected this.
The business model has now changed as the interweb and legislation has made swapping suppliers so easy. They suck punters in with introductory discounts and offers, and hope that indolence leads to future automatic renewals at a higher price. Easy as they probably have your credit card or bank details so provide a "service" through automatic renewal.
Personally I make a point of checking all these contracts (broadband and energy come down the same wire or pipe anyway). Will swap if difference (£50-100??) is worth the hassle.
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Not sure why customers think they should be rewarded for "loyalty" when they mostly really mean they can't be bothered to review their premium once a year on a comparison site which takes just a few minutes.
You have to look after yourself. Np one else will.
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I think it's pretty obvious why they think it, they're just wrong.
However, it'd all work bit better if when comparing they went a little further than the premium and included the service levels.
As opposed to getting the cheapest and then wondering why the additional services disappear.
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>> winning a new customer was far more difficult/expensive than retaining and existing one.
Exactly that. Quite the opposite now, of course.
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>> >> winning a new customer was far more difficult/expensive than retaining and existing one.
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>> Exactly that. Quite the opposite now, of course.
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The on-boarding cost in my business is huge. It can cost anywhere from one thousand pound to tens of thousands to sign up a new customer, site visits, professional valuations, days on analysis, legal docs etc.
We work hard to keep clients but someone will always come along and offer a better price because we did all of the leg work - it must be a good business to lend to.
There is also a race to the bottom price wise and attempts to turn the business in to a commodity.
One of our rivals has switched 400 staff from the UK to India. We are still all UK based (for the moment).
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Zippy's experience of insurance brokers (first posting above) parallels mine. I used an excellent local service for years but it was bought out by a larger outfit that couldn't care less.
I find comparison sites confusing, chiefly because they want differing information. Still, I will have a new look. Recommendations regarding good sites appreciated.
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Insurance Agents - Zero
