In 2017, NU forged an alliance with the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) and Flaspöhler | NMG to conduct the inaugural Independent Agent Study — a research project designed to annually take the pulse of independent Property & Casualty insurance agents throughout the U.S. and provide revealing insight into the demographics, books of business and challenges they face, and reveal their most highly rated carrier partners.
Today, we look at the findings around how respondents rate their level of satisfaction with their commercial P&C carrier partners, and the various criteria by which producers perceive the quality of those commercial carriers.
When asked what indications of quality they value most in a commercial P&C carrier, 64.3% of our study respondents said “ease of doing business,” which was the No. 1 response. That was followed by “fair, timely claims handling” (46.1%) and “strong, knowledgeable underwriting” (38.7%) “superior customer service” (37.4%) and “consistent underwriting” (36.5%).
What do those numbers reveal? That independent agents want to serve their clients quickly, effectively and with minimum agony. Carriers would do well to consider in their own workflows what can be done to better facilitate meeting those goals.
When asked to rate their overall level of satisfaction with the commercial carriers they use, 36.8% of respondents said they were “very satisfied” while 52.5% said they were “somewhat satisfied.” While only a small percentage openly said they were unsatisfied, that “somewhat satisfied” segment warrants further listening by carriers. Food for thought: What can be done on both sides to improve those relationships?
Flaspöhler has long conducted its own larger annual study of agents (the Flaspöhler | NMG Producer Study) on behalf of key P&C carriers, which use the results to help them best meet agent needs. The data included in the study featured in NU and on PropertyCasualty360.com this month are extracted from Flaspöhler's larger research study (upward of 300 pages), which the firm makes available to rated P&C commercial lines carriers. (Contact [email protected] for more information.)
Stay tuned to PropertyCasualty360.com throughout the month as we share the findings of this in-depth study of America's independent agents.
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Shawn Moynihan
Shawn Moynihan is Editor-in-Chief of National Underwriter Property & Casualty. A St. John’s University alum, Moynihan has earned 11 Jesse H. Neal Awards, the Pulitzers of the business press; seven Azbee Awards, from the American Society of Business Press Editors; two Folio Awards; and a SABEW award, from the Society of American Business Editors & Writers. Prior to joining ALM, he served as Managing Editor/Online Editor of journalism institution Editor & Publisher, the trade bible of the newspaper industry. Moynihan also has held editorial positions with AOL, Metro New York, and Newhouse Newspapers. He can be reached at [email protected].
