Sum Insured has launched a new online calculator designed to improve efficiency and reduce underinsurance for broker clients.
The new tool, called Contents Insurance Replacement Cost Address (CIRCA), allows clients to receive an estimate of their home contents cost using only their address.
Mike Bartlett, commercial director of Sum Insured, said that the tool could help brokers win back market share in a line of business that has moved direct over recent years.
“The main way we see CIRCA helping brokers is simplifying the process,” Bartlett told Insurance Business. “At the moment, when it comes to calculating sums insured, anybody can calculate them but it actually takes quite a bit of effort.
“This streamlines the process and makes it quicker. For brokers, anything that will help their customers is really helping them as well.”
To use the tool, brokers can place the calculator on an online quoting page and as clients enter their address, CIRCA collates both proprietary and third party data to estimate the replacement costs of contents in a property.
Clients and brokers are also able to adjust the data manually if necessary and can look behind the curtain to see how the quote has been calculated.
“CIRCA’s database identifies the property address, the type of home, whether the property is owned or rented, the number of bedrooms and other rooms within the home, the number and age of the occupants and the standard of contents,” Bartlett continued.
Arranging contents cover is normally a time-consuming process, with Bartlett noting that one major insurer sees a 27% drop-out rate when they ask potential policyholders how much they would like to insure their contents for as the process is too laborious.
Bartlett said that while some brokers have ceded ground on domestic business, CIRCA can be seen as a way to match the speed of direct players and help existing commercial clients.
“Traditionally, a lot of brokers have taken up domestic business as an adjunct to the commercial business that they write,” Bartlett said.
“When somebody has a claim on their domestic policy, if everything does not go smoothly that really reflects negatively on the broker. So while there is not a lot of money in domestic insurance for brokers, it is most important that they do a good job on that because if they don’t and a claim comes about, then potentially the other business they have with the client could be in jeopardy.”
Related stories:
Will 2018 be the year of insurtech?
ICA tackles underinsurance with CoreLogic
