Travel insurance has changed significantly in recent years driven by technology, changing travel habits and a post-COVID-19 travel boom. There are more third-party players, including insurtechs, with targeted and embedded offerings, often sold with the backing of major global insurers.
The travel sector is also increasingly complex with stakeholders that include travel companies, airlines, insurance firms, credit card companies joined by a rising number of tech-focused travel insurance product providers.
Some industry stakeholders say insurance brokers are playing an important role bringing new travel insurance offerings to the market. Brokers, they say, are also encouraging the big insurance carriers to adopt new and niche coverage offerings.
“Within the travel insurance market, and in the Australian market specifically, the brokerage community is very, very strong,” said Sasha Gainullin (pictured above), CEO of battleface, an insurer-backed provider of tech-focused travel coverage offerings.
Insurance Business spoke to Gainullin and the firm’s COO Mike Meeks when they visited Australia earlier this year.
“For travel insurance distribution, yes, of course, insurance brokers are a great marketplace for distribution, particularly for corporate business travel,” said Gainullin. “Definitely the broker market has a big play in that.”
He said brokers are often involved with annual multi trip policies, group travel policies, corporate policies and travel coverages for NGOs and nonprofits.
Gainullin also said his firm’s relationships with global brokers and broker networks “are also very influential” in terms of helping to select “the right service companies behind the travel insurance products.”
Meeks said another important way brokers influence his firm’s offerings and the major travel insurance carriers is through knowledge that comes from their close relationship with the customer.
“Brokers are always getting feedback,” he said.
Meeks gave the example of a consumer who receives a bad claims experience and then discusses and seeks redress through their broker. He suggested that the broker’s often more personal investment in the customer and their importance as a distribution channel for insurers puts them in a strong position to leverage the insurer to improve their offerings.
“The broker has that voice in the chain to ask the insurer about what they’re doing to make sure the customer has a great experience so that the broker can look good selling the product and feel comfortable putting their name behind the offering,” said Meeks.
Both executives see the broker as an influential force in travel insurance.
“If brokers are coming across a product that’s not very well supported from the services side, this is where they can have a massive influence over the insurance carriers,” said Gainullin.
There are other ways brokers are pushing the travel insurance sector forward.
Brokers are often looking for a technological solution, he said, to cut back on what can still be a paper-driven insurance process with some carriers.
This is encouraging travel insurers, suggested Gainullin, to adopt more travel-related insurance technology and also more simplified, niche coverage options.
Michael Storozhev, chief underwriter for PassportCard Australia, told IB that brokers are playing a growing role selling leisure travel policies.
Storozhev’s firm is part of international travel insurer PassportCard Group. The firm’s insurance offering includes a physical debit card that customers use to pay travel claim bills automatically.
Storozhev said the customers that are buying his firm’s offering through their brokers often already have a commercial, home or motor policy with the broker.
In March this year, battleface – a US, Canada and Europe focused travel insurance products firm – released Robin Assist in Australia. This is a tech-driven claims handling and travel emergency assistance platform.
In June, according to a media release, that service was approved by Lloyd’s of London as a Delegated Claims Administrator (DCA) allowing it to work with Lloyd’s network of underwriters and brokers.
According to Statista, travel and tourism is one of the world’s fastest growing sectors. According to this global data platform, the sector is expected to grow by nearly 6% annually until 2032, more than twice as fast as the forecast global GDP.
