The relationship between a broker and an insurer relies on a strong and collaborative partnership. Part of this relationship entails brokers having some knowledge around what risks an insurer wants to write. Brokers who write business for small to medium-sized businesses need to understand an insurer’s risk appetite to know where they can place their clients’ business quickly.
RSA’s SME Risk Checker
That’s where RSA’s SME Risk Checker can be useful. Launched on August 8, the SME Risk Checker allows brokers to determine RSA’s risk appetite across multiple business types, including hospitality, construction, agriculture, retail, realty and mining. Brokers can also search by trade or SIC code to determine how much risk RSA is willing to assume via a ‘good,’ ‘better’ or ‘best’ rating.
“We developed the SME Risk Checker based on feedback from brokers, who told us that it wasn’t always clear whether a certain risk was within our appetite,” says James Roberts, director of SME underwriting and portfolio management at RSA. “We recognized this as a pain point for brokers and developed the tool so that we could show our level of comfort on certain risks in a transparent way.”
When using the SME Rick Checker, brokers can quickly find the SIC code they need and receive a rating automatically, while also getting directions on how they can send RSA their submission. The new tool replaces an older version that wasn’t meeting the needs and work pace of today’s brokers.
“The older version wasn’t the most user-friendly and didn’t actually help brokers determine what to do next,” Roberts says. “The SME Risk Checker, on the other hand, features a new and clean interface that is more intuitive and leads brokers to the next step in the quoting process.”
RSA Pro™ integration
Another advantage of the SME Risk Checker is its integration with RSA Pro™, an online tool launched in late 2017 that allows brokers to quote and bind SME business. In fact, the tool lets brokers instantaneously bind three broad business segments: retail, contracting, and business and professional services.
The SME Risk Checker indicates when a risk can be written through RSA Pro™ and directs brokers to the tool automatically. This is especially important, as RSA Pro™ features preferred rates and, much like the SME Risk Checker, is fast and intuitive.
“We integrated RSA Pro™ within the tool to make the process as seamless for brokers as possible,” Roberts says. “As soon as the tool identifies that the SIC code can be written inside of RSA Pro™, a broker will receive a special prompt letting them know that they can write that quote inside the RSA Pro™ tool.”
RSA plans to take broker feedback into consideration to make the SME Risk Checker even more user-friendly in the future. To learn more, visit rsabroker.ca/risk-checker.
