Wedding bells are ringing – and for brokers, it presents a great opportunity for new business, with a niche specialty policy that’s booming in popularity.
“I believe it’s the only one of its kind,” says Matthew Taylor, general manager of
PAL Insurance Brokers Canada of their propriety Weddingard policy. “The type of coverages that are included on it and whatnot is pretty exclusive to PAL.”
The policy offers brides and grooms considerable peace of mind, covering everything from party alcohol liability and general liability for main wedding events, to extensions that protect in case of MIA photographers and lost wedding dresses.
Taylor says it’s a niche area that brokers were instrumental in helping develop through extensive feedback. “It was the extra paperwork – they would have to take two to three policies out to cover exposure for the rehearsal dinner, the ceremony, the reception and the gift opening,” he says. “So we took all of that together and combined it under one packaged policy.”
He adds that the Calgary floods in 2013 greatly underlined the need for coverage, as many would-be wed couples found themselves without a venue, or without city access for their guests.
“It was one of the biggest wedding times of the year, and there were a lot of venues that were flooded out or closed down, and access to the city was pretty much impossible due to the water, so a lot of individuals lost their deposits for their venues,” Taylor says.
And, for brokers looking to take a cut of that profit cake, deploying the coverage is considerably easy, considering how specialized it is.
“The brokers can actually complete the application online, and the online program will give them automatic rates and documentation. It’s so streamlined and straightforward – if it fits within the box, then the brokers will have the policy documents within seconds after it’s issued,” Taylor says.
“There are brokers out there who take this as a benefit to them, and they’ll go out to trade shows and promote our product to try to increase their own business on the product lines that they offer.”
He adds that even destination weddings provide the chance for business.
“A lot of brokers may not be aware of is we are able to offer the Weddinguard program world-wide, for any Canadian-domiciled couple looking to get married outside of Canada,” he says.
“Most policies are restricted to Canadian territorial limits and there are a lot of couples that we’ve seen in the past, where they have gone outside of Canada to have their wedding at a resort.”
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