By Jill Gregorie and Justin da Rosa
The Dominion Lending Centre (DLC), a mortgage and leasing association with more than 2,300 members throughout Canada, has announced plans to launch its own insurance brokerage - a move that could transform the relationship insurance brokers have with new home buyers and a key referral partner.
“What is missing in our industry?” DLC President Gary Mauris asked at its National Sales Conference in Whistler, B.C. “We’ve been looking at this for two years; we’re building a national insurance company.”
The brokerage, called insureline, aims to be the largest property and casualty insurance player in Canada.
“Imagine an insurance company that helps you close on time, every time,” an ad for the company, played during the conference’s opening address says. “Welcome to insureline.”
insureline will act as an online brokerage catering to the mortgage broker industry, while functioning in much of the same way - by aiming to shop for the best insurance for clients at the best rates through a number of insurance providers.
It will offer home insurance, as well as a few other lines, but term life and creditor insurance have been excluded as coverage options.
According to the advertisement, it once took days to acquire an insurance quote. insureline, as an online brokerage, will use proprietary technology to find the optimal policy for clients. It also completes forms and provides quotes in minutes.
The process will be seamless, according to the advertisement, with deals passing from the DLC mortgage system to the insureline system automatically. Although it’s an online platform, clients who prefer a consultation can request one with a licensed agent.
It’s that last bit that could threaten insurance broker access to prospective clients preparing to close on a new home. That juncture is often the starting point for relationships that last decades and see a broker add offering after offering to a client’s insurance portfolio.
There’s also questions about what if any impact it will have on the referral partnerships insurance brokers have with mortgage brokers.
