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Canadian consumers and businesses are evolving into digital-first entities. New technology is boosting the mobile economy and consumers are starting to expect on-demand service in all aspects of their daily lives, including their financial and insurance transactions.
As the primary buffer between the insured and the insurer, the broker has to be able to interact effectively with consumers in the digital marketplace. In order to assist brokers in this fast-evolving environment, Intact Insurance (Intact) is launching a series of commercial insurance quick quote tools.
The insurer has recently launched a Commercial Property and Liability Insurance Quick Quote tool, which offers small and medium-sized business owners a convenient platform to meet their commercial insurance needs. This complements the launch of Intact’s Commercial Auto Quick Quote tool, which came out in May.
“2018 has been a very exciting year for us so far at Intact because it marks our foray into offering new digital tools to brokers and customers in the commercial space,” commented Chris Reid, vice president of digital distribution for Intact Insurance. “Both our Commercial Property and Liability Insurance Quick Quote and our Commercial Auto Quick Quote tools are customer-facing and are accessible for brokers to use as a tool on their websites.
“They’re predominantly targeted at small and medium-sized businesses who are looking to go online to conduct research before talking to a broker to make a purchase. The writing’s on the wall. More and more customers are going digital and are looking for different means to interact with their insurer and their broker – and these tools are our first step towards better facilitating that.”
Customers can reach the Intact Quick Quote tools via two channels: directly through the Intact website or via a broker partner’s website. Brokers can fully co-brand and leverage the tools for their own digital acquisition strategies. The tools create time efficiencies for both the broker and the customer, and they help brokers to generate leads.
This is part of Intact’s wider strategic support and investment into the broker channel, Reid explained. He said the organization believes the broker channel is very viable and “is going to be very fruitful in the long-term.”
“As a business, we’re fully engaged in enhancing the broker and customer experience,” Reid told Insurance Business. “We’re leveraging technology to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of brokers and customers. That being said, we know that technology is only a tool. We also need to respond to the changing market dynamics by developing new products and services for brokers – and making sure those products are truly relevant and tailored to Canadian businesses.
“On top of product, we’re also working hard to modernize the relationship between the broker and the underwriter. We need to ensure our underwriters have the right tools to be able to respond to the needs of the brokers and customers, and, at the same time, we need to make sure our brokers have the ability to work with us in more efficient means. Ensuring ease of market access, simplicity and transparency for brokers will ultimately benefit the end customer in the long-term.”
