William Parker (pictured), director and executive broker at Hawke’s Bay-based firm Hurford Parker Insurance Brokers, believes insurance advice is more important than ever. Here he talks about what gives brokers confidence and some of his learnings following Cyclone Gabrielle.
Speaking with Insurance Business, Parker said: “Coming out of a natural disaster, I’ve learned communication is the biggest thing that a broker has in terms of their advantage. We’ve seen direct insurance providers really struggle with that communication piece.
“We’ve come across challenges – don’t get me wrong – we’ve had a lot of roadblocks, but we’ve been able to provide communication to customers to say, ‘There’s a process; we know what we’re doing; we’re going to work through it, and we’ll end up getting a result’.”
Results-wise, the NZbrokers member is nearly done in terms of finalising its cyclone claims, with around 95% already completed, according to Parker. For the brokerage, reaching 100% is “really exciting,” given the amount of effort the business has put into expediting the whole process.
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“It’s been a challenging time for the industry and clients and everyone involved,” Parker said. “The key thing that I’ve realised through the cyclone is that the number one important thing for the client is getting that claim sorted for them in a timely fashion.”
Additionally, he cited the importance of having relationships with the insurers and assessors “so when it does go off the track, which it has, we’re able to get it back on track,” pointing to how brokers not only have provided clear communication to customers but have also assisted when things went wrong.
“I think that’s what I’ve seen in terms of how we’ve been able to help,” the executive broker said. “We might not have an answer right now, but we can at least talk customers through it and give them peace of mind.”
In Parker’s view, the need for insurance brokers has never been more crucial.
He told Insurance Business: “I think more than ever now advice is important because we’re having increased weather-related events and there’s more risk for businesses. Brokers should feel confident that there’s a need for our services.
“Businesses are very busy and they’ve got resource issues, so to take away the insurance function from them internally and for them to feel confident that their insurance needs are protected and that they’re getting the right advice and claims are being sorted for them gives insurance brokers confidence moving forward. I think the need is really there.”
There is such a need for brokers that Hurford Parker is looking to add one more to its roster. “We’re currently interviewing for another insurance broker, and that’s due to picking up new clients and holding existing clients,” Parker said.
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