How an insurance broker became my biggest business ally

The insurance broker is central to the insurance buying experience and long may that continue.

“What on earth is Professional Indemnity?” I thought to myself as I suddenly realised I had missed a BIG part of launching a business - making sure I had the right insurance.

Having a start-up is an exciting venture - the planning, research, the launch of all the various components are both intoxicating and maddening. Unfortunately my insurance was the last thing I had considered. So there I was three days before launch trying to make heads or tails of what Cyber was and whether I needed it.

At that stage all I knew was one false move and I could’ve been paying out the kind of money that could’ve killed my business before it got off the ground. So I did what any self respecting person with a hard deadline and no clue would do, I panicked. I took myself off to the internet and after a few minutes of furious googling found a company that would use computer wizardry to supply quotes off the back of a few questions. Success!

My elation started to subside when I started getting continually referred to a human customer service team. This seemed to happen after I answered most questions and whilst they were certainly nice, I didn’t get the impression that I was talking to insurance experts. After hours of back and forth I had finally secured quotes that I could go away and study.

That evening I spent hours considering whether I had been offered the right cover, if I had been sold to and was about to be (as more furious googling revealed) ‘over-insured’ or — worse — ‘under-insured’. It was at this point that I decided that I needed to call in the experts.

The next morning I managed to find an insurance broker in my area that was generous enough with his time to talk to me that same day. I’m not usually great on phone calls but before long my intermediary had me waxing lyrical and was genuinely interested in my business, my plans for it, target markets and my strategy for growth. Pretty much everything!

Before long it felt like I was talking to a business partner. Someone who would give me advice on business direction, strategy tips and overall the greatest confidence that I was talking to someone who was invested in my business being a success. At one point he even suggested that we look at the minimum level of insurance to keep my overheads down and to grow along with the needs of the business.

In my journey to the perfect cover, I have learnt that the insurance broker is irreplaceable. With all the technology flooding the industry what we do not need is something that will try to replace the intermediary. Rather, technology should be aimed at helping the broker continue to be at the very centre of the insurance value chain. A broker’s knowledge is definitely something that cannot be replaced and the confidence they give to their customers is not something that can be replaced with A.I.

I now know my Professional Indemnity from my Cyber insurance and it’s something I no longer have to worry about it due to my trusted friend, the insurance broker.

All opinions are my own. If there’s anything on here you don’t agree with, sue me. I’m covered.

Take a look at our free e-trade quote aggregator which enables insurance brokers to do what they do best, but better. www.broker-space.com