Expertise acquisition is the top broker concern for 2024, with 69% saying it’s the channel’s largest problem, Canadian Underwriter’s 2024 Nationwide Dealer Survey exhibits.
After that, a cluster of different trade conundrums preserve Canada’s brokers counting sheep. Coming in at second and third, every with 54%, are issues about financial points like inflation and rising rates of interest, and development of the direct-to-consumer gross sales mannequin.
Final yr, financial points made solely 44% of brokers queasy and direct gross sales frightened 51%. Each are actually displaying up larger on brokers’ radar. The annual CU survey is sponsored by Sovereign Insurance coverage.
Even with this yr’s improve to 54%, issues about direct gross sales in 2024 stay beneath pre-COVID ranges. Again in 2020 (the survey was performed earlier than the worldwide pandemic was declared), 62% of Canadian brokers had a watch on their opponents within the direct channel.
However even after the pandemic highlighted the dealer worth proposition of offering customers with alternative, advocacy and recommendation, feedback in our 2024 dealer survey present the rancour stays.
“Direct writers have [an] advantaged taking part in discipline,” says one verbatim remark to the survey. One other expresses frustration with insurance coverage corporations’ use of “direct-line promoting [while] at [the] similar time telling brokers that they’re vital to the corporate.”
Dealer issues concerning the laborious market — final yr’s #1 problem to the channel — have tailed off. Solely 53% of respondents within the 2024 examine cite it as their main fear. That’s properly beneath 2023’s 66%, 2022’s 76% and 2021’s 74%. Percentages apart, although, verbatim responses articulate particular challenges.
“It appears that evidently premium will increase and discovering higher charges for shoppers who’re already insured with sure corporations have turn out to be tougher,” one respondent says. “Only a yr in the past, it was typically doable to seek out higher premiums, however now, when utilizing quoting software program, the quotes can typically be twice as costly.”
Some blame could fall to uninformed customers. One commenter says insurance coverage prospects nonetheless present a “misunderstanding of the worth proposition for on-line/digital insurance coverage and name centres, versus [a] personally accountable dealer/agent) relationship.”
Closing 2024’s High 5 listing of dealer challenges is fear over insurance coverage trade consolidation. This concern has been statistically flat for the previous 5 years – 50% in 2024, towards 48% in 2023; 50% in 2022; 47% in 2021; and 46% in 2020.
This text is excerpted from one showing within the April-Might 2024 print version of Canadian Underwriter. Characteristic picture courtesy of iStock.com/jabkitticha
