Aggregators Replacing Insurance Clusters as an Improved Version
The market demands agents to be a responsive, informative, and reliable service provider. An insurance aggregator helps you become a perfect fit in the market. Traditionally, insurers would not contract agents who could bring over a half a million dollars in premium volume. Hence, establishing an independent agency was considered remarkable. To overcome the challenge, the concept of insurance clusters came into the limelight.
Insurance clusters and its loopholes
Insurance clusters allowed agencies to collaboratively share an insurance carrier contract and spread the premium requirement by the insurance carriers. However, insurance clusters had two major loopholes:
- Lack of control over the quality of business written and
- Lack of professional management as an organization
Insurance Aggregator- Improved version of Insurance clusters
Insurance aggregators are the improved version of insurance clusters. Aggregators focused on market access, profit sharing, networking with insurance carriers, and so on. An aggregator is the association of insurance agencies as well as the umbrella network of clients and carriers. Hence, it is clearly better than independent agents acting alone, or an insurance cluster. Insurance aggregator is a shopping stop for insurance seekers. It is a website that gathers insurance-specific information from different sources and organizes them in one place. It fosters a network of insurance carriers, agents, and clients. While the insurance providers can display their products to a broader market, the shoppers find detailed information about the insurance policies- price, coverages, premium, and other special features-in one stop.
Agents and Aggregators- Moving forward
While aggregators help clients get quotes in just a few clicks, the agents’ scope will not diminish. Agents will remain a valuable asset in the value chain. The automated system only provides for general policy but lacks the human touch to the service. The system cannot provide results for special requests and does not offer expert advice. For all these reasons, clients continue to seek agents. Progressive partnerships with aggregators mean greater competition. Carriers will need agents to bring in new clients while ensuring the existing ones do not switch to other insurers.
Thus, Aggregators are the improved version of insurance clusters since it is the powerhouse of information. Agents will have an advantage in assessing prospects and identifying any suspicion. Hence, it makes it a reliable source of business for insurance carriers and your clients. Why not become a part of the winning strategy and be on top of the competition?