View from the Top - Are you being served?

(From Post Magazine)

Byline: Franaois-Xavier Boisseau, managing director, Groupama Insurances.

Any broker who provides incompetent, tardy service can expect a swift and rapid exodus of clients. So why is it that brokers, when in the role of customer themselves, seem content to let insurers get away with it?

Brokers routinely suffer inaccurate documentation, poor claims handling, unskilled call-centres and ineffective technology. Naturally they have grumbled about this for years. But what if they swapped words for action? You can bet that if brokers upped and moved to carriers that gave them support and respect, things would undergo a miraculous change for the better.

Why do brokers continue to accept second-best to the detriment of themselves and their clients? The comfort of staying with a familiar partner? The uncertainty of establishing a relationship with another company? Or are some insurers just too big to ignore?

It's time for brokers to say "I'm free" and take control. After all, they have a regulatory duty to select the right option for the client.

Why is it that some companies seem less than keen to drag their broker service standards out of the mire? Are they pursuing low costs at the expense of high quality? Do they really believe you improve the quality of ...