Data and risk management driving client support – Broker Barometer research

The latest insights from this year’s Broker Barometer research show that British brokers are collaborating and reaching into new markets to trade within the commercial insurance hard market.

Brokers demonstrated adaptability in response to the hard market with 88% diversifying into alternative sectors. Brokers said new markets included financial services (25%), real estate (22%), the public sector and transport & distribution (both 21%). The move to targeting financial services clients was driven by national and regional brokers (32% and 30%, respectively) while local brokers focussed on real estate, with 21% reporting a shift in focus to property.

Collaboration between brokers was a key means to overcome a lack of capacity in the market, with 35% of brokers saying they had worked with other brokers or had created networks. Almost half (46%) of regional brokers reported collaboration as a key tactic to address capacity, higher than national (38%) and local brokers (33%).

Data and Risk Management drive client support

Brokers also worked proactively to support clients in countering the effects of reduced market capacity. Early client engagement, the proactive use of data and delivering risk management advice were all reported by 30% of brokers as a way to work around the lack of capacity. 

Different levels of brokers tackled the issue in a variety of ways with 46% of national brokers more likely to engage clients early. Regional and local brokers favoured risk management or proactive data use, with 36% of both groups citing both approaches.

A word from Aviva’s Chief Distribution Officer, Gareth Hemming

“The hard market conditions we are seeing across commercial insurance have made for a really tough trading environment for brokers and are likely to continue for some time. It’s no surprise that brokers have found new ways to work around these conditions as they have during the past 18 months of the pandemic. Our key focus has been to work with our broker partners to support them in doing so and to remain buoyant with varied trading conditions.”

“We have delivered a wealth of content to help brokers proactively around the reduction in capacity. This ranges from risk management guidance on our Aviva Risk Management Solutions site, to publishing a library of loss prevention standards that address a range of risks, from COVID-19 to protecting your people, property and business.”

“We’re also developing market-leading solutions bringing together our own data with open databases, artificial intelligence (AI) and input from our data scientists. The result is a tailored, personalised view of the client, enabling brokers to deepen their understanding of them and build long-term relationships.  This helps clients to make informed decisions about their level of cover and any gaps that may exist.”

Automatic quotes and Risk Management support

The Aviva Risk Management Solutions website has a wealth of support and guidance for you and your clients to help protect what matters most. Head to https://www.aviva.co.uk/risksolutions/ to find out more.

Through our use of data and AI, we’re able to provide automatic quotations without needing to ask any additional questions. Where we have enough information about your client to do so, we can provide these for core covers including Cyber, Management Liability, Group Personal Accident (GPA), Legal Expenses and Transit – and we’ve recently added Business Travel for renewals effective on or after 5 October 2021. You can find out more about this here.

The Broker Barometer uses data taken from a survey of 220 professional brokers across the UK, conducted by Censuswide Research in July 2021, on behalf of Aviva