We recently released our Snapshot Report on the current state of the Excess and Surplus Lines Market. The great news is that while the standard markets are continuing to harden, the E&S market is growing and softening to some degree. We’re seeing increases in calming and even flattening and appetites broadening. Despite this great outlook, it’s still a difficult market to navigate.
More than ever, agencies need an expert and wholesaler they can trust. Being an E&S broker is so much more than placing coverage. The wholesaler you trust with your insureds must be able to help mitigate increases and provide the best of a challenging market.
So how do you know if your wholesale broker is doing just that?
Here at Conway, we believe there are three key elements to achieving this. This blog serves as the first of a three-part series outlining how your E&S wholesaler should help you best serve your insureds.
First: Is your broker approaching the market correctly?
This question may sound silly or obvious, but you should only work with a wholesaler that is approaching the market correctly, and the way to do that is with a comprehensive and holistic process for each risk.
This process includes:
Pre-underwriting the risk: The shotgun approach of throwing a submission together and firing it off to every market with little context is ineffective and can lead to quick declinations.
- Knowing the ins and outs of a risk, anticipating the underwriting questions, and providing the information upfront go a long way.
Features vs. Benefits: Often, risk needs to be sold. Success in almost any type of sales comes from helping everyone understand why something matters over just listing out the features.
- Feature: Most folks don’t buy the latest and greatest cell phone because of the four camera lenses described by words they don’t understand.
- Benefit: They buy it because they can now take better pictures of their pets or take fun videos on their next hike with that camera.
★ Underwriters need to know the “why” or the “benefits” of writing it, not just a list of features and some loss runs.
Creativity and Expertise: Knowing a risk in its entirety and being a market expert allows a wholesaler to leverage relationships with their underwriters to find better solutions. It’s not always enough to submit a risk and hope it fits the current appetites.
Approaching the marketplace correctly is crucial in a hard market. Your wholesaler needs to take the time to learn the risk, communicate why the markets should write it, and apply their expertise correctly. If they fall short, you may not be getting the best the marketplace can offer your insured.
Let’s Connect. Contact Conway E&S today for new business and your renewals!
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