The move to e-trading is reaching a tipping point, and the pace of progress is reaching a level that makes it a significant option for all sides of an insurance transaction. According to the Insurance Times Digital Adoption Report, produced in association with Applied Systems®, 66% of the brokers who responded to the survey visited up to 20 insurer extranet sites weekly to generate a quote for the same risk, while 27% had to visit between 20-40 times a week.

What stands out for me is that we have talked about e-trade for a very long time. However, brokers were not carrying out e-trading to any meaningful degree. That has changed, and it is starting to move at a pace that makes it a reality for the market. But we still need insurers and software houses to collaborate to enable better and smoother communications between the platforms and the extranets.

“We are now reaching a tipping point at which brokers will see e-trading as the way to access and place cover for commercial risks."

The report also found that when it came to personal lines policies, nearly 70% of brokers that took part visited up to 10 insurer extranet sites to generate multiple quotes for the same risk. The report adds over the last three years, broker confidence has risen in terms of their ability to compete with online aggregators/online comparison sites. While this year's report finds 59% were somewhat or very confident, last year, the figure was 45% of brokers and two years ago, it was at 40% as they utilise systems like Applied Epic®.

The rise of aggregator sites has had a profound effect on the way brokers want to structure their business, and while there is renewed confidence, it comes from brokers having clearly defined the shape of the business they want to create. The arrival of personal lines aggregator sites has driven down prices, and brokers have made the decision to diversify into commercial lines. They are more focused on commercial lines and have become composite brokers, and they see the benefit of e-trading commercial risks. As commercial combined policies deliver greater efficiencies, we are now reaching a tipping point at which brokers will see e-trading as the way to access and place cover for commercial risks.

Going forward, I believe the growing sophistication of e-trading capabilities we can provide will continue to make our brokers' lives easier, speed the transaction process and drive efficiencies. We plan to incorporate the broad capabilities in Canada and the United States into the UK market as we continue to enhance our e-trading capabilities and the overall efficiency we deliver to brokers.

Get your copy of the Insurance Times 2023 Digital Adoption Report.