market talk
PLUS! by the Editor
Nick Houghton Service please!
The quest for high quality service levels in the intermediary market is a two-way process. Insurers usually bear the brunt of the criticism when things go wrong, but what about the presentational and support aspects from the broking side? That topic is discussed here with Nick Houghton, MD of Broker Network and Countrywide, who claim to have made a major breakthrough on service with their ‘NTR’ solution set up in August 2010.
actuarially, and that’s why insurer boardrooms traditionally gave short measure to anything they could not count - like customer service. (Strange that, because of the things they did pore over every day like unearned premiums, claims paid, running expenses etc - all capable of precise capture - claims reserving and IBNR forecasting must have been - and still are - every bit as elusive as weighing the value of performing well for the buyer and broker.) Things have changed for the
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better, thanks to many of today’s leaders who apply their instincts perhaps more than solely relying on the numbers to push good customer orientation. But it’s only natural that the major effort tends to mirror the 80/20 phenomenon, concentrating the service
20 insurancepeople MARCH 2011
he value of good customer service is difficult to pin down
resources on the 20% of brokers who provide 80% of the business. And there’s the rub. How can any intermediary unable to offer the sheer volumes required to get into the 80/20 club obtain the higher service levels? Join a network is today’s answer and Broker Network itself claims to have taken that theme one step further with its ‘NTR’ solution. MD Nick Houghton takes up the story: “Today’s need is to open up access to underwriters for brokers and secure the same service levels enjoyed by the top insurers’ key account brokers. It’s simply that we have provided the means for other brokers to join the party.
“The Network Trading Room set up in Knaresborough, or ‘NTR’ as we call it, became operational in August 2010. It currently has seven insurers on the panel, six of whom have their underwriters permanently on the premises. Fifty brokers currently have access, and their initial feedback highlights the value of the service angle. “Broker Direct members placing business through the NTR like the set-up, saying it removes the necessity for them to chase submissions. A quotation has been offered in over 70% of cases submitted. We are told the levels of service coming out of the NTR are streets ahead of what those brokers say they can acquire
directly with the selfsame insurers from their own offices. “That’s not to decry the insurers concerned. Their focus has to be on their top 20% brokers who provide them with the proverbial 80% of their business. From the insurers’ viewpoint they obtain good quality submission. Since set-up, over £2.5m has been written.
“The successful pilot finished in January and we had a queue of members wanting to join from 1 February. That’s when we started to roll out the service beyond the initial 50 brokers. We are doing this slowly though, and monitor performance very closely. It’s obviously imperative that we
maintain the service levels which make the NTR so special. We won’t risk the quality being compromised and we’ve worked hard behind the scenes to make sure that this won’t happen.” It seems Broker Network have hit a rich seam in the broker ‘needs’ area - a service which brokers desperately require in today’s marketplace. But how hectic has it been?
“It’s been a meteoric year,” says Nick Houghton whose new role and responsibilities are now firmly carved out. “Record numbers of members joined the network in 2010 (bringing with them £100m GWP), and there’s also a growing number joining
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