The development of the web as a business and promotion sales vehicle for financial services and insurance continues to be dramatic over the past few years and has grown in line with only probably the most ambitious expectations of the techno geek and web disciple.
Price comparison internet sites and quote products abound and provide a quick and usually cheap solution to the financial and insurance requirements of people and companies alike.
These products will probably be viewed many as the same services, in competition with each other and providing broadly identical product whether it's online motor cover, commercial insurance or the multitude of other services which can be available.
This is usually not the case at all. There are 3 major forms of supplier offering these products on the internet and also the variations between the three are actually rather startling and they have a substantial bearing on the product and service you are actually purchasing.
The first category to think about is that of aggregators. There are a few very noteworthy examples of these kinds of business and they have seen an extremely dramatic increase in business during the last few years. These aggregators have spent a considerable sum of money in promoting their services and sometimes allude to "cutting out the middleman" as a suggestion that this makes their product less costly than those sold through more conventional brokers.
In reality these websites charge the companies to appear on their websites and are paid a commission in respect of the product sales they create through their site. The wrapping up of the sales procedure is also the end of the connection with you as there is no continuing support from the portal; until obviously the next year when you'll be contacted once more with the hope that they may arrange this insurance with a different provider.
Such kind of activity would normally be regarded as "churning" by the insurance company and could be frowned upon. Insurers appear to have introduced a new perspective for aggregators, in no little part due to the quantity of business they attract.
There aggregator will not be involved throughout the policy year and won't provide you with assistance or independent advice on your policy or in the occurrence of any claim.
The next class is the direct insurance web site, it is a site run by an insurance company designed to advertise their products only and you may be offered a contract or quote from merely their policy range and the competitiveness or otherwise will very much depend on the particular insurance companies inclination for the class of business.
You will receive continuing support from the insurance company behind the web site and they'll assist you with an questions or claims that will arise under the policy.
It is true to say that this advice won't be independent, that is not to say it is going to essentially be bad advice, it is simply not independent and naturally in any claims negotiation the insurer has a vested interest in settling the losses on the very best terms to itself albeit fairly.
The third principal way is via the professional insurance intermediary or insurance broker. An insurance broker offers access to a range of products from insurers that they carry out business with, This panel of insurers will be developed by the agent to ensure that it is both competitive in premiums and offers a policy which is deemed to be satisfactory by the agent for the class of business concerned.
The agent is going to be available to assist you with mid-term questions on insurance and will be able to offer independent advice and guidance in the event of claim. Brokers are paid in a variety of ways, there is generally a commission payable by the the insurance company to the agent and agents may charge supplementary fees and charges on to the client, there is certainly often a mix of the 2 .
Price comparison internet sites and quote products abound and provide a quick and usually cheap solution to the financial and insurance requirements of people and companies alike.
These products will probably be viewed many as the same services, in competition with each other and providing broadly identical product whether it's online motor cover, commercial insurance or the multitude of other services which can be available.
This is usually not the case at all. There are 3 major forms of supplier offering these products on the internet and also the variations between the three are actually rather startling and they have a substantial bearing on the product and service you are actually purchasing.
The first category to think about is that of aggregators. There are a few very noteworthy examples of these kinds of business and they have seen an extremely dramatic increase in business during the last few years. These aggregators have spent a considerable sum of money in promoting their services and sometimes allude to "cutting out the middleman" as a suggestion that this makes their product less costly than those sold through more conventional brokers.
In reality these websites charge the companies to appear on their websites and are paid a commission in respect of the product sales they create through their site. The wrapping up of the sales procedure is also the end of the connection with you as there is no continuing support from the portal; until obviously the next year when you'll be contacted once more with the hope that they may arrange this insurance with a different provider.
Such kind of activity would normally be regarded as "churning" by the insurance company and could be frowned upon. Insurers appear to have introduced a new perspective for aggregators, in no little part due to the quantity of business they attract.
There aggregator will not be involved throughout the policy year and won't provide you with assistance or independent advice on your policy or in the occurrence of any claim.
The next class is the direct insurance web site, it is a site run by an insurance company designed to advertise their products only and you may be offered a contract or quote from merely their policy range and the competitiveness or otherwise will very much depend on the particular insurance companies inclination for the class of business.
You will receive continuing support from the insurance company behind the web site and they'll assist you with an questions or claims that will arise under the policy.
It is true to say that this advice won't be independent, that is not to say it is going to essentially be bad advice, it is simply not independent and naturally in any claims negotiation the insurer has a vested interest in settling the losses on the very best terms to itself albeit fairly.
The third principal way is via the professional insurance intermediary or insurance broker. An insurance broker offers access to a range of products from insurers that they carry out business with, This panel of insurers will be developed by the agent to ensure that it is both competitive in premiums and offers a policy which is deemed to be satisfactory by the agent for the class of business concerned.
The agent is going to be available to assist you with mid-term questions on insurance and will be able to offer independent advice and guidance in the event of claim. Brokers are paid in a variety of ways, there is generally a commission payable by the the insurance company to the agent and agents may charge supplementary fees and charges on to the client, there is certainly often a mix of the 2 .
About the Author:
Blackfriars Group is a dedicated commercial insurance broker providing instant on-line quotes for commercial insurance services for a wide variety of businesses and offering first class services in start-up business insurance.
