Top Brokers Call Technology the Big Post-Covid Agency Challenge

Insurtech/Online Competition; Claims Management; Data Security; Antiquated Systems cited.

PLANO, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Technology issues continue to be the prevalent challenge facing the largest insurance brokers in the coming year, according to a panel of senior executives at the 50 largest insurance brokerage firms, in a survey conducted by Browne & Mohan, and sponsored by Exdion Solutions.

More than half of the brokerage executives highlighted technology-related issues. The executive panel cited competition from emerging Insurtech and online services as the major challenge facing the large brokerage firms.

The study surveyed more than 75 senior operating executives about what they identified as the major challenges facing the insurance agency industry in a post-Covid 19 marketplace.

The study was designed and managed by Browne & Mohan. Technology challenges permeated the broker responses. Browne & Mohan said the survey concluded that technology is a significant component, if not at the heart, of the strategic issues that these senior executives identified.

The survey was commissioned and sponsored by Exdion Solutions, Inc, the 21-year-old Insurtech solutions provider for the insurance brokerage market. Exdion’s policy-checking technology has automated the agency policy-checking process and reduced policy checking backlogs, cut policy checking lag time from 65 to 9 days and significantly reduced agency E&O risk.

Executives also cited agency management systems (AMS) integrations, the increased data security risks, capacity and administrative challenges by switch to the work-from-home environment as salient challenges.

Poor claims management was rated as another key challenge. Time-consuming, inefficient, and inviting the risk of human error were cited as the shortcomings of existing manual claims processes. M&A had also contributed to the complexity of administration as a variety of antiquated and disparate agency legacy systems operated across different regional offices of the agency.

These agency management executives face increasing technology challenges stemming from the continuation of the trends for increased insurance agency merger and acquisition activity which is anticipated to accelerate once the pandemic ends. M&A can create a technology nightmare with antiquated, overlapping, and conflicting AMS software, another technology challenges.

Exdion’s Dan Narayan, Vice President of Business Development noted that almost half of the executive respondents said their organizations were prepared for the needed post-pandemic technology change.

Narayan also noted that the other half of the respondents reported dissatisfaction or ignorance with their agency’s preparation for anticipated post-pandemic technology challenges. These executives, Narayan said, also rated the automating manual processes as the key priority for planned insurance technology investments. Costs and revenue were the second most important factor.

The executives also opined agencies like to work with technology specialist partners since they face challenges:

• the scarcity of technology specialists.
• improved management of innovation.
• questions about the ability of the organization to respond to rapid technology change.
• the need to create a positive technology R&D culture within their organizations.

Exdion Solutions is an Insurtech that partners with Insurance agencies and brokers to enable future ready businesses. Servicing some of the most successful global insurance businesses, Exdion’s solutions focus on delivering sophisticated technology through simple, flexible, and affordable engagement models. Exdion delivers a suite of digitization tools and platforms that work in tandem with agency management systems cutting across new business generation, renewals, and compliance.