The Role Of Insurance Brokers

18 January, 2023

The number of Insurance Brokers in the country stands at almost One Hundred and Two (102) as at the December, 2022 but very few people really understand what part the broker plays in the scheme of things. It is a known fact that when people are faced with tax problems, they contact their Accountants or Auditors, when they have a legal problem, they go to their Lawyers but they think they can handle their insurance issues themselves. We believe this is a mistake as insurance issues should be rightly discussed with Expert or Insurance Broker.

THE BROKER
An insurance broker is essentially an intermediary between the insuring public and the insurance company. The Broker is a trained insurance professional who deals with most insurance companies on the market and as such knows the policies written by these companies and the rates applying on the market for the various classes of business. The insured, who approaches the broker therefore benefits from his/her experience on the market and is able to advise the insured of the right policies to buy for their protection.

RATES
As a layman in the insurance industry, one may go to a company and be quoted a rate for a particular insurance, let us say fire. As the insured does not know what pertains on the market, he/she does not know whether the rate quoted is too high or too low and therefore goes ahead to buy it. Had they approached a broker, they would probably have saved themselves a fortune.

COVER
Again, the particular policy sold to the client may not be too relevant to the insured’s operations or there may be gaps in the cover sold the client but because the client does not have any professional knowledge of insurance, will not be able to detect these gaps. In the event of a claim, they have the shock of their lives when they are told there is no cover in force.

SECURITY OF THE INSURER
A broker can advise which insurer has the right financial security to write a particular business. How good a broker is can only be evident after a claim. The essence of taking out an insurance policy is to be reimbursed in the event of a claim. Some insurers do not have the financial strength to pay claims when they occur and the broker can easily advise the insured on this.

WHAT A BROKER WILL DO FOR YOU IF APPOINTED
The first thing a Broker will do for the client is to carry out an Audit of the insured’s current insurance policies. This will show whether the client/insured has the insurances that are relevant to their operations in force or not, whether the sums insured are adequate, whether the cover meets the need of the client, whether the rates are reasonable or not and whether the insurers carrying the risk are financially adequate. A report on all these will be prepared for the insured and discussed thoroughly with the broker giving recommendations on the way forward.

SAVINGS
Brokers will re-negotiate rates, change insurers where necessary, advise the insured to increase the cover and sums insured where required. Experts have done this exercise so many times and invariably have saved clients’ money.They also save you time in the sense that you spend your time doing your core business instead of letting your staff chasing after certificates and claims.

CLAIMS
In the event of a claim, ARB Insurance Brokers will visit your premises to discuss how the loss occurred and how this should be presented to insurers.

We will follow up with all the documentation required from the insured to the insurers and negotiate the settlement of the claim on your behalf. This is very crucial as it is not uncommon to have insurers misinterpret policy conditions to the disadvantage of the insured.

It pays therefore to use a BROKER.

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