Editor’s note: There is a tremendous amount of data available to agents and carriers that can be loaded into a property insurance application. Some of that comes from carrier databases, some might be from CoreLogic or other data providers, and some will come from the property owners themselves via agent input. The availability of data is no longer a constraint on getting an accurate policy quote at the best price for the client. The issue now is getting the right data to the carrier, doing it efficiently, and making sure all data collected or submitted by the agent or held by the agency are properly categorized and protected. Jerry Fox of CoreLogic spotlights some of the data-sharing issues agents and carriers are facing.
Why doesn’t the carrier already have property data on this home?
Is this quote accurate, or will I have to go back to the homeowner with a revision?
All agents wants to provide the best product for their customers, but questions like the ones above make it difficult to quote policies with multiple carriers. Often, timing is critical, and the need for speed is essential to a consumer. For example, imagine a scenario where an agent receives a frantic phone call from a homeowner who is trying to close a mortgage loan but forgot the need to provide proof of homeowners insurance coverage. This agent may choose to quote a policy with a single carrier knowing that it can take an average of 20 minutes to enter consumer-supplied property information at each carrier’s portal with no guarantee that the quotes will be based on a consistent and accurate reconstruction cost. Therefore, while bidding a homeowners policy with a single carrier may get the job done, a question remains: Is this the best product for my client?
Comparative rating vendors can help agents achieve the goal of recommending the best product by reducing the time it takes to bid multiple carriers and bind a homeowners policy. Unfortunately, timing is only half of the equation. The other half is accuracy.
Often a carrier will quote a policy based on limited pre-fill data or homeowner-supplied property information. The agent will choose the best product for the client and later have to withdraw the quote when the carrier discovers it was missing pertinent information the first time around. Imagine the frustration of all involved parties.
A quicker and more accurate scenario would be one-time entry of the customer’s new address by the agent into a comparative rating platform. A single valuation of the new home would be generated from integrated pre-fill property and building-cost data then electronically delivered to multiple carriers. The agent is able to provide value to the customer by getting an accurate policy bound in a timely manner without having to ask multiple questions about the new property—information that the homeowner may be lacking.
While having comprehensive and complete data solves the problem of accuracy and timeliness, it’s important to remember the stringent regulations surrounding the protection of non-public personal information (NPPI). It’s the agent’s responsibility to know the lineage of all non-public data and to protect it once it’s in their possession. Once public personal information (PPI) is combined—either knowingly or unknowingly—with non-public personal information, it can quickly all become non-public personal information.
Bottom line? When underwriting property insurance, carriers and third-party comparative rating vendors should continue to work together to enable consistent and accurate property valuations as well as a faster, more streamlined point-of-sale experience for the agent and the consumer.
Jerry Fox is the Market Leader for Insurance Agents and Brokers at CoreLogic.