Behind this virtual brokerage’s recent partnership

The ability to have unique, cutting-edge, customizable broker software was one of the key reasons behind virtual brokerage Cheep Insurance’s decision to partner with Southampton Financial, the brokerage’s president tells Canadian Underwriter.

On July 2, insurance investment group Southampton Financial announced its equity partnership with WebBroker Canada Inc., the driving force behind Cheep Insurance. The deal helps provide the home and auto brokerage with advanced technology. 

Cheep Insurance is a specialty brokerage that deals mostly with non-standard customers, such as drivers who’ve had previously cancelled auto insurance policies, accidents, claims, and convictions, explains brokerage president Steve Earle. 

“And when you’re dealing with a broker management system that is designed really for everyone, it was really challenging to be unique and afford any kind of customization,” Earle said. “The software available to us today is meant for the common denominator. 

“And Cheep is very unique. It’s not a traditional broker in that sense, so it needs untraditional IT.” 

If Cheep Insurance wants to do things differently technologically, it has to “put people on it versus technology on it,” Earle explains. However, the partnership provides a greater level of automation and more open-source connections with insurers and other vendors.  

The transition to Southampton’s digital platform will take some time. 

“We’re not going to transition right away,” he adds. “We have to develop a roadmap for that because obviously, it’s very complicated. But we’re looking at four to eight months in order to re-platform ourselves…” 

Cheep is also looking to expand into Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, Earle says, with a planned Ontario expansion coming in about two months. The deal with Southampton helps with scale, regulatory compliance, governance and legal aspects.  

“Cheep is interesting because it does not have a physical location whatsoever. It never has. It’s always been a 100% virtual brokerage.” 

Individual brokerage needs will dictate whether a business wants to go with a partnership, an outright or partial, or so on, Earle says. “None of them are wrong.” 

In his case, he didn’t want his brokerage to become part of another brand and lose a bit of its identity. “For us, if we have a unique value proposition in dealing with specialty customers that have unique needs, we need to maintain our individualism and the character that comes with us…” 

 

Feature image by iStock.com/Midnight Studio