The problem with asking clients fewer questions

Brokers and carriers are trying to simplify the insurance binding process and that’s potentially leaving clients in precarious positions when it comes to claims time, warns one award-winning broker.

“It used to be that people had to decide how much to insure their contents for. Now we take can all his decisions away from [him] and make it automatic,” said Monica Woldring, a recent winner of the CIP Society’s National Leadership Award. “And most people don’t understand how much stuff they actually have in their house until they have a claim.”

Consumers generally don’t take an interest in their insurance coverage until they need to make a claim. That’s when they realize they didn’t get the best advice or didn’t take into consideration everything in their home. “I’ve had clients ask me why they need to have 80% of their house value in contents. Well, have they opened up their cupboard doors and looked inside?” she asked. “Have they looked in their drawers? How many pairs of socks do you have? They look at me and wonder why that’s important. Because that’s what we have to replace.”

People tend to think of the things they see every day, like their television or sofa. But if their home is lost in a fire, those things they use once a year like Christmas decorations are also gone, she pointed out.

“And when there’s a claim, they want it all back – if they can remember what they’ve got,” said Woldring, who is vice president of commercial insurance for InsureLine Brokers Inc. in Port Coquitlam, B.C. She spoke personally and not as a representative of her brokerage. Canadian Underwriter reached out to her after she won the award to ask her about the state of the insurance industry and broker business today.

Woldring’s advice for her fellow brokers is simple: Ask questions. That way, you can get more details about your client’s situation and can get them better coverage.

The lack of detail-gathering speaks to the pressure being put on making sales. “We pay our producers compensation based on sales. What does that make them want to do? Sell more and sell faster,” Woldring said.

She has as a motto: Take care of the customer and the commission will take care of itself. That’s why, she said, she hasn’t needed to advertise to boost her client book. Her new clients come from referrals.

“You are going to be charged, in the personal lines side, with insuring the single most expensive item that person ever bought, and that’s their house If you don’t do it right, they’re still going to owe the bank and they’re not going to get any money from the insurance company. We have to do it right,” Woldring said. “Sales for the sake of sales doesn’t mean anything if you’re not selling the right coverage. And I think a large part of our industry doesn’t look at it that way.”