Carrier Relations

2023 Insurance Carrier Satisfaction Survey

The 2023 OIA Insurance Carrier Satisfaction Survey was conducted in order to quantify the extent to which agents were satisfied with the insurance carriers whose products they represent. The ultimate purpose of the study was to obtain results that could be used by the OIA Carrier Relations Committee to facilitate a dialogue between the organization and the insurance carriers, in hopes of maintaining and improving the agent-carrier relationship.

 

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Carrier Relations Committee

At the beginning of 2023, we constructed a team of independent insurance agent volunteer leaders located across Ohio who convene on a quarterly basis to strengthen the independent agency system by enhancing the working relationships between carriers and independent agents. Serving on this committee includes:

The first initiative coming out of this committee was creating and executing the Insurance Carrier Satisfaction Survey, where agent principals were able to provide feedback about the carriers that they do business with. The subsequent pages of this report, share the findings of this survey along with analysis and insights that were concluded from the aggregated data.

Since the survey closed at the end of August, we have provided the findings to the respective carriers and are now releasing the data to our members. Overall, our goal of this survey is to help bridge the gap between agencies and carriers in our state and strengthen the partnership between the two parties.

Want to get Involved?

We’re always looking for passionate individuals to join the committee! If you are interested in joining the Carrier Relations Committee, reach out to Dustin Mahrt at dustin@ohioinsuranceagents.com.

Background on Current Environment

In the past two tumultuous years, the insurance industry faced unprecedented challenges like high claims, labor shortages, inflation, and supply chain disruptions, resulting in the toughest market in 40 years. This strained relationships between insurance agents and carriers.

Despite a longstanding partnership between them, agents voiced concerns over carriers’ lack of transparency in handling these challenges. Carriers responded with measures like limiting new business and cutting commissions to stabilize their finances, causing consternation among agents. OIA conducted a survey to gauge agent principals’ sentiments about their top three carrier partners, receiving over 300 responses.

Report Structure

The structure of this report is based on previous versions of the survey and the results are compiled in a summary based on carrier type. A copy of the survey questions can be found later in the report. The study and subsequent report focus on such key issues as:

  • Delivering a true partnership experience with ease of doing business, providing accuracy and clarity in communication between the agent and carrier.
  • Current turnaround times, for both personal and commercial lines, quotes.
  • Perceptions of the carrier management of their resources related to the agent-carrier relationship.
  • The competitiveness of the insurance companies’ offerings with personal auto, homeowners and commercial products.
  • The companies’ commission/compensation and profit-sharing structures.
  • The underwriting attitudes of the insurance carrier on responsiveness to inquiries, flexibility, consistency on renewals, the quality of underwriting with personal and commercial, and attention to detail.
  • The marketing support provided by the carriers through recognition, co-op advertising, roadshows, and field support.
  • Overall claims handling on contact time with client, settlement satisfaction, sensible reserves, knowledge of coverage for personal and commercial.
  • Company website attributes with ease of use, speed, ability to rate all products and integration with the agency AMS.
  • Billing systems used by the carriers on accuracy, readability, and flexible pay options.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are you going to show the raw data from the agency responses?

No, this survey was conducted in confidence. Agents were encouraged to share insights with OIA for the purposes of OIA compiling the results in an anonymous manner and sharing those results in the aggregate.

Are you going to share the individual results from each carrier?

No, we compiled this information to be shared in the aggregate form so we could focus on improving the agent-carrier relationship. We shared the Top 3 results for individual carriers in the consolidated 10 categories.

How did agents decide which carriers to rank?

We asked agents to rank their top 3 carriers by Direct Written Premium Volume in their agency.

What does 300 insights mean?

We received 300 responses on individual carriers. Based on our estimates, it is likely that several of our top carriers had a response rate of 15% to 25% of their appointed agency force in Ohio. For carriers with a higher volume of agency appointments, the figure likely represents less than 5%.

Why did you divide up the results based on carrier category?

This allowed us to get greater aggregated results for a type of carrier. We did not find any outlier carriers from the aggregated category results that we compiled for the report.

Who responded to the survey?

Agency Principals completed the survey.

Questions?

If you have further questions about the report or anything else related to carrier relations, fill out the form below and we’ll get back to you.

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