When The App Becomes a Trap

Story by Bill Haber / July 20, 2021

The App Trap: Complex Cyber Process Driving Agent Behavior

Many businesses today find themselves in full sprint to adopt data-driven decision making, while simultaneously wanting to streamline processes to make themselves easier to do business with. There is an interesting dilemma currently facing Insurance agencies and the underwriters who draft their clients policies, and it concerns the thirst for greater client data.  

Across the competitive cyber-insurance market, no two applications are identical. These apps are evolving quickly to keep pace with increased threats and breach activity. More thorough cyber insurance applications are needed to allow underwriters to make more informed decisions. Increasing the data requested sometimes involves a risk of losing market share to “Quick-Quoters,” competitors who offer simple, speedy applications that might overlook critical information needed to protect against actual risk and avoid losses.   

The most thorough applications are typically required among larger enterprises, and can be complex 10 to 20 page inquiries seeking very detailed client technical and process information.  More of this complexity is finding its way into small and medium-sized business products. These applications can be very time consuming for both clients and agents, most of whom become exhausted by the proposition of increased effort to market the account. All too often, they get completed by an administrator with some degree of guesswork, and agencies often lack the expertise to assist the clients with accurate responses.  Many agents regard cyber and crime policies as ancillary coverages, far from the more lucrative products they are happy to invest their time on. Increasingly, individual agents are making decisions on which markets they go to based upon the complexity of the application process.  Even agencies with initiatives to reduce wholesalers are seeing their agents turning to specialized players who make cyber processes easier. 

As a result of this market behavior, underwriters are faced with a challenging dilemma – simplify the application process to cast a wider net to harvest clients from, but accept significantly increased risk from the onset to do so. This can have disastrous effects, and can find its way to more limited products, far too generic policy coverage, and decreased overall value to clients. It may even create reduced quote-to-bind ratios.

Many agents and clients respond positively to less complex applications, even at the cost of reduced commissions and profits.  However, this can easily correspond to claims and losses that opens a different can of worms.

What Can Be Done?

Don’t let a complex app create a business trap. The role of insurance professionals is to protect clients, help them to help themselves, and work hard to avoid risk. Now, that work can be offloaded to forward thinking vendors with the best of risk management practices in mind. 

TEKRiSQ solves this problem using best-in-class human assessments that are fast, easy to schedule and affordable. TEKRiSk will not only uncover your clients true risk(s), but also convert the responses from our process into reliable data that provides everything the underwriters need… and more.  Working with TEKRiSQ, everybody wins;

• Agents: Learn your client’s exposure to technology risks, even if they don’t always know the answers. Eliminate this complicated, time-consuming homework assignment from everybody’s schedule. You will help your clients as this threat skyrockets, skip the complex applications and protect yourself from increasing E&O risks! TEKRiSQ automates this and makes it painless.
• Agencies: Reduce time spent on complex marketing efforts, and start to make cyber, crime, IP, E&O and even D&O associated risks a positive use of agency time. With clients needing coverage more than ever, now you can automate processes, increase premium and improve coverage terms, and address risk management to ensure clients put the right practices in place. Watch your quote-to-bind ratio spike, while simultaneously avoiding claims. The TEKRiSQ process delivers simplicity and amazing results and puts time back in your agency’s hands.
• Underwriters: Now you can receive all the data you require and more, using an independent means of collection. Capture a reliable, independently prepared application, along with a risk review and additional details you may not have identified to evaluate the resilience of a potential client. Set predictable standards for data collection without having to reinvent the app with every risk, and eliminate client and agent resistance to an outdated process.
• Clients: work with skilled professionals who speak the language of business, minimize technology jargon, and focus on business to frame your exposure to risk. Establish a baseline to work from, and collaborate with your trusted advisor(s) to make progress incrementally.

If you’re ready to talk about streamlined process across cyber insurance applications, contact us.

Categories: Blog