Bidding Coverage Every Year

[volstrike3]

I have been a commercial producer for 5 years but I have yet to understand the insurance industry's take on this topic. Bidding every year for the best price and coverage is why people work with independent insurance brokers. If they cannot count on us to do the shopping for them, what good are we.

I am sure I will get several responses saying we provide expertise and knowledge and there should be loyalty which is true, but the loyalty cuts both ways. How many times have you had the incumbent carrier release a high renewal quote only to come back and slash 10-20% off of the premium or expand coverage/remove an exclusion in an effort to keep the account. They will charge as much as possible year after year on a clean account unless there is some competition.

It is easy for us as agents or underwriters to complain about clients being price buyers but can you blame them? Obviously I am not talking about penny pinchers grinding you down but there can be some big time rate differences on a large commercial account. What if it was your money? Would you spend $20-50-100k more just because the current carrier provided good service? Great service is a minimum expectation, not a reason to pay a higher premium.