Superior Access Insurance Services, Inc., executives include (seated, from left) Richard Swoy, chairman, and Ron Chamberlain, CLU, ChFC, president and CEO. Standing, from left, are Silvia Kwok, chief operating officer; Mike Mayo, executive vice president, e-commerce; and Horace Beahm, chief financial officer.
Much has been written about how the Internet will replace independent agents as more business and personal consumers go to the Web to purchase a full range of insurance products. While this view of how the Web will affect the insurance distribution system doesn't give nearly enough credit to the value of agents and their personal relationships with clients, the fact remains that the Web will change how agents distribute insurance products and services. The recently published Addison Study commissioned by IIAA clearly shows that both business and personal consumers want to do business with agents electronically. Agents must respond by becoming "wired" and providing the ability for their clients to interact using the Internet. SuperiorAccess.com is a Web site whose mission it is to provide agents with the electronic tools necessary for them to compete in the new electronic marketplace.
Superior Access Insurance Services (SAIS) is a managing general agency that offers wholesale insurance products, goods and services to agents and brokers across the country. They began operations in 1995 with personal lines fire as their primary market. The company currently generates over $55 million in written premium and they have over 4,400 appointed producing agents. Their Internet strategy evolved from an initial offering of workers compensation insurance. SuperiorAccess.com now provides agents with a single Web site to access company markets, instant Internet-based quoting for each program, proposal generation, and other products and services (such as MVRs).
Among Mike Mayo's responsibilities is to connect agents to the electronic world.
SuperiorAccess.com currently offers commercial insurance, personal lines and life and health programs. (See listing at end of article.) Some of the largest insurance companies in the United States are affiliated with the Web site and more are being added every week. According to Mike Mayo, vice president, e-commerce, "The Internet strategy of SuperiorAccess.com works well because it benefits all of the participants. The agents and brokers benefit from getting instant quotes and fair compensation for markets that they may not be able to obtain anywhere else. They can literally turn their computer on and be in business overnight with the markets, goods and services that they need to conduct business efficiently. SuperiorAccess.com saves agents time and makes them more money. The consumers benefit from rapid access by their agent to fairly priced and reputable insurance products."
According to Mayo, their company partners, as well as the agents, benefit from participation in the Web site. "The carriers receive rapid distribution and premium growth without the marketing expense typically associated with such growth. Further, every line of business offered at SuperiorAccess.com is extremely profitable. The participating companies have no expenses associated with marketing, policy issuance, premium billing, agency appointments and the like."
Agents can make use of the quoting capacity of the site by having agency staff access the quoting engine on behalf of a particular client, or the agency can create a link on the agency's own Web site to allow clients and prospects to request their own quotes. The process works like this:
"SuperiorAccess.com provides agents and brokers with instant quotes and fair compensation for markets that they may not be able to obtain anywhere else."
--Mike Mayo
* The agent goes to the SuperiorAccess.com Web site and inputs the necessary information for a quote. Once eligibility is determined, the agent receives an instant online quote and can print a complete application. The software underwrites this quote--credits, debits or declines in the same way that an underwriter would. An agent can also set up his/her own Web site to allow a client or prospect to use the Superior Access quote engine on a private label basis. The quote that the prospect receives is generated with the agent's name and comes with instructions on how to request coverage from the agent. The agent receives an e-mail every time a consumer receives a quote from the site.
* When the agent sells the policy based on the quote, he/she faxes in the completed and signed application and quote with a check or draft check authorization with a request to bind. At SAIS an underwriter reviews the request to make sure nothing unacceptable slips through. The underwriter approves or declines within hours. Silvia Kwok is COO and in charge of the underwriting process.
Silvia Kowk and Ron Chamberlain acknowledge that the SuperiorAccess.com strategy benefits all of the participants--producers, carriers and consumers.
* If the submission is approved, the underwriter pulls the stored quote and application completed by the agent from the database on the server. This data is sent electronically and populates the policy issuance system and the premium billing system. The policy prints and is either sent electronically or mailed to the agent. All pertinent documents, including signatures are saved in the agency management system and are readily available to the claims adjusters or company auditors, real-time, at will. Agents are paid on a combined statement once a month. Carriers receive a complete electronic feed of premium and accounting from the SAIS office.
* If the agent has an agency management system, he/she will have to reenter the policy information into his/her own system. SAIS has been testing the ACORD XML standard to transfer data and expects to introduce this new capability later this summer. As soon as the technology becomes available, SAIS is prepared to transfer this data in real time. Download may be an option for those agents who have it set up with a company that underwrites a particular program.
Should a claim occur, SAIS takes claims information from the carrier and loads that back into their own database. This information allows reports to be run that compare claims with premium by line of business, class code, agency, industry, ZIP code, etc. Insurance company personnel can run real-time premium and claim analysis reports to track the quality of the program. By reviewing this information, Superior Access and the carriers can make adjustments to the classes, rates, or underwriting questions to ensure the best performance of that book of business. If a program is modified, the changes are made in real time and all Web sites (SAIS, carrier, agents) are updated instantaneously. This process allows the carrier to have confidence in the program and should lead to more stable markets.
The appointment process
It costs nothing to be appointed a producer for Superior Access and there are no production requirements. The agent is required to sign a producer agreement, show a valid license for each state where he/she wants to transact business, and provide a copy of the dec page or a certificate of a valid E&O policy. If an agent does not currently have a Web site, Superior Access can create one for $500 and host it for $80 per month. For agents who have a Web site and want to provide the Superior Access quoting from their own site, there is an $80 per month license fee. For this fee, Superior Access will provide the hyperlinks to place on your Web site that will take clients and prospects to the quoting engines. Users will not know they have been transferred to the Superior Access site as it will have the same look and feel as the agent site.
In addition to the online quoting, SAIS provides its producers access to other services. Additional services include motor vehicle reports, custom Web sites, Internet service, online insurance education, office supplies, Polaroid film, computers and digital cameras, financial calculators, relevant insurance industry news, access to free e-mail accounts, printing, postage and shipping, etc. These services are priced competitively due to the large number of agents represented.
Superior Access is a privately held corporation and has not taken venture capital. "We have always had to watch our bottom line to ensure that we are showing profits. Unlike other Internet start-ups, we developed all of this with our own resources. This has made us tremendously fast and efficient. We can turn an insurance manual into a complete single-entry program with underwriting, rating and policy issuance in two to three weeks," says Mike Mayo. SAIS developed an assembly line, global development technique that allows Superior Access to roll out programs quickly and inexpensively. "These skills have served us very well. We have been pleasantly surprised by the carriers' reaction to these economies and timelines."
Mike Mayo has leveraged his agency background since he joined Superior Access in 1997. Joining the company as vice president of the workers compensation insurance division, he developed the company's first series of WC quoting Web sites and has since expanded Internet underwriting and distribution to other lines. As executive vice president of e-commerce and marketing, Mayo is now charged with automating all insurance products in all states. Richard Swoy, chairman, and Ron Chamberlain, CEO/president, have been involved in agency operations. This level of understanding how an agency operates shows in the design and development of the business.
Superior Access, in the true MGU/wholesaler tradition, earns its revenue the same way as other similar organizations do--they add value to the transaction and in return receive a percentage of premium only when their programs perform.
The company goal is to have the single largest distribution system (number of agents) in the country in three years, selling the majority of insurance classes in every state in the country.
Their success has been due to an understanding of how an agency operates and a clear vision of what the independent agency system provides. Mayo emphasizes that SAIS' only customer is the agent. SAIS never deals with the agent's client or prospect directly. In other words, according to Mayo, "Our job is to enable agents to make money." *
The author
Steve Anderson has been a licensed insurance agent for over 20 years. He is president of steveanderson.com, Inc., and heads American Insurance Consultants (AIC), which provides products and services that help agents maximize profits using commonsense technology. He can be reached at (615) 599-0085. E-mails are welcome at steve@SteveAnderson.com or visit his Web site (www.steveanderson.com).
According to Ron Chamberlain, not all programs are available in all states. Here is a list of the programs. (Current through May 2000.)
Workers compensation
Apartment
Owners, landlords and tenants
Restaurant
Businessowners policies
Comprehensive general liability
Mobile homes
In-home business
Homeowners
Excess flood
Flood
Automobile
Earthquake
Boat and yacht
Long term care
Life and health