2023 UK Digital Adoption Report 4 Survey Insights for UK Brokers

2023 Digital Adoption Report

Digital Adoption Moving at Pace

Produced by Insurance Times in association with Applied, the 2023 Digital Adoption Report looks at digital strategies UK brokers pursue, including digital activity, digital investment stages, risks faced, digital adoption barriers, services that can be transformed digitally, and much more.

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4 Key Takeaways

Business Impact: While embracing a digital strategy is becoming a standard practice across the insurance industry, many brokers have yet to devise one. A digital strategy is essential in a digital world. Technology automates the manual, time-consuming tasks of managing a brokerage. It gives brokers a competitive edge, empowering them to deliver a superior customer experience, increase operational efficiencies, make better and faster business decisions, and form stronger relationships with insurers.

Finding: 73% of brokers reported implementing a digital strategy at their brokerage. This was a significant 16% increase year on year compared to 63% in 2022.

“Our systems were old and clunky, and we spent far too much time double-tapping information. By moving to Applied, it really takes us into the new generation of how we deal with clients. It gives us more time to communicate with clients, instead of just typing the information.” John Paul Allcock , Managing Director at NFP UK & Ireland

John Paul Allcock

“Our customers want to have some control over their own insurance, and having a customer portal which allows our customers to self-serve is a key service which customers now expect.” James Woollam , Managing Director, Hayes Parsons Group

Business Impact: There is significant untapped potential in harnessing technology for comprehensive brokerage optimisation. If brokers want to compete and thrive, they need to make digital access for customers and employees a focus. Mobile apps allow customers to manage their policies autonomously, which means brokers can spend less time dealing with simple, yet time-consuming tasks like policy changes, sending documents, and taking payments. Employee mobile apps give brokers the flexibility to access and manage customer, prospect, and overall business information while away from the office, allowing operations and service to carry on regardless of location.

Finding: Only 18% of broker management system users provide customers access to a branded mobile app. Only 11% of brokers provide employees with a mobile app to access and manage customer data.

Untapped Potential

James Woollam

“I think AI will be moving up to the top in terms of investment growth. If brokers get their BMS right and meet core needs, then things such as third-party integration and AI are all very much available to you. I advise brokers wanting to improve their digital strategy to look at their peers and learn from them. Don’t get left behind.” Stephen Murphy , Senior Director of Customer Experience at Applied Systems Europe

Stephen Murphy

Business Impact: While broker investment in AI, analytics and APIs still lags behind other industries, brokers recognise that technology adoption produces efficiencies, improves productivity, and increases market presence. AI, data analytics and APIs can overhaul claims processing, speed up submissions, provide real-time risk and underwriting information, and allow data sharing more easily. Embracing these technologies does not mean depersonalisation and can help brokers better differentiate their businesses in the hard market.

Finding: 60% of brokers invest in AI to improve operational processes currently or plan to in the next 2-3 years. 92% of brokers invest in data analytics now or plan to in the next 2-3 years. 84% of brokers currently invest in APIs (third-party integration) or plan to in the next 2-3 years.

Turning Toward Triple-A Investment: AI, APIs and Analytics

“We are now reaching a tipping point at which brokers will see e-trading as the way in which to access and place cover for commercial risks. At Applied, we believe using our platforms will reduce the time to process quotes by 70-75%.” Dave Chapman , Chief Revenue Officer at Applied Systems Europe

Dave Chapman

Business Impact: While e-trade has been a discussion topic for some time, many brokers have not carried it out meaningfully. Now that brokers find it takes visits to four different extranet sites on average and approximately an hour to generate quotes, the tide is changing. A prevalence of personal lines aggregator sites is driving down prices. As a result, many brokers are diversifying into commercial lines. Insurers have also increased their ability to automate more complex commercial lines. While there will always be risks that are too complex to e-trade, more products are on the broker management system and that growth will only continue.

Finding: 66% of brokers visit insurer extranet sites up to 20 times per week to generate multiple quotes for the same CL risk. 27% of brokers visit insurer extranet sites between 21 and 40 times per week to generate multiple quotes for the same CL risk.

Commercial Lines Is at a Tipping Point

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That’s just a snapshot of the 2023 Digital Adoption trends. Read the full report on the Insurance Times website for complete survey results and insights from industry experts.

4 Key Insights for Brokers