TRAVEL insurance intermediaries are slowly being forced to change the way they sell policies through the trade in line with 21st-century methods.
Most car-rental companies, hotels and airlines have established bookable sites on the Web – many with password-protected sites for agents that ensure retailers get commission.
Yet intermediaries selling through the trade are still supplying the pads on which policies are issued.
Even Hamilton Barr, which launched a viewdata site three years ago, says 50% of its agents still prefer to issue policies from the traditional pad.
Ketteridge and ABC Holiday Extras both agreed that the majority of their agents also thought this method was the easiest form.
Ketteridge general manager sales Doug Weston said:”The Internet may play a bigger role in the sale of travel insurance but it will take five years to fully develop.”
Conservatism, a lack of innovation and a desire to wait and see what the opposition is doing are all cited as reasons why the travel insurance sector is lagging behind in e-commerce.
The industry also fears that neither clients nor agents will read the policy wording if it is on- screen, especially as a lack of consumer awareness over what is being bought is already a major issue.
Perry Gamble chairman Joe Perry said:”There are a number of details in an insurance policy that need to be pointed out to customers before they buy and I’m not sure the Internet can do that. I am a great believer in the personal approach so that people can ask questions.”
However, the main concern among companies such as Ketteridge, which does not have a direct-sell arm, is that launching a Web site will hurt agents’ business as consumers will be able to buy on-line.
“If we could have a password-protected site that only agents could access and which would enable agents to be paid commission, I would be happier with the idea,” said Weston.
A couple of intermediaries are developing the Internet as a booking facility for agents.
Devitt Insurance Services plans to have a password-protected site on its consumer pages by the end of the year, giving its agents the option to buy its Travel Insurance Services retail policies on-line and be paid commission.
Meanwhile, CityBond, is setting up a Web site that will be available for agents who are already on-line.
A client going into the agent’s Web site to book travel will be able to click a button to go into CityBond’s pages to buy insurance and the agent gets commission.
However, most sites have been developed by direct-sell travel insurance companies or intermediaries such as Whiteley Insurance Consultants and ABC Holiday Extras to catch direct business.
ABC managing director Stephen Lawrence said:”I believe the person who books over the Internet is different to the person who goes into a travel agent.
“We are not about to see the end of travel agents selling travel insurance. They will keep selling insurance provided they are still the point of sale of the holiday.”
Preferential managing director Steve Nickerson agreed. “No-one wakes up in the morning and thinks they must buy some travel insurance, so we have to be at the point of sale of the holiday. The real question is where that will be in 10 years’ time.”
Aon Suretravel managing director James Beagrie added: “A travel insurance Web site demands a large amount of information to be input, for instance name, address, date of travel and destination.
“Booking this way could really be a retrogressive step unless it follows the customer’s holiday purchase and it would have to ensure the detail could be lifted across.”
Insurance sites
Company: Preferential
Address: www.preferential.co.uk.
Policies offered: Elite and Gold annual schemes; Worldtrekker. Newsletter page under construction.
On-line booking facility: yes.
Ease of use: minimum of pages and ‘buttons’ makes it easy to get around. Lots of information. Drawback is you have to fill in all the fields to buy before getting a quote.
Special features for agents: direct-sell site only.
Company: Whiteley Insurance Consultants.
Address: www.whiteley-insurance.co.uk.
Policies offered: annual, single trip, winter sports, corporate, specialist insurance such as golf and top-up cover.
On-line booking facility: yes.
Ease of use: site is well signposted and big type makes it easy to read. Fast to use. Quotes premium before taking personal details.
Special features for agents: direct-sell site only.