Majority of SMEs believe insurance brokers should operate with full transparency, research finds

Over 80% of SMEs believe insurance brokers should operate with full transparency by disclosing all potential commission or conflicts of interest when recommending a commercial insurance provider, according to new research by challenger insurance broker, hubb.

The research, which surveyed over 1,000 senior decision makers from SMEs across the UK on their perceptions of the commercial insurance industry, also revealed that two thirds [66.9%] of SMEs would be happy to renew and manage their commercial insurance policy via a ‘self-service’ model in order to save both time and costs – with 68.2% also advising it would be fairer for insurance providers to only charge via a ‘consumption model’, which meant businesses would only pay for what they use.

Interestingly, 55% of SMEs don’t think or are unsure as to whether their insurance broker provides the most competitive and best quote to suit their commercial needs, with 41.5% of respondents choosing ‘full transparency’ as the most important benefit for business owners when engaging with an insurance broker.

Other key take outs from the research include:

• 5% believe business owners would benefit from better communication and engagement from their insurance brokers.
• 2% of SMEs would move to an alternative insurance broker to save costs, whereas 26% would move for improved quality in advice.
• 1% of SMEs are unsure as to how their broker charges for their time and advice, with 22.6% believing their broker doesn’t charge commission or a fixed fee.
• 7% advised they proactively review their commercial insurance requirements with their broker via telephone or email on an annual basis, with 39.9% of SMEs advising they complete the entire renewal process online without having to speak to anyone.

In discussing the research, Mark Costello, co-founder and CEO of hubb, said: “This research is extremely interesting and gives us more confidence than ever that SME customers are craving a new way to buy insurance, based on greater transparency and reduced costs.

What’s more, the fact there was such an overwhelming response to both usage-based models and self-servicing fits perfectly with the hubb model and our plans to disrupt the commercial broking market.”

Established in 2019, hubb is a usage-based insurance broker that prides itself on its transparent approach to commercial insurance, underpinned by a unique technology ecosystem that provides all clients with a 360-view of their insurance policies 24/7.

A proud member of Fintech Scotland, hubb operates from offices in both Glasgow and London and is currently engaged with regulators in other markets across Europe.

Over the last 12 months, the challenger insurance broker has experienced accelerated growth as SMEs opt for usage-based insurance compared to conventional policy models.