Custom insurance broker software: How to develop and use effectively

In the United Kingdom, insurance brokerage is associated with property and casual (P&C) insurance, also called general insurance. In turn, life insurance, pensions, and investments are offered mainly by individual financial advisors. In the United States, insurance brokerage activities are regulated by each state separately. Insurance brokers here provide P&C, annuities, life/health, and accident insurance.

In the increasingly digitalized contemporary world, providing a wide range of services and satisfying customers’ needs across multiple touchpoints is impossible without leveraging insurance broker software – a suite of professional solutions that automate, streamline, and facilitate pipeline processes in the industry, including insurance product development, underwriting, claims, and policy management, document handling, reporting and analytics, customer support, etc.

In this article, you will learn about brokers’ main roles and challenges, what software they use, and how to use it effectively. Also, this post will cover the benefits of bespoke insurance broker software.

The main tasks of insurance brokers

Beyond insurance services, brokers can assess risks, consult customers, provide updated information on insurance regulations, process claims, help employees with enrollment, and solve issues with benefits. In the United States, some of these services are considered an inducement or a rebate that is forbidden by law in most states. However, let’s see what primary roles insurance brokers may perform.

1. Sell different types of policies: consult customers, explain points of policies, and select the best-suited policy for each client.
2. Inspect assets when offering car or property insurance: investigate the state of the vehicle or property, look for previous damages, assess possible risks, etc.
3. Assess customer risks when offering life or health insurance: investigate customers’ backgrounds, and evaluate medical, financial, criminal, or any other records.
4. Develop special coverage packages according to customers’ needs
5. Coordinate payment plans and arrangements and process payments
6. Perform administrative tasks
7. Manage claims

As you can see, brokers have many tasks to complete. Thus, they indeed meet different challenges while performing their roles. Let’s find out what these challenges are.

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What challenges do insurance brokers face? Software and tech solutions

Challenge 1 – Customer experience

In a fast-paced world, clients who become more informed want to get better services. Before making any buying decision, people want to carry out detailed research on the needed products online. Thus, insurance brokers have to provide a more personalized approach to customers delivering a unique experience to every client.

Solution. It would be amazing if any insurance broker software was able to provide customers’ history. In that case, brokers will be able to meet customers’ needs easily. With previous e-mails, notes, financial data, and other meaningful information at brokers’ fingertips, customers may receive useful personal recommendations. Thus, a good CRM system or a module will be a perfect solution for an insurance company.

Challenge 2 – Productivity

Due to constant innovation, insurance brokers need to change the way they manage their work regularly. To seize every opportunity and realize their plans, insurance companies should modernize their legacy software and develop systems that can provide as much information about customers as possible in one place. As a result, when every broker has access to the needed information and is able to share it, workflow efficiency can be affected easily.

Solution. Automation is a new trend in any industry. It helps eliminate repetitive, routine, manual tasks and save time for major activities. Digital transformation or modernization can help enhance existing processes within insurance organizations, reduce administrative costs, and attract more leads. For this, insurtech solutions should have an intuitive user experience and user-friendly design.

Challenge 3 – Lead generation

Insurance brokers face many challenges when it comes to generating new leads. When customers are to invest in life insurance packages or retirement planning, a particular reticence is observed all over the world. Consumers have to look through different services online, compare services, and analyze the coverages.

Solution. According to new GDPR rules, companies should inform their customers about where and when they plan to use their data. Brokers should remember that they can’t continue with lead generation if a person doesn’t agree to provide personal information or use it as needed. Thus, insurtech companies use their blogs and social media channels to attract more customers. To boost lead generation, they need to reinvent their marketing strategies by providing their clients with very useful information that can help consumers solve their problems or answer their questions.

Challenge 4 – Sales process

Having automated workflow and management systems doesn’t mean that your sales will boost instantly. There’s a direct correlation between sales management and high revenue growth; that’s why the sales process should also be automated and improved.

Solution. First, a company should clearly define its sales process: managing customer relations, generating leads, etc. Every stage of the sales process should be clearly defined, tracked, and measured. It will ensure that every single member of your company knows what they need to do to reach mutual goals or accomplish their tasks. Usually, a CRM system becomes the best tool to optimize the sales process. To streamline the sales process, you can also use A/B tests, analysis of activities, and coaching.

Each agency uses its own set of software. It depends on the company’s preferences, workflow, products offered, and a lot of other factors affecting the choice of insurtech solutions. However, the majority of insurance brokers use the following modules as parts of insurance broker management systems (IBMS):

• Financial accounting
• Dashboard and sales reporting
• CRM and lead management
• Product development and administration
• Policy management
• Claims processing
• Reinsurance

Let’s focus on these elements of a comprehensive insurance broker system. 

Types of insurance broker software scrutinized

In our 14+ years of presence in the IT outsourcing market, we have created multiple insurtech products for agencies in the domain, so we realize which features bring value to our clients. 

• CRM. A robust customer relationship management system enables organizations to effectively communicate with their clientele, automate contacts with them, and facilitate all pipeline processes involving customer data and interactions (data tracking, content management, quote dispatching, order processing, customer support, and the like), boosting client engagement dramatically.  
• Digital document repository. The creation of a unified and centralized document bank allows insurers to store numerous bulky archives in digital format and retrieve any file on short notice, thus reducing paperwork and overcoming data silos across departments. 
• Document management. In addition to a reliable storage facility, agencies require real-time document handling functionality that can automatically generate document templates and auto-fill forms, allowing for collaborative editing and thus accelerating insurance workflows immensely.  
• Policy administration. Such tools boost policy creation, cancellation, and renewals, send reminders about all related actions, and enable employees to track each policy’s status.  
• Marketing and sales. Thanks to these functionalities, insurers can manage sales pipelines, gauge the efficiency of sales methods they leverage, track leads, and administer targeted campaigns augmented with multiple upselling and cross-selling opportunities. 
• Billing and invoicing. Invoice processing, dispute handling, and other shop floor operations become a breeze with high-end tools for bill and invoice generation, payment tracking, and cash flow management.  
• Quote generation. By studying customer profiles and user behavior, such software can automate and personalize quote generation. 
• Newsletter templates. They enable sending insurance billings or various reminders to the clientele as well as launching promotional campaigns aimed at both businesses and individual customers. 
• Reporting and analytics. All relevant data that enters your IT ecosystem can be sorted out and analyzed by leveraging this kind of tools. As a result, you obtain comprehensive reports that serve as a source of valuable insights, helping organizations assess their progress, track vital KPIs, pinpoint trends, and adopt data-driven decisions. 
• Integrations. Insurance broker software can bring maximum value only if it plays well with other enterprise infrastructure components. It should work in sync with other professional systems and employ open APIs for seamless interaction with external platforms. 
• Mobile app. Given the ubiquity of mobile devices, people often use their gadgets to perform various insurance-related operations. A user-friendly and smoothly functioning application can provide the utmost portability of insurance services and cater to the preferences of modern mobile-driven user audiences.  

When equipped with these capabilities, insurance broker software can be unified into a single insurance management system that is the backbone of the internal digital ecosystem many agencies employ in their shop floor routine. 

Learn more about accounting software for insurance brokers in our expert article.

Large, medium, and small insurance agency management systems: Do they differ?

Actually, management systems for insurance companies of different sizes can differ only by a set of models used to manage workflow and communication. Thus, each company can have its own set of tools that depends on business needs and goals. However, no matter what size an agency is, its management system should possess the following characteristics:

The user-friendly interface can ensure that every broker or agent will more likely leverage the features of a management system if it is easy to navigate it.

The high performance of the system is also very important. All insurance-related processes can be time-consuming that’s why any management system must provide functionalities that can save time and effort for agents.

Automation of all the processes means a simpler workflow. Automated systems allow brokers and agents to access customer data faster, share information, analyze data, make reports, and track contacts in one centralized location.

P&C insurance software (Property and casualty)

P&C insurance is aimed to protect your home or car by offering liability coverage. This type of insurance doesn’t include health or life insurance liabilities. P&C insurance types include condo, co-op, renters, and auto insurance coverages. Let’s find out what key software features are needed to manage P&C insurance.

The claims processing module allows insurers to automate claims management processes, provide a high-quality interaction experience, and cut claims processing time. Usually, platforms for P&C insurance management provide dashboards on which agents and brokers can see every claim data in real-time.

The underwriting module ensures that brokers adhere to all the guidelines. Typically, this module provides automated and manual risk assessment capabilities. It can also be integrated with third-party systems to supply insurers with required data and checklists.

The marketing module is good when insurers need to improve their marketing efforts and develop the best-suited offering to customers. This module includes analytics capabilities to provide a more personalized interaction experience.

The insurance product development module is a configuration tool that helps insurers develop new offerings. It can include analytics to instantly respond to new customer requirements and preferences.

Most of these modules can be found in ready-made insurance broker platforms.  

Zooming in on the canned insurance broker solutions

As a seasoned software development partner for dozens of insurance companies all over the globe, DICEUS knows perfectly well what off-the-shelf software is popular in the sector.  

InsurancePro 

This insurance agency management system linked to highly secure cloud storage enables users to automate multiple operations, track commissions, print documents, update policy data, and reconcile versatile payment transactions from a foolproof UI. A special bonus of the software is its built-in accounting module. 

Velocity 

The focus of this full-cycle suite is the casualty and property insurance domain. Its drag-and-drop attachments and emails, as well as other assets, allow users to optimize claims management, track sales, generate reports, and handle policy quoting, rating, and issuing.   

BindHQ 

This market-driven app prioritizes specialty insurance distribution. It offers an underwriting panel, document and policy management capabilities, real-time reporting, and more. 

Sibro 

With this solution, you can elevate your workflows to a new level. It is instrumental in creating quote comparison sheets, drafting RFQs and quote slips, reconciling commission statements, recording policies, you name it. Since this system is IRDAI compliant, you can get a related report with one button click. Besides, you can send messages to your clients via email, SMS, or WhatsApp without leaving the solution.  

Agencybloc 

This system is honed for life and health insurance fields. Its intuitive dashboard and data visualization techniques are second-to-none instruments for prospects management, lead tracking, campaign management, commission processing, etc. 

NowCerts 

It excels at creating various insurance documents (invoices, receipts, marketing forms, and more) and helps insurers track fees, commissions, and interest rates, process refunds, collect payments, and the like. Moreover, this tool enables policyholders to issue certificates on their own and enjoy automated updates concerning their policy information.  

Sounds impressive, doesn’t it? But does any of these solutions suit your company, or is it better to opt for custom insurance broker software development? Let’s weigh all the pros and cons of build vs buy approaches to professional products in this niche. 

Benefits of custom development made plain

What are the boons of having custom software for insurance brokers? 

• Total control. Your solution – your rules. While in canned products, you get a whole bunch of modules you may never use but which you must pay for whether you need them or not, bespoke software is the direct opposite. You can fill it with unique features your agency requires in its pipeline operations and pay only for them. After completion, you become the sole owner of such systems and can even sell them to third parties, turning them into an additional source of revenue. 
• High security. Off-the-shelf products are equipped with garden-variety system and data security mechanisms that work well in the majority of cases. If you crave better protection, you can’t do anything about it. With custom software, you can implement all extra-strong security measures and practices you consider necessary to provide a reliable shield against data leakage and penetration attempts.  
• Scalability. Canned products are built to last in the state they are. Once your organization expands, changes its focus, or broadens its customer audience, you will have to ditch the old system that fails to satisfy your needs and buy a more powerful one. With a tailor-made product, you pay only once and ensure that it is crafted to be scaled up to meet the dynamic needs of the growing company.  
• Prompt issue-fixing. If something is wrong with the off-the-shelf product, don’t expect the vendor to mend it on short notice. You submit a ticket and wait in line for your complaint to be considered. When your turn finally comes (and it can happen weeks later) and they find where the shoe pinches, you won’t get rid of the problem at once. Usually, the vendor patches the bug in the next update, which can be released in several months! By contrast, custom software owners contact the outsourcer, whose support team gets in gear immediately and solves the problem much faster. 

Despite the evident assets, custom software development has some bottlenecks and pitfalls you should be aware of. 

Disadvantages of custom insurance broker solutions

Why can tailor-made solutions be a bad fit for your insurance agency? 

• Significant price-tag. Mass market products are much cheaper to bring revenues to their creators by sheer numbers. Bespoke solutions are crafted in a single original according to the individual customer’s preferences and requirements, which means they can’t be a chump change item. Of course, down the line, you will save on license renewal expenditures symptomatic of off-the-shelf software, but the lump sum for developing a custom product spells a considerable budget to be allocated.  
• Longer implementation. To enjoy a canned product, you have to follow a three-step algorithm (buy, install, use) the implementation of which can take just a couple of days if properly carried out. A custom solution must be first built, which can take several months. So if you are poised for a tailor-made insurance broker software, you should be prepared to wait, and sometimes for quite a lengthy period. 
• Absence of a helping community. Ready-made products are used by other people apart from you. That is why, if something goes wrong or you don’t know how to perform some operation, you can always apply for their assistance and advice on community forums. Custom solutions are unique, so the only agency from which help can come is your outsourcer’s support and maintenance team.  

Definitely, bespoke insurance broker software has both upsides and downsides. How can you make the right choice? 

If you want to know more about new product development life cycle, read our latest article on this topic.

Bespoke development: How to create custom insurance broker software?

When choosing the best-suited insurtech solution, most companies fluctuate between out-of-the-box products and custom solutions. If you need to implement the system immediately, you’d better choose a ready-made product; however, if you want a product that meets your company’s needs, a custom insurtech product is a perfect match.

Speaking about the key advantages of developing a custom solution, you should know about the following benefits. With a comprehensive insurtech solution, you can improve customer support, process a large scope of information seamlessly, and build a client database according to specific parameters.

Furthermore, bespoke systems can help you automate data management processes to eliminate mistakes made by humans and improve efficiency. Besides, everything a broker needs is stored in one place.

If you buy bespoke insurance broker software, you should know the basic development process. It takes from a pair of months to a pair of years to develop a custom solution. However, it would be best if you kept in mind that it is worth waiting.

So, a standard software development life cycle begins with requirements capture and ends with maintenance and support. Below is more detailed information about each of the stages.

Stage 1 – Requirements capture

Requirements gathering is a kind of brainstorming process taken in the project’s early stages. During this stage, developers gather all the initial requirements and expectations of the final users. Senior developers who have a strong background in the insurance industry undertake this research and come up with innovative ideas.

Stage 2 – Business analysis

Business analysis is conducted to determine the main needs of a particular insurance company. Based on real needs, developers make up a list of features and functionalities that are to be designed and developed. During this stage, developers come up with estimations of time, prices, and potential resources they will need to develop the product.

Stage 3 – Prototyping and design

With a list of initial requirements in mind, the development team provides customers with software requirements and specifications, a document which is called SRS. It is used as a basis for architecture and business logic and is often connected with DDS (design document specification).

Stage 4 – Development

The development stage is the phase when developers write code according to prototype and SRS documentation. They use a particular technology stack that consists of a certain number of frameworks, a programming language, and other tools.

Stage 5 – Integration and testing

The integration stage ensures that the product meets all the requirements and is properly integrated with third-party systems. During this stage, the product undergoes a range of tests that may include stress, accessibility, conformance, security, usability, performance, and other types of testing.

Stage 6 – Release

A release is often the final stage in the software development life cycle. The product is launched on the market and is presented to a target audience. Developers often release an MVP that includes only basic features to identify if users like the product. After the user’s feedback, the development team can continue to develop the product by adding other needed features.

The number of stages may vary or be called differently depending on the software development vendor’s processes; however, the above-mentioned life cycle is quite popular.

What agent and broker software (ABS) can we offer?

DICEUS can design comprehensive agent & broker software (ABS) exclusively for your insurance company. We develop systems for S&M and large companies based on in-depth research conducted by our business analysts to provide for your agency everything you need to manage contacts, customer relations, claims, products, etc.

The insurance broker software we develop can be deployed either locally on your server or on the cloud. The latter option is good if you want to provide your agents access to important data from anywhere at any time.

Here is an example of our accomplished insurtech project – the custom-built insurance management system designed for Insubiz. DICEUS developed the platform providing its final users with a bunch of features like assets management, claims to process, CRM, risks assessment module, reports, etc.

Our products are user-friendly. You will be able to easily implement them and intuitively learn how to use them. To start discussing your project, feel free to contact our development teams.

Frequently asked questions