Choosing an Insurance Broker: Our Top 5 Tips

When there are so many insurance brokers in the UK market, how do you know which is going to be the right choice for you?  Well, we believe that there are five key areas to consider when appointing a broker, which will help to reassure you that you have made a good selection.

 

Trust

A key part of any relationship is trust, and this is no different when choosing an insurance broker to look after your business or personal insurances.  Insurance information can often be quite complex, and it is the job of an insurance broker to provide you with comprehensive advice and support to help you to navigate these complexities.  But how can you have trust in a service that you haven’t used before?

At COHIBL we have been trading for over 25 years and have a highly reputable name within the insurance market.  Our business was forged because the founders, Chris Caunce and Martin O’Hara, believed that customers were not being treated in the right way, and they set out to change that.  In essence, the DNA of our company began with customer care, and we have been very proud to continue to service clients in this way ever since.

We understand that you need to have absolute trust in your insurance broker, which is why we go to great lengths to ensure that our clients feel protected by the insurances that we put in place for them and have a full understanding of what they are and aren’t covered for.

 

Understanding the needs and wishes of the client

Insurance cover isn’t just about getting the maximum amount of cover for the most competitive price.  The role of the insurance broker is to tailor a programme of insurance which is specifically designed to meet the needs of your business and the risks it faces.  The same is true for private client insurance.

Our experience tells us that everybody’s insurance requirements are different, and this is why we take time to assess your risk and understand what you need, so we can tailor your insurance to make sure you are comprehensively covered.

As a fully independent broker, we have no obligations to particular insurers, meaning that we can access the entire insurance market when looking to cover your risk.

With the average length of service of our staff members being ten years, you can be sure that the team looking after your insurances has the necessary technical knowledge to fully understand your risk and how best to look after you.

 

Claims support

Your insurance cover is in place to ensure that, should the worst happen, you can get back to normality as quickly as possible, whether that be in your business or personal life.  Having comprehensive cover is important, but equally important is having access to a qualified and experienced claims support team.  As explored in our blog, “Why you need a good Claims Team in your corner”, having a good claims team on your side can be the difference between a positive experience, or a time of stress and anxiety.  They are an integral part of the servicing team and should be on hand to provide you with in-depth advice on how to achieve the very best results from your insurers.  At COHIBL, we are extremely proud to have one of the most experienced Claims Teams in the industry, who have been fighting in the corner of our clients for over 25 years.

 

The right size of broker

When choosing a broker, it can be tempting to just choose a big name, and hand over your information, without having had time to do your own research.  But choosing a big name might not be the best decision for your business.  In an age where AI is frequently being relied upon and face to face contact with your broker may be becoming less available, a good independent insurance broker will continue to offer you the bespoke level of service that you deserve.  When you need your insurers to respond, there is nothing worse than feeling like your custom isn’t valued and you aren’t a priority.

At COHIBL we pride ourselves on the fact that, no matter how you get in touch with us, it will always be a knowledgeable member of our team that you speak to.  Every client is important to us, no matter the size of your premium spend, which isn’t always the case with some of the bigger companies.  With regular touch points throughout the year, you can feel reassured that your insurance is as important to us as it is to you.

 

Testimonials

With any purchase you make these days, you are likely to refer to testimonials and gauge opinion on the services before you engage with a business/product.  In the same way, it is important to do your research on the insurance broker that you choose.  Have you received a recommendation from a business connection or a friend who is already receiving a great service?  Does the company have testimonials on Google Business or similar, where you can read about the customer service experience that other users have received?  A five-star review or recommendation can go a long way to helping you to feel confident that you are dealing with a company that has the right level of experience and will value your business.

At COHIBL, we encourage our clients to provide us with feedback, as it helps us to continually evaluate what we are doing well, where we could improve, and how we are being received generally in the insurance market.  If you are already a customer of COHIBL and would like to provide details of your own experience, we would encourage you to leave a review for us, or feedback directly to Account Handler or Executive.  Our Management Team regularly review the feedback that our team receives and uses this when setting individual staff targets for the year ahead.

Our Google testimonials can be viewed here.

 

Of course, there are multiple other things you might want to consider when choosing the right insurance broker for you, but we like to think that our top five provides a solid overview of what to bear in mind.  In essence, you want to select a business which cares about getting it right for you, whether that be due to their attitude, business morals, treatment of staff, or just the premiums.  We like to think that we are a business that you can trust with your risk, to put your needs and wishes first, and to demonstrate a high level of customer care.