A fleet has significantly invested in safety, upgraded its vehicles, and improved its operational performance. Such fleets are on a clear path of improvement, but insurers keep offering unfavorable terms or even reject them.
The core challenge isn't the fleet's actual risk profile, but how it’s shown in a submission. Two key issues keep such fleets underappreciated:
- Outdated or incomplete indicators can cast a fleet in a negative light. Past incidents or older data points may overcover current safety excellence. Recent improvements in safety or performance are incredibly difficult to validate if the available data doesn't reflect positive changes.
- This creates a “search & validation” problem. Insurers struggle to identify such underappreciated fleets or validate their recent improvement using traditional underwriting inputs alone. Brokers have hard time advocating for their clients when the provided information fails to prove the improved safety profile.
As a result, a fleet may be an excellent candidate that aligns well with an insurer's appetite as of now. However, this alignment may be masked by outdated information, so the fleet risks being misjudged or overlooked. This scenario leads to a lose-lose-lose situation:
- Insurers miss out on the opportunity to partner with fleets that are reducing their risk profile – a new, promising segment for them;
- Brokers risk losing customers due to uncompetitive and slow quotes;
- Fleets get unfavorable terms, become disillusioned with safety initiatives, and lose motivation for future improvements.
What underwriters need
Underwriters are looking for fleets that align with their company's risk appetites, defined by specific criteria, including:
- Fleet size and vehicle types;
- Operational geography and radius;
- Industry;
- Claims history, past losses, to name a few.
To be the “right fit” in the eyes of the underwriter, the submission should clearly demonstrate how a fleet’s current and evolving profile aligns with these appetite parameters. With insurer appetites and fleet performance constantly shifting, maintaining alignment becomes a challenging task.
Why underappreciated fleets remain misjudged
Often, fleets that have made substantial recent improvements fail the “presentation test,” and here’s why their progress remains hidden:
- Incomplete submissions: When submissions lack structured, detailed data reflecting recent positive changes, underwriters are left to fill in the blanks or rely on outdated information. They often want to get their back and are likely to assume a worse risk profile than reality. Furthermore, in today's fast-paced environment, underwriters may not have the capacity for additional information requests, so they just decline such submission swiftly.
- Broker challenges: Staying completely current with every insurer's evolving and nuanced appetite is a challenging task for any broker. Manually customizing each submission to align with insurers’ changing appetites requires immense, even prohibitive effort.
- One-size-fits-all submissions: Faced with these challenges, brokers often send the same generic information to multiple insurers, irrespective of their appetites. It’s like throwing everything onto the wall and seeing what sticks. Submissions get lost in overloaded inboxes, mismatched with appetite, or ignored.
To sum it up, generic submissions or those based on outdated data can make a promising fleet appear less attractive than it appears in reality.
The fix: Aligning fleet data with insurer appetite
The key to solving the appetite problem is sending the right submission to the right insurer – whose current appetite accurately matches the fleet profile. This is where Draivn’s EZ Quote offers a strategic advantage by providing:
- Structured, verifiable, current Data: EZ Quote leverages data (from telematics, FMCSA, environmental factors, etc.) to build a comprehensive, accurate, and up-to-date fleet profile. This ensures that all the information is presented in line with underwriting requirements.
- Pre-qualified submissions: EZ Quote allows brokers to understand and confirm insurer appetite before investing heavily in a full submission. As a result, brokers only send submissions to insurers who are interested in that type of risk and operational profile. This targeted approach saves time and effort for everyone.
- Tailored data presentation: EZ Quote automatically creates the submission tailored to insurers’ specific needs and data requirements, saving underwriters’ time & effort. Within minutes of reviewing such a submission, an insurer gains a clear understanding of the fleet and confidently decides if they want to grab the opportunity.
Our solution enables brokers to shift from a volume-based approach to a targeted matchmaking role. They can efficiently connect their high-performing fleet customers with the insurers that recognize safety investments and are likely to quote.
Match fleets to the right insurers
Successfully showcasing the current profile of underappreciated fleets to the right insurers brings better outcomes for everyone in the commercial auto insurance ecosystem:
- Brokers: Faster, more competitive quotes translate into more customers won and retained, boosting profitability.
- Insurers: Access to a pipeline of genuinely improving fleets, often overlooked by traditional submission methods; continuous flow of in-appetite submissions, streamlined underwriting process, improved risk selection, and stronger portfolios of profitable risks.
- Fleets: Access to better quotes, recognition for their investments in safety and operational enhancements, and partnerships with the right insurers.
Long story short, EZ Quote helps brokers reveal high-performing fleets to the insurers who want them, creating value for everyone.
Ready to streamline your insurance processes and bridge the appetite gap? Contact us for EZ Quote demo.
