Evolving with Customers

After more than 20 years in the insurance industry, Michael Brattman, incoming president of the Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO), wants to do his part to help independent brokers “own” their future.

“My theme will be ‘Own It,’ because I really want to make sure that we, as brokers, are doing everything we can to make sure we are trying to improve things, trying new things and owning our future,” says Brattman, scheduled to take over as IBAO president from Chris Floyd January 1.

“I think Chris has done a great job of laying a foundation for what we as brokers need to focus on,” notes Brattman, who by day is a partner and vice president of personal lines for Erb & Erb Insurance Brokers Ltd. in Kitchener, Ontario. Building on Floyd’s theme in 2014 – “Get ready for tomorrow today” – the three components of Brattman’s 2015 theme are about brokers taking control of their own destiny in the areas of the evolving customer, investing in the future and collaboration.

Brokers need to collaborate not only with their carriers and customers, he suggests, but also with vendors, such as information technology firms offering broker management systems.

It is about working more closely with our providers “to make sure that we are building the technology that makes it easier for us to do business and serve our clients,” as well as working with task forces and similar bodies “to come up with solutions for flooding and changes in weather,” Brattman adds.

“It’s really reaching out to all of the different industry partners that are involved with the consumer in any way and developing solutions in order to better serve them,” he emphasizes.

ADDRESSING BOTH WHEN AND HOW

Another component of the 2015 theme will be the evolving consumer, including the demand for extended hours and many more touch points, Brattman reports.

“As brokers, many of us are doing a more effective job at this, whether it’s using social media, or being able to respond to clients’ needs outside of traditional hours. It’s encouraging brokers to continue to evolve, develop and be able to compete in an increasingly 24-7 instant-communication world, as well as customization,” he says.

Customization is something clients have come to expect from non-insurance services, Brattman points out.

“If you go to Starbucks, you can have your coffee or your tea any way you like it,” he says. “Customers today have an expectation of being able to have things how they want them and when they want them. It’s about being able to provide more customization opportunities.”

This means it will be important to invest in the future – the third pillar of Brattman’s 2015 theme – including investing in technology improvements.

“We are challenging brokers to consider how they will invest in those areas,” Brattman says. “We need to think more like the consumer because their needs have evolved and we need to make sure we are evolving with them.”

PRESSING ISSUES

One way brokers can use technology to their advantage is by providing usage-based auto insurance (UBI) through telematics.

IBAO subsidiary Independent Broker Resources Inc. (IBRI) announced in 2013 that it plans to offer broker-owned telematics products in Canada. For one offering, IBRI will provide the technology infrastructure to support insurer UBI offerings. Quindell Portfolio plc – in partnership with Quindell subsidiary ingenie Services Limited – is the other offering. The ingenie offering will target drivers aged 16 to 24.

Other IBAO activities include advocating on behalf of brokers to the government and regulators – on issues such as auto insurance fraud – and finding “consumer-friendly solutions that address the impact of severe weather,” says Brattman.

Damage from water is “driving rates up” in property insurance, he says, pointing to aging infrastructure and flash flooding. “You could also have a flash flood like you had last August in Burlington, where you have the equivalent of two months of water come down in an hour,” he says.

“A lot of these (storms) are very, very isolated and even if you have state-of-the-art sewers and drains, the volume from some of these micro storms can’t be handled even with more modern infrastructure. It’s certainly something that the IBAO is paying attention to,” he adds.

On the issue of auto fraud, Brattman says the ruling Liberals have introduced Bill 15, the Fighting Fraud and Reducing Automobile Insurance Rates Act, which IBAO has praised as a “good step” towards reductions in auto insurance premiums.

“We had some great success getting attention on the anti-fraud measures that were recommended two years ago,” Brattman says of advocacy efforts by IBAO.

Born in Montreal, Brattman’s family moved to the Kitchener-Waterloo area when he was just a year old. In 1988, he worked as a summer student at the Toronto office of insurer Crum & Forster, and attended Huron College, graduating in 1989 with an Honours Bachelor of Arts.

“When I graduated from university, I applied only to insurance companies because that’s where I wanted to develop a career,” he recounts. “It seems like most people fall into insurance by chance or they are related to family who are in the industry, but I was fortunate enough to have a mentor fairly early on when I was young,” says Brattman.

That mentor was John McLennan, a Kitchener-area broker with whom he launched The McLennan Insurance Group Inc. in 1992, after Brattman had worked at Traders General Insurance Company (now part of Aviva) and Manulife Financial.

“John was going out to talk to a variety of different people about the insurance business and it was appealing because of the opportunity to learn a lot and know about various different businesses and using your connections to build a business,” he notes. “John was an excellent mentor because of his entrepreneurial spirit and his innovative thinking. That is how all brokers should be thinking.”

Brattman got involved with IBAO after he was approached in 2000 by Floyd, who also works in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, and 2007 IBAO president Steve Wagler.

“It was one of those things where I felt it was time to give back,” he says. “We invest way too much time in our careers not to be fully engaged,” he adds.