How brokers can create better intake forms  

Brokerages that are still using traditional PDF intake forms are exposing their clients to undue cyber risk, one brokerage leader tells YBCcon last week in Toronto. 

But generative AI platforms exist that can help brokers expertly craft intake forms before delivering them through a secure platform, Sherif Gemayel, founder and CEO of Trufla, says during a session. 

Brokers routinely send unencrypted PDFs of cyber insurance intake forms to clients, asking them to reveal their system vulnerabilities and other identifiable information.  

“If you think about it, we do that regularly with cyber forms where we ask [clients] to fill out their information, including their vulnerabilities, the data that they have and everything on an unencrypted PDF, that we send to the carrier who then sends us a quote back that we send to the client,” Gemayel says. 

“Now we’ve given a hacker the ability to go into the email, get all the vulnerability points — exactly what data they need to access — and they have a copy of the policy to know exactly how much they’re going to ask for in a ransomware attack.” 

To ensure the security of clients’ risk and policy information, brokers can move away from traditional PDFs and implement secure, digital intake platforms in their process. An added benefit is that digital platforms can often enhance data collection processes.  

CAIB New Edition 1.0 – a New Standard for Broker Education Image

Insights Paid Content

CAIB New Edition 1.0 – a New Standard for Broker Education

Preparing brokers to navigate an increasingly complex insurance landscape.

By 

Sponsor Image

Better customer intake  

As for how brokers can ask better intake questions, Gemayel says that’s where generative AI comes in.  

He shared an example about a client who wanted a policy for aviation risk. 

“I know nothing about aviation insurance. I was largely a PL guy — I knew some commercial — so I asked [ChatGPT]…what are the blind spots that I should ask the client?” he says. “I gave it this prompt and I had a broker friend of mine who does aviation insurance validate this result, and it was spectacular. 

“It went into regulation. It went into the forms you should be asking the client [for]. It was talking about what kind of cargo, and is it international and what kind of licensing do [the pilots] have,” he says.  

Gemayel then converted that AI-generated intake form into a secure Typeform format and sent it to the client. 

Once the intake form was built, Gemayel used Canva, a graphic design platform, to turn the form’s results into an insurance proposal for the client. Canva, which also has a Gen-AI tool, created a graphic slide deck for presenting the intake form.  

“That took seconds — it’s just that fast…to take that information, create forms, take the data from those forms and create submissions and proposals for your clients,” he says. “And that’s just using AI.” 

Alyssa DiSabatino

Alyssa Di Sabatino has been a reporter for Canadian Underwriter since 2021, covering industry trends, market developments, and emerging risks.