Debunking the Top 5 Insurance Renewal Myths

Getting customers to renew insurance policies is an integral part of running a successful insurance business. If insurance agents want to succeed, then they need to overcome insurance myths that stand in the way of getting more renewals.

Why is it so important to retain clients? Because if you’re always replacing old customers with new ones, then you’re likely spending more time and money on areas like marketing and onboarding than you need to be. 

At the same time, you’re missing out on many of the benefits of client retention, such as existing customers expanding their coverage, getting referrals from current customers, and earning positive reviews that help you draw in additional customers more easily. 

In this article, we’ll explore five common insurance myths that affect renewals, as well as how insurers can overcome these myths. These include:

• Insurance Myth #1: The best quote is the one with the lowest price 
• Insurance Myth #2: Nothing can be done to avoid Workers’ Compensation claims
• Insurance Myth #3: Renewals take too much time
• Insurance Myth #4: Renewal quotes will automatically be higher
• Insurance Myth #5: Customers won’t renew their policies

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Insurance Myth #1: The best quote is the one with the lowest price

A race to the bottom on prices isn’t likely to be a successful model for insurance agents. If insurance agents want to boost renewals, they need to remember that the best quote isn’t necessarily the one with the lowest prices. Instead, it’s often the one that meets the insured’s comprehensive needs. Rather than falling for this insurance renewal myth and cutting prices too much — or just assuming you can’t compete with other insurers’ prices — look for ways to offer value with your renewals. A few ways to do so include:

• Provide a smooth customer experience: A global survey across industries by Siegel + Gale finds that 55% of consumers would pay more for simpler experiences. 
• Offer the limits customers are looking for: A low insurance premium might not be very appealing if the limits are too low to align with clients’ risk management policies. Speaking with clients about their needs before getting too deep into the renewal process can help you offer more relevant policy limits.
• Provide the coverage customers want: Related to providing more relevant limits, clients also may be focused on getting the coverage they need, rather than just paying as little as possible. For example, customers may be willing to pay more to renew general liability coverage if it gets bundled with cyber insurance coverage.
  

Insurance Myth #2: Nothing can be done to avoid Workers’ Compensation claims

Another insurance renewal myth that should be busted is that there’s nothing that can be done to avoid Workers’ Compensation claims. While insurance agents certainly don’t have full control over what happens within customers’ workplaces, they can still play an important role in managing this risk, beyond just selling policies. 

For example, insurance agents can more proactively help employers identify safety concerns.

“There’s a wealth of information in workers’ comp loss run reports, as well as Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reporting forms,” says Kevin Ring, lead analyst at the Institute of WorkComp Professionals, in an article for PropertyCasualty360. “Proactive agents work with employers to identify problem areas, which are often indicators that a larger, costly injury will occur, if changes are not made.”

By focusing on ways to prevent claims, insurance agents can build stronger relationships with customers, which can help lead to more renewals. 

Insurance Myth #3: Renewals take too much time

If you think the insurance renewal process is holding back your ability to bring customers back, you need to bust this insurance myth with new tools and processes. 

For example, InsurTech platforms like Wheelhouse can be used to automate more of the renewal process, saving both you and your clients time. Insurance agents can use Wheelhouse to automatically and proactively send out quotes for renewals, and customers can also generate bindable quotes on their own through a self-serve portal. 

In other words, you don’t have to waste time with manual processes or frustrate customers with a lengthy ordeal, like having to submit paperwork and wait several days to get a sense of what their renewal quotes will be. A platform like Talage can also function as a targeted landing page, so you can save clients time by providing details about renewals in one clear place, rather than making them dig for the right information.

Insurance Myth #4: Renewal quotes will automatically be higher

Another important insurance myth to bust is that renewal quotes will automatically be higher. While it’s certainly true that some renewal quotes will be higher than the previous year’s insurance rate, there are plenty of factors at play that can lead to quotes being the same or even less. 

The specifics depend on the type of policy and the customer in question, but anything from a change in company size to risk management practices can affect quotes. Helping clients understand what goes into renewal rates, as well as guiding them through what they can do to keep prices down, can help you close more renewals.

Otherwise, if you’re too removed from the process, then clients might assume that quotes will be higher if they stick with you, so they might search for quotes from a different insurance provider.

Insurance Myth #5: Customers won’t renew their policies

Lastly, insurance agents need to overcome the insurance renewal myth that customers won’t renew their policies. Even if that’s historically been the case for your firm, that doesn’t mean that’s the way it has to always be. There are plenty of ways that insurers can boost renewal rates. A few ideas include:

• Conduct renewal meetings: Checking in with clients as their renewal dates approach can help you answer any of their questions or concerns, and you can stay top of mind as they decide what to do next.
  
• Analyze data: Take a look at your existing data on customer renewals, such as through a platform like Wheelhouse, to get a better sense of what’s working and what’s not. If you see that clients in certain types of industries tend to be the ones who aren’t renewing, for example, perhaps that’s an indicator that you need to adapt your offerings for these groups. Providing more policy options or streamlining processes could be ways to drive these customers back.
  
• Develop content marketing: Content marketing not only can help you draw in new customers but keep existing ones. Providing value to clients, such as with an email newsletter that includes sales advice, or blog content that helps customers manage their business finances more efficiently, can help create client trust and loyalty. When it comes time to renew their policies, customers who’ve engaged with your content marketing may be more likely to stay. 
• Proactively quote renewals: quoting renewals can be a time-consuming and tedious process. Leveraging tools like Talage’s bulk import to automatically quote renewals can not only make it less painful but actually improve your renewal rate.

Move on From Insurance Myths

Holding on to these types of insurance renewal myths can hold back your insurance business. Instead, insurance agents need to find ways to counter these myths, whether that means conducting more outreach to customers to prove these myths to be false, adopting new policies internally to bust these myths or a combination of these two approaches. 

Getting customers to renew policies can be crucial to your growth, so the sooner that you can bust these insurance myths, the better off your insurance business will likely be.