U.S. P&C insurance technology (insurTech) startups have raised more than $3 billion since 2012, according to CB Insights. Among the insurTechs opened for business are: Coverhound, Zebra, ClearCover, Metromile and Root for personal auto; Lemonade for apartment insurance; Trov for valuable personal items (computers, cameras, bikes); Slice for homeshare and rideshare insurance; Next for online professional and general liability insurance; CoverWallet for commercial lines; and Coalition for cyber insurance, just to name a few. Many of these start-ups include tech entrepreneurs that developed partnerships with insurance carriers or venture capitalists (VCs) while some came out of the insurance industry, looking to disrupt the traditional way insurance has been marketed and purchased with the use of advanced technology and a simple user experience. Finding the right partners with the right infrastructure is key in the highly regulated insurance environment and for the success of a new venture.
This is where Insurgent Consulting comes in. Sister company of Norman-Spencer Agency, Inc., a program administrator and wholesale brokerage servicing more than 3,000 independent agents, Insurgent brings to the table more than 80 years of combined insurance experience to help identify opportunities, provide expertise and a wide range of solutions, and leverage partnerships to give insurTechs a competitive advantage when going to market with new products, services or an entirely new business. We recently spoke with Brian Norman, president of Norman-Spencer, about Insurgent and how it's helping insurance carriers, tech companies, retailers and venture capitalists realize their visions in the burgeoning insurTech market.
"The principal genesis of Insurgent and its main product, MGA-In-A-BoxTM, came from the gap we saw in those looking to deliver a new and fresh idea
or approach to the insurance market. The expertise required in licensing, compliance, distribution, rating, procedures, Bordereau reporting, and many other issues are missing in order to properly test the viability of a product/platform and get to market faster," explained Brian. "Venture capitalists or carriers, in order to be comfortable in funding an insurTech looking to enter the insurance space, must not only be wowed by the fresh approach, technology, and customer acquisition model but also feel confident about the insurance knowledge behind the product/platform. These insurTechs need to function as program administrators with back-office capability, accounting knowledge, distribution access (MGA), etc. to operate. We bridge this gap."
Insurgent's recognition of the need in the marketplace to partner with insurers, insurTechs, retail agencies, venture capitalists and others to help test new products, get to market faster and to jumpstart the product's lifecycle was indeed reinforced after meaningful and fruitful discussions with various industry players. It was obvious there were issues that could be facilitated by a team experienced in providing the services and solutions required in the insurance process. "Carriers, for example, don't want to be used as a training ground for someone to practice on when it comes to that side of the house," said Brian. "They want to make sure if they are going to partner with an insurTech or launch a new product on an innovative platform themselves that a firm with a proven track record is providing the missing links needed to back their efforts."
The Right Fit: Choose What You Need
Insurgent's solutions are wrapped in its MGA-In-A-BoxTM package, which makes available everything from form filings, policy issuance to a rating platform, risk management, distribution, accounting, licensing, and more. "The beauty of MGA-In-A-Box," emphasized Brian, "is we offer a full menu of services in starting a new program administrator, while making the process painless. We operate on a fee-for-service model, and don't take an equity interest with the groups with which we are working. Our pricing structure is flexible, ranging from a flat fee or cost-plus model to the traditional percentage of premium (commission). There is no one-size-fits-all model, as we aren't providing the same suite of services to each company. We take a look at each client's strengths and how we can fill the gaps that exist and tailor our solutions accordingly. Some companies may need our talent and consulting services to help them build what they need internally while others will choose to contract with us for the long haul. Our objective is to test whether a given technology or tool will produce the results a company is looking for, before millions of dollars are invested."
Insurgent has gotten off to a great start, working on several pilot programs currently. The experience and expertise of the people behind the company and Norman-Spencer's impeccable reputation in the program administration space for 30 years has opened up numerous opportunities. "We bring our expertise to help facilitate insurTech's move forward," noted Brian.
For more information about Insurgent, please visit http://insurgent-consulting.com/. To discuss your specific needs, please contact: Joe Drozda via email at joedrozda@insurgent-consulting.com or call 937.432.1618; or reach out to Sandy Welker via email at sandywelker@insurgent-consulting.com or call 937.432.3520.