ITIC member and broker survey 2012

We are always interested in your views and thoughts on ITIC’s cover, services and performance. There is a feedback area in the “Contact Us” section of ITIC’s website, available to anyone who would like to send a query or make a comment. Rather than wait for you to contact us, a qualitative member and broker survey was undertaken in the summer of 2012 and reported to the Board of ITIC in September 2012. The 2013 ITIC Yearbook is the first opportunity we have had to share these findings with the membership.

A qualitative survey tends to be more in depth and is addressed to a smaller number of participants, than a quantitative survey (which is the wider type of question and answer survey that you are sometimes sent by email or may find in magazines). As such, fifteen members and ten insurance brokers were selected by insured service and geographical area. They were either interviewed face to face or by telephone by an independent market research and insight company.

The members generally saw ITIC in a very favourable light, particularly commenting on the wide role of the account executive which encompasses underwriting, claims and marketing. Members commented positively on the dual capabilities of ITIC, valuing not only the general management and account handling, but the legal support offered and the presence of an onsite, dedicated, claims team.

The insurance brokers’ view of ITIC was unprecedentedly favourable. They said that they liked the friendly, personable, professional experts in the ITIC team. The insurance brokers advised that ITIC executives were good in front of clients and respected the broker’s position.

The insurance brokers did consider that ITIC’s price was an issue on occasions, but acknowledged that whilst there are cheaper options that value was often compromised. Despite this comment, the insurance brokers asked ITIC to be more flexible and to “sharpen pencils”, but also said that ‘more of the same’ will certainly serve ITIC well. These comments have been listened to and acted on, where appropriate.

The interviews, more specifically focused on renewals, claims, underwriting, relationships, communications, loss prevention, finances, website and service culture which are reported in the following paragraphs.

Renewals

All parties questioned generally saw ITIC renewals as being quick and easy. Many liked the 2 year deal options, the transparency and flexibility of renewal negotiations.

“Any disagreements sorted out easily by phone – they are plain dealers”

Claims

ITIC staff were reported as providing logical and sensible advice, although the speed of response was an issue.

“Sometimes a little slow to get started. Once underway it’s fine”

Other comments were:

“In house lawyers know how to handle claims better and more professionally”

“Many claims go direct between member and club without the broker’s intervention - unless things get messy”

Underwriting

Both members and brokers were very positive about underwriting standards. The fact that ITIC underwriters were also involved with claims was useful as it provided fewer knee jerk reactions at renewal and generally through the year.

“Supportive when I need to cut a deal. They listen”

Relationships

This was viewed as one of ITIC’s genuine strengths and was widely cited as a crucial attribute, with local offices, representatives and correspondents being equally applauded. Annual visits to overseas locations were appreciated and felt to be valuable.

“Relationships are one of their genuine fortés”

Communications

The consensus of the survey suggested that the content and media were fine and that volume/frequency is well judged. Seminars are appreciated and attended wherever possible. Case study material is felt to be particularly valuable, although you said that more could be made of this.

Loss Prevention

ITIC’s risk management was considered to be very well done and differentiated ITIC from other insurers. Some members questioned were able to give good examples of actions taken as a result of reading ITIC’s loss prevention material.

“…how to sign off purchase orders so that the owner will not transfer payment liability to the ship management co. As a result the company developed set stamps for contract sign off..”

Website

The updated website received praise, however many questioned were unaware of the archive that exists on the website, which can be accessed by all through “The Knowledge Zone”.

“…Clear, comprehensive. You have all you need there”

“…Huge improvement over what went before”

Some users believe that there is still more that could be featured.

“ITIC has lots more information not released”

Service Culture

ITIC was praised for its service culture, which was termed by some as “a partner culture” being inclusive and supportive.

“I feel that we are part of their culture and they are part of ours”

The ITIC advisory and consultative support was thought to be key in relationship building and contributed to ITIC’s service strength. For some ITIC is ‘worn’ like a badge of quality.

“We feature the ITIC logo on our website – we’re proud of the association”.

The findings of the Member and Broker Survey were mostly positive, although there were some recommendations made such as

• To keep an eye on speed of response
• To be as flexible as possible
• To embrace localism, language usage

We have listened to the comments and views and are aware that there is always room for improvement.

We always endeavour to reply to any emails or phone calls as quickly as we can. Obviously, some situations do involve the consideration of often large amounts of information, which can take some time. However, if you are feeling that you need an answer more quickly, please let us know.

We also try to be flexible on providing the best insurance terms that we can depending on the activities requiring insurance. We also try to be flexible and commercial in our claims handling.
Again, if you think we could improve on a specific request, please ask.

Finally, to assist any ITIC members or insurance brokers, who do not have English as their first language, the ITIC team speak French, Spanish, German, Italian and Japanese. The ITIC website has the Rules, Proposal Forms and Fact Sheets available in Chinese, French, German, Italian and Spanish.

Furthermore, the website is also currently being translated into German, Spanish, French and Italian. Some of these will be accessible from October 2013.

Our message to all Members and Brokers is to thank you for the time and effort that you put into this survey. The ITIC team were thrilled with the results, but would ask that you:

• visit and use the ITIC website
• continue to ask us questions
• tell us when you think that we could do better