New Direct Commercial broker barometer finds high level of confidence and performance in commercial motor

75% of brokers saw an increase in commercial motor business in the last year

90% of brokers believe they will see growth in commercial motor over the coming year

83% of brokers flag concerns over a lack of capacity availability for commercial motor business.

The commercial motor sector is an important one for the UK economy, with more than 85% of goods transported via haulage¹. Despite numerous challenges within this hugely competitive market, haulage remains an attractive and growing business to be involved in for brokers.

The new Direct Commercial Limited (DCL) Broker Barometer² has found that three quarters (75%) of brokers saw an increase in commercial motor business in the last year and 90% of brokers believe they will see growth in commercial motor over the coming year.

Insurers, MGAs and brokers can achieve growth in commercial motor by understanding and reacting to the challenges faced by the industry. The challenges outlined by brokers specifically are diverse and not insubstantial, including increasing claims, lack of capacity, driver shortages and proliferation of risk.

Nevertheless, confidence that these challenges are effectively being tackled remains among the broker community. For example, the majority of brokers believe it is either business critical (14%) or very important (46%) for their brokerage to have effective relationships between brokers (whether wholesale or subagents), their insurers and MGAs, and client policyholders to ensure good management and mitigate claims costs.

However, brokers serving the commercial motor market flagged concerns over capacity. According to the Broker Barometer, 83% of brokers do not believe that there are enough specialists or insurers offering capacity for the haulage, waste disposal and courier markets.

And broker confidence is closely associated with efficient insurer and MGA service provision, not least on new business. The Direct Commercial Broker Barometer found that almost half (46%) of brokers expect underwriters to respond within 24 hours to a new business query, and over two-fifths (42%) require a response withing 72 hours.

Joe Hantson of Direct Commercial Limited, said:

“While the outstanding level of broker resilience is clearly demonstrated by their confidence and business performance, we must all continue to focus on incremental improvements to manage the challenges we all face.

 “Enthusiasm for the commercial motor market is welcome but expertise in such a challenging environment is an absolute must. To that end, we always seek strong relationships with brokers and their policyholders in the form of our quarterly claims meetings. It allows brokers and policyholders to benefit from our experience, as we work together to reduce their incurred costs and improve efficiency.”

Authored by Commercial Direct