Aviva survey finds technology replacing brokers a growing concern

What do the results show?

• Concerns about technology replacing the human broker are growing (from 8% in May 2018 to 13% in May 2019).
• At the same time, twice as many brokers now see personaly service as their greatest opportunity.
• The number of brokers who feel the economic climate is having a positive impact on their business has halved over the past 12 months.
• National brokers are most likely to feel a negative impact (42% vs 31% of super regionals and 25% provincial); while regionally Wales and Scotland/Northern Ireland report the highest negative impact.
• The number of brokers planning to expand or hire new staff over the next 12 months has fallen - only two in five brokers have expansion plans.

There has been a significant rise in the number of brokers who see personal service as their biggest growth opportunity (from 11% in May 2018 to 24.4% in May 2019) – while fears about technology replacing the human broker are on the rise, our latest Broker Barometer survey has found.

The number of brokers who think the economic climate is having a positive effect has halved since May 2018 (down from 20% to 9.6% in May 2019), and national brokers are feeling the impact most, with 42% saying the current climate is bad for business. Despite this, more brokers feel there is no impact on their business (60.8%) than they did a year ago (51%).

Phil Bayles, our MD - Intermediaries, acknowledges the current challenges for brokers, but says there are significant opportunities for the taking:

“We are starting to see clear trends emerging from our biannual broker barometer survey. One of these is a growing concern about what increasing automisation will be mean for the human broker. There’s no doubt there are functions in our industry which are ripe for automation, such as issuing policies and other administrative tasks. But that’s good news, as it frees brokers up to focus on where they most add value – as a trusted advisor.

It’s really encouraging that our survey shows brokers are already thinking this way – with so many more now seeing personal service as their greatest opportunity. With new, more complex risks emerging all the time, clients need this trusted advice now more than ever, and that’s why we believe the broking industry will continue to have a very positive future.”

He also adds: “As the political uncertainty continues, we may see considerable upheaval that could have a deep impact on business – whether that comes from threats to supply chains or fluctuating exchange rates. To help brokers navigate these waters for their clients, we have produced an online guide to the questions brokers should be asking their clients to help ensure they recommend the right level of cover.”

Our survey also found:

• The majority of brokers feel they are spending the right amount of time servicing their clients, with one quarter spending too little time. Most would still like to increase the amount of face-to-face time they have with their clients.
• Brokers feel that clients do take their advice most of the time and value it all/most of the time.
• Price remains by far the most common question clients asked their broker in the past 12 months, followed by the quality of cover.