There’s No Way You Can Replace A Broker, Says Travelers Europe CEO

Matthew Wilson says broker business is still its main market and that you can’t replace a broker as insurer launches direct online platform for small businesses.

Travelers Europe has launched an online platform, where it will offer insurance directly to UK small businesses with fewer than ten employees and less than £2.5m in revenues.

The insurer stated that the platform would initially be available for office businesses such as consultants and web designers and that it would simplify the buying experience for small business owners.

Matthew Wilson, CEO Travelers Europe, told Insurance Age that this was a new segment for the insurer. He said: “Travelers has a wealth of information around risk control and the issues that businesses face.

“A lot of these guys are going to be new out of college, entrepreneurial – they’re focused on what the business is trying to achieve rather than on the insurance buy. We’re trying to become their partner in terms of the insurance space.”

However, Wilson highlighted that brokers were still the insurer’s main market and that the new platform was not launched to compete with them.

“We have bigger, complex business that has to be intermediated and there’s no way you can replace a broker,” he noted.

“But this is simple stuff – small average premiums where the brokers aren’t really in that space nor are that many insurers. There’s no value in the chain for everyone to be involved.”

Wilson further stated that Travelers was looking to grow its broker book in the UK, adding that the company was “happy to partner with brokers that have the right type of business for our offering”.
He said: “We have strong relationships with the biggest ten brokers and after that it depends on what type of business a broker has and whether we could be a valued partner and a solution for their clients.

“In the mid-market space we have a very strong proposition and we have some very strong offerings in technology and those brokers that have that business tend to know us extremely well.”