The entry of Esurance into the Alberta market is being met with little more than a shrug of the shoulders by that province’s brokers.
“It is not surprising at all. We see this as just another step along the road towards providing the consumer with better service and convenience than what the industry does now,” said Bruce Rabik, COO at Rogers Insurance. “We welcome Esurance to the market place and respect their business model. We are also very confident we can meet the challenge they provide and we are excited that they will help educate the market about the possibilities."
Esurance, the U.S. company that provides self-directed consumers with a smart choice for auto insurance, announced earlier this week that it has expanded internationally into Canada.
And while Rabik credits brokers with positioning themselves in the advisor role for clients, he does admit that Esurance will push insurers to up their game.
“While brokers are very good at providing advice based insurance we are not always very good at providing convenience and timeliness,” Rabik told Insurance Business. “Rogers has always prided itself on providing the very best in insurance advice… we are also very confident we can meet the challenge they provide and we are excited that they will help educate the market about the possibilities.”
Rod Cunniam of the Western Financial Group sees the entry of Esurance of just the tip of the iceberg.
“Competition for direct and online consumers continues to increase in Alberta and we anticipate more companies will enter the marketplace in the coming years,” said Cunniam, COO, Direct Distribution for Western Financial Group. “The steady increase in competition keeps everyone on their toes. Internally, it drives us to continually find new ways to achieve higher standard levels for Western Direct Insurance while staying true to our core values of customer service and local community involvement.”
“We don’t do the mass marketing,” said Chris Haggis, a partner with Young & Haggis Insurance Services Ltd., in Calgary, Alta. “People still want to get a broker or an agent to work on their behalf. I’m sure they (Esurance) will carve out their little niche, but I don’t think it will affect us.”
If anything, the entry of Esurance will perhaps push some brokers and insurers to up their game a bit in the space, said Haggis.
“It may spur us to make sure our technology is up to speed so we can interact with our customers on the internet when we need to,” he said. “We’ve seen that one before,” he said. “We’ve been accosted by these guys (American insurers) before. Everybody has their own little niche – we wouldn’t be worried too much by that.” (continued.)
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That may just happen, given the focus of Esurance President and CEO Gary Tolman.
“Canadians use the internet at a higher rate than any other country, yet quoting and buying insurance online is still in its infancy,” said Tolman. “We think there is a tremendous opportunity to introduce Canadian consumers to insurance for the modern world.”
One of those online tools offered by Esurance is Coverage Counsellor, which helps consumers find the right insurance coverage to meet their specific needs.
“We are pleased to welcome Esurance to the Canadian market to enhance the options available to self-directed consumers,” said John O’Donnell, President and CEO of Allstate Insurance Company of Canada. “With their entry into Canada, our combined companies can now meet the needs of Canadians according to their buying and service preferences.”
