Getting quotes for home and car insurance online has been a growing trend for a good number of years now.
A recent newcomer to the world of online quoting is business insurance, and specifically public liability cover.
There are various ways in which the internet is used for quoting business insurance, and in this guide we’ll take a look at the various options and what you should know about them.
Online Quotes
For many years the standard practice for business insurance was to speak with an insurance broker.
Whilst this is still a very popular option (and possibly the most popular option) many business owners are now going online to sort out their insurance needs.
There are three main ways in which business insurance websites typically work. There are those which are simply enquiry websites, those which have added functionality to provide instant quotes, and those that can complete the entire transaction online.
Each different option has its own set of advantages and disadvantages, and below we’ll take a closer look at each of them.
Option 1 – Online Enquiries
This is the most common option, and certainly the easiest for any insurance brokerage or lead generation company to create.
These websites work by collecting your information and then passing it onto a broker for review. In some cases the lead may be handled internally, and in others the information may be sold to another broker in the form of a lead.
Advantages
The main advantage of this method is that your information will be reviewed by a qualified broker (although you should always check their qualifications) who will then assess your situation and obtain quotes from various insurers.
This is a major advantage over some of the instant quoting systems which may only utilise a small number of insurers, or even a single insurer to make the quoting process easier for them.
Disadvantages
People going online for their public liability insurance quotes are often looking for an instant quote, however because this style of quoting requires work by humans the quotes can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days.
Option 2 – Online Quoting
This type of websites takes the leap from simply collecting details to actually using those details to generate an instant quotation on your business insurance.
The website will ask a range of questions about you and your business, and provided that you meet the criteria it will then provide you with an instant quote on the requested cover.
If you are happy with the quote you can then contact the insurance company to proceed, and a broker or adviser will help you with the process.
Advantages
Speed and convenience is the big advantages for instant quoting websites. Instead of having to wait for a person to process your request, the website will generate the quote for you within seconds.
Disadvantages
Getting a website to provide an instant quote is a complex process, and the more insurer’s products that the website has to analyse the more difficult it gets.
For this reason, many websites offering instant quotes are only able to do so for a single insurer or a very small number of insurers. This means that the website may not actually be giving you the best price on your cover.
Another major disadvantage of these sites is that they can only provide instant quotes for the ‘easy’ businesses. If you business activities are slightly outside of the norm, the website will not be able to provide an accurate quote.
Option 3 – Fully Automated Cover
There are now a small (but growing) number of websites which can bypass human interaction entirely.
In addition to providing you with an instant quote, these websites also allows you to go ahead with the cover immediately and receive your insurance documents within minutes.
Advantages
If you need to get your cover in hurry, it is difficult to beat these fully automated websites. If you want to get covered at 3am on a Saturday morning, you can do it without having to worry about business hours.
Many people do not like dealing with an insurance broker or other similar professionals, so this system allows them to get the cover they need without having to speak with anyone.
Disadvantages
This structure has many of the same disadvantages of option 2 (online quoting) however these risks are magnified due to the complete lack of involvement of a broker or other insurance professional.
When you go ahead with a policy entirely online it is your own responsibility to ensure that you have done everything correctly. There is no one there to check your answers and ensure that you have the right cover for your needs.
Our Opinion
Here at publicliabilityinsurance.com.au we have put in place the structure that we believe is the best for the majority business owners.
We think that online quotes and cover is fantastic for home and car insurance, but business insurance is a lot more complex, and there is a lot more at stake.
We believe that the best option is for us to collect comprehensive information on your business via our website, and then to have one of our experts review your information and provide quotes accordingly.
The benefit of this method is that you have a qualified insurance broker or adviser helping you through the process to ensure everything is done correctly and that you are properly covered.
If you don’t like having to deal with ‘insurance salesmen’ (not what we consider our team to be anyway) over the phone or in person, our team can deal with you via email or whatever method is convenient and preferable for you.
To get a quote from one of our network of insurance brokers and advisers, the best option is to complete our online quote form and select your preferred method of contact, being phone or email.
If you’d rather speak with a real person you can always contact us directly on 1300 542 245 and we will be more than happy to assist.