Policies Per Customer: Exploring Cross-Sell Opportunities

The adage ‘Your most profitable customers are the ones you already have’ is applicable to every industry, and none more so than commercial insurance. Understanding the cross-sell opportunities for your existing client base is key to unlocking further growth. 

According to the Data Team at Broker Insights, brokers using the Vision platform are increasingly leveraging cross-sell opportunities. Analysis of policy data from 2022 showed that the Vision platform contained renewal information relating to 401k clients and over 515k policies. This equals a ‘policy-per-customer’ ratio of 1.28, or in real world terms, just under a third of all commercial clients have more than one policy.  

Repeating the same analysis in 2024 for policy data relating to 480k clients and 645k policies gives a ‘policy-per-customer’ ratio of 1.34; an increase of 4.7%. 

At renewal stage, each brokers review of their clients’ circumstances will seek to establish if their current needs are being best met by their existing policies. For many commercial customers, a combined product may well be more appropriate, but what of those scenarios when more bespoke cover is required?  

Consumer duty will naturally be at the forefront of brokers’ minds, with recommending suitable coverage being a paramount concern. With standalone products representing better coverage than those included in combined products, understanding clients’ needs enables brokers to cross-sell policies with suitable adequacy of cover.  

Andy Whiteley, head of data at Broker Insights, believes that there is a win-win-win scenario for brokers, insurers and the end client: 

“Cyber cover remains the most obvious example in cross-sell, but the same could be applied to D&O, engineering, IP, and any number of other emerging risks. Specialist risks require specialist cover. 

The aggregated data within Vision shows that over the past two years, brokers have been increasingly successful at cross-selling policies with their clients, with an 4.7% increase in the ‘policy-per-customer’ ratio. With the support of Broker Insights’ insurer and MGA partners, many of whom have suitable product options for a range of cross-sell opportunities, this ratio is only set to increase.” 

The Policy Information page within Broker Insights Vision^TM contains a Linked Policies section, which details all policies held by the client and the markets with an appetite for each risk. This insight is useful when assessing client needs and placement optimisation at renewal stage. 

If you would like to better understand your policy-per-customer ratio and how you can increase it via cross-sell opportunities, please contact the Broker Relationship Management team at Broker Insights.