Broker Insurance Vs. Bank Insurance: What’s the difference?
If you are planning to buy an insurance product, do not blindly trust what the bank employees and their online website advise. They are not necessarily trained, qualified and have in-depth knowledge in relation to the insurance product offered.
Bank employees sell financial products because the bank has entered into an agreement with the insurance company, which pays them a commission when their customers purchase a policy. They generally don’t recommend these products to meet the needs and convenience of the customers. It is not that the products sold through banks are bad. Just like a medicine is not effective on every patient, not all financial products are useful for everyone.
Insurance Brokers on the other hand, offer a range of different products from different Insurers and these policies are generally much broader than those offered via a bank.
Insurance Brokers are the “middleman” and do all the groundwork for you so that you do not need to speak to the Insurer directly.... All the negotiations, processes and hard work are handled by your insurance broker. This includes full reviews of several different Insurers’ policy offerings compared with your bank or online facility which only has one offering.
Insurance Brokers handle all claims on your behalf and negotiate directly with your Insurer. No need for you to wait on hold or in long queues waiting for your claim query or claim lodgement as the Insurance broker performs this function for you. In most cases insurance brokers access more experienced claims staff at an Insurer compared to claims staff which handle policies offered through banks.
It's important to note that if you have a claim with an Insurer you will need to deal directly with the Insurer. You may not have sufficient knowledge and understanding of how the policy operates to assist you in obtaining a successful claim settlement. This often results in those “grey area” claims being denied by an Insurer. However, a broker understands these technical and complex issues and is much better qualified to negotiate a successful settlement for you.
Insurance is not just purchasing a policy and forgetting about it after you have bought the policy. You should stay in touch with the insurance provider so that your questions can be answered.
To use a current analogy, consider the purchasing of insurance like buying meat for your family or guests. Whilst you can buy your meat at a Supermarket, I am sure most people would agree it is much better to buy your meat from a butcher as they are more qualified in providing you the best cut of meat. The meat they offer is most likely a much better quality than that from a Supermarket. The same goes for insurance products where you are much better serviced by an insurance broker who specialises in insurance whereas a bank specialises in handling money and providing mortgages.
