Building a Team of Experts: Selecting the Right Retail Broker

In this edition of the AV Insurance Blog we take a look at the role and value of a good Retail Broker.

The insurance process is simple, and easy, right? Yes, if you have the right partners working for you. Like any other distribution chain, the insurance process is only as strong as the weakest link. When something breaks it’s not always clear to the Autonomous Vehicle Company where things went wrong. The graphic below lays out the responsibilities of each party and makes clear that if a single partner fails, the result can be catastrophic.

 “Mastery is not a function of genius or talent. It is a function of time and intense focus applied to a particular field of knowledge.” – Robert Greene

A great Retail Broker acts as the quarterback to the entire transaction. Calling plays, making adjustments on the fly, and executing the vision for success. It must be the strongest link in the chain, exhibiting these characteristics:

• Subject Matter Expert

  • Knowledge of the breadth of Autonomous applications, bots to semi trucks

  • Client diversity of size and operations to understand a variety of situations

  • Understanding of the unique language of autonomy (AV, stack, geofencing, runway, levels 1-5, ADAS, pilot, perception, deep learning, if/then, neural network, UBI, and the list goes on)

• Strong AV Industry Relationships
  The Retail Broker should be the tip of the spear for insurance issues and a trusted facilitator for introductions to other resources (legal counsel, software partnerships, advocacy groups, retrofit companies). They should be engaged with insurance carriers at strategic leadership levels, pushing for collection and understanding of actuarial data to drive creation of innovative solutions and keep pace with Autonomous Vehicle Company disruption. Usage Based Insurance and AV specific policy product development should be critical initiatives. Relationships are built over years, through time spent speaking at and attending conferences, working with the marketplace, and creating strong bonds with influential thought leaders.
  

• Committed to Your Growth
  The right Retail Broker partnership will allow you to scale. If insurance is so costly you can’t buy more units because of the premiums, what’s the point? The right partner provides a range of solutions, from deductible ranges to Usage Based Insurance. They provide underwriters with more knowledge and context, resulting in lower costs and the ability for Autonomous Vehicle Companies to grow and scale.

Why the IOA Innovation Team?

The IOA Innovation Team is uniquely positioned. In 2016 our team brokered one of the first policies for the industry. Since then we’ve invested enormous time, effort, and capital in pushing market appetite and creating working and trusted partnerships with all carriers in the space.

The IOA team is based in Pleasanton, CA. We’re in the heart of the AV movement. We’re local and dedicated to you. There’s no service center in a distant state or country. We value your partnership and work closely with you as you grow.

My advice to anyone who asks is to find something you are passionate about, and throw yourself into it. Future Mobility is our mission. We can mention it to our friends at a party and they don’t glaze over and back away.

Are you focused on micro delivery? Robotaxis? Trucking? Teleoperations? Warehousing or Distribution? First, mid, or last mile? Yeah, we do that. We have clients across the autonomy spectrum, meaning we understand the unique nature of each application and the appropriate insurance solution.