Why aren’t you selling home insurance?

It’s a simple question, but perhaps not so easy to answer.

Maybe you’re unaware of how lucrative it could be for you or maybe you’re not confident in your ability to promote the products and counter your client’s objections.

Adding GI into your offering isn’t as complicated as you might think and at Source, we offer training and support every step of the way.

What is home insurance?

Falling within the section of General Insurance (GI), home insurance provides cover for the damage of or loss to a building and its contents. You can obtain these insurances separately, if it suits your needs, however, it is often easier (and sometimes more cost effective) to arrange them together.

Buildings insurance will cover many factors such as the structure of the property and permanent fixtures like kitchen and bathroom fittings, and contents insurance can provide protection for your client’s belongings, such as furniture, clothing, gadgets and jewellery.

There are also additional cover options available, such as accidental damage, home emergency cover and personal possessions (which insures items away from the home).

Why is it important?

Home insurance provides peace of mind that your home and belongings can be repaired or replaced, should the worst happen. If your client’s home was flooded, could they afford to replace all of their possessions and pay for repair work to be completed on the structure? Probably not.

If your client has a mortgage, the lender will require adequate home insurance to be in place before they provide the loan, to ensure they can recover the costs if the home was damaged beyond repair. A home is an investment, and your clients should see it that way too.

In a Lexis Nexis report, 2/3 of consumers think it’s acceptable to provide inaccurate information on their insurance application, to achieve cheaper premiums. Use your duty of care and expertise to educate your clients on the importance of providing accurate information so that, should they ever need to make a claim, their insurer will pay out.

What can I earn?

With Source, you can set your own commission percentage for each policy you place, up to 27.5% (for household insurance). This means that you’ll earn up to 27.5% of your client’s premium.

For example, placing one case a week, on an average premium of £340, could be an additional income of £4,000 per year for you. If you continue to place one case every week and 90% of your clients renew year-on-year, you could earn approximately £63,000 over 5 years, which could lead to a tidy sum of additional income, into retirement.

Whether you’ve never considered selling home insurance or you’re just not in the habit of promoting it to every client, there’s always an opportunity to sell more and earn more.

How do I promote it?

Source’s five top tips for improving your conversions

Sell yourself before selling a product – build rapport with your client, so that they know they can trust your advice.
Introduce insurance to your clients at the start of your process, not as an afterthought.
Let your clients know about your services by keeping in touch through marketing.
Give an illustration to every client, to increase the chance of take up. You can complete a home insurance illustration in 10 minutes. Minimum effort for maximum reward!
Use the resources available to you, to educate your clients and (with your help) allow them to make an informed decision of the right product for them.

Provide your clients with our latest eBook “Your guide to home insurance”, for basic information around protecting their home, you can then answer any of their follow-up questions and provide them with an illustration to match their needs.

Remember, it’s your responsibility to reassure your clients that you can arrange their protection, to ensure their home and possessions are covered, should the worst happen.

Lee Denton is associate sales director at Source Insurance