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The broker works for you. But who verifies whether your insurance programme is truly competitive?
Insurance is not simply a fixed cost: it is a lever for risk management and cost optimization.
Many CFOs carefully analyze the main categories of corporate expenditure. The insurance program, however, is often reviewed only at renewal time, with limited visibility over the alternatives that are actually available:
- which solutions have actually been evaluated;
- how much the insurance market has been actively engaged;
- whether premiums, deductibles, limits, and exclusions are still aligned with the company’s risk profile;
- whether the outcome achieved is truly competitive.
The question to ask is not whether the broker is doing their job.
The question is: who independently verifies the quality of the result?
ERA’s role: independent oversight of the insurance process
ERA supports companies with an independent and structured approach to reviewing insurance programs.
The objective is not to automatically replace the existing broker, but to create a process that is more transparent, competitive, and measurable.
Where appropriate, the market can be engaged through a controlled comparison among 2–3 qualified players, with clear rules and strict coordination.
No overlap. No confusion. No dispersion into the market.
Only:
- clearly defined scopes of work;
- well-defined market mandates;
- consistent presentation of risk to insurers;
- objective comparison of premiums, coverage, deductibles, limits, and exclusions;
- comparable and well-documented results.
In this way, insurance is not purchased merely on trust, but on measurable factors.
Why it matters
When brokers and the market know that the process is being managed rigorously, the quality of the outcome changes.
The benefits may include:
- greater premium competitiveness;
- improved coverage terms;
- critical review of deductibles, limits, and exclusions;
- increased attention from insurers;
- better documentation of decisions for management, ownership, or internal audit.
Insurance thus shifts from a simple annual renewal to a disciplined financial and operational process.
A concrete example
A mid-sized Italian company turned to ERA after many years of working with the same insurance broker.
The program was regularly renewed, but the message was always the same:
“The market is difficult: these are the best conditions available.”
“Only a few insurers are willing to take on this type of risk.”
ERA implemented a structured review process, involving two qualified operators with clear engagement rules and centralized coordination of interactions with the insurance market.
The result was significant.
One operator identified an insurer that had never been involved before. Another proposed a different program structure, improving deductibles, terms, and the overall coverage framework.
The client achieved a premium reduction of approximately 20%, along with an overall improvement in the insurance program.
Same company. Same risk profile.
Different result.
The difference was not the market.
It was the process.
