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How Your Presence On the Internet Can Scare Insurance Companies

By September 30, 2013February 19th, 2021Business Insurance

Let’s face it, we love the Internet. Unless you have mastered the Vulcan Mind-Meld you are using the Internet to read this article. But the Internet is a scary place, not for you but for an Insurance Company Underwriter.

It’s common practice for Insurance Underwriters to look at your company’s web site and social media presence to better understand what your company does. They are also checking the veracity of your insurance application comparing it to what they find.

When it comes to your web site and social media pages Underwriters assume you mean what you say on them. If you say you do “A, B & C” type of work, they interpret that you do A, B & C work.

But what happens if your web site says more about what you do than what you really do? That is something which can scare an insurance company underwriter.

Here is an example of a situation we faced where a business had a very robust web site that listed a variety of services some of which the owner never intended to perform.

The business was a residential plumbing contractor. For years he served in our local community working on new homes that were being constructed and service work for existing homeowners. These services were prominently featured on his web site. The web site shows “other services” such as installation of water and sewer mains in public roads, service of boilers at Public Schools, and industrial plumbing services to Refineries.

The owner told us before he started this company he had some experience in these areas. He wanted to show his “breadth of experience” even though this was never going to have the “other services” be a focus of his business.

Some underwriters we spoke with said they would not offer a quotation for insurance because the contractor, given the opportunity, could provide these “other services” which the underwriters consider to be “riskier”. Therefore they feel they were not able to charge an adequate rate.

The direct impact to the business owner was instead of having multiple insurance carriers competing for his business, he only had one company that was willing to offer a quotation.

So what does your Web Site or Social Media page say about your business? Have you sat down with your insurance agent or broker and asked them about how an insurance underwriter could interpret your web site?

Here’s a better move. Drop us a line or give us a call at 800-272-4783 and we can talk about it. Because how you appear to the insurance marketplace could mean the difference between a costly insurance plan or better insurance protection.

Scott Harrigan

Scott started his career in insurance in 1988 and joined Rue Insurance in 2004 as a Marketing Specialist focusing on creating effective risk financing and risk transfer programs for companies and non-profit organizations. In addition to this he is a member of the Rue Insurance educational team that provides ongoing professional development in critical insurance concepts and programs to Rue employees. About Scott | More Posts by Scott

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