A good scheme stuck behind a phone number
You have built a scheme for a specific group: dog groomers, holiday let owners, mobile caterers, classic car clubs. You know the market, you have an insurer who backs it, and the rating is well understood. But every quote still means a phone call or an email exchange. The enquirer answers the same questions, a handler types them into a rating spreadsheet or the insurer's portal, and the quote goes out by email. Evenings and weekends, when many small business owners do their admin, nothing happens.
The enquiries that do come in are small premiums, so the handler time per policy is high. Growing the scheme means hiring.
What keeps the scheme offline
The rating rules exist, but in a form only staff can use: a spreadsheet with hidden columns, a rating guide, or the insurer's own system. Acceptance criteria, such as trades excluded, claims limits or locations referred, are partly written down and partly known by experienced handlers. And a public quote journey feels risky if it might quote something it should not.
- Rating sits in a spreadsheet or the insurer's portal.
- Acceptance and referral rules are partly unwritten.
- Policy documents are produced by hand.
- Payment is taken over the phone or by invoice.
What phone-only quoting costs
Enquirers who want to buy at nine in the evening buy from someone who lets them. Handler time goes on small, straightforward cases, which limits how far the scheme can grow. And each quote is only as consistent as the person producing it.
An online journey built on your scheme's rules
- We work with you to write down the scheme's questions, rating, acceptance criteria and referral triggers, as agreed with your insurer.
- The quote journey on your website asks those questions in plain language, with help text, and works on a phone.
- Answers are checked against the acceptance rules. Anything outside them, or anything that triggers a referral, goes to a handler with the full answers, and the enquirer is told a person will be in touch.
- Cases within the rules are rated and shown a quote with the key cover points, excesses and the documents they need to read.
- The enquirer can buy online, paying by card or direct debit through a provider such as Stripe or GoCardless, with demands and needs and other required documents produced from your templates.
- The policy is recorded in your broking system and the insurer is notified through the route your agreement requires, such as a bordereau or API.
- Every answer, quote and document is stored against the policy.
What the scheme is allowed to sell online, and on what terms, is agreed between you and the insurer and your compliance function. The journey only does what those rules allow, and refers everything else.
Which cases go where
| Case | Route | Person involved? |
|---|---|---|
| Within all rules | Quote and buy online | No, unless the client asks |
| Referral trigger, such as a claim | Referred with full answers | Yes |
| Outside acceptance | Polite decline or referral, as you choose | Optional |
| Renewal | Online renewal with answers confirmed | Only if something changes |
A scheme that sells while the office is closed
Straightforward cases are handled online at any hour, and handlers spend their time on referrals and on the enquirers who want to talk. The scheme's rules are written down and applied the same way every time, which also makes it easier to show your insurer how the scheme is run.
Is your scheme stuck on the phone?
- Every scheme quote needs a handler.
- The rating lives in a spreadsheet.
- Referral rules are partly in experienced handlers' heads.
- Enquiries arrive in the evening and wait until morning.
- Growing the scheme means hiring more handlers.