If you are a well-established business, particularly one in a sector that is a little gritty or niche, you may be suffering a little heartache as we approach Valentine’s Day.  If you are a newish business, you may not have experienced the right sort of love at all.  In either case, the love you are missing or lacking is that of a dedicated local  commercial insurance broker.  Many local brokers have disappeared off the map, swallowed up by big insurance conglomerates, often with American or overseas ownership.  As a result, many businesses, whether in manufacturing, engineering, professional services, transport and distribution, property, or something else, have lost the personal insurance service that made such a difference.

Instead, they have been transferred into a call centre and become a number on a spreadsheet.  Rather than having an in-depth discussion, face-to-face, with a broker who gets to know them inside-out, they have to go speed dating.  They are expected to explain their complex commercial insurance risk in as few a number of words as possible, so they are off the telephone line quickly.

If they then have a question about what they have been told, they find that they have to speak to someone else about it – whoever picks up the file.  No true relationship exists at all.  Nobody understands their needs.  There’s no-one they can just chat to, whenever something is worrying them.  Of course, they could ring up, spend very many minutes hanging on the line and then talk to someone with no understanding of their business, but that’s not really much help.  All in all, the way their commercial insurance is now handled truly gives them the ick.

How a local broker can help your business

But despair not because Gauntlet Group can almost act as your dating agency, if you want to be matched up with an individual who will actually bother to get to know you at a deep and meaningful level.  Rather than judging what ‘type’ you are and shoving you into a ready-made insurance box, our brokers will examine your true personality, your foibles and all, and find you the right insurance cover fit.  They will also help you work on weaknesses and emerge as a stronger, more resilient business.

The great news is that we have a whole network of commercial insurance brokers who have turned their backs on the big conglomerate approach, stayed true to their principles and continued to deliver the face-to-face service you thought had disappeared forever.  You can actually go fishing and select who you want to work with or, alternatively, choose to work with one of our Leeds-based brokers at Gauntlet HQ.

Many of our local brokers have already been on blind dates.  A friend of a friend has recommended them to a business and that business has been absolutely delighted to meet up with them.  When they do, it tends to be a long-term relationship, underpinned by lots of tender loving care from the broker.  They do everything to ensure the business is fully protected, with no gaping holes in cover and no clauses or policy wordings that could catch them out.  Sometimes, it can be a case of just in the nick of time.

How a local broker can provide great commercial insurance advice

Other brokers are the ones you are yet to meet.  If you need to get out of your call centre insurance relationship, they are standing by, poised and ready to help steer you towards what could be better, more comprehensive covers and potentially cost savings too.  They are absolutely ready to give you the best possible advice, even if you are not quite ready to move your insurance.  Furthermore, they could present you with different options that you have never even considered.

Your impression, as a business, may be that the local brokers of whom we speak are all sitting in high street offices, somewhere behind very tall oak counters that are somewhat off-putting.  And this is the great news for you, if you are running a business and seeking a commercial insurance broker.  Gauntlet Group brokers are not like that.

Many of our local commercial insurance  brokers will meet you at a location to suit you.  That might be your office or factory.  It could equally be a coffee shop where you can talk through what you do and what you need to protect.  Wherever it is, they will truly graft, analysing your risks and going all out to devise an optimised solution that will cover them and keep your business protected.

Our local brokers may very well work in a modern way –  from home and  super-efficiently, with the backing of a cutting-edge IT system that allows them to handle your requirements 24/7, from any location.  This is 21^st century commercial insurance delivery, from 21^st century brokers who are not just operating around their local high street but handling the insurance needs of clients like you, potentially based right across the UK.  People are coming to them because of their reputation and expertise, not necessarily because they are on their doorstep.

Local commercial insurance brokers offering great premiums and policy choices

And what’s even better news for you is that these are not local commercial insurance  brokers lacking in wherewithal.  Perhaps you left your last local broker because they could not compete on price with bigger set-ups or could only offer you a limited range of insurance policy choices?  You will not find this with our local brokers, because they are local brokers with a huge difference.  They can access a large number of policies, from right across the market and from all of the leading insurers and most niche insurers too.

In addition, they are able to offer keen rates, thanks to the buying power that Gauntlet Group has with its large number of insurer partners.  Buying power drives prices down because we can give insurers volume.  High volume equates to better value policies that we can offer to our clients.

That means that you don’t have to compromise.  It’s not a case of working with a local broker, knowing that decision will cost you more in premiums.  It’s actually a situation in which you get the best of both worlds – personalised and dedicated commercial insurance advice and support, at a price that is on a level playing-field with that charged by faceless insurance providers hiding in their remote call centres.

And the quality of advice you receive will be incomparable, because your local broker will actually know you and take time over your insurance provision. You may well develop a chemistry that sees this being a long-term relationship, maybe even a future friendship at a social level.  You will be valued and treated very well.

So this Valentine’s day, if you’re not feeling the love from your commercial insurance provider, you know what to do.  The insurance broker of your wishes is probably here within the Gauntlet Group, so why not ring them up, email them or send them a text?