A SmallBiz Owner gave me a shout yesterday and they wanted me to find him a better price.
I asked him if he was already using a Broker and he said, “Yes.”, so I told him that he should ask his Broker to get go get him a better price…my opinion is that anyone can get you a better price. He said he would but he asked if I could just take a quick look at his program.
So, I did take a look and this is what I found:
- Including himself, he has 3 employees on the plan.
- Straightforward plan…Life, AD&D, Dependent Life, Health, and Dental.
- Not so straightforward…he was paying on average $6,000 per employee per year.
- He had just moved his benefits to his current Carrier June 1, 2017.
What to do?
Well, the first thing that needed to be uncovered is why $18,000 per year for 3 employees. Usually in these situations there has to be a high claimant…and there was! Even better, the high claimant was no longer with the company as of January 1, 2018.
Given that the high claimant was no longer there, I asked if he had seen a dramatic decrease in claims in the last quarter?…”Uh, no. How would I know that?”. SHAMELESS PLUG #1 for Sharkey Group Insurance…”Well, I provide my Clients with Quarterly Reports so they can anticipate what the upcoming Renewal will look like.”
I was shocked (NOT) that he didn’t ask me to be his Broker right then and there…Anyways, my advice to him was, “Wait and see what the Renewal looks like. It will be a September Renewal, so you should receive it in the first week of July.”. SHAMELESS PLUG #2 for Sharkey Group Insurance…”I make sure that my Clients know what the Renewal position is right away when I receive the Renewal 60 days from the Carrier before the Renewal date. That gives us enough time to develop a Negotiation Strategy.”
I get that SmallBiz Owners are always looking out for their bottomline. However, when it comes to Group Insurance Benefits, it sometimes pays off to be patient so that the Carriers out there don’t red-flag your program because you’re out there asking your Broker to do a Marketing every year. Once you’re red flagged, you may not be able to get the Carriers to give you a quote when you really need it.
In this particular situation, I advised that he should wait for the Renewal before doing anything rash. I advised that the Renewal will probably be a good one considering that the High Claimant left the organization about halfway through the year!
Located in Cambridge, ON Sharkey Group Insurance provides independent Employee Benefits advice & counsel for Small Businesses across Ontario.