Insurance agents looking to tap the small business market have a new tool at their disposal. Dovetail Insurance, a provider of cloud-based distribution services for P&C carriers, is now offering MetLife’s Business Owners Policy (BOP) on its NetBOP insurance portal.
The MetLife offering, which is available in California, Illinois, Indiana, North Carolina and Ohio only, enables agents to price and issue coverage in real-time using the portal’s intuitive point-and-click interface. The coverage includes property, liability and business interruption tailored to a variety of risk classes such as restaurant franchises and licensed contractors.
Also offered on Dovetail’s NetBOP portal are small and mid-sized businesses coverages underwritten by Starr Indemnity and Liability. These coverages are available to agents in states where the MetLife’s offerings have not yet been approved.
Agents who get appointed this month will be eligible for a special compensation program for risks quoted between now and January 31, 2015.
The SMB insurance market has consolidated heavily in recent years, and competitive coverage profiles have converged closely. So the agreement with Dovetail gives MetLife the opportunity to gain traction with independent agents by both making it easier for them to write business and helping them provide their clients with faster, more responsive service.
“We understand that agents competing in the small commercial insurance market need to serve their customers quickly with quality insurance products at good prices,” said Dovetail EVP Dennis Rabon. “With our NetBOP platform, agents have the ability to quote, bind and get all the information they need to service the small business in a matter of minutes.”
