Great Things Happen When the Right Partners Come Together.

Over the years, we have learned what brokers already know – customers like choice and they also like brokers. People choose their method of buying insurance before choosing their supplier. According to the IBAO 2016 Consumer Survey, over 50% of those surveyed in Ontario prefer to buy their home and auto insurance through a broker. It’s no different with CAA Members. When we consider the demographic of our insurance customers, we think that number could be even higher. CAA Insurance was created to support our Members. We think the best way to serve them is by giving them the ability to purchase through the method they already know and trust.

We think we’re special in lots of ways! For our Brokers, there are four key differences between us and other insurance companies:

• A trusted brand. Customers already know CAA and trust us to help them out. Whether at the side of the road or in our CAA Stores, CAA has outstanding customer service that consistently puts our Members first. In March 2017, a national poll was conducted by Leger Research and commissioned by Argyle Public Relationship Index™. Canadians were surveyed about the six most important factors that attract them to a brand – trust, satisfaction, perceived commitment, influence of the public, caring for customers and concern for people. The poll showed customers ranked us as one of the most trusted insurance brands in Canada. “When a consumer feels like they have a relationship with a brand, they are more likely to do business with it and recommend it to others, new research suggests. And some brands are better at building relationships than others.”

In the same year, CAA was named one of the Top 5 Most Trusted Brands in Canada out of a list of 294 companies in the Gustavson Brand Trust Index. Canadians were surveyed on various dimensions of trust that influence whether consumers interact with a product.

• We are owned by a not-for-profit organization. We are first and foremost driven by offering Member value and not by shareholder profits. We have one goal – to provide the benefits of CAA Insurance to CAA Members. While we want to be profitable and being profitable means being responsibly priced, our Members (your customers) are at the heart of everything we do.

• Same coverage at the same price. We don’t believe in developing direct and broker channel brands. We want to make it simple for our Members and fair for you. No matter how our Members choose to buy home or auto insurance, they will receive the same coverage and the same price delivered to them in the way they feel most comfortable – through a relationship they already value.

• Our excellent Claims Service. We know almost every insurer says they have leading claims service – some certainly do. But isn’t it nice to know that when your customer has a claim they will most likely be dealing with an organization to which they are also a member? Both our Brokers and CAA are equally invested in the customer’s safety and well-being. We are truly in this together!

On average, approximately 10% of CAA Group Members have a CAA Insurance product. Our experience has told us that customers choose their buying channel before they choose price. If we assume that the IBAO 2016 Consumer Survey is accurate (and other surveys suggest it certainly is) over 50% of our Member base remains untapped. Also, CAA has placed a renewed focus on our Insurance offerings. Not only do we have a large opportunity, we are laser-focused on building the products, pricing strategy and value-added benefits to make CAA Insurance an excellent option for your clients.

Pretty well, thanks! For CAA Members that have been 10+ years accident free we are extremely competitive. Plus, over recent months our rates have been coming down while indications suggest that competitors are beginning to take some increases. We see that trend continuing.

We also see a lot of diversification away from the broker channel with other insurers focusing their investments to their direct business. Our same product, same price philosophy means that all improvements we make are felt immediately by our Brokers. In addition, we are constantly looking for ways to provide savings opportunities without compromising coverage. Multi-line discounts, Winter Tire Discounts and Telematics programs are just a few of the ways we are driving value and savings, and we are constantly looking for more.

When we hear this we like to say…’it’s complicated’. At times we have even called ourselves a creamer brand but in many ways we are not. We prefer to think of ourselves as having a clear and targeted risk appetite. Because of our exclusive member discounts, we are very competitive amongst CAA Members with 10+ years accident free. When 15+ years accident free, we are top of the heap. Yes, you may say we are a ‘creamer market’, but consider the following:

One-third of Canadian Households have a CAA Member. Of those as many as 60% fit within our risk appetite. 60! That’s a lot of cream. Plus, because of our unique relationship with CAA Clubs, we can identify where our Members are along with the regions in which we are most attractively priced. And because we help our Brokers identify and target those customers you will find far greater opportunities than you may with other insurers who have specific risk appetites.

We asked! We started by speaking with insurance professionals like you who we employ along with the brokers we have relationships with in the industry. CAA is an incredibly strong and trusted brand that has a 100-year relationship with Canadians. We want to give the brokers we work with the unique competitive advantage that comes with providing insurance from a trusted Canadian brand they already know. In addition, our brand strength is built on safety and never letting our Members down. The CAA Insurance proposition is built on these same principles. It just makes sense that they are offered under related brand names.

We are very committed to this principle. If we are going to offer our insurance under one brand, it is critical that what your customer receives is exactly the same as what they could get through their club. We’ve done the detailed analysis and we know that both our broker channel and CAA Club partnerships are on par from a profitability perspective. But even more importantly, it’s just the right thing to do.

It’s not very large, nor are we looking to make it large. While we don’t have an exact number our goal isn’t to be in every brokerage office. It’s to make sure our members can access CAA Insurance through a broker near them and offer industry leading service to the brokers we serve. Most insurers can only focus on a selection of their broker relationships. We are dedicated to driving value for all our Brokers. This means keeping our focus on the right kinds of mutually beneficial relationships.

We are looking for brokers who value strong partnerships and are willing to work with us to find ways to grow the CAA Insurance portfolio with them. Most importantly, we want brokers who are committed to their customers and their communities. People like us! We aren’t trying to be the number one insurer in your office, but we are committed to being the best relationship you have with an insurer. We are looking for partners who are also committed to us. Whether it is placing a new client with CAA Insurance because it is the best solution for them or doing the same for an existing client, we want to work with brokers who understand the value of CAA Insurance and CAA Membership and who want to provide that value to their customers.

With over 2 million CAA Member households there are lots of ways we can do that. Each broker has unique needs and we will work with you to uncover opportunities. We’ve delivered co-branded campaigns and offer sales tools meant to help your team identify and offer CAA Insurance to the right customers. We haven’t been on this journey long, but we’re continuously learning better ways to work with and support our broker partners. Using brokers’ insights and experience, we expect to be adding to our marketing solutions on a regular basis.

From the moment, we enter into a relationship with you, we begin developing a plan to support your growth with CAA Insurance. This starts with training for you and your team, inclusion in our regularly scheduled broker forums and, if you desire, meeting with both our Sales and Marketing teams to talk about unique partnership opportunities.

This doesn’t just mean helping you drive more business to CAA Insurance (though that would be fantastic!) – we know that your overall success means our success. Want some insight on how to implement a social media strategy? Need advice on how to hire a marketing manager? Need a pair of eyes to review your new website or campaign? Want to know what techniques work for us on our direct marketing? We can do that! (We love to help.) Plus, we have relationships with many experts who we rely on to help us. We can connect you to them.

Selfishly, it’s also a fantastic way to learn about all the great things you’re doing, and it helps us better understand what your business priorities are. We want to learn from you, so it’s only fair for you to learn from us too.

Doing that just isn’t who we are. Great relationships are built on trust and we want to earn yours. No policy is worth eroding the trust we build with our Brokers. Besides, it’s the customer’s choice to go through a broker and we completely respect that. It’s why we’ve entered the broker market.

You serve your clients well. You’ve earned their loyalty. We want to support the growth of our Brokers and we want to serve our Members in the way they are most comfortable. You take care of them and we take care of you. That’s our promise.

Yes! Each province has unique needs and we are investigating how the Broker channel can support CAA Members. We are excited to be partnering with brokers in Atlantic Canada and Manitoba.