Carriers face a variety of obstacles in improving their conservation efforts, finds Eastbridge Consulting Group

AVON, CONNECTICUT, USA (February 18, 2021)

Most carriers retain less than 10% of their voluntary policies through conservation efforts, according to Eastbridge’s Voluntary Conservation and Retention Practices Spotlight™ Report. While the barriers to improving retention rates vary, from a lack of tracking capabilities to reliance on plan administrator notification, limited employer-level strategies or limited time frames to port coverage, the most significant current challenges mentioned by carriers in their efforts to conserve and retain their voluntary customers are COVID-19 driven increased utilization of remote communication methods as well as reduced employer and employee access, receptiveness, and opportunities for education.

Despite challenges, most carriers are planning improvements to their programs in the next one to three years. Some of the initiatives mentioned include streamlining processes, introducing automation and more online self-service capabilities, along with improving employee education and communication frequency.

The report also looks at topics such as: 

• Voluntary platform type and portability differences by platform and product
• Current conservation rates overall and by product, and changes to those rates in the last two to three years
• Employee-level portability and conservation practices 
• Account-level portability and conservation practices
• Commissions, loss ratios and persistency experience

Eastbridge Consulting Group, Inc. is a marketing advisory firm serving insurance and financial services organizations in the United States and Canada.