service which helps people to find suitable and affordable insurance handled nearly double the number of call centre inquiries last year than those it dealt with a decade earlier, according to brokers.
The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (Biba) said that in total, it received nearly 3.5 million inquiries to its “find insurance” service between 2012 and 2022, including online searches and calls to the contact centre.
Specifically looking at its call centre, it said that 97,862 inquiries were handled in 2022, nearly doubling (a 92.7% increase) compared with 2012.
Biba highlighted the case of a 62-year-old woman from Leeds in Yorkshire, who was looking for travel insurance for her nephew’s year-long trip to Japan.
She was signposted to Biba’s “find insurance” service and found a specialist to cover a working trip.
Policies vary significantly in terms of levels of cover so it’s essential that you get a policy that is right for you
She said: “Things only got better when it was explained to me that a year-long holiday was unlikely – that’s when everything dropped into place, I was looking for the wrong product as my nephew was travelling on a working visa.”
Graeme Trudgill, Biba chief executive, said: “Travel insurance is hugely important, offering you financial protection for many situations. Most importantly if you have a medical emergency or have to cancel your holiday due to unforeseen circumstances.
“Policies vary significantly in terms of levels of cover so it’s essential that you get a policy that is right for you.
“Our find insurance service can put you in touch with a specialist broker to help find a suitable policy for your specific needs. It has helped many consumers but is particularly useful if… you have non-standard requirements and are struggling to find insurance online, or an ‘off the shelf’ policy doesn’t cover your individual requirements.”
