A comparative rater is one of the most important tools for an agency. But there’s still some confusion about what a comparative rater is and what makes one great. 

Let's start with the basics.

A comparative rater is a tool that lets agents enter insurance applicants’ data once and then send out quotes to multiple carriers. Those carriers then submit their quotes back to the agency, and the agency can then share them with their customer and recommend which one provides the best coverage at the right price.

What is a comparative rater, and why is it important? A great comparative rater will help you close more deals, while a low-quality rater will hold your agency back.

A good comparative rater saves time and makes it easier to sell insurance. Without one, think of how much time it would take to enter customer information over and over again to get quotes from multiple carriers.

Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s dive into the different types of raters and how you can make sure you’re picking the right one.

Types of Comparative Raters

There are two main types of comparative rating systems: the raters that let insurance agents access personal lines carriers and the raters that let agents access commercial lines carriers. While personal lines carriers offer insurance for individuals, commercial line carriers provide insurance for businesses. Besides this difference, most features that make a great personal lines rater also make a great commercial lines rater

Choosing the Best Comparative Rater for Your Agency

Whether you’re looking to run personal lines quotes or commercial lines quotes, there are a few things that every good rating engine should do. 

Any good rater should:

• Help You Quote More in Less Time

  Your comparative rater should allow you to get quotes fast with one-time data entry that delivers quotes from lots of carriers at once.

• Offer a Better Customer Experience

  Give customers better service with a rater that brings you quotes from multiple carriers quickly. Your rater should offer an all-in-one customer experience that shows clients other lines of insurance they might like.

• Simplify Remarketing

  A good rater will store customer quotes and data so that when it’s time for renewals, you can save yourself the effort of putting in the same data all over again. All you have to do is copy info from an old quote and run it for the new rates to get a new quote in a couple of minutes.

• Sync with Your Agency Management System

  When your comparative rater integrates with your management system, you can work faster, which means you can sell more. Rater and management system integration lets you have a more connected user experience where you don’t have to switch between platforms. You can also speed up work with automation and get reminders to make selling easier. Data from your insurance rating engine can be used to find sales opportunities and keep track of agency health.

A comparative rater, or rating engine, is really the engine that drives your business. Raters will let you get the quotes you need from your carriers without entering the same data more than once. The best raters, whether personal or commercial, offer access to a wide range of carriers. Raters can also make remarketing simpler. Rater and management system integration make it easier to work faster.

New products and features are always being added to the highest quality raters to make the quoting process even easier. One of the most innovative new quoting features on the market today is Quote By Text, a first-of-its-kind tool from EZLynx®. Quote By Text is great for clients who enjoy the easiness of getting in touch through text messaging – it lets customers ask for a quote and even put in the necessary information, all through text. Whether your insurance agency has been around for a while or you’re an independent insurance agency just starting out, investing in a high-quality rater can be more than worth your while in terms of time saved, profits and growth.

Want to learn more about what a great comparative rater can do for your agency? Check out EZLynx Rating Engine™ for your personal lines business and Tarmika™ for your commercial lines business!