As contradictory as it sounds, the fastest way to get a bad rate is to let three brokers shop you at once.
When I was an underwriter, one of the first things I was trained to do when a quote request came across my desk was check how many times we had seen the account and which brokers submitted it. If a group was out to market every year with multiple brokers, it was either an automatic decline, or, if the risk was favorable, a baseline proposal with zero investment while we waited to see what happened.
Underwriters only have so much to invest in proposals, and those dollars go to groups with a clear strategy and one broker. When several brokers request quotes on the same group, every broker gets the exact same proposal. That is called blocking the market. A note also goes into the carrier's system so the next underwriter knows the group's history. If your incumbent always seems to match the competition, it is usually because they sent the request first and blocked the market, not because they know something the other brokers don't.
Group health insurance is not home and auto, where shopping every year is normal. Pick your broker like you would pick your attorney or CPA. Find the one whose strategy you trust, give them the market, and let them attack it, create competition among the carriers, and drive them to their rock bottom price.
If you want a second opinion, interview brokers early, well before quotes go out, then commit to one.
Questions to ask
- How many times have we been marketed in the last three years, and by whom?
- What is our strategy for next year, in writing?
- If we wanted a different broker, when would be the right time to make that change?