PwC reports slow, steady erosion of broker channel’s market share

The independent broker channel is losing market share to the direct channel at a rate of roughly 0.43% per year, according to PwC’s Insurance Review: A Canadian Perspective.
At that rate, the independent channel’s market share of 64% in 2009 will drop to about 60% by 2019.
This is based on data obtained by applying linear regression to net premiums written in Canada over the last 11 years, PwC reports.
When breaking down the data by line of business, the independent broker channel is gaining market share in some lines of business, while losing market share in others. For example:

• Independent brokers are losing approximately 0.81% market share per year in automobile insurance lines.
• Independent brokers are losing roughly 1.27% market share per year in personal property lines.
• Brokers are gaining approximately 0.13% market share in commercial property insurance lines.
• Brokers are gaining roughly 0.82% market share in liability insurance lines.

With the slight exception of liability insurance, the data remains insensitive to the hard and soft market insurance cycle, according to the PwC report, which further notes that although the rate of change is small, it appears to be steady.