Alberta eager to import Ontario brokers’ forthcoming mobile app

The Insurance Brokers Association of Alberta (IBAA) intends to import Ontario’s forthcoming broker mobile application technology to its home province.

“At our annual general meeting [on May 6-9], our members definitely voted to be one of the first to sign up for this application, which seems to be what the future holds,” said Scott Treasure, the newly minted president of IBAA.

Treasure spoke at the Insurance Brokers Association of B.C. (IBABC)’s annual general meeting in Kelowna, B.C. on May 9.

Speaking at the same meeting, Peter Burns, chair of the Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO), said the mobile application for brokers would be live by the end of May 2012. It is designed to run on Android, iPhone and BlackBerry platforms.

Insurance companies have introduced their own mobile apps over the past few years. They have also adopted proprietary technologies called ‘portals,’ through which brokers’ management systems interface with insurers’ back-end systems.

But brokers have expressed frustration with portal technology, because they can only access their carriers one portal at a time. “We took a look at how insurance companies drove us to the portal situation, and we thought we need to own the application in the mobile device area,” Burns said.

In the broker version of the mobile app, once the consumer accesses the application, he or she can communicate with the broker and configure the app to any company the broker represents.

In addition, a consumer can use the app to contact his or her broker at an accident scene, fill out required forms and email them to the broker, obtain information about nearby vehicle collision reporting centres and complete inventories of home possessions.