Last week, The Hanover launched The Hanover Small Business Digital Exchange Gateway, which enables agents to access The Hanover's products directly through existing connections in their commercial lines quoting solutions.

Independent insurance agencies have a variety of operating models and customer expectations. At the same time, mergers & acquisition activity has resulted in brokers and agencies having large books of small commercial business to manage and service. Amid digital acceleration in the channel, the Small Business Gateway answers the call to enhance agent-carrier connectivity and streamline the small business placement process. 

“We've heard from our agents they are looking for carriers to help enhance the digital journey with more connectivity to carriers and a streamlined placement process," said Richard W. Lavey, president, Hanover Agency Markets. 

The new solution supports both standard and specialty lines and is accessible through seven third-party partnerships—IVANS Distribution Platform, Applied Epic Quotes, Tarmika, Semsee, Vertafore, Insureon and Verisk. “We selected third-party comparative raters that we felt would strategically provide the most value for our Hanover agent distribution," Lavey said. 

Currently, the Small Business Gateway is available for business owners policies, workers compensation and management liability policies in many of the company's commercial lines states, with plans to expand to professional liability lines over the next year.

“We recognize the operational challenges our agents face as they work to place business and serve their customers, and we have been very thoughtful about how technology can help them transact business in a more efficient and effective way," Lavey said.

“This new capability complements our existing TAP Sales system, which provides direct access to The Hanover's small commercial, marine, and professional and management liability products," he said. “Agents now have a choice to either access The Hanover directly through TAP Sales, or utilize the new Small Business Gateway, offering great flexibility and ease of use."

The company also plans to expand the Small Business Gateway to include additional product lines. “We want to support agents in whatever way works best for them and the launch of the Small Business Digital Exchange Gateway delivers the digital infrastructure to meet the agent where they are," Lavey said. 

Olivia Overman is IA content editor.