iMessage for insurance agents

Insurance is a renewal business wearing a sales business's clothes. Most of an agent's income is decided by whether existing clients renew, and most lapses are administrative rather than deliberate — a card that failed, a letter that was not opened, a renewal quote that arrived while someone was away.

The renewal sequence

export const renewal = {
  // Early enough that the client can act, late enough to be real.
  upcoming: (c: Ctx) =>
    `${c.agency}: your ${c.policyType} renews ${c.renewalDate}. ` +
    `I've re-shopped it — ${c.outcome}. Full detail's in your email. ` +
    `Want to talk it through?`,
 
  changed: (c: Ctx) =>
    `${c.agency}: the renewal came back ${c.direction} by ${c.amount}. ` +
    `Worth five minutes to look at options before it goes through — ` +
    `${c.slotA} or ${c.slotB}?`,
 
  paymentFailed: (c: Ctx) =>
    `${c.agency}: the payment for ${c.policyType} didn't go through. ` +
    `Coverage can lapse if it isn't cleared by ${c.graceDate}. ` +
    `Quickest fix: ${c.link} or call ${c.phone}.`,
};

That last one is the highest-value message an agency sends. A lapsed policy is a client who is both uninsured and, once they notice, extremely unhappy — and the whole thing usually traces back to an expired card.

Claims are when the relationship is decided

A client in a claim has had an accident, a burglary or a flood. They are stressed, and their view of your entire service is being formed in the next 72 hours. Responsiveness matters more here than at any other point in the relationship.

• Acknowledge immediately, even outside hours, even if you can only say when you will act.
• Photos in the thread are genuinely useful — damage, a police report, a registration number. Then move them into the claim file properly.
• Say what happens next and when, because the insurer's process is opaque and the silence is what people find unbearable.
• Chase the adjuster and tell the client you did. Half of perceived service is visible effort.