Why Belong?

As I celebrate 20 years with Big I New York I have been reflecting on who we are and our mission. Although the name has changed several times over the years we were always known as the Big I and it is great to see that is now how we are officially known. Regardless of how our name has changed we have always believed Independent Insurance Agents serve customers best and we have always been committed to supporting our members in every way possible. Our focus and direction have always been provided by our Board that is made up of active members of our organization

In a time when independent agents have so many demands on them we are proud of our commitment and service to agencies of all sizes. In addition to their primary focus of providing advice and coverage to their existing and prospective clients our members are dealing with:

Significant and time consuming regulations and laws.

Increasing technology demands and the cost associated with them.

A changing competitive landscape including non-traditional competitors.

A shrinking employee pool and inability to attract new, young talent.

Governmental oversight based on perceptions of consumer manipulation for profit.

Developing more sophisticated, specialized, high performing employees.

Evolving consumer demands of speed and price not recognizing the importance of proper protection.

Changes in risk associated with weather related and societal change.

We recognize that these issues affect independent agencies of all sizes and we are currently assisting our members with solutions. In the area of regulations, laws and governmental oversight many times we are able to get out in front of the issue either eliminating the problem or at the very minimum modifying it to reduce the impact it will have on members.

On a regular basis I am asked by prospective members why they should join Big I New York. I routinely ask them about the issues listed above and how they intend to deal with them while effectively operating and growing their agency which is their primary function. Even if they can handle some of these issues themselves it draws away important agency resources.

There lies the value of Big I New York membership. We are aware of these issues and have developed solutions saving individual agencies from having to invest the time, money and staff. We are also constantly monitoring future issues determining their impact and creating solutions if necessary. It’s not cost effective for individual agencies of any size to monitor, research and develop solutions especially when it gets in the way of helping clients.

Our primary purpose and value comes from providing information, resources and solutions so our members can focus on providing trusted advice and the right coverage options to protect what matters most – their customer. That’s why we exist and we take our responsibility to our members very seriously.