What Is An Insurance Broker + Finding the Right One for Your Business

If you are a business owner, you likely already know that one of the best ways to attract and retain great employees is by offering them group health and dental insurance as part of their compensation plan.

Once you've made the wise decision to provide this benefit to your employees, the next step in the process is finding the right plan.  One that aligns with your financial budget, as well as with the needs of your valued employees.  That's where an Insurance Broker becomes a vital business partner to you.

In Canada, you have two different methods for obtaining this type of group insurance.  While some people think you can get it directly from a particular insurance company via the web or by calling, this is not actually an option for companies and small businesses.

The two actual options are:

1. You can work with an agent who represents one particular insurer, and deal exclusively with the products and services offered by that insurer.  You need to keep in mind that this agent will be tied to one company's line of products and services, and not permitted to look at the full range of what's out there in the marketplace.  
2. You can work with an Insurance Broker.

The advantage of working with an Insurance Broker is that when you do this, you can choose products and services from a wide range of insurance companies, thereby providing you with more options to find what truly suits your needs.  Insurance Brokers deal with many insurance providers, so they are not forced to recommend just one provider's options.  You can see all of the available choices, and work together to build a comprehensive package that is tailored to your specific needs.  The Insurance Broker does not work for any of the insurance providers.  The Insurance Broker works for you.

Continuum II in Burlington, Ontario is just such an Insurance Broker.  We have years of experience in helping our clients build group benefit plans that help attract & retain great talent, and do so in a way that balances the financial considerations of both the company and employee's contributions.  We provide a consistent point of contact whenever you need advice or information, and we make a point of visiting all our clients - in person - at least once every quarter to make sure we answer any questions you didn't have time to call and ask!

Continuum II deals with all the main insurance providers: Sunlife, Great West Life, Manulife, Blue Cross, Encon, Greeshield and Empire.

Even if you already have an existing plan in place, we are experts at looking at your current plan and finding small changes that can be made to impact big savings on your premiums.  In fact, we can become your agent of record and you can keep the exact same insurance carrier and benefits as you have right now, but start taking advantage of all we have to offer.

Our main priority - something no other Insurance Broker does - is not only to find you the right plan, but to take the administrative workload of managing the plan off your desk.  We know you're running a business.  We know how valuable your time is.  Instead of having employees come to you or your busy Human Resources team member when they have questions about submitting a claim or understanding the details of the plan, they can simply call us.   Leave the 1-800 #s in the desk!  We handle all those questions and deal directly with your people.  They know us by name and get consistency in who they deal with.  That leaves you with the time you need to focus on building your business.

If you are searching for expert guidance in building the right employee group benefits plan - from medical to dental and beyond - please give us a call.  We'd be delighted to help you navigate this important process, and find exactly what you and your employees need.