iTechGuides is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Learn more
Insurance partnerships can add revenue by reaching customers through a relevant partner, offering suitable cover within a customer journey, or supplying technology and services to an insurer. To protect trust, build the offer around a real customer need, make roles and costs understandable, preserve meaningful choice, check that incentives do not encourage poor recommendations, and oversee the full distribution chain. Track customer outcomes alongside revenue and conversion.
How do insurance partnerships make money?
The revenue model depends on what each partner does. A business might introduce customers to an insurer, distribute policies, provide technology or administration, or combine several roles. Payment can take the form of commission, fees, or service revenue; the arrangement should reflect the work performed and must not undermine customer interests or applicable local rules.
| Partnership model | How it can create revenue | Questions to resolve before launch |
|---|---|---|
| Distribution or referral | A broker, agent, retailer, lender, travel provider, or other partner may earn for introducing or distributing insurance, subject to the parties’ roles and applicable rules. | Is the partner only referring customers, or is it carrying out regulated distribution? Who explains the cover, handles customer questions, and receives remuneration? |
| Embedded or ancillary cover | An insurer and a business can offer relevant cover alongside a purchase or service, such as travel cover during a travel booking or GAP cover alongside a vehicle purchase. | Does the cover address a clear risk for these customers? Can customers understand the price, exclusions, and option to decline or buy separately where applicable? |
| Technology or service provision | A platform may charge for technology, administration, or other services that support an insurer’s customer access or operations. | What regulated activities, if any, does the provider actually perform? Who owns decisions and responsibilities for insurance distribution, underwriting, servicing, and claims? |
These models are not interchangeable. A technology provider is not necessarily licensed to sell insurance or underwrite risk, and a referral label alone does not determine a partner’s regulatory status. Assess the actual customer journey and activities in each jurisdiction. The EU Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD), for example, requires appropriately registered intermediaries where applicable.
EIOPA’s 2020 discussion paper on digital insurance value chains describes transaction or brokering fees and advertising fees as possible platform revenue mechanisms. These are examples of platform economics, not a current market benchmark or a recommendation to use them.
How do you grow insurance revenue without losing customer trust?
Start with the customer problem rather than the conversion target. Identify who the cover is for, which risk it addresses, and whether its limits, exclusions, and price make sense in the specific journey. Then design the sales experience, commercial terms, and oversight around that value proposition.
1. Define the customer and the need
Specify the target customers, the event or loss the policy covers, and the circumstances in which it may not help. Test whether customers can understand the cover and whether it fills a meaningful gap. An offer can appear convenient because it is close to a purchase, but proximity does not by itself prove relevance.
In the EU, IDD Article 20 requires a demands-and-needs assessment and says a proposed contract must be consistent with the customer’s insurance demands and needs. Product information must be comprehensible and objective before contracting. When a sale is advised, the distributor must explain why the recommendation fits the customer. Requirements elsewhere depend on local law, the product, and the partner’s role.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2. Make the offer, marketing, and roles clear
Customers should be able to tell that an offer is insurance and understand which business is the insurer, distributor, technology provider, or referrer. Explain the coverage, meaningful exclusions and limitations, price, and the next steps for service or claims in language suited to the journey. The EU IDD requires marketing communications to be clearly identifiable as marketing; that is an EU example, not a universal statement of law.
Rank #2
Digital journeys can make roles less visible when several businesses appear under one brand or interface. Set out responsibilities in customer-facing material and operational documents, and make sure support teams can explain who is responsible for each part of the experience.
3. Preserve choice and make package economics visible
When insurance is packaged with a non-insurance product or service, the EU IDD generally requires disclosure about whether the components can be bought separately and the costs of each component, subject to exceptions. Check the rule’s scope and any applicable exceptions for the specific package. In other jurisdictions, determine what must be disclosed under local law.
Beyond mandatory disclosures, avoid designs that make declining cover difficult or obscure the cost of insurance inside a larger transaction. Make the customer’s options understandable at the point of decision, without treating acceptance as the default measure of success.
Recommended Free Tools
4. Test incentives for conflicts
Map every way a partner or employee can benefit: commission, volume bonuses, profit share, placement or ranking payments, and sales targets. Ask whether any payment could reward recommending more cover than customers need, steering them away from a better-fitting option, or giving a paid offer greater prominence without a sound customer rationale.
Rank #3
Under the EU IDD, distributors must act honestly, fairly, and professionally in customers’ best interests. The directive also prohibits remuneration and sales-target arrangements that conflict with that duty. In the UK, the FCA Handbook’s ICOBS 4 provides a specific example: commercial customers may request information about commission. Do not assume that this UK provision applies to every customer or jurisdiction; confirm the relevant rules and disclosure duties for the product and customer.
EIOPA’s report summary of 30 March 2026 says misaligned incentives and insufficient transparency remain consumer-protection threats in some markets, particularly for life and credit-protection insurance. It notes that some national authorities are considering further commission restrictions or disclosure. Treat that as a warning to review local developments, not as a single EU-wide new commission ban.
5. Govern the whole chain, not just the insurer’s direct sale
Agree which party owns product design, customer communications, distribution, servicing, complaints, and claims handoffs. Approve partner scripts and digital journeys before launch, sample customer interactions, and review complaints and sales outcomes. Where work is delegated, the insurer should be able to see how the partner is performing and address problems rather than relying only on contractual assurances.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →The UK FCA’s 2019 review, TR19/2: General insurance distribution chain, identified potential excessive prices and unsuitable products in general-insurance chains, including travel, tradesman, and GAP or motor ancillary distribution. It linked potential harm to weak customer focus and governance. Those findings are a reason to test the economics and oversight of a specific arrangement, not proof that every ancillary product is poor value.
Which partnership structure is the best fit?
Compare structures against the same customer and operating questions instead of choosing solely by projected volume. A model that reaches more people may still be a poor fit if it makes the product hard to compare, blurs accountability, or depends on incentives that push unsuitable sales.
| Decision axis | What to assess |
|---|---|
| Customer relevance | Does the product address a clear risk at this point in the customer journey, for this target market? |
| Role and regulation | Is the partner acting as a technology provider, referrer, intermediary, or co-manufacturer? Which local requirements follow from its actual activities? |
| Revenue and incentives | Who is paid, on what basis, and could compensation or ranking affect recommendations or prominence? |
| Value and transparency | Can customers understand price, coverage, exclusions, who is responsible, and whether they can decline or buy components separately? |
| Operational accountability | Who handles sales, service, complaints, and claims? How will delegated work be monitored and corrected? |
| Data and platform dependence | What data is collected and shared? Can customers compare alternatives, and can either party switch providers without losing essential access or records? |
For a technology partnership, distinguish the value of the service from regulated insurance activity. The BIS Financial Stability Institute’s 2023 analysis examined big-tech insurance activity across 14 jurisdictions. It described technology service provision as a significant form of big-tech presence at that time, while regulated carrier and intermediary activities were limited. That finding is time- and scope-specific; it does not establish the licensing status of any individual provider.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How should you measure whether the partnership is working?
Revenue and conversion show whether the commercial model is operating, but they cannot establish on their own that customers are getting appropriate value. Use a balanced scorecard that pairs financial and distribution measures with evidence about customer experience and outcomes.
- Commercial performance: revenue by product and channel, conversion, total distribution cost, and the share of revenue attributable to each partner or payment type.
- Customer understanding and choice: comprehension checks, complaints about unclear roles or cover, and evidence that customers can decline or compare the offer as intended.
- Policy and service outcomes: cancellation rates, claims acceptance and handling, service delays, coverage gaps, and recurring patterns in complaints.
- Sales quality and oversight: suitability exceptions, deviations from approved scripts, incentive effects on recommendations or rankings, and unresolved audit findings.
These are practical operating measures, not a regulator-prescribed metric list. Interpret them together: for example, high conversion is not a positive outcome if it coincides with weak comprehension, avoidable cancellations, or recurring complaints about unsuitable cover.
What market evidence should executives use cautiously?
EIOPA’s EU market-structure summary, published on 30 March 2026, reports a 7.5% decline in registered insurance intermediaries from 2020 to 2024. For 2024 remuneration patterns, it reports commissions as prevalent in 24 Member States, fees in one, and a combination of commission and fees in three. EIOPA cautions that registration categories and data collection differ across national authorities, so the figures should not be read as perfectly comparable counts or as evidence that one remuneration model produces better trust or revenue.
These market figures describe distribution structure, not the commercial uplift or trust impact of a particular partnership. Evaluate a proposed arrangement using its own customer proposition, economics, and outcome monitoring rather than assuming that a market trend predicts performance.
How can platform dependence become a trust risk?
A partner platform can influence what customers see and which options appear comparable. EIOPA’s 2020 discussion paper flagged risks including biased rankings, reduced comparability, lock-in, and dependency. These are governance issues as well as technology issues: a customer may be steered by interface design even when the policy itself is suitable.
Address the risks in the partnership’s operating rules. Document ranking criteria and paid placements, define permitted data use and access, provide for portability where appropriate, and agree an exit plan that protects customer service if either party changes providers. Review these controls as the product, interface, or partner relationship changes.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
