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Commercial insurers bet on digital workflow standardization to retain agencies
The share of US commercial lines sold via independent agencies reached 87% in 2025, while carriers are using digital distribution to reduce renewal churn as competition rises.
In the United States, commercial lines insurance is still overwhelmingly placed through independent agencies, with 87% of business sold that way in 2025 and the share edging up over the past decade, according to data cited by Insurance Business. As rates normalise across several commercial lines and carrier appetite returns, competition for accounts is intensifying, and Insurance Business says the advantage is shifting from simply being able to charge higher premiums to being easier for agents to do business with.
Carriers that cannot meet agents’ expectations are more likely to be replaced at renewal, Insurance Business reports, noting that during the prior hard market policyholders had limited options. Now, carriers are focusing on more profitable growth, using data to understand where the ceiling on rate increases sits before policyholders shop elsewhere.
A key part of that approach is digital distribution, specifically standardizing submission workflows onto the agent’s existing platform rather than forcing agents through separate carrier portals, Insurance Business adds. The article also points to Everest Group research that more than 50% of underwriter time is spent on data extraction and email follow-up, highlighting why fully automated submissions remain difficult in complex commercial cases.