Breeze, the insurtech simplifying how disability insurance is bought and sold, announced today a new partnership with leading insurance wholesaler Appalachian Underwriters, Inc. (AUI).
Health-licensed agents and brokers partnered with AUI can now use Breeze's turnkey disability insurance platform to rapidly scale income protection sales. Breeze's proprietary technology makes it possible to quote disability insurance in seconds and submit client applications in minutes – entirely online.
Breeze also handles case management, making this new partnership a low-strain, high-growth opportunity for AUI's partner agents.
"Whether you're focused on home, auto, health or life insurance sales, income protection is a natural next conversation for agents and advisors. We're thrilled that Appalachian Underwriters has selected Breeze to power their disability income insurance offerings, and we look forward to supporting their agents,"
- Colin Nabity, CEO & co-founder of Breeze
AUI has an impressive network of around 30,000 insurance agencies comprising roughly 70,000 agents. It was recently ranked the fifth largest MGA in the country by Business Insurance.
We're extremely excited to partner with Breeze to continue our mission to support our agents and agency partners with diverse new product solutions and tools that increase efficiency, After seeing strong success with our recent entrance into the life insurance space, the partnership with Breeze is perfect to represent AUI's first voyage into the health market, said William Chambers, Director of Digital Partnerships at Appalachian Underwriters.
With AUI already having strong commercial P&C and workers' compensation lines, disability insurance through Breeze should fit nicely into the wholesaler's newly-launched health business. Small business owners and employees could find financial peace of mind in disability insurance that protects their income against injuries and illnesses that happen on and off the job.
Breeze currently offers two long-term disability insurance products, short-term disability insurance, and critical illness insurance. AUI's health-licensed agents and brokers can seamlessly and near-effortlessly offer any of these products to their clients via Breeze's simple online platform that uses predictive analytics to expedite underwriting.
Despite the average employee being 3.5 times more likely to need disability insurance instead of life insurance during their career, just 14% of consumers own disability insurance due to an overly-complex application process that has kept both buyers and sellers away.
Breeze has simplified disability insurance and is now uniquely-positioned to be the leader in an untapped market. The partnership with Appalachian Underwriters is a major step towards making disability insurance accessible for a range of workers.
About Breeze
Breeze is an online insurance broker simplifying how disability and critical illness insurance are bought and sold. Leveraging industry expertise and innovative technology, our team is building a better way to distribute income protection insurance for life's most financially vulnerable moments like cancer, depression, and bad accidents. Policies offered through Breeze replace a portion of a policyholder's regular income and can be used to help with large medical bills, mortgage payments, groceries, and more. Breeze currently offers long-term disability insurance, short-term disability insurance, and critical illness insurance.
About Appalachian Underwriters
Appalachian Underwriters, Inc. (AUI) is a full-service MGA and wholesale insurance brokerage, providing independent agents a national outlet to multiple specialized markets for workers' compensation, commercial, life, and personal lines of insurance. Appalachian Underwriters is wholly owned by Acrisure, LLC.