Independent insurance agents face a crossroads. Traditional insurance products such as auto, home, renters, and even small commercial are becoming increasingly commoditized. Carriers streamline offerings to keep premiums competitive, and direct-to-consumer websites let customers compare coverage in minutes. Agents whose businesses are built solely on selling these commoditized products risk becoming obsolete.
But there is an opportunity for independent agents to save themselves: technology-enabled bolt-on insurance products. By offering value-added services that go beyond basic coverage, agents can elevate themselves from transactional sellers to trusted advisors. In doing so, they will build stronger client relationships, reduce churn, and create additional revenue streams that extend well beyond standard insurance policy commissions.
Why Bolt-Ons Matter
Bolt-on products are supplemental services layered onto core insurance offerings. While roadside assistance or wellness discounts are familiar aspects of this genre, the next wave of bolt-ons will be increasingly sophisticated, tech-driven, and client-specific. For insurance agents, these tools allow them to better understand client risk exposures, address holistic needs, and demonstrate ongoing value in ways online marketplaces cannot replicate.
By recommending bolt-ons that address the specific risk mitigation needs of their clients, agents prove they aren’t just selling a policy; they are actively looking for ways to protect clients and their assets. That is the type of value-add that cements loyalty in an otherwise commoditized market.
NextGen Bolt-On Products
While many bolt-ons already exist, including tenant legal expense coverage, pet injury coverage, roadside programs, equipment breakdown coverage, or health and wellness initiatives, technology is driving the most exciting new opportunities to protect clients and provide additional revenue streams for agents. Here are a few forward-looking examples that highlight the potential:
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Cyber protection for individuals and families. Most small business clients are familiar with cyber liability coverage. But cyber protection as a bolt-on for individuals is an underdeveloped market. With identity theft, online scams, and ransomware affecting families as much as corporations, new tech-enabled policies are emerging that combine insurance coverage with proactive tools: credit monitoring, password management apps, and even family-friendly cybersecurity coaching. For agents, these in-demand bolt-ons bridge the gap between traditional coverage and digital-age risk while simultaneously positioning them as forward-thinking advisors on 21st-century exposures.
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Smart home and IoT risk services. As more households install smart thermostats, water leak detectors and security systems, insurers are experimenting with bolt-ons that connect to these devices. These preventative programs don’t just provide claims coverage; they prevent losses before they happen. For example, a smart water monitor linked to an app can alert homeowners, and their insurer, about a leak before it floods the home. This type of bolt-on is a natural extension of the insurance promise: not just to pay for losses but to help avoid them.
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Gig economy and lifestyle-specific coverage. Another emerging category of bolt-ons tailors coverage to nontraditional work and lifestyle patterns. Consider micro-insurance that activates when a client drives for a ride-share company or rents out their home for short stays. Or think of lifestyle bolt-ons tied to travel, such as instant luggage protection or access to telemedicine while abroad, offered via mobile platforms. These on-demand, tech-enabled products give agents new ways to serve clients whose needs evolve beyond nine-to-five jobs and standard living arrangements.
Tried-and-True Add-Ons Still Matter
Legal services products like document review or mediation insurance, which is a new product we introduced in the U.S. this summer, illustrate additional value-add for agents to provide peace of mind in areas clients don’t always consider until it’s too late.
Many early-stage entrepreneurs, small businesses, and even individuals who may own a handful of rental properties often avoid seeking appropriate legal review or advice due to the associated costs.
With legal bolt-on services, individuals and small businesses get affordable access to not only AI-driven but human attorney-led legal document services, as well as the opportunity to seek advice from licensed attorneys to avoid potential costly litigation.
For agents, the key is to weave these options into a broader client conversation, positioning them as essential components of a comprehensive strategy rather than peripheral additions.
How Bolt-Ons Reinforce Agent Value
There are two primary reasons why bolt-on products should be central to the modern agent’s strategy:
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Differentiation in a commoditized market. When clients view insurance as interchangeable, agents need new ways to stay top of mind. Offering innovative bolt-ons sets them apart and positions them as trusted advisors who are taking a holistic approach to protect their clients beyond the basics of standard insurance policies.
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Stronger relationships and reduced churn. Clients who rely on their agent for multiple needs, from legal assistance to cyber protection, are less likely to shop around or switch providers. This whole-of-risk approach fosters loyalty and reinforces the agent’s role as a trusted partner and the options themselves as foundational parts of a sound plan.
A Call to Action
Agents don’t have to invent these solutions themselves. Many bolt-ons already exist, and more are coming to market every year. The key is to ask carriers what they offer, request new bolt-on products where they are lacking, and proactively introduce them to clients.
In doing so, agents take ownership of their business evolution. They are no longer mere intermediaries in the insurance transaction; they are curators of a complete suite of services that help protect clients across their personal and professional lives.
Looking Ahead
The future of independent insurance agents won’t be written by price comparisons or automated quote engines. It will be defined by their ability to provide ongoing value through technology in ways technology alone cannot replicate. Bolt-on products, whether familiar or emerging, are a critical part of that equation.
By embracing bolt-ons and the growing value they offer, agents can transform themselves into indispensable advisors and ensure their own relevance in a rapidly changing industry.
Cohen is founder and CEO of Epoq North America, a legal insurtech protecting businesses and consumers from legal and compliance risks since 1997, with services provided to more than 60 major brands and insurance carriers in the U.S., Canada, UK and Republic of Ireland. Email: grahame@epoqlegal.com. Website: www.epoq.co.
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