Retail agents no longer have the patience for red tape. They want speed, control, and the ability to self-manage. For Jacqui Price (pictured), executive vice president of underwriting at REInsurePro, that’s not just a preference – it’s the model.
“We contract with about 3,300 retail agents across the country, and essentially, we allow those agents to quote, bind, issue, and self-service on our portal, as long as it fits our underwriting guidelines,” Price said.
That speed and autonomy isn’t just about convenience – it’s become essential to how agents operate. “They're able to quote risk by themselves,” said Price. “They're able to find coverage and get EOI docs instantaneously, and that’s really helpful to them. Especially if they have a client in the office, they can get it quoted, signed, and issued right away.”
The company’s self-service portal consistently earns praise for its clarity and efficiency. “We get a lot of compliments on our self-service portal because it is so quick, it's so easy to use,” she said.
That responsiveness carries over into underwriting decisions. “When an underwriting referral is required, we do our best to get that done in a couple of hours, but a 24-hour maximum,” Price said. “Agents are really impressed that we are able to turn submissions as quickly as we do, because we know first in is likely to be the one that gets bound as long as the coverage and the rates make sense.”
The company’s focus on real estate investors has driven this operational model. While much of the business is in single-family rental properties, the coverage expands to small apartment complexes, condos, and other creative investment structures.
“We insure real estate investors,” said Price. “So we do a lot of business in the single-family space, but we will go up to 20 units for small apartment complexes. We can do condos. We can do all types of creative investment strategies.”
Ownership structure – often a pain point elsewhere – is simplified here. “We make it as easy as possible,” she said. “We can do properties in a trust, other properties in an LLC, other properties that you might own personally. We can do them on all one schedule.”
That clarity, Price stressed, is critical at claim time. “We want to make sure who the claim check is going to is the correct owner, so that there’s no problem.”
What further differentiates the model is its monthly, usage-based structure. “You can have all of your locations marked as occupied, and then maybe one – the renter moves out,” Price said. “You need to flip it, you need to freshen up the carpet and the paint. You can mark it as renovation for a couple of months.”
There’s no need to cancel policies or wait for refunds. “You just switch your coverage monthly, and that's really helpful to them,” she said.
The billing aligns with this fluidity. “There’s no minimum earned premiums, and there’s no wrapping all of your dollars into insurance money,” said Price. “You pay for your coverage as you go.”
That financial control can be a game changer. “Since you're not paying 12-month premiums in advance, you might have enough cash to be able to go invest on another property,” she said.
While the model emphasizes flexibility, Price emphasized that environmental and regulatory risks aren’t overlooked. Recent flood insurance requirements in Florida are one sign of growing oversight, and she expects that trend to spread.
“Flood is potentially a necessary coverage, even when your lender doesn't require it,” she said.
Lenders, too, are shaping what’s required. “Some lenders have the same set of lending guidelines across the board, regardless of the property type” she said, prompting her team to pre-emptively offer coverage like ordinance and law protection on newer homes.
That proactive thinking also applies to service line coverage. “It's more about just having that solution that clients are saying, ‘Okay, I have an exposure on this house. I don't want to be out 20, 30 grand,’” Price said.
As investor expectations grow more sophisticated, the message is clear: speed, simplicity, and smart coverage are no longer luxuries – they’re the baseline.
