New Distribution Channel For Insurance

Insurance agents in Florida and beyond are finding that some of their toughest competition now seems to be coming from firms that aren’t really insurance agencies at all – at least not in the historical sense of the word.

Payroll and staffing firms - particularly those involved in the recently announced merger of Paychex and Paycor, two of the largest payroll companies in the United States. That merger followed the 2024 acquisition of WorkForce Software by Automatic Data Processing, which is ranked as one of the largest payroll and employee management firms in the world.

While signing up businesses to supply workers or to manage their employee pay, taxes and benefits, the firms also often enroll the employers in workers’ compensation and other insurance coverage.

Through the years, many insurance agencies have partnered with payroll companies to provide commercial insurance for employers. With the merger, Paychex seems to be pushing a growth plan – marketing insurance and “one-stop shopping” to more and more businesses.

5,000 new customer per month - The association has polled insurance carriers that write business with Florida agents and with payroll firms. The data suggest payroll companies are adding as many as 5,000 insurance accounts per month. That’s 5,000 clients that are either having their agent of record changed or are purchasing workers’ comp through their in-house insurance agency, meaning retail insurance agents are losing 5,000 accounts.