SURETY OUTLOOK DIGEST NO. 2: Connectivity Is the Growth Lever Carriers Aren't Counting

Only 8% of Surety carriers expect broker connectivity to drive premium growth. Most see it as an operations project: more straight-through processing, better compliance, fewer errors.

There may be a better way to look at it.

Brokers decide where submissions go. Say a broker has a new contract bond to place and two carriers that could write it. One returns a quote in two days. The other takes a week, after several rounds of emails and a resubmission. Which carrier gets the next submission?

Surety Outlook 2026: Tech & Ops Benchmarks, Everest Group's survey of North American Surety carriers and brokers, shows that connectivity can win business, and where carriers are leaving that opportunity on the table.

Connected After the Decision, Not Before It

Carriers have connected the back end of a transaction well: 92% report digitally integrated post-bind servicing. But the steps that affect brokers most are reported as far less connected by carriers:

• Submission intake (46%): getting a broker's application and documents into the carrier's system without re-keying.
• Status updates (38%): letting brokers see where a bond stands without calling or emailing to ask.
• Quote exchange (31%): sending a quote request and getting the quote back electronically, instead of by email.

That's where turnaround slows down. On new-client contract bonds, 54% of brokers say it takes six days or more to get a bond. Only 15% of carriers say their own processing takes that long. The difference is time lost to inboxes, phone calls and re-keying.

Carriers feel the friction too: 77% cite limited broker-system integration as a bottleneck.

Ease of Doing Business Is a Sales Strategy

Carriers often try to win business with higher commissions. But commissions already account for about half of the average Surety expense ratio, so that approach has a limit.

"For carriers it is not feasible to increase commissions beyond a certain point," says Vinod Kachroo, Head of Americas Business at Tinubu. The race worth running is on service, turnaround and integration, where ease of doing business gives brokers a reason to send more submissions your way.

Kachroo puts it in broker terms. A 35% commission on a case that takes six days earns less than a 30% commission on cases that close in two, because the broker can bind three in the same time.

It's also what both sides say they value. Carriers most value brokers who respond quickly (85%), and brokers most want clear submission requirements and proactive appetite communication (38% each). Both point to faster, clearer exchange before the decision, exactly where connectivity is weakest.

More Portals Won't Close the Gap

Everest Group warns that more carrier-specific portals will add friction unless they integrate with the systems brokers already use.

"Brokers work with 50 carriers. They're not going to use 50 capabilities," Kachroo says. He also points to high staff turnover at agencies, which means every new hire has to learn every carrier's system. The alternative, in his words, is to design connectivity "broker out rather than carrier in."

Everest Group's research supports that approach: configurable third-party technology can modernize high-friction capabilities without a full platform replacement. It's the thinking behind Tinubu's Digital Highway, which is designed to let a carrier expose its APIs and business rules once and connect with brokers across the market.

What Everest Group Recommends

For carriers: make broker connectivity a core architecture priority. Integrate with the systems brokers already use, and measure value through turnaround, rework and responsiveness, not just efficiency.

• What to track: closing the integration gap in submission intake, status updates and quote exchange, using the 69% integration level for issuance and document exchange as the reference point.

For brokers: push for greater process consistency across carriers. Prioritize structured connectivity, clearer submission requirements and common status visibility.

• What to track: fewer clarification cycles and resubmissions caused by inconsistent carrier requirements (a bottleneck cited by 38% of brokers).

Kachroo expects connected, automated exchange to become table stakes for the industry. Until it does, it's an advantage, and the carriers that connect first will be the easiest ones to send business to.

How connected is your broker-carrier workflow compared with your peers'? The full Surety Outlook 2026: Tech & Ops Benchmarks report breaks down where carriers and brokers stand, with Everest Group's recommendations for each.

[Download the report]