Guides
The broker of record letter, explained
Moving brokers and moving insurers are two different actions. Here is how a broker of record letter works.
Calgary Region
Commercial Insurance Broker in Cochrane
Hospitality and retail carry exposures a general package handles badly, and Cochrane has a lot of both. This page covers how we build those programs.
The town has grown quickly without losing a real downtown, so the commercial base leans towards restaurants, pubs, shops and the trades serving a fast-expanding community, with a strong commuter tie to Calgary underneath it. Hospitality is the part that gets sold badly more often than anything else. Liquor liability, food spoilage and a tenant improvements limit that would genuinely rebuild the fit-out are three specific things that a general package tends to get wrong, and none of them surfaces until a claim. We place those risks with the markets that write them properly.
Why Owners Move
What we hear fromCochrane business owners.
01
They do not really understand my industry
A pub sold a retail package is missing liquor liability and carrying a spoilage limit that would not empty one cooler. The premium looks reasonable right up until the night it needs to work.
02
My limits have not changed even though we have doubled
Tenant improvement limits are the classic example. A fit-out gets valued once when the lease is signed and never revisited, so a rebuild years later runs well past what the policy will pay.
03
I never speak to the same person twice, and they never know my business
Hospitality operators work unsociable hours and need a broker who picks up, not a queue that opens at nine. Continuity is the difference between a quick reply and a week of messages.
04
My renewal just turns up as a bill
Property pricing across the Calgary corridor has moved hard and a renewal nobody argued about absorbs the whole increase in silence. Nothing gets tested, and nobody explains which part of the rise was avoidable.
Why We Stand Out
What you get insteadas our client in Cochrane.
- Proudly independent, with fourteen insurance partners behind you
- No insurer owns a share of us or sets a target, so a hospitality risk goes to a market that writes hospitality. Appetite for pubs and restaurants swings sharply between insurers, and fourteen options is what lets us follow it.
- Relationships, not transactions
- The same broker throughout, who knows the operation and the lease behind it. There is no call centre, no ticket number and no describing your kitchen again to somebody new each year.
- Deep commercial expertise
- Over twenty years across underwriting, difficult placements, hard-market renewals and claims advocacy. Liquor liability, spoilage and tenant improvement valuations are familiar ground rather than something looked up while quoting you.
- Built around how you really operate
- We ask what the kitchen runs, what the lease obliges you to insure and how much of the year the business really earns in. A seasonal operation needs a different income protection to one that trades evenly.
- Explained in plain language
- What the tenant improvement limit would really rebuild and what the spoilage cover would replace, put in numbers you can check against reality. Those two figures are where hospitality claims disappoint.
- Superior service, backed by advanced technology
- We build and maintain our own systems, so the small frictions that cost you a morning elsewhere have already been designed out of ours. A client portal holds your coverage, your documents and your invoices, current and available without anyone having to send them. Human centred design sounds like a slogan until you have used software written the other way.
Your Broker
Mandy Stierman · Founder & Principal Broker
Licensed Alberta broker · 20 years in insurance
Velocity Insurance Inc. is a proudly independent, female-led commercial brokerage founded and owned in Alberta. Mandy was formerly an Account Executive with Spruceland Insurance and is a member of the Insurance Brokers Association of Alberta.
What clients sayabout working with us.
★★★★★
“She took the time to explain everything clearly in a way that actually made sense… her rates were more than competitive, and the level of service she provided was truly exceptional. It’s so refreshing to work with a woman entrepreneur who is not only amazing at what she does, but also genuinely cares about her clients.”
TJ Aneca · a month ago · Google
Reviews come from clients across Alberta, Cochrane included. Read them on Google
Common Questions
Choosing a brokerin Cochrane.
Do you have an office in Cochrane?
No. We are an Alberta brokerage working remotely across the province, and Alberta licensing is provincial, so the markets, wordings and claims handling are identical wherever the desk happens to be.
Who will be handling my account?
Mandy Stierman, the owner, who quotes the file, places it and services it herself. Hospitality operators tend to need a broker at awkward hours, and there is nobody in between.
Do you insure restaurants and pubs?
Yes, and they are a normal part of the book. The three things we check first are liquor liability, spoilage cover and whether the tenant improvements limit would genuinely rebuild your fit-out at today’s cost.
What sets Velocity apart from a bigger brokerage?
Hospitality gets standardised at volume offices because it is fiddly and the accounts are small. We hold fewer files and place them with markets that write the class, which is most of the difference.
You are independent. How do I know the price is competitive?
Insurer appetite for restaurants moves constantly, and with fourteen insurance partners we can move with it. You see what the alternatives came back at. A broker with one company can only offer whatever that company thinks of pubs this year.
What happens at my renewal?
It gets opened before the date, with particular attention to the tenant improvement figure and your income protection. If the market is worth testing we test it and show you what came back.
How quickly do you respond?
Same business day for questions and certificates as soon as we can turn them around once cover is bound. Where an underwriter is holding something up, we say so instead of going quiet.
What does it cost to use a broker?
Nothing beyond the premium. Commission comes out of what the insurer charges regardless, so buying direct keeps the cost and removes the person negotiating for you.
How easy is it to switch insurance brokers?
One broker of record letter transfers everything untouched, with the same insurer, wording and premium, no cancellation and no gap in cover. It can be done at any point in the year.
Could you review my current insurance program?
Yes, at no cost and with no obligation. Send the policy and Mandy will read it herself, paying particular attention to the limits that catch hospitality operators out.
The Next Step
Talk to the brokerwho would handle your file.
Send us what you have and we will tell you what we would do with it. If we are not the right brokerage for your business we will say so on the first call.
Talk to a Cochrane broker
How do you prefer to work through your insurance?
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