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.
Central Alberta
Commercial Insurance Broker in Red Deer
Red Deer businesses get treated as a satellite by brokers in both of the big cities. We are not big enough to have satellites, which turns out to suit central Alberta rather well.
Sitting halfway between Edmonton and Calgary should be an advantage and usually is not. Large brokerages service the region from an office two hours away, through whoever is free that afternoon, and the file never belongs to anybody in particular. Meanwhile the businesses here are anything but simple, running from Gasoline Alley retail to industrial work at Joffre and crews on Highway 2 most days. Velocity holds a small book on purpose, so the person who wrote your policy is the person who still has it a year later.
Why Owners Move
What we hear fromRed Deer business owners.
01
My broker is two hours away and it shows
Calls get returned late, nobody has seen the yard, and the account is serviced by whoever picked up. Distance is not the real problem. Not having one person accountable for the file is, and that happens whether the office is in Red Deer or not.
02
I never speak to the same person twice, and they never know my business
The file changes hands between the sale, the servicing and the renewal, and nobody carries the history forward. You end up explaining a business you have run for fifteen years to somebody reading it off a screen for the first time.
03
Nobody has ever asked where my crews go
A policy written as though everything sits at one address will let you down the first week a crew works Joffre or drives to Edmonton. Territory and radius wording is the sort of detail that only gets checked by somebody who asked the question at the start.
04
My renewal just turns up as a bill
It arrives, the number is bigger, and no part of it was tested. Nobody asked whether revenue moved, whether the equipment list is still right, or whether another insurer would look at it more kindly this year.
Why We Stand Out
What you get insteadas our client in Red Deer.
- Proudly independent, with fourteen insurance partners behind you
- We are owned by nobody but ourselves, so no insurer gets first refusal on your file and no quota decides where it lands. A central Alberta renewal that comes back badly priced has thirteen other places it can go the same week.
- Relationships, not transactions
- One broker handles the whole thing and stays with it. No call centre, no service pool, and no reintroducing yourself every spring. Most Red Deer clients deal with Mandy directly from the first call onward.
- Deep commercial expertise
- Over twenty years working inside brokerages, including front-line underwriting and the sort of hard-market placements that get declined twice before they get written. That background is what lets us argue a file rather than simply forward it.
- Built around how you really operate
- Risk here does not come off a template, because a Gasoline Alley retailer and a mechanical contractor running units to Joffre have almost nothing in common. We ask how the week really looks before recommending anything, and we ask again when it changes.
- Explained in plain language
- What is covered, what is excluded and what the deductible really means, said once and said clearly. Owners should not have to take an insurance policy on trust, and most have never been walked through one.
- Superior service, backed by advanced technology
- Every system behind this brokerage was written in house and shaped around how an owner really works. Your coverage and your documents are in a portal you can open from the truck at seven in the morning, without waiting for somebody in an office to look them up. Good software should feel obvious, and that is the bar we hold ours to.
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, Red Deer included. Read them on Google
Common Questions
Choosing a brokerin Red Deer.
Do you have a Red Deer office?
No. Velocity is an Alberta brokerage that works remotely by design, and central Alberta is a regular part of the book. Provincial licensing means the markets and the coverage available to you are exactly the same as for a client in Edmonton.
Who will be handling my account?
Mandy Stierman, who owns the brokerage. She quotes your file, places it, services it and takes the call afterwards. There is no point at which it gets passed along to somebody you have not met.
What sets Velocity apart from a bigger brokerage?
Bigger firms measure themselves on policies processed, and a Red Deer commercial account is a small line in that number. We carry fewer clients and give each one an experienced broker, which is only possible because we deliberately have not chased volume.
You are independent. How do I know the price is competitive?
We have to show it rather than claim it. Fourteen insurance partners mean no default insurer, and you see the alternatives alongside our recommendation. A broker tied to one company can only offer you the best price that company happens to have.
What happens at my renewal?
We open the file well before the date, check what has changed in the business, and decide whether the market should be tested. If we take it out you are shown the results and the reasoning behind them rather than a bare new premium.
How quickly do you respond?
The same business day for a question. Certificates go out as soon as they can once the policy is bound, and when something depends on an underwriter we tell you that rather than let you wonder.
What does it cost to use a broker?
Nothing directly. Our commission comes out of the premium the insurer charges and sits in the price whether or not a broker is involved. Going direct removes the negotiation without removing the cost.
How easy is it to switch insurance brokers?
One signed letter does it. The broker of record letter transfers your policy across as it stands, same insurer and same premium, with nothing cancelled and no gap in cover. It can happen at any point in the policy year, not only at renewal.
Could you review my current insurance program?
Happy to, free and with no obligation. Send us what you have and Mandy goes through it herself, then gives you an honest read on the gaps, the limits and the price. Sometimes the answer is that you are fine where you are.
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 Red Deer broker
How do you prefer to work through your insurance?
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