Or maybe deliberate carrier investments in agency relationships are paying off.
First Connect Chief Executive Officer Aviad Pinkovezky tossed out the two possibilities to explain the markedly improved picture of agents’ ability to find
capacity, understand carrier appetites, and receive timely quotes this year in an introduction to First Connect’s “2026 State of the Industry Report.”
According to the report, published in late June:
Roughly one-third of agents surveyed (35%) reported “significant challenges” with coverage availability in 2026.
Only 8% report “significant” struggles to understand carrier appetites.
Just 11% said quote speed is a “significant” challenge.
Contrast that to First Connect’s prior “2025 State of the Industry Report,” when 86% of ag
ents said they had faced product availability challenges—with 44% reporting “significant” availability challenges—and 17% reporting “significant” problems with carrier appetite clarity.
“These are not marginal shifts. They are the strongest signal we have seen that the relatio
nship between agents and carriers is moving away from transitional friction toward operational partnership,” Pinkovezky wrote in his message introducing the report
, referring to survey results indicating that reports of “significant” challenges dropped by 50% or more.
First Connect is an insurance marketplace helping independent agencies compete more effectively. The company connects agents with more than 150 insu
rance carriers and MGAs across home, auto, commercial, and life from a single platform. The 2
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38 agents surveyed for the State of the Industry report are all from First Connect agencies. First Connect also surveyed 44 of its carrier and MGA partners for the report.
“Much is due to the softening of the market, where we’re seeing carriers writing more and appointing more agents. But this broadening appetite is
sustained by recent leaps in coverage and technology,” Pinkovezky wrote introducing the improved
survey results. “Agents have new tools. Carriers have new posture. The two sides are starting to meet in the middle.”
One survey question First Connect posed to agents reveals agents’ wish lists concerning technology that would most strengthen their abilities to serve customers. The responses, summarized in the chart below, haven’t moved
much since 2025, First Connect reports, listing real-time appetite indicators, integrated quoting acr
oss multiple carriers, automated prefill for applications, and electronic signatures and document delivery as the agents’ top four priorities.
“The consistency year-over-year is itself the finding. When the priority list does not move, it tells us where the industry’s investment should concentrate,” the First Connect report says.
Asked about their use of AI for the first time this year, the 2026 survey revealed that while more than half of the agents said they are optimistic about the
impact of AI on the insurance industry, just 35% of agents use AI on a daily basis—only trusting AI tools for collecting basic customer and risk information, scheduling appointments, and checking payment status or billing history.
