Long-term relationships with trusted and reliable insurance partners can be more valuable to securing an organization's risks than shopping for insurance coverage more frequently to save a few bucks, a panel of seasoned risk managers said.

“We don't buy commodities. We buy relationships and promises that happen to be words on a piece of paper,” said Scott Clark, risk and benefits officer at Miami-Dade County Public Schools, one of five former presidents of the Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc. who spoke during a roundtable discussion during the 2013 RIMS conference in Los Angeles.

“For me, relationships lead and price follows,” said Roger Andrews, director of risk management at E.D. Bullard Co. in Provo, Utah.

“If you build the right kind of relationships, you can squeeze the pricing to a certain extent,” Mr. Andrews said.

In addition to having a relationship with his broker, Mr. Andrews said he meets annually with the underwriters of his company's insured risks “so they are up to speed on the history (of the company and its risks). Those relationships are invaluable.”

Nancy Chambers, director of risk management and insurance at Bentall Kennedy (Canada) L.P. in Toronto, said, “We recently went through (a request for proposals) for broker services. We looked at the fees, yes that was important, but we also looked at the value add of services, how well do they know our account, who are they putting on our account to manage it for us, what is their claims-paying philosophy.

“But one of the biggest things for us was how well did they know our company so they can put it in the best light when they market it to the insurance community,” she said.

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Steve Wilder, vice president of risk management at The Walt Disney Co. in Burbank, Calif., said establishing good relationships with underwriters often leads to insurance contract longevity, adding that most of Disney's insurance contracts have three-year terms.

“The RFP process is very expensive for everyone involved. We need to be respectful of that,” he said. “If you foster relationships, price will follow.''

In some cases, having an established relationship with an insurer can help overcome issues arising from difficult claims, said Ellen Vinck, director of risk management and benefits at San Diego-based BAE Systems Ship Repair Inc.

She said when she asked her insurer for a specific surveyor to be used in resolving a claim at one of BAE's shipyards, “they said, "No problem. We're here for you.' Then after that, we talked about kids and grandchildren.”

Besides emphasizing the importance of longtime relationships with insurers, brokers and other intermediaries, the five former RIMS presidents also addressed questions pertaining to such current risk management issues as cyber risks, the use of computer modeling to assess property catastrophe risks and enterprise risk management.

Mark Walls, St. Louis, Mo.-based senior vice president and workers compensation market research leader at Marsh Inc., moderated the panel discussion.