Most of a retail agency's commercial book is not hard to place — it's just slow to place. The landscaper who needs a BOP, the consultant who needs professional liability, the café that needs GL and workers' comp: none of these should take three days and four carrier logins. The digital division collapses that work into one panel, generated live below from the same v28 appetite dataset that powers the marketplace search — what renders here is what an appointed agent can quote right now.
Every market in this division — live
Which risks belong in the digital lane — and which don't
The digital panel is a routing decision, not a quality judgment. Automated carrier appetite is built for the middle of the bell curve: recognizable class codes, standard exposures, no story to tell. The moment a risk needs a narrative, it needs a human. The desk's working split:
| Send it digital | Send it to the underwriter desk |
|---|---|
| Clean, common class codes — retail, office, food service, trades, consultants | Tough or unusual class codes the rating engines don't recognize |
| Standard exposure: owned premises, normal payrolls, in-appetite states | High experience mods, prior losses that need context, lapses in coverage |
| Monoline WC, BOP, GL, cyber, professional on first-dollar admitted paper | Coastal or older-building property, vacant exposures, layered or excess placements |
| New businesses in mainstream classes — most digital markets take year one | Anything that needs surplus lines paper or a manuscript form |
The dividing line between admitted digital paper and the specialty side of the house is the same line the wholesale industry itself draws — the surplus lines segment has its own trade association in the WSIA for a reason. When an account crosses that line, it doesn't leave INVO; it moves desks. How that handoff works, and why one appointment covers both paths, is covered in MGA vs. wholesale broker: how wholesale placement actually works.
How the digital panel works
Every market in the catalog above connects carrier-direct. The application data an agent enters feeds each carrier's own rating and appetite engine through its API — eligibility, pricing and bindability come back from the source in real time, not from a wholesaler's spreadsheet of last quarter's appetite. That matters in both directions: when a carrier opens a new class or state, the panel picks it up immediately, and when appetite tightens, agents stop seeing options that would only decline. Quote, issue and bind happen in one session, with policy documents generated at bind — no "we'll send the binder tomorrow" step.
What to have ready before you quote
Digital speed is only as fast as the data going in. The panel will return bindable terms in minutes when the file is complete, and stall on referral when it isn't. Before starting a quote, have:
- FEIN and legal entity name — exactly as registered, since carrier issuance validates it
- Payroll by class code — the single biggest driver of WC and GL pricing
- Governing class / NAICS description — what the business actually does, not the flattering version
- Loss history — three to five years; "no losses" is an answer, a blank field is a referral
- Property details where applicable — construction type, year built, square footage, building and contents values
Five minutes of preparation is the difference between a bound policy before the client hangs up and a referral email chain.
Talk to the commercial digital desk
Frequently asked by commercial agents
What can I quote and bind online through INVO's commercial digital division?
The core small-commercial lines: businessowners policies (BOP), general liability, commercial property, cyber, professional liability and workers' compensation, plus commercial auto, umbrella, surety and several niche programs. The panel runs 26 digital markets, and a clean-class risk goes from application to a bound, issued policy in one online session.
Which commercial risks should skip the digital lane?
Anything the carriers' automated appetite rules will choke on: tough class codes, high experience mods, meaningful loss history, coastal or older-building property, vacant exposures, layered placements, and anything that needs surplus lines paper. Those accounts go to INVO's underwriter desks — same appointment, human underwriting, 24–48 hour turnaround.
What information do I need to run a digital commercial quote?
Have the FEIN and legal entity name, payroll by class code, the governing class or NAICS description, annual revenue, employee count, years in business, and loss history for the past three to five years. Property risks also need construction, year built, square footage and building values. With that file complete, the digital markets return bindable terms in minutes.
How do INVO's digital markets return real-time quotes?
Each market on the panel connects carrier-direct — the application data feeds the carrier's own rating and appetite engine through its API, so eligibility, pricing and bindability come back from the source in real time rather than from a wholesaler's estimate. If a carrier's appetite changes, the panel reflects it immediately.
Small commercial piling up on your desk?
One appointment opens all 26 digital markets and every underwriter desk behind them. Appointments approve in 1–2 business days.
Get Appointed with INVO →