The Most Important Thing About Insurance: A Good Agent

Hi everybody and thanks for reading my first post. I’ll be posting more from here on out with little tidbits I’ve picked up from my years in the insurance business, along with current tips you can use. This month I’d like to kick things off with something more general: one of the three most important things about your insurancewhat makes a good agent?

Did You Know?

  • 51% of homeowners don’t know earthquakes are not covered by standard homeowners’ policies
  • 41% of homeowners don’t know there’s an exclusion for mold damage
  • 73% of homeowners don’t know that homeowners insurance covers belongings stolen from a vehicle

What Makes A Good Agent?

If you’re a client of Desert Insurance Solutions you can skip this section because you already have a good agent. Ok, that’s me having some fun, but it’s true.

What makes a good agent? First, independence: someone who can shop around for the best insurance for you, someone who can advocate claims on your behalf, and someone who (because they are independent) is likely to have more expertise and experience than a direct writer agent (an agent who works for a single insurance company). The direct writer model provides a lot of support to inexperienced people who want to get into the business, but doesn’t have any compelling consumer benefit.

Independent agents go out and find the best insurance for you so you don’t have to shop insurers. In fact, it really doesn’t make sense to have two independent agents give you quotes because they are likely going to the same insurers. So find an independent agency that is good. That doesn’t necessarily mean big.

Desert Insurance Solutions is an independent multi-line “boutique” agency. Multi-line means we sell personal, commercial, professional liability and health insurance so if you own a business or are a lawyer/doctor type we can integrate. Boutique means lower volume/higher service compared to a big agency. If you have a problem, we’re going to get to you fast and it’s usually is going to be me giving you my personal attention. Of course, if you are a big client with a big agency you should expect to get good service too. But if you are an average or smaller client at a big agency you may be treated with lower priority. You may find your big agent only talking to you at renewal time and your service issues getting passed off to more inexperienced junior service reps. Then mistakes can and do happen. I could write an entire newsletter about the big holes people have in their coverage when I first review their insurance.

Finally, my new business comes from referrals so if you know anybody who needs an insurance “local expert, trusted friend” forward this page link.