Insurance Corner: Who does your agent work for

“Independent” – now that is a word that I like. It means not controlled or ruled by others. It means separate or apart from.  It means self-reliant.  The definition of independent reminds me of a biker…self reliant, not controlled or ruled by others.  Bikers make their own decisions.  They ride if they decide to and when and where they want to.  They take a chance by living on the edge and they know it, but it’s their choice.  I am an Independent Agent.  For me it means that I can have more than just one company to write insurance through.  I can pick and choose. For you it means I offer you those choices and let you decide.  It is so opposite when you talk about big insurance companies.  They have “captured” agents.  You heard me.  They really and truly call agents who work for large companies “captured” agents.  It even sounds restrictive, the opposite of “not controlled.”  Big companies have “captured” agents.  That means they cannot quote through any company other than the one they work for.  Even companies like Progressive who offer buying the insurance directly on line have “captured” agents.  That means that your choices are limited because their choice is limited to one company.  Only Independent Agents can offer you a variety of companies to choose from.

Choice is just one of many reasons you should keep your bike insurance with an Independent Agent.  Independents can have as many as five or six companies that offer bike insurance right at their fingertips.  At renewal if your premium increases because the company your insurance is written through has taken “rate,” your independent agent can easily write you through another company.  Price wars in the insurance industry are like gas wars.  One insurance company will reduce their rates forcing others companies to follow suit.  It’s hard for the ordinary guy to keep up with who has the best price for the best coverage.  The only company a “captured” agent knows anything about is the one company he writes insurance through.  Think about it.  The Independent Agent not only knows that the price war is going on, but has access to other companies who have more competitive prices. Accessibility is another big advantage of choosing and Independent Agent. Don’t get me wrong, the Internet is marvelous and the advantages that information that companies can offer “24/7” via their websites is incredible. But the one thing even the best, most-sophisticated website lacks is that special something that comes of talking with a real person, bonding with someone who is accessible to answer your most mundane questions, to give advice when you aren’t sure what all your choices are and what they mean. In my case being accessible means being out in the motorcycle community, getting to know my clients, understanding their insurance needs as well as their insurance frustrations. When is the last time you took an enjoyable ride and shared a good barbecue dinner with your sophisticated, automated, data-driven website of an agent? Relationships are important.  A lot of our customers have become good friends and we like taking care of them.  Unfortunately, big companies don’t even know your name.  You’re just a policy number to them.  Whenever you call the company, you probably get a different person each time.  In an independent office you can speak to the same person every time if you choose to.  Some customers like to work with a particular agent.  When an Independent Agent has a customer who isn’t satisfied with the company they are placed with, the agent...

We hope that you enjoyed reading this excerpt from "Who does your agent work for". If you would like to read the entire article and more, you can order a back issue of Jan / Feb 2007 where this article was originally published.

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