Why choose an Independent agent?

Insurance is one of those necessary things in life to ensure you and your family are protected from the unexpected. But with so many different options as far as companies and agents, who do you go with. Do you go with the lowest priced policy? Do you go with an online company that has automated services so human interaction is at a minimum? Is there a difference between having an agent and not having one? What exactly is an Independent Insurance agency?

These are all questions we have heard over the years, and are very valid ones. Let’s face it, if you never have to use your insurance, the lowest cost policy is the best. The problem with this is we never use our policies until something unexpected happens. You never know when it will occur, but when it does you want to make sure you have the best coverage possible so your out of pocket cost is at a minimum. Most of the time, the cheapest policies are bare bone policies where certain coverages have been omitted to bring the cost of the policy down. This is where having an agent you can trust to go over the policy coverages with you and ensure that you are getting the exact coverages you need is important. There is no one size fits all insurance policy. We all have different needs and circumstances and this will affect the way an insurance policy is put together, as well as the cost. Having an agent will save you time and money by helping to guide you to the proper coverages and leaving out ones that are not necessary. They can also save a lot of frustration by being your liaison to the company should you need to make a claim. This means instead of being put on hold for hours to talk to a human, and explaining your situation over and over again because you get a different person each time you call; you talk to one person… your agent. They will get your information and guide you through the process and if necessary, make the phone calls for you.

So now that the benefits of having an agent have been discussed, why should you choose an Independent agency instead of one of the big agencies that only represents one company? First, let’s discuss what an Independent agency is. There are two types of agencies when it comes to insurance, captive and Independent. A captive agency works for only one insurer, and has to abide by the rules for writing policies that the insurer sets. This can make it harder to get insured or make it more expensive due to only being able to shop the one insurer. In contrast an Independent agency works with several different insurers and does not have to use any specific company. Our company, for example, currently works with over 25 different insurers. This allows the Independent agent to work for the customer, not the insurer, to find the best policy at the best price. If an insurer doesn’t offer the best fit for the customer, an Independent agent can move on to the next. That is the biggest difference between a captive agent and an Independent agent.

Now that you know the benefits of an Independent agent, contact us and see how much better an Independent agent can actually be!