We all get bombarded every day, from TV ads, to radio ads, to the newspaper inserts, to inserts in my utility bills!
Save here! We always have the lowest rate! Nobody beats us! Save 15%!
The REAL Truth: Whether we are talking auto insurance or home insurance there are ONLY 3 ways consumers can buy insurance.
1) From a direct writing company (direct to consumer) from their employees using their own rates (Think Cavemen, a gecko or Flo here, they are direct-to-consumer companies), they represent themselves only.
2) From direct writers, agents who's pen only write for one specific company (Think good hands people, or like a good neighbor). These agents have 1 product line to sell, not bad companies but not shopping the market for you either. You'll notice them having 10 or 15 of these agents all over your town, in small 3-4 person offices.
3) Independent broker's who have many, many companies they represent or have binding authority with, who don't represent a company (per se) but shop around for the consumer. Often can come up with anywhere from 5-12 different rates in any given situation and work on behalf of the consumer, not an insurance company. Even in a claims situation, we get involved in helping out the consumer.
And not any ONE of them can make the bold claim I made in the begining of this blog (like "Always the lowest rate"). The factors that go into an insurance policy - where you live, how you drive, your credit score, the age of your home, the zip code you live in, alarm system you may have, kind of car you drive....they are weighted different between every company!
One insurance comapny may use a heavier credit score basis. One may use the zip code you live in as their strongest factor. One may use older ages as their strongest factor! They all differ on the weight that the various factors that make up a rate - whether auto or home - are used in the calculation.
If you haven't shopped your own insurance in quite some time, you probably ought to. I've seen people with the same insurance company for 15+ years, save $432, $567, $644 and we even had one where we saved them $1,040 per year over their 20 year, direct writing company. Insurance today is so very different from when I started 20 years ago! (I KNEW the factors and used a rate BOOK to do my own factor calculations!).
Now you know the truth about insurance. Don't let anyone tell you any differently. It is so NOT 1990 anymore!
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