By Preston Lee
Most consumers understand that a broker could be a tremendous asset both when they’re searching for the best policies on their behalf as well as filing a claim after an unfortunate incident. What many consumers don’t know is that there are two kinds of intermediaries. These are captive and independent insurance agents that are completely different in their functions and ability.
Tied vs Independent Agents
The former can only represent one company, to which they are tied with. They may also be able to deal with subsidiaries that are under the same roof. However, they cannot inform customers of other available products in the market outside of the corporate family they belong to.
Independent insurance agents don’t have similar ties with any provider and therefore they are free to work with numerous carriers offering large samples of policies across the marketplace. Plus, they can compare car insurance quotes, coverage options, and companies that sell those products and inform you of the best solutions in their opinion.
The best part is that they can keep doing this at each renewal. It is important that you need to keep them up to date with the changes in your life and insurance requirements so that they can look for a more suitable and better deal. It is important to keep in mind that this is what they should do but not all of them do it. So, having the title of being independent may not be enough when choosing a representative for you. You must also check his/her reputation by talking to people dealing with them.
We should remember that the term isn’t transferable. For example, independent real estate agents cannot just start selling insurance products because they are not licensed to do so. This means that you should ask a qualified broker to provide you with the facts in regards to a certain policy you saw insurer A advertise throughout a television campaign. It is relatively simple for them to get hired by another insurer. If not, they can probably still source it for you through their connections.
They are not just useful to find a number of affordable rates for you personally. They may also help get the best mixture of policy benefits. For instance, there are various riders and add-on coverage options. Independent agents possess a better chance to locate the plan that meets your requirements.
The Whole of the Market Advantage
Underwriting standards may differ among companies that make certain insurers a much better fit. For example, some insurers consider everybody that has inhaled any tobacco product in the last two years to become a smoker and charge them smoking rates. However, others think that a person must be persistent to become a smoker for the purpose of premium calculations. These underwriting variations between companies don’t merely affect your premiums but also determine if you would be qualified or declined for a certain product.
A captive representative is tied to one insurer whether it has excellent or bad ratings. This is a major problem with choosing them. On the contrary, their counterparts are free to choose and therefore can help their clients avoid bad providers, who are either not financially stable or not good at paying claims.
Independent insurance agents are frequently involved with helping their customers obtain a claim check after an insurable incident. As a result, they have a pretty good idea of who pays with little fuss and who fights a claim tooth and nail. This is such invaluable information to have and it is very powerful in the hands of intermediaries who prefer to use it.
The question is are they willing to go the extra mile or they would choose the packages that offer the highest remuneration for them? This is a very significant distinction. That is why qualification alone isn’t enough to make them better. You need to find the ones who are customer-centric, rather than concentrating on making the most money for themselves.
