ASSEMBLY LINE, COOKIE CUTTER, OR PROFESSIONAL ADVICE?

Assembly lines have their place, as do cookie cutters - where uniformity is the goal, these are the staples in industry, in the kitchen, and in coding.  But what is a consumer to do when confronted with the seven headed mega monster that is insurance?   DIY is for the brave and foolish, because one thing all insurance has in common is that they are legal contracts designed by attorneys for the benefit of insurance companies not YOU.  Even under the most favorable of circumstances, that being a policy which only provides a narrow range of coverage such as Flood or Earthquake for example, the nature of the beast is anything but simple.  You won't have any difficulty reading it.  You have plenty of intelligence and education, unfortunately, what you lack is the Rosetta Stone required to translate all of that tedious and torturing insurance jargon into simple English you have the ability to understand.   Coverage, limits, conditions, exceptions, perils, exclusions, then add in the unseen interpretations of court cases that determine certain policyholder rights and responsibilities impacting claim payments, and you have the potential for great unpleasantness! 

On a side note, though my theory has not been scientifically tested, and my opinions cannot be taken as either medical or legal advice, should you ever find yourself wanting to sleep, but unable to fall asleep, may I recommend either your home or auto insurance policy as an excellent sleep aide. 

Ironically, professional advice which people routinely pay large sums of money for in many fields, is often discounted or completely overlooked in the area of insurance.   Why?  Insurers control the game, and make the rules.  They decided long ago that agency, which includes legal responsibilities, was their preferred business model, and even those agents who are exclusive to one company vs. independents who tend to represent many insurers, are paid on a commission basis by the insurer rather than compensated on a fee for service basis by the policyholder/client of the agent.  One of the negative impacts of this compensation system is that the consumer never knows what their agent is being paid, and rarely writes them a check to pay for personal services.  In this world, the consumer only sees the premium total, and is challenged to tell which policy offers better coverage, which insurer offers better claims services, which agent offers better advice on what to buy, and which agent cares, or is even allowed to be there to help if a claim occurs.

No big deal says the smug and inexperienced.  We have 60 years of claim paying experience that says all these things matter.  Fortunately, many if not most people will only have experience with medical insurance or a common little fender bender.  Those cases don't generally require our assistance, but a Fire, Water Damage, Total loss car wreck, Liability claim, or damage to a restored Classic Car will open your eyes to a whole new world of pain.  These more complicated losses depend on having bought the right coverage and terms, and even then normally require many added hours of discussion to explain what to do, how to do it, and all the procedures to follow in order to achieve the desired result of our clients being fully compensated to the greatest extent required by their policy.

There are both consumers and insurers who disregard the need for, and value of agents, and I'd bet most of them have never experienced the types of losses that prove them wrong.  In the Do It Yourself environment, YOU accept full responsibility for all of your choices, and that determines most outcomes.  When dealing with extremely confusing products which are in many cases very much alike, and in others deceptively very very different, what is the value of trusted expert advice?   The answer is that really good advice can be worth many multiples of annual premiums paid.  Great advice can mean collecting fully vs. collecting little or nothing.  Great advice can mean putting things back as they were before the loss.  Great advice can mean saving your business from an untimely death.  Great advice can mean your insurer pays for your mistake instead of you.  And great advice can mean you stay out of court - able to live your life without the burdens of dealing with years of lawsuits and attendant drama!

Call Mr. Insurance Broker - Tony Verreos of Verreos Insurance Agency 800.464.1397 (Serving all of California only).  We don't cost you more, we just deliver MORE!