How an insurance broker can help you find better coverage
Visiting an insurance broker is like hiring a person to find you a great deal on insurance. The best part about your new “employee” is that the insurance broker is paid by the insurance company, costing you nothing out-of-pocket. While there are still people who believe that they can find great insurance coverage on their own, it still makes sense to see if an insurance broker can help you find even better insurance – for free.
Knowledge
Insurance brokers live and breathe insurance. Selling policies is their job. Unless you’re willing to devote hundreds of hours to studying insurance coverage, brokers are likely to be more knowledgeable about the industry and policies than you are.
That knowledge translates into better insurance coverage. As experts, insurance brokers know which questions to ask and what types of coverage to include. While your home might be in a flood fringe, a local insurance broker will know that expensive coverage isn’t necessary since your area hasn’t been affected during any large floods. Likewise, people new to an area might not know to purchase hail coverage – something that the local insurance broker suggests to everyone.
Better rates mean better coverage
Since insurance brokers are skilled at suggesting the right insurance, insurance companies often offer discounted rates when you purchase through them. This relationship benefits both parties. Insurance brokers have lower-priced policies to sell and insurance companies can save money by having a knowledgeable middleman contact in the event of a claim.
When consumers get better rates on their insurance, it enables them to afford all the insurance coverage they need. A driver who worried about not being able to afford collision insurance can now possibly afford it, thanks to the lower prices on liability insurance found by his broker.
An insurance broker keeps working for you
Many people believe that insurance brokers sell policies and then disappear until renewal time. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. Insurance brokers keep working for you long after the sale.
Starting at the time of sale, the insurance broker walks through the steps and paperwork needed to finalize insurance coverage. Working alone, steps could be missed, resulting in incomplete or invalid insurance coverage. In the event of a claim, the insurance broker also guides the consumer through what needs to be done to receive their payment. Plus, because of the relationship between the insurance broker and the insurance company, pay-outs could come faster and more reliably if the insurance policy was purchased through a brokerage.
While there are dozens of reasons to choose to visit an insurance broker rather than shop around yourself, one of the best reasons is that insurance brokers can help you find better coverage. By being knowledgeable about the industry, they can find the right policies for you and guide you through the complicated world of insurance.
A strong relationship between brokers and insurance companies can also result in lower policy prices, enabling a budget-conscious consumer to afford more insurance than they could have otherwise purchased. Insurance brokers are free for consumers to use, so even if you aren’t convinced, give an insurance broker a try.