Understanding Insurance Agents and Their Role

Understanding insurance agents and their role in one’s life can be a bit confusing. It seems in the old days (before the internet that is), people had one agent that handled all their needs. Life, fire and auto coverage would all be handled by one agent who would even visit their customer’s home. Now the industry is about five times more competitive with the competition of the internet based insurance companies, where the agent is almost obsolete.

The agent is a representative of the coverage company. Though an agent’s salary is partly commission, the agent would risk losing customers if (s) he sold too much insurance to a customer or didn’t offer the most competitive rate. In some countries there are brokers who are independent and can find the lowest rate among providers but the price is usually the same, since they too have to make a profit on your sale.

In a perfect world, the relationship between the sales agent and the customer is long and trusted. It behooves a person to stay with the same agent for a long time because rates usually go down for long time customers. An agent should have the customer’s interest at the forefront of their minds and then sell the right amount of coverage – neither too much nor too little in order to save the client money every month.

An agent is expected to ask a lot of questions of the customers. They must gain a total and clear picture of the client’s situation. The potential customer is highly advised to answer the questions honestly so as to avoid not having enough coverage in time of need.

Since this is one industry that can be attractive for cons and dishonesty, people are highly advised to do their homework on a company and the agent. There are many long standing and reputable companies that are not risky partners to make.

This industry is also very competitive regarding prices. Do a little shopping a comparing when starting with a company. Though a contract is not usually longer than 6 months or so, it is best to start with a company you will want to stay with for a long time. Rates often go down the longer one remains a customer.

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