What To Look For In An Insurance Agency
The hardening insurance market is in full effect. Property premiums have increased as much as 50% in certain industries, while umbrella/excess liability and management liability policies are also experiencing sharp premium increases.
Turning to an insurance agency with access to insurance markets across the globe can give businesses an advantage in combatting rising premiums. However, all are not created equal; here are some tips to help you find the right insurance agency.
- Understand the difference between an insurance agency and a direct writer: An insurance agency represents a variety of different insurance carriers and can offer their clients optimal coverage by scouring the globe for competitive premiums. Whereas, direct writers who represent a national insurance carrier can only offer a single insurance carrier and do not have the ability to work with numerous insurance carriers to find the best policy.
- The Agency’s Marketing Process: Find out what marketing strategy the agency intends to deploy. An agency should discuss what companies they will solicit quotes from and why, and what alternatives can be evaluated to reduce premiums. Also, starting 90 to 120 days before your renewal date, it’s necessary to explore all possible programs that might be available.
- Carriers Offered: Identifying the carriers represented by an insurance agency is a great way to gauge the quality of the agency. Only the most financially prudent and sound carriers should have a partnership with the agency. We recommend all carriers represented by the agency have an AM Best rating of B+ VII at the minimum.
- Risk Control Team: Risk control consultants are extremely important in helping businesses strategically address their risk by developing proactive risk management plans, safety training, and identifying exposures. Be sure to check whether or not this service is included with your insurance premium or if it is a separate fee for service work. Ideally, you would like to have this service included with your insurance premium.
- Claims Consulting Team: Settling claims swiftly and efficiently are essential to helping keep your business on track. Claim advocates provide technical consultation and assistance to make sure claims are managed properly, reserves are adequate, and claims are closed quickly. Just like risk control, this service should be part of your insurance premium.
With the challenging environment for insurance buyers in 2020, policyholders face tough business decisions. It is even more important to partner with a broker that will give you critical insight to better navigate these challenging market conditions.
Interested in learning more? Reach out to us at our website: www.atlasinsurance.com.
