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 Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 6:10 am Post subject: Choosing business insurance professional |
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Now that I know the difference between an agent and a broker...I'd like to know about the process of choosing one for my business. Any volunteers!
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Dfreeman
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| Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 6:21 am Post subject: |
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Hi, it would certainly be important for you to go for a broker instead of an agent if your business operations are voluminous and complex. Remember, that you should go for a broker under the following conditions:
- If you have a vast number of employees
- If your operations involve a wide range of cars and drivers
- If it bears any extra ordinary risk
- If its not possible to go through the business insurance plan on a timely basis
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ArindamSenIndies
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| Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 6:31 am Post subject: |
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Hi Arin..I'd agree with you on one point...if all the risks associated with my business are known to me, then I'd certainly go for an agent. Also, I'd need to be careful to review the coverage that I have for my business. In doing these..I truly feel, I'd be able to save quite a few bucks. Plasticmind
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Plasticmind
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| Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 7:15 am Post subject: |
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Friends, I'd believe that we have an uphill task while recruiting insurance professionals. We'd need to conduct thorough interviews as well as investigate their professional background as well as their academic backgrounds.
We may consult others who're doing similar business to that of ours and ask for references of agents and brokers who are worthy of it. The local chamber of commerce may also come to some help.
Thanks, Evan |
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evan
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| Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 7:48 am Post subject: |
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Hi,
I'm sure your state has a dept. of insurance which tracks all agents and brokers operating in the global insurance industry. I've seen that its quite easy to avail online records pertaining to such professionals since its easy to search them. You should go for a background check and make sure of the following-
- The person possesses a valid license to operate
- Past tracks associated with complaints and legal violations
- Compliance issues
Now, by saying this, I'd also like to mention the fact that it is truly difficult to come across an agent/broker against who you won't ever find a complaint. But yeah, if you got compliance issues against one, you'd better avoid him. Crossbreed
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Crossbreed
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| Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 8:49 am Post subject: |
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Hey there..I think it is better to hire such professionals (agents or brokers) on a contractual basis. You could assign them for a period of one year and judge the quality of their work. You should judge them on whether they offer a prompt reply to your messages and your calls (at least within 24 hrs), whether the premium bills arrive along with the statements in a proper order etc.
I'm sure they would also be aware of the fact that there are other professionals willing to work with you. So, in case you'd come across a better service, they would lose on a valuable client like you. Purpleheaded08
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Purpleheaded08
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| Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 11:55 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | Now that I know the difference between an agent and a broker...I'd like to know about the process of choosing one for my business. Any volunteers! |
Sure I'll volunteer.
I believe your premise is flawed if you think you would be able to deal with only one singular agent to handle each and every form of insurance a business may need.
There simply isn't one singular company that has the absolute best products in each and every area of insurance.
The agent who would handle your business worker's comp., property insurance and liability probably wouldn't be the best choice for group health and the guy/gal who engages in the group health arena probably wouldn't be much help setting up a key-man buy sell agreement or advising you on estate tax issues or perhaps the need for an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust.
Then there is the pension plan/401k issue that once again would require expertise in that area.
So all that being said I'm not quite understanding the premise of finding {an} or [one] agent that would or could handle each and every form of insurance a business may enter into.
Certainly State Farm or Allstate may have each and every form of insurance available but they are not competitve with most forms of insurance outside of auto and homeowners.
Then there are the intangible things out of the business owner's control. Perhaps you set up EVERYTHING with State Farm then they decide not to write property insurance anymore in your state. Now you are forced to buy elswhere regardless of how much you prefer to deal with only one person.
My 2 cents.
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GarySpicuzza
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| Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 5:13 am Post subject: |
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Hi Dfreeman !! If you think you can handle some employees then you should go for broking business as you need to keep records of different company's databases which i find is cumbersome job for a single person.
but in terms of revenue generation it would be definitely good compared to an agent. 
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