Toledo, Ohio, USA For more information, visit:
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3912 Sunforest Court
P.O. Box 8730
Toledo, Ohio 43623 800-462-1993 419-475-8750 fax
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Last Updated:
April 26, 2012
Truck Insurance "Shopping"
The phrase "keeping my agent honest" is a familiar one to all insurance agents, and one I hear repeatedly from customers who insist they have to shop their insurance yearly in order to get the best deal. Is it really worth the time and effort? It certainly is if you:
Do not trust your agent
Feel that your agent doesn't have the right expertise for your business
Have had service problems with the agency
Have decided to make a change for other reasons
If none of those reasons are true, why would anyone want to shop their insurance yearly? It's very time-consuming, and time is something I know we have less and less of. I do understand that in the trucking business the variable cost of insurance directly affects your bottom line: nevertheless, here are some reasons to NOT shop yearly:
When you like and trust your agent
When you feel he has good experience in your industry, and a good understanding of your business
When you've experienced consistently excellent service
As a trucking business owner, you need minimally four professionals to advise you on your operation; an accountant, a lawyer, a banker and an insurance agent. Do you shop out all of your professional advisers annually? Probably not, and the two biggest reasons are trust and familiarity. Your professional is an expert in their field, hopefully, and is familiar with your business, it's risks and it's exposures. Moving to a new professional, especially on a yearly basis, is simply a bad business decision. A new agent needs time to learn your business and properly protect it; changing agents and insurance companies year to year has the potential to leave open holes in the protection you believe you're paying for.
Your agent, if they are a trucking specialist, has access to many insurance markets, and knows which ones will fit your operation best. Ask him for his recommendations, and have him shop your submission to them. Having multiple agents quote your risk confuses the process, wastes your valuable time, and demonstrates to the underwriters that they have little to no chance of writing your business for the long-term.
As agents, we endeavor to serve our clients to the best of our ability, and most of my colleagues in the industry do so. Feel free to contact me if you're NOT being serviced well.
