3 Benefits Of Having An Independent Agent

What is an independent agent? 

We get this question all the time.  An independent agent is an insurance agent that represents more than one insurance company and can provide competitive options to their clients. We wanted to share the benefits of having an independent agent vs a captive agent that only represents one company:

Ability To Shop Multiple Carriers

Many clients like to do research and compare different options and rates when shopping for insurance.  An independent agent can do all the leg work for the client and shop multiple carriers all at once to find the best rate and coverage option. This helps reduce the amount of time the client spends shopping for insurance.  Having multiple carriers also becomes beneficial when rates change. Unfortunately, rates change with all carriers and no carrier is immune to having rate increases.  Many factors affect rate increases, but the ability to have options when your rate does increase is a big reason why many of our clients enjoy using us.  About 60-90 days before your renewal we will check in with you to capture anything that could have a impact on your rate or address any changes that need to be made.  From there we will re-shop all of our carriers to find you the best rates for your needs.  You can not do that with a captive agency.


Local Representatives

Many independent agents have offices in the communities and areas in which they live.  This accomplishes two things. First, being local and servicing the surrounding areas allows the client to have a local point of contact for all their insurance needs and connect with agents that live and work where they do. The client does not have to worry about calling a 1-800# , getting placed on hold, or repeating themselves to two or three people before getting routed to the right representative. Second, having a local office helps keep monies within the economy of the local community versus giving it to big box companies directly. We are strong advocates for keeping our local community economy strong.


Options for All Lines of Insurance

Sometimes captive agencies are limited to what insurance products they can provide.  Most simply do not provide everything that a client could possibly need and many clients like to keep their policies all within the same agency so they have one point of contact for all their insurance policies.  This becomes impossible with some captive agents.  With an independent agent, we have the options to help you with ALL your insurance needs as we have access to markets that will insure risks that most captive agents can not.