What is an independent agent and why should I use one?

An independent agent is one who is not tied to any insurance company. We represent you, the consumer, and not the insurance companies. Although we have relationships with many insurance companies, we are not obligated to any one of them to give them your business. We are free to shop your needs to any companies with which we make contact.
Other agents, known as direct-writers (State Farm, Allstate, Nationwide, Geico, etc.) are very good at what they do. However, if they cannot solve your situation, they do not have the ability to write your business through another company.

What type of insurance do you write?

We are a property/casualty agency. We write the insurances that most people are obligated to have. This includes private passenger automobile, homeowners and commercial products such as general liability, commercial property, workers’ compensation, business auto and any other lines associated with a business. We do not write life and health insurance directly. For those lines, we have relationships as old as 25 years with people who are experts in these particular fields. We are more than glad to refer you to one of those experts.

Should I shop my insurance every renewal?

Many people feel the need to do this. We recommend that your policies be shopped every 2 – 3 years. The insurance companies don’t change their programs or pricing as frequently as every year. We have found that a significant change may be found by reviewing the policies every 2 – 3 years. Shopping more frequently than that can usually lead to very little savings (if any), some frustration and a great deal of unnecessary work. Additionally, we suggest that if your agent has been doing that for you and you are pleased with him/her, why not let them continue to do so? We like loyalty and believe that if your agent has done his/her job well, then why not return his/her loyalty by letting them do the shopping for you?

Once you write my policy, with whom do I deal?

Again, being independent agents, we represent you. Once you have your insurance with us, you will deal only with us, except during claims. When you add or delete a vehicle, move your residence, experience a loss or simply have a generic insurance question, we are your point of contact. For claims, you would report it to us. Afterward, you will deal with an adjuster. We only get involved if you are having a problem with that adjuster (which is very seldom).