An Insurance Agent Is There For You When You Have a Claim
Buying insurance online may appear to be convenient. However, when the time to submit a claim comes, it pays to have an insurance agent on your side.
Because, when you need to use the insurance, the insurance agent will go to bat for you. That's why. Here are some examples of what a good agent will do.
A family returned home on New Year's Day from an international trip to find that a fire had started in their garage and damaged the house. The father left an early morning phone message for his agent, which triggered an email alert. The agent went to the home, found the parents sleeping in their car, and got the claim process started. He involved a claim advocate who got them into a hotel and started looking for a temporary home. The agency found one three blocks away so the kids could catch the school bus. The advocate also had treasured items cleaned and restored, rather than replaced.
A wave of tornados struck an Indiana town. One insurance agency in town contacted 110 clients in the next 24 hours and cut checks to help them start the recovery process. The average payment was $2,500. They also listened as their clients explained what they were going through. They reassured people that help was on the way, explained the process, and gave them a chance to vent. They received several hugs in return.
A Philadelphia agency insured several shopping centers. Liability claims resulting from shoppers slipping and falling came in frequently. The amounts were relatively small, and the insurers paid them without much thought, then increased the malls' premiums when the policies renewed.
The agency thought something was fishy. The slip-and-fall claims were making up one-third of its' clients insurance costs. They investigated and found that 70 percent of the falls occurred on flat surfaces. It turned out that some visitors saw liability insurance payments as an easy way to make money. The agency convinced its insurers to fight some of the suspicious claims. The number of slip-and-fall claims dropped quickly, making both the insurers and the mall owners happy.
An agent in Charlotte, North Carolina convinced an insurer to pay a claim it wanted to deny. A client came home from vacation and found his condo flooded, the victim of a broken waterline attached to an upstairs toilet. The agent visited the condo and started the process. Unfortunately, the claim adjuster said that loss was not covered because it was the result of slow seepage.
The agency's claim manager visited the local water department to check the condo's water use records. They showed a significant spike in water use in a short period of time. The agency took this information back to the insurer and got the claim paid.
Buying insurance online is convenient. However, when it comes time to submit a claim, it pays to have an insurance agent on your side.
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