Occasionally they get this bad information from insurance agents themselves! (It’s true!)

Other times it’s a lack of knowledge or understanding about what is, and more importantly what is not covered by insurance.

Personally I have been in the insurance business for more than 20 years. I have worked with a number of agents who were more salesmen versus a knowledge based professional insurance agent, so the question that you need to consider is this:

Is my personal insurance agent merely a good salesman/saleswoman, or is he/she a professional knowledgeable insurance agent who has keen insight and experienced in insurance matters?

That’s a very important question for you to consider because it could mean the difference between complete financial ruin and being made whole again if you have a devastating loss.

To give you an example a few years ago a gentleman by the name of Tom was referred to us for a home insurance quote.

In the process of preparing the home quotes we completed a replacement cost analysis to determine how much coverage he would need to replace his home in the event of a devastating loss.  We discovered that he was underinsured by more than $90,000.  I asked Tom how he arrived at his coverage amount?

He told me that his insurance agent recomended that he insure his home for what he paid for it.  

By the way that’s almost always wrong advice when an insurance agent tells you to insure your building for what you paid for it if you wish to properly cover your home.

I then explained to Tom why he was underinsured and why he needed to increase his coverage immediately without any delay.

Tom is a pretty smart guy so after listening to my explanation he agreed that it would be best to increase his coverage immediately.  Less than six months later his home was completely destroyed in a devastating house fire.

Tom was able to get his house back because we discovered a problem with his coverage and offered an immediate solution. 

The advice Tom was given by that other local insurance agent in Cincinnati would have put Tom and his family in a huge financial quagmire.  So as you can see it’s very important for you to understand whether your agent is merely a good salesman/saleswoman or they are a knowledgeable professional insurance agent who offers advice and not just a price. ™

While it is true that no agency or individual agent is perfect, we firmly believe here at Pathway Insurance that educating our Cincinnati clients is more important than a cheap insurance price with no advice.™

That is why on our web site we have a substantial base of articles that are educational in nature about insurance matters.  If truth be told you will not find one single insurance agency in this area who has invested the time or financial resources to make such a library available to even those who are not clients of our agency! (In fact this article base is so extensive we may be the first agency in the entire United States that has compiled it in such a way)

Would it not be better for you to have your insurance needs cared for by an agency who believe more in education verses selling insurance policies?

Why not take the time to consider allowing our local Cincinnati-based insurance agency to care for your insurance needs?  Click Here to start that process. Or feel free to contact me directly by calling 513-662-7000 or sending a quick email to jack@pathwayinsurance.net

In addition the inexperienced insurance agent may not counsel or advise you of the exclusions or restrictions that all insurance policies have built into the fine print.  If you were to unwittingly violate a restriction on your policy the insurance company may refuse to pay your claim even if it’s apparent an error occurred by the agent, did you know that?

Please note an additional personal disclaimer in reference to my previous statement: 

You also can’t assume that an agent, agency, or their staff employees with many years working in the insurance business has the needed knowledge and understanding as well.

Why do I make such a statement?

I have personally worked with other local Cincinnati insurance agents in the past having decades of experience in our industry, yet did not have a complete understanding of what their policies covered, or more importantly what the policies did not cover that they sold to unsuspecting customers. (I’m not making this up its completely true) 

Read this true experience on how wrong information given by one veteran insurance agent proved to be 100% false which could have led our client (if he followed that advice) to make a very unwise insurance decision.

While it is true that no agency or individual agent is perfect, Pathway Insurance is firmly committed to publicizing enlightening information for our Cincinnati clients.  We believe that good old fashion educational guidance is more important than agents who only quote a price and give no advice. ™

The various articles available on our web site demonstrate how much we are interested in educating even those whom we have no business relationship with.  Insurance is an important aspect of our financial well being, but it’s also a very complicated financial instrument. Never assume something is covered, take time to read and understand your insurance policies and work with a professional experienced independent agency who takes time to break down insurance in a way that is clear and easy to understand.

Insurance is complicated, we make it simple. ™

Why not take the time to consider allowing our local Cincinnati-based insurance agency to care for your insurance needs?  Click Here to start that process. Or feel free to contact me directly by calling 513-662-7000 or sending a quick email to jack@pathwayinsurance.net

The underwriter in turn notified our agency that she was canceling his automobile insurance policy. I called our client to enquire if he was using his vehicle for business. He explained that his employer paid him to advertise his business on his personal vehicle.

I explained to our client that his car insurance policy has a specific exclusion for this type of activity and that his policy would be cancelled unless he agreed to remove the advertising, or remove the vehicle from his policy and a commercial auto insurance policy be purchased to cover this vehicle.

Initially he seemed reluctant so he spoke with a co-worker who also happened (coincidentally) to be insured with the same company as our client and also displayed advertising on his personal vehicle.  

The co- worker in turn calls his insurance agent because he was concerned that he didn’t have the proper coverage after my conversation with our client.

Incredibly the co-workers insurance agent told him that as long as he had business usage added to his policy he would be okay to use his vehicle for business and that it did not matter that advertisements were plastered all over his vehicle. 

Additionally this agent stated that our agency was giving out wrong information. 

Naturally our client calls back because he’s getting conflicting information. His question specifically to me is why it is not ok with your agency for me to use my truck for business, but ok with another agency?  (A great question!)

I explained that under no circumstances would coverage apply under your personal auto policy in the manner in which you are using your vehicle, and to prove this to him I connected us directly with the insurance company so that he could hear this directly from a company representative.

The insurance underwriter explained to my client that under no circumstances would his insurance company pay a claim if you were involved in an accident using your vehicle in the manner in which you are using it and that is why the claims adjuster notified us so your policy would be cancelled. The underwriter told him directly that he needs to purchase a commercial auto policy.

Our client again speaks with his co-worker, explaining that he had talked to the company underwriter and that it’s pretty obvious by this time who is providing the correct information and who is not.

The co-worker calls the agent back and unbelievably this agent continued to insist that coverage would extend. (How stupid can an insurance agent be?)

If you have ever watched the Jim Carrey movie Dumb and Dumber this insurance agent would be a good stand in.  It’s somewhat like the scene from the movie when Jim Carrey’s character’s best friend Harry wonders whether or not his tongue would stick to a metal pole in the dead of winter.  So naturally he licks the pole and his tongue is firmly stuck to the chairlift pole! He struggles mightily to get his tongue unstuck and after great effort and a whole lot of obvious pain his tongue is released.  It was an absolutely hilarious scene.

Do you have to do something really stupid to find out if it’s stupid? 

The bottom line is that you can’t assume your agent, whether new in the business or a seasoned “veteran” knows their “stuff.”  Insurance agents on a regular basis give out wrong information to their clients that may get them into trouble financially.  

When clients bring lawsuits against insurance agents for bad advice the courts have often sided with the insurance agents under the premise that the client should have read their policy to understand what is covered or more importantly what is not covered.

While it is true that no agency or individual agent is perfect, we firmly believe that educating our Cincinnati clients is more important than a cheap insurance price with no advice.™

We are available at any time to discuss individual coverage needs or restrictions of coverage with existing clients of Pathway Insurance or if you are not an existing client of Pathway Insurance why not take the time to consider allowing our local Cincinnati-based insurance agency to care for your insurance needs? 

Click Here to start that process. Or feel free to contact me directly by calling 513-662-7000 or sending a quick email to jack@pathwayinsurance.net