Have you covered your gap? A bit of protection prose

As #Farmers latest ad campaign points out, most people have no clue what they are and are not actually covered for.  As professionals, it is our job to correct this.  Today, insurance is viewed much like a commodity.  It's easy to fall into the “price” trap.  But, as good agents, we are the #ProtectionPros.  It's our job to examine and educate to ensure our clients understand their current coverage and what we are offering them.  

One of the things that differentiate agents from an 800 number is how much we care and the insurance advice we can give those people and their families that protect them when the worst happens.  Daily we hear "I am fully covered".  But the few who allow us the privilege and trust of reviewing their insurance inevitably learn something—a benefit that is rarely spoken about.

I need to preface this next bit with a disclaimer. In any profession there are good and bad practitioners.  Too often as caring agents, we see consumers with gaps in their coverage or even a lot more coverage then they really need.  Sometimes these mistakes are glaring holes in coverage; other times they are more subtle. This time it was a HUGE gap.

Two weeks ago, a woman came to us very distraught. She said she had just remodeled her condo and had been trying to get in touch with her agent. For two weeks? (I’ll refrain from a rant here and leave that for another day).  He had failed to return her calls, and she was worried that if something happened she would not be covered. Oy! We asked her to fax over her coverage and assured her she could block out the price.  

The first thing we noticed was that her "Condo" was a million dollar little thing just off Michigan avenue. For anyone who isn’t familiar with the business, when you are in a condo all the things attached to the walls or floors: light fixtures, cabinets, counter-tops, upgrades need to be covered by "building property."  Guess how much building property she had for her million dollar condo? If you guessed $100, that’s $100 more than she had.  When her condo insurance was set up, neither the agent nor the mortgage company caught this. What that means in non-insurance jargon is if she had a fire, not one dime of coverage was present to replace anything aside from her personal possessions. When we finished, she had just over $300K in building property coverage.  Admittedly, this is a more egregious gap then most we find, but we find them every day—day in and day out.  

I implore you to call your agent, and schedule a review. Understand your coverage's and let an insurance professional help you with his/her expertise.

While all states have different laws (we are based in Lombard Illinois), we will do what we can to answer your insurance questions, or direct you to the appropriate answers for your State of residence. Write us at bfidlow@farmersagent.com  or Tweet us using the hash tag #ProtectionPros. You can also follow us on Facebook We look forward to talking with you soon. 

Building our agency one friend at a time,

Barry Fidlow