As an agent, one of the things that I hate the most is zero
dollar claims. Zero dollar claims cause your insurance to go up, including
quotes when you are shopping. They make it harder to find new insurance, and in
the most egregious cases make you almost uninsurable. So, how do we avoid
having zero dollar claims on our record? The simplest way is to have an agent
who cares for you and will look out for your interest. (Something an 800 number
will never do.) We always tell our clients to call us first. We have an
answering service that will call us on every number we own, every five minutes
until we acknowledge it. This means that, even at two in the morning, we are
available to you. Though we appreciate you not calling that early, unless it's
an emergency. Does your agent provide this level of service?
Most zero dollar claims come from someone jumping the gun
and calling the claims department before they’re sure there really will be a
claim. A perfect example of this is a client who had a tree branch fall through
his roof. Like most people, the client believed that this was a claim and, to
be perfectly frank, I probably would've thought so too. But as we ask all of
our clients to do, this client called us before he called claims. He was really
glad he did. You see, the total roof repair was only $600. The client had a
$1500 deductible. Thus, by calling his agent, instead of claims, he avoided a
zero dollar claim on his record.
Another way to get a zero dollar claim on your record is to
call claims to ask a question about a potential claim situation. This is the
one that boils my blood the most. It works like this for every single insurance
company. You get into a fender bender type situation. You're not sure what to
do, so you call the claims department figuring they'll have the answer. The
claims department tells you it was the other person's fault; go ahead and put in a claim on that person's
insurance. Believe it or not, this will equal a zero dollar claim on your
record. Almost anytime you call claims they will open a claim with that
question. A zero dollar claim that, as mentioned above, can raise your rates at
renewal time, can make any quotes you get a higher price, and even make you
uninsurable with some companies.
It is essential that if you have a claim, or think you have
a claim, that you call your agent first. Very few of us (agents, that is) have
this type of arrangement with their answering service. Even less would receive
a call or be there for you in the wee hours of the morning. Providing this
level of customer service is one of the few things in this business that are
under our control. But at BnB insurance we think that this is one of the places
where an agent can add value. As agents we have absolutely no control over what
our companies do for pricing. The only thing that we can control is the service
we give you. Our level of knowledge and advice during insurance reviews and
quotes, and the peace of mind of knowing your agent is in your corner.
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. If all else fails, we even have an old fashion land line, which
is 630-297-1407 We look forward to talking with you soon.
Building our agency one friend at a time,
Barry Fidlow
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