By Allison Bisbey Colter
Special to Relocation.com
People focus on many different things when buying insurance: the insurance company, the premium, the company's reputation, the level of insurance coverage.
But just as important as making sure you have enough insurance is ensuring there aren't any gaps in your insurance coverage. That's where an experienced insurance agent can make a world of difference.
Jack Hungelmann, an insurance agent himself and the author of "Insurance for Dummies," says looking for a knowledgeable insurance agent is a better investment of your time than shopping around for an insurance carrier with the best rates or highest financial-strength rating.
The advantage of using someone with experience is that they will know about the pitfalls -- the exclusions and limitations -- in a policy. "If you know where these are, you can modify a policy to cover them," he says. "But you need experience to know what they are."
A good example is the complete business exclusion in most home insurance policies. That means your home office isn't covered, so if a UPS deliveryman slips and falls, you've got zero coverage. The solution? An amendment to the policy that costs all of $20 a year.
Or let's say you vacation at a lakeside resort and rent a pontoon or speedboat by the hour, and get into an accident an injur a passenger. It's unlikely you'll be covered by either your auto or home insurance. But Hungelmann says an experienced insurance agent can get you coverage for such an accident for "virtually nothing" by structuring the policy properly.
He says insurance agents vary in their knowledge, just like attorneys, accountants or any other professionals. But unlike attorneys or accountants, you can get an insurance agent with a tremendous amount of expertise for the same price as someone who just got started, because the two agents will be paid compensated the same exact way, via commissions.
The best way to find someone qualified is through word of mouth. "When you ask people for a referral, they'll usually say, 'Call Joe, he just saved me $200 a year.' You don't want to shop that way. Ask for an agent who's very knowledgeable."