Conduct Research

• Entertain multiple proposals from different insurance companies. This is an excellent way to learn about competing insurance products and to interview potential brokers or agents at the same time. By gathering relevant information, you have a greater likelihood of making an informed decision.

• Consider carefully your choice of broker or agent and insurance company. Since purchasing insurance can be time consuming, costly, and complex, you need to find a broker or agent and insurance company that you can rely upon. Choosing a broker or agent should be handled similarly to the process you would use to hire any consultant (such as: an accountant, tax advisor, or banker).

Many sources of information are available to find out how an insurance company or salesperson has performed in the past. The Department of Insurance licenses people and organizations in many industry specialties including: insurance companies, life and health insurance agents, fire and casualty insurance broker-agents, life insurance analysts, bail agents, insurance adjusters, (both independent adjusters representing insurers and public adjusters representing claimants), insurance administrators, and surplus line brokers (who are allowed to advertise and offer coverages of certain eligible unlicensed insurance companies that have products that the normal marketplace may not offer).