You Gotta Be Kidding Me

     Okay! Now, I think I have seen it all (I say this almost once every 6 months, when another nitwitted underwriter outdoes the last one). I am going to pass on mentioning the general agency that this concerns in order to protect the extremely ignorant.

    Here we go: I sent in a request to delete a driver and a car from the policy because the named insured and his wife were separating and anticipating a divorce. I had him sign the endorsement and sign the 

appropriate exclusion so that it was clear that his ex-wife would have nothing to do with this policy as she had moved out of the house and had taken her car with her. I just received a follow up memorandum from

Idioto the Underwriter and it said this. "Please forward the following information within 20 days in order to avoid the cancellation of this policy: PROOF OF LEGAL SEPARATION OR DIVORCE DOCUMENTATION."

     What in the hell? Can I also send her finger prints and birth certificate. How about his circumcision completion form!!! AAAAAHHHH! Please, somebody help me. Is it so difficult to rate him as single and

raise the premium? What possible reason could this general agency actually need that type of paperwork? Hey, I know it is a hardening market, but DON'T BE STUPID AND INSULT US.

Thank you for putting up with my outburst. I had to let you experience what it's like to be in the trenches and opening the mail each day.

IF IT'S COMPLICATED, IT'S GOOD

     Why is to so easy to find numerous sources of life insurance through 800 numbers and online? Why is life insurance easier to sell over the Internet for insurance carriers? Why are these carriers realizing better

results than personal and commercial insurance? The answer is quite simply this. There only a few key factors in determining a term life policy and they include the risk's age, his/her use of tobacco and the

amount of insurance desired.

     That's it! Not too complicated, is it? One of the most important elements in the success of the independent agent/broker is the fact the he/she represents a product that requires much more assessment and analysis than life insurance. Initially, this sounds bad but in fact it is very good. The more complicated it is for an insured to determine what his/her needs are, the more dependent he/she is with your expertise. Here is an example. I had a client call me up for a non-owner policy and I proceeded to get some of the basic questions answered. Once I was done, I asked the client, "By the way, how do you get around if you don't own a car." Jimmy replied, "Oh, I use my brother's car and I use the bus also, but I plan on getting a car of my own soon." Well, it seemed like a predictable answer and it was but what he did reveal was that he is using a relative's car and THAT is one of the exclusions in most non-owner policies. This is where I convince my client that his situation is more complicated and needs the advise of a

professional (There are only a few companies which do not exclude relatives and/or roommates vehicles from being driven). I said to Jimmy, "Jimmy, you need to be very careful when you call for a quote on this

type of insurance because in your situation you may end up purchasing the wrong policy and if there is a claim, you get to pay it. You see, since you are driving your brother's car, you need a non-owner policy

that will allow you to drive his or any other relative's car. The cheaper policy doesn't cover much of anything and in your case , I would suggest to avoid it. "Jimmy barked back at me, "Nobody else told me about this! Why not." I gladly responded, "If they aren't asking you these questions Jimmy, then I'm not convinced they understand what you really need. Their price is a few dollars cheaper, but look at the risk you're taking by driving your brother's car." The conversation continued and I must admit that I close a lot of these type of clients." He soon realized that he was dealing with experience and good advise and that is priceless to your clients. Don't ever underestimate it.

     Your guidance with advise such as replacement versus extended replacement cost with a homeowners policy to knowing the proper liability a BOP client needs to simply suggesting to a client that he/she should have higher limits for proper protection make your roll as an insurance professional that much more harder to replace with a fancy computer program on the Internet. Make sure that your client knows the depth of your knowledge and remind him how important your wealth of information is and how it cannot be replaced by a mindless, speechless and careless number crunching device. These comparative raters are fantastic tools which have made all of our jobs easier and allow us to spend more time with the client in assessing his/her needs but they are and always will be just that ... an important tool. You can't replace genuine human contact. It is an element that most of the general public trust the most. My own mother of 76 years still will not use an ATM. She's convinced (and has been since their arrival in 1976) that her card will be eaten up and all of her money will disappear and she insists on seeing a teller for all of her banking needs. Though this is an exaggerated example, it does illustrate the desire for one-on-one

transactional contact - the irreplaceable and innate characteristic that we all possess.

Sorry about the colors.....I am a product of the 70's.