If you are considering an insurance purchase for your home for the first time or if you are considering making a switch from your current insurance carrier to a new one, there are several ways to research the quality of various insurance companies.
New Homeowners
If this is your first endeavor into owning a home, you should first speak with your family and friends to learn the name of a reputable insurance agent in your area. This is a good way to start your research. The next step to take in your search is to do conduct online research. There are several websites that act as advertisements for insurance companies. Be careful to recognize websites that are simply paid advertising, as they are not an independent, unbiased opinion of the company. You should also be careful of blogs. The reason for this is people who have opinions about insurance companies to post on blogs are usually angry over a dispute of some sort. It is a commonly known human trait that when someone has a complaint they will tell several of their friends and family but when they have a good experience as a consumer they tell very few of their friends and families. The same situation occurs within blogs. This is not to say that a review of blog comments is a bad thing, but bear in mind that you will likely find bad comments about almost any company if you search long enough in the public, unregulated forum known as blogs.
Another characteristic of insurance companies is their age. Newer companies may have some advantages and disadvantages. A new company may have nice user friendly with good customer service features. However, a new company may lack experience or the financial stability of an older company. Older companies tend to be very stable and not likely to succumb to financial failure. Drawbacks with older companies may include a lagging technology and outdated customer service standards. Price is always a factor when evaluating these considerations.
Finally, the best place to evaluate the quality of an insurance company is to check out the insurance rating bureaus such as A.M. Best. Once you have settled on two or three companies, check out their websites. A decent website does not mean that an insurance company is any good, but it will tell you some valuable information. Company history, structure, and financial condition are all things that are regularly posted on their websites. One very important feature of an insurance company’s website is access to claims reporting. Those that have a 24/7 claim reporting service have something to offer over their competition.
Existing Homeowners
If you are an existing homeowner, all of the above applies to you when researching insurance companies. You have the advantage of experience to weigh your options. If you ever had a claim with your current insurance company, that is even better because you will have a background that will help you evaluate claim services. When a claim occurs, that is where an insurance company actually has to deliver the product that they sold you.
Finally, you have a choice between an independent agent and a captive agent. An independent agent will write for several different companies. This could be an advantage because the agent will be able to match you with a carrier that suits you the best. A captive agent is one that works directly for one insurance company as an employee. There is also an advantage to this type of agent because they will be much more familiar with the products they sell, as well as all of the discounts that may be available to save on premium dollars.