Insurance 101 Re agent\’s liability- An agent represents the company\’s interests; a broker represents his/her client\’s interests. This isn\’t rocket science.
Doctors as a class are the most educated and the cheapest when it comes to buying what is necessary. They\’ll buy a Bentley and beat up the insurance agent for the premium on a $200,000 car.
They went through medical school, so the world owes them.
They knew perfectly well what they were buying, now lost it all, and it always has to be someone else\’s responsibility. This America. If we don\’t have coverage, get an attorney and sue. Someone has to pay! There is always a loophole.
When is America going to wake up and see that this mentality of all who are uninsured or underinsured cannot be solved on the backs of the insurance industry.
To WG – I\’m not sure I get your point. When I go to a broker, my expectation is that I am the client and that all markets will be researched and I will be advised of the product or products which best suit my needs (price, company stabilty, service, coverage, etc.) When I go to an agent, I expect to hear what products his/her company offers and make a selection from that universe. I do not go to an captive agent of state farm, allstate, etc. to hear about what a great deal Hartford, AIG, Progressive, etc. has because the agent doesn\’t represent these companies and has no interest/incentive in promoting them. Consequently, while I may sue anyone over anything, I fail to see how liability can rest with an agent for failing to secure coverage through a company that he/she doesnt reppresent and cannot place business through. A Ford dealer (unless through some side agreement) cannot sell you a chevy and is under no obligation to highlight any advantages chevy has over ford..
People outside of the insurance industry don\’t know the difference between an independent agent or captive agent. So Allstate sells excess flood, but State Farm agents don\’t even know about it?
Out of curiosity after the flood, I asked a State Farm agent if excess flood coverage was even sold for homeowners – (my experience has been 100% commercial with no personal lines experienceP). I was told \”no.\” While I knew excess flood was available in the commercial marketplace, I had no idea if it was available for homeowners. If you consider your insurance agent and the mortgage company as knowledgable, you wind up going with the flow, even if you think something doesn\’t make sense. The mortgage company should have required it and advised the owners that the NFIP policy through State Farm was not adequate. Also, ethically, if one purports themselves to be a professional personal lines agent, you should be able to tell your insured that you don\’t sell it, but that the product is available in the marketplace.
When people thought of flood damage in the past, they imagined a flood coming in for an hour or so, maybe one to two feet, so the building and contents were relatively salvagable. But the fact with Katrina was something no one had ever seen before: floods up to the second floor that stayed there for 2 weeks or more. This made the buildings and contents a 100% loss in most cases.
thanks HW — Since you are obviously in the insurance business,YOU would know the differences among agents,captive agents,and brokers.Most insureds,as you are aware,have no clues about these insurance niceties,and no court would expect otherwise — and that is what counts here. Regards.
To Kathie Freeman, you are so right. Well to do, intelligent people, as these two doctors appear to be, should have known to get add\’l flood coverage and it is available through surplus lines for residential property owners. Supporting business is not a requirementeither. They should pay for their own damages which they brought about on themselves. It sounds harsh but I am sick and tired of everone blaming everyone else for what happens to them!!!
To all of you dedicated insurance women and men : since this entry is the 39th on this subject,let me thank you(as a personal and commercial lines insurance and reinsurance underwriter for 50 years, now retired)for your comments on this \”nitty/gritty\”subject.I will now wait for the outcome of this interesting case.
…that 2 doctors who could afford a $1.4M home failed to insure it against a loss. With the economic and emotional impact of Katrina it is unlikely their business will be as successful as it has been in the past. Their lives have been devastated financially not only by the loss of their home but also the impact to their business. While sympathetic to the trauma they are enduring I look around at the thousands of people who truly suffered and witnessed (probably) the most traumatic event of their lives. I see the two plastic surgeons revealing themselves to be people I would not wish to know. If their attorney succeeds as getting this case certified as a Class Action it will be the only \’class\’they represent. I will assign to these individuals one of the biggest insults a true Southern Belle can prescribe…\”they are acting like new money\”.
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Insurance 101 Re agent\’s liability- An agent represents the company\’s interests; a broker represents his/her client\’s interests. This isn\’t rocket science.
Need insurance? You can get insurance on anything – but it will cost ya.
Doctors as a class are the most educated and the cheapest when it comes to buying what is necessary. They\’ll buy a Bentley and beat up the insurance agent for the premium on a $200,000 car.
They went through medical school, so the world owes them.
They knew perfectly well what they were buying, now lost it all, and it always has to be someone else\’s responsibility. This America. If we don\’t have coverage, get an attorney and sue. Someone has to pay! There is always a loophole.
When is America going to wake up and see that this mentality of all who are uninsured or underinsured cannot be solved on the backs of the insurance industry.
To WG – I\’m not sure I get your point. When I go to a broker, my expectation is that I am the client and that all markets will be researched and I will be advised of the product or products which best suit my needs (price, company stabilty, service, coverage, etc.) When I go to an agent, I expect to hear what products his/her company offers and make a selection from that universe. I do not go to an captive agent of state farm, allstate, etc. to hear about what a great deal Hartford, AIG, Progressive, etc. has because the agent doesn\’t represent these companies and has no interest/incentive in promoting them. Consequently, while I may sue anyone over anything, I fail to see how liability can rest with an agent for failing to secure coverage through a company that he/she doesnt reppresent and cannot place business through. A Ford dealer (unless through some side agreement) cannot sell you a chevy and is under no obligation to highlight any advantages chevy has over ford..
People outside of the insurance industry don\’t know the difference between an independent agent or captive agent. So Allstate sells excess flood, but State Farm agents don\’t even know about it?
Out of curiosity after the flood, I asked a State Farm agent if excess flood coverage was even sold for homeowners – (my experience has been 100% commercial with no personal lines experienceP). I was told \”no.\” While I knew excess flood was available in the commercial marketplace, I had no idea if it was available for homeowners. If you consider your insurance agent and the mortgage company as knowledgable, you wind up going with the flow, even if you think something doesn\’t make sense. The mortgage company should have required it and advised the owners that the NFIP policy through State Farm was not adequate. Also, ethically, if one purports themselves to be a professional personal lines agent, you should be able to tell your insured that you don\’t sell it, but that the product is available in the marketplace.
When people thought of flood damage in the past, they imagined a flood coming in for an hour or so, maybe one to two feet, so the building and contents were relatively salvagable. But the fact with Katrina was something no one had ever seen before: floods up to the second floor that stayed there for 2 weeks or more. This made the buildings and contents a 100% loss in most cases.
thanks HW — Since you are obviously in the insurance business,YOU would know the differences among agents,captive agents,and brokers.Most insureds,as you are aware,have no clues about these insurance niceties,and no court would expect otherwise — and that is what counts here. Regards.
To Kathie Freeman, you are so right. Well to do, intelligent people, as these two doctors appear to be, should have known to get add\’l flood coverage and it is available through surplus lines for residential property owners. Supporting business is not a requirementeither. They should pay for their own damages which they brought about on themselves. It sounds harsh but I am sick and tired of everone blaming everyone else for what happens to them!!!
To all of you dedicated insurance women and men : since this entry is the 39th on this subject,let me thank you(as a personal and commercial lines insurance and reinsurance underwriter for 50 years, now retired)for your comments on this \”nitty/gritty\”subject.I will now wait for the outcome of this interesting case.
…that 2 doctors who could afford a $1.4M home failed to insure it against a loss. With the economic and emotional impact of Katrina it is unlikely their business will be as successful as it has been in the past. Their lives have been devastated financially not only by the loss of their home but also the impact to their business. While sympathetic to the trauma they are enduring I look around at the thousands of people who truly suffered and witnessed (probably) the most traumatic event of their lives. I see the two plastic surgeons revealing themselves to be people I would not wish to know. If their attorney succeeds as getting this case certified as a Class Action it will be the only \’class\’they represent. I will assign to these individuals one of the biggest insults a true Southern Belle can prescribe…\”they are acting like new money\”.