Understanding Insurance Issues

Should You Use An Insurance Agent Or Insurance Broker To Get Your Car Insurance?

Your state requires you to have car insurance if you drive. Many states have minimums of coverage you must carry. If you aren't sure what the minimums are in your state, the insurance company or agency will be able to tell you what you need. When you are looking for car insurance, there are a lot of ways that you can find the policy that will work best for you. One of the ways is to talk to an insurance agent or broker. Brokers and agents can get you the coverage you need; it just happens slightly differently. 

Insurance Agent

An insurance agent is contracted with one insurance company. When you call an agent that works with Company A, you know that your policy is going to be from Company A. If you have been working with that agent for a long time, then you will already have a relationship with them, and policies through Company A. The agent will be able to use your existing relationship and existing policy to help get you a reasonable price on your car insurance. Part of that is because many insurance companies offer bundling options, giving you discounts on all your policies through Company A.  

Insurance Broker

Instead of being able to write policies for just one insurance company, an insurance broker works with several insurance companies. When you talk to a broker, you give them all your information, and then they will run that information through all the companies they work with. The broker can provide you with quotes from several different car insurance companies. You can compare the various coverage levels and prices with a number of quotes because you will have all those quotes to work with. The broker may be able to get you a discount from one car insurance company that you wouldn't be able to get from a different company. Having a lot of quotes to choose from can be very helpful because you can compare and contrast, but having too many quotes can make it hard to decide. You may want to ask the broker to give you the three best quotes to choose from. 

If you are going to drive, you are going to need to have car insurance. You can get the car insurance you need, including talking to an insurance agent or an insurance broker. Both options will get you the insurance you need; they just do it slightly differently. For more information on auto insurance, contact a professional near you.


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