Agency fees are just plain wrong
I’m going to get on a soapbox for a moment and peel back the insurance curtain. If your current insurance agent is charging you an “Agency Fee” for your home and auto insurance policies they are stealing from you. Agency fees are just plain wrong.
That’s right, I said it. The agency is earning commission from the sale of your policy and they are CHARGING YOU AN ADDITIONAL AND TOTALLY OPTIONAL FEE.
What exactly are you paying for when you make an extra payment to your insurance agent?
Is your agent doing anything that any other agent can’t do for you? Is your agent providing anything extra in any way? The answer is bleep no.
Those agents are simply charging you more money so they can make more money.
At Integrity we believe that agency fees are wrong and that’s why we never charge them for any home, auto, boat, motorcycle, RV, ATV, umbrella or life policy that we write. Ever.
Someone called our office this week looking for an insurance quote. She was very upset because another independent agent had quoted her insurance and tried to charge a $199 “Agency Fee.”
When she asked about the fee the agent told her “all agencies charge a fee like this.” He continued, “If they tell you they don’t charge a fee they are just lying.” That particular agent was either wrong or lying himself (I have my suspicions but I won’t pass judgement). Get a quote from us and pay no agency fees, ever.
Every insurance policy contains policy fees charged by the insurance carrier.
All policies also have taxes and fees charged by the state. Independent agents can’t do anything about these costs so please don’t go look at your policy documents and get mad because there will be fees.
Here is the part that might make some of my industry friends upset.
As a consumer you have every right to be mad as a hornet if your agent has been charging you agency fees. By charging a policy fee your agent is telling you that you need to pay more for the privilege of working with them.
In any transaction (insurance included) a buyer agrees to make payment in exchange for a good or service. If you have paid an agency fee in the past you should ask yourself “What did I get in exchange?”
