Every December my wife and I make a list of new year goals and resolutions. The list typically has a few home projects, perhaps a vacation, or health goal. The one goal that always appears on the list is to add to our savings and retirement. We try to find new ways to save money and set ourselves up for an early retirement. We would love to own property on water and watch the sunsets as soon as possible!
When factoring in ways to cut costs, and save money, one typically thinks of the obvious solutions. We can get less take out food, perhaps cut cable, spend less on unnecessary “things.” Nobody ever told me I could save potentially hundreds of dollars each year by having a trusted independent insurance agent.
Every month I talk to someone who has been with the same insurance company for years. They have never re-shopped their policies. It makes sense, searching for new insurance is not fun and can be a step out of a person’s comfort zone.
Meanwhile, the carrier ends up slowly raising rates each year, and the insured ends up overpaying for their insurance needs.
If someone stays with the same carrier for a number of years, they will likely overpay thousands of dollars.
A captive agency does not have options and therefore will not be able to look at your insurance options. Examples of captive carriers are State Farm, USAA, Farmers, and Geico.
These companies can be great, but they are unable to shop and compare rates.
They will cut coverages and raise deductibles as ways to lower premiums.
One of our goals, as a trusted independent insurance agency, is to make sure our clients have the best coverages at the lowest premium possible. We work with over 20 carriers, which means we have options! Every year we get an insurance renewal notice, just like our clients do, letting us know how rates have changed. We compare the renewal coverages and rates with all our carriers. We make sure we do courtesy account reviews, to help make sure our clients are not overpaying for any of their insurance needs. Over the course of a few years this can make a big difference in money our clients can save (and hopefully set themselves up for an early retirement as well)!
Want to see how much money you could save? Get a quick quote from Integrity now
