What bugs you about Insurance?

Recently, we posted a question on the twitter page of one of our marketing team members, Danny Brown, asking people “what are your insurance peeves”. The point of the tweet was really meant to be a training session for us on Twitter however, once we began reading the flood of responses that came in, we decided it would be a good idea for us to respond to a few of them in a blog.  Out of all the comments we received, there were a few that stood out for me as “common” and I have quoted, and responded to them below.

“I wish my broker did a better job of explaining the policy, I have no idea what I’m paying for, I just know I have to have insurance”

I definitely wish I had a nickel for every time I have heard this throughout my 17 years in the industry, I’d certainly be rich by now! There is no doubt that insurance policies are complicated, and often times it can be overwhelming to review at the point of purchase, and actually know what it is you are paying for.  So, you just provide your information, and wait for the verdict on the premium.  It’s your insurance professionals JOB to explain your policy to you, advising you of all of the coverage available and more importantly, describing to you WHY you need it.  Since your insurance policy’s true value cannot be tested until (or unless) you have experienced a loss, your broker needs to clearly articulate to you at the point of sale, how your policy will respond for you if a loss happens to occurr.  I believe that we need to do a better job of educating our clients to ensure they know what they are purchasing, and why.

“For them to treat us like humans, not like we are in a drive-through waiting for our order”

I love how this was stated.  I believe there are many people out there that feel exactly like the “would you like fries with that” insurance customer.  They feel as if we are order taking and pushing them through, and would appreciate more personal service.  Although we do find people all have different ideas about how they like to be approached, the common theme is that they want to be treated as though they matter.  I feel that this is less of an insurance industry issue, and more of a customer service issue. How can we serve our clients, in the manner they wish to be served, but still provide superior customer service?  Shouldn’t all of us attempting to sell a product or service be asking ourselves this question more often – and doing our best to find out the answer?The last quote I will post is:

“I just filled out a long insurance application yesterday. Get all of these forms online and accept electronic signatures!”

I will end with this comment, as it just so happens, I know of an insurance brokerage where this exact process IS available…