I am often asked what the difference is between an insurance agent and an insurance broker. As a Farmers Insurance agent, I would like to shed some light on the subject. I’ll let Michael Berg, President of Berg Insurance Agency, explain:

“During the quoting process, the benefit of a Farmers agent versus an independent broker is the independent broker doesn’t have access to Farmers. As far as property and liability coverage goes, the Farmers agent won’t have access to the same carriers the broker can bring to the table. So, the benefit you can bring to your client is showing them all the options available by contacting a Farmers agent and an independent broker.

That said, and maybe a little biased as I might be, the Farmers property and liability coverage is very strong in the marketplace. That is mainly due to the efficiency and effective nature of claims handling. Our customers are comfortable with the outcome of claims because we help them through the process and make sure they understand the reasons for coverage, or declination of coverage. Farmers Insurance has multiple times been recognized for award-winning claims practices.

The service you receive from an insurance office is generally one of the major benefits. Farmers or not, if your experience with service from the office of the provider is not a happy one, or worse, your client isn’t happy, whatever perceived benefits there may have been during the quoting process are lost because of bad service.

By creating a professional partnership with the community manager, we can together improve the experience of the board of directors and members of the community. We create this partnership by meeting or exceeding service expectations, fast responses to questions, minimizing the delays in document requests, and being sure we are available to attend face-to-face meetings with the insured. By making the life of the manager easier, we support the relationship the manager has with his/her board of directors, and strengthening that relationship leads to more loyalty of the association to management.”

Terri Guest, CIRMS, CMCA is the Northern California Sales & Marketing Representative for Berg Insurance Agency and can be reached at Terri@berginsurance.com.