You've heard about the doctor that died and early death because he spent all his time healing others and failed to take care of his own health? I had a rude awakening that brought this parody to light.
For many years I had an insurance agency. I sold auto and homeowners policies to thousands of people. I knew which companies had the best rates. It was my job to know. When I sold the agency, my own policies stayed with a small regional company with really great rates until the company became financially unstable. I bought policies with AllState because my brother-in-law was an Allstate agent. And there I remained.
Last week I was working on my web site and looking over my saving partners. I decided to get a quote for auto and homeowners insurance for myself. Lo and behold, I was blown away when I received a quote from one company that reduced my auto insurance premium by nearly $500 per year.
It was a humiliating experience. I tell everyone else that the best way to save on insurance is to shop and compare, and yet I wasn't heeding my own advice. The truth of the matter is that I am lazy. It was easier to stay with Allstate than to do what was necessary to change companies.
I called up my Allstate agent (no longer my brother-in-law) and told him about the quote I had received. Turns out that the company had come out with new policies, and after they recalculated everything, my premiums were only a few dollars more than the quote that I had received from another company. It wasn't enough to make a switch, but what bothered me is that if I hadn't called Allstate, no one there would have bothered to call me to say they had a better deal for me.
The bottom line is that it pays to shop and compare if you want to save on insurance. You may find that you are grossly overpaying and decide to switch companies, or you could, like me, end up keeping your present company honest. Either way, it takes a bit of initiative, but it definitely is worth the trouble. For myself, I've learned a valuable lesson: Practice what I preach!!
