What are 5 tips for choosing an insurance agent or broker?

[00:00:00] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Have you ever wondered how to choose the right insurance agent or insurance broker? Imagine, losing everything you own in a devastating fire. Your home, your car, even your business. Now picture facing that nightmare with inadequate insurance coverage. So today, I'm going to dive into two real life stories that highlight the critical importance of having the right insurance agent by your side. Stay tuned as we explore 5 essential tips that could save you from financial disaster.

[00:00:35] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Well, let's talk about yesterday's show. Yesterday, we talked about 7 money mistakes made by those over 50. It's one you don't want to miss. If you missed it, go back and catch up. You can go to askralph.com. It is packed with some valuable insights to avoid some common financial pitfalls. For those of you who are approaching retirement, I'm right there with you.

[00:00:57] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Well, let me share a message from one of our listeners. This one comes from Judy. Judy writes this.

[00:01:01] Ralph Estep, Jr.: "Dear Ralph, I've been putting off finding a new insurance agent for months. My current coverage feels insufficient, but I'm overwhelmed by all the options out there. How do I choose an agent that I can trust? I see a ton of online sites that promote insurance, but I can still remember when I was a kid, my insurance agent would actually come to my grandparents' house and meet with them. I just feel like this needs to be something that I can discuss with someone instead of a single web application. Any advice would be greatly appreciated."

[00:01:32] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Well Judy, thank you for your question. I can remember it as a kid, the insurance agent actually come into my grandparents' house as well. I mean, I was a little fellow, but I remember them coming. He was a guy, you know, in a nice three-piece suit and he was selling them there. Life insurance policies, and their homeowners, and their car insurance. And he would sit down, my grandmother would make tea. They'd have some crumpets or something like that. But your question is something that a lot of people struggle with and I'm glad you reached out. So today I'm going to address your concerns. I'm going to give you some actionable steps of how to find the right insurance agent for your needs and remember this. Just like Judy's question today, this show is all about answering your questions. So if you've got a financial query or some faith related concern, reach out to me, you can email me. I put my email address right on this show. It's ralph@askralph.com or if you're better off go to our website. Again that's askralph.com. You'll see a microphone icon, click on that thing and just tell me what's on your mind and we can talk about it on the show.

[00:02:33] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Well I'm thrilled you joined me today. Your trust and dedication to improving your financial life and growing in your faith, it truly means the world to me. I am absolutely honored to be able to help you. And if you haven't already, I'm going to encourage you to visit our website. I want you to join our community. When you do it, you'll receive a free copy of my book. It's called Mastering your Finances. It's 47 pages. It will impact your life and more importantly, impact your finances in a very positive way. Now, if you went on Amazon, which you're welcome to do, you could go pay 10 bucks for it. But it's my gift to you for being a part of our family. So if you find today's show helpful or our show in general, do me a favor, share it with someone who might benefit from this information. But before I forget, go to the website and join our list so you'll get an email whenever we list something new.

[00:03:21] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Well, let's get started with our Bible verse today. We do a lot of them from Proverbs, but that's a lot of good stuff there. This one comes from 15:22, and I've used this on the show before, but it fits with what we're talking about today. And it says this. "Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed." And seeing this verse reminds us of the importance of seeking wise guidance, especially when we're making crucial decisions that can affect our wellbeing and our security, and insurance is definitely one of those things. This verse emphasizes the value of advice from knowledgeable sources. It aligns with what we're talking about today and the importance of making those, you know, those difficult decisions.

[00:04:00] Ralph Estep, Jr.: You don't want to do them alone. You want to seek out professional, experienced people to help you. And that's why we're talking about the show today.

[00:04:11] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Well now, let's address the critical question at hand. And that's this, "Ralph, what are 5 tips for choosing an insurance agent or an insurance broker?"

[00:04:20] Ralph Estep, Jr.: So the way I'm going to illustrate this, I'm going to share two contrasting stories with you. Let me tell you about my client named John. Now, John is a small business owner that ran his business out of his house. One night, a fire broke out. It consumed his house, it consumed his car, and even a shed, which was sort of detached but not quite detached. And it destroyed his tractor. And listen, he sat there and watched. In a matter of an hour, he'd lost nearly everything he owned. But that's not the point of my story today. Amidst that devastation, John was calm. I was shocked. The reason he was calm is he had chosen the right insurance agent. You see, John had this agent. Her name was Maria.

[00:05:03] Ralph Estep, Jr.: He told me all about her. She took the time to understand his unique situation. In John's case, she knew that it wasn't just his home. It was his residence. Yes, but it was also his place of business. So when Maria was putting together his insurance, she made sure his policy covered not only his personal property but all of his business assets, those computers, that equipment that he was using, all of those things. She insisted that John get comprehensive coverage that was what we call replacement costs. So not just a fair market value, but what does it cost to replace it.

[00:05:38] Ralph Estep, Jr.: And this was not just for his home, and for his possessions, she also included what's called loss of business income and even put into it temporary living expenses. So in the aftermath of the fire, John, he was struggling. Don't get me wrong. It was tough, but here's the cool thing. His agent Maria, she sprang into action.

[00:05:57] Ralph Estep, Jr.: She took over, she guided John through the entire claims process. She was an advocate on his behalf, and she ensured that John received the full benefits he was entitled to. Her experience and her expertise and dedication, with all of that, John was able to rebuild his home, he replaced his vehicle with a brand new one, he got all new equipment for his business. And guess what? Because of that continuous income for loss of business income, he was able to keep his business afloat during the reconstruction process.

[00:06:30] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Well, let me tell you the other side of the story and that's my friend, Mike. Now Mike suffered a loss as well, but Mike's loss was from a tornado that ripped through his community. Unlike Mike. Mike hadn't given much thought to his insurance coverage.

[00:06:43] Ralph Estep, Jr.: You know, he chooses an agent based on, well, who's got the lowest price, who has the lowest premium, and a Ralphism is this, you get what you pay for in life. He didn't care about the quality of the coverage. He didn't care about the agent's expertise. And when that disaster struck, when that tornado knocked his house down, Mike discovered too late that his policy had significant gaps. He was completely under-insured. He couldn't even afford to fully rebuild his place.

[00:07:10] Ralph Estep, Jr.: He didn't have that replacement value. It didn't cover all those things. It left him thousands of dollars short and because he worked from home, he had some of his business equipment there and it wasn't covered at all. And to make things worse, once this tornado went through, Mike tried to call his agent

[00:07:28] Ralph Estep, Jr.: and that dude was nowhere to be found. Mike learned when he needed help the most, he was left to navigate that complex claim process on his own and he was left fighting with the insurance company at every turn. And Mike suffered. Let me tell you, the emotional trauma of losing his home, but think about this. The devastating financial setback and it took years to overcome it.

[00:07:53] Ralph Estep, Jr.: So what do we learn from these? These two stories highlight the crucial role that a good insurance agent can play in protecting your financial wellbeing.

[00:08:00] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Think about how stark the differences are. So you might ask, "Ralph, how can you ensure you're working with the right agent?" Well, that's the whole point of today's show. I want to give you 5 essential tips. Here's the thing. Number 1. Look for experience and expertise. You want to find an agent who's got a proven track record in the industry. That person needs to have an in-depth knowledge, all the various insurance products, and here's the more important part. They need to be able to explain them to you. Don't be afraid to ask questions, ask about their qualifications, ask about their years of experience. The second thing I'm going to recommend is to seek recommendations from other people.

[00:08:36] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Maybe people who have been through these traumas or been through these fires or tornadoes and read reviews, ask your friends, ask your family, ask colleagues at work, ask for referrals. Another thing you could do is look up potential agents online and read those reviews. The truth is a good agent should have a solid reputation.

[00:08:54] Ralph Estep, Jr.: And I'm going to say this in your community. You want to find somebody local that you can you know, have a meeting with once a year. Another thing you want to do with anybody and especially with an insurance agent is you want to assess their communication skills. You want an agent that's responsible.

[00:09:10] Ralph Estep, Jr.: You know, you're trying to get a call from somebody and not even call you back. Run the other direction. You want an agent that can explain the complex insurance concepts. Listen, I don't understand them all. I have an agent that I call and he goes over everything with me. But they need to be able to boil it down in a way that you can understand this.

[00:09:27] Ralph Estep, Jr.: And really this is the key. You need to find somebody that's willing to answer your questions. They need to be patient with you and need to thoroughly explain all the different coverage options that you have, because you could also be insurance poor. You may have to make a decision that, you know, I'm not going to get that insurance because it just costs too much, but at least you know about it. Another thing you must do.

[00:09:48] Ralph Estep, Jr.: And I say this about accountants and lawyers and everybody. Number 4, evaluate their attention to detail. A good agent is going to take the time to look at your specific situation. They're going to look at your needs. They're going to ask probing questions, are going to look at your lifestyle. They're going to take a look at your assets, what you own.

[00:10:05] Ralph Estep, Jr.: They're going to talk about potential risks. You know, let's say you have a beach house and one of your big risks is probably flood. And you want somebody that's going to talk about comprehensive coverage. This is something I got from my agent. Every year I meet with my agent. I've got a farm.

[00:10:19] Ralph Estep, Jr.: So when I first met with him when we moved to the farm, I didn't even think about some of the things. And he probed me. He said, well, what about that outbuilding, Ralph? What about that building? What about that barn? He mentioned ATV insurance and tractor insurance. I hadn't even thought about it and let me say it for a loop.

[00:10:34] Ralph Estep, Jr.: The next thing he said to me, Ralph, do you have coverage if one of your cows breaks out and runs down somebody on the road? Listen, I ain't even thought about that, but my agent looked at those comprehensive coverages. He looked at what I had. He met with me, talked to me and we figured it out. And the last thing. You have got to consider an agent's range of products.

[00:10:54] Ralph Estep, Jr.: And what I mean by that is I'm not a big fan of those agents that work for a particular company. You want to find an agent who's independent. They work with a variety of insurance products from different companies, because guess what? They're going to be able to find the best coverage options for you and your unique needs.

[00:11:10] Ralph Estep, Jr.: If they're trying to fit you into some one size fits all policy, that's not a good plan. And remember this, like the Ralphism said. The cheapest policy isn't always the best. Your overall goal needs to be to find an agent who can provide you with the right coverage at a fair price. And I'm going to say this, and this is the honest to God truth. A good agent is an investment in your financial security. That's what it really comes down to.

[00:11:36] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Well, let me share a personal story. I had a situation I overcame. I found myself under insured. What had happened was we had a severe storm come through. It damaged our roof. We had these pointy things where the, and listen, I'm not a contractor. I'm not an architect. I think they're called bumpers or something like that as a window. And middle of the night, wife and I are asleep

[00:11:53] Ralph Estep, Jr.: and all of a sudden, we start hearing this dripping sound. It started off real faint and drip - drip -drip. And my wife kind of pushes me a little bit and says Ralph, do you hear that? I'm like, what are you talking about? I'm sleeping. She goes, Ralph, something's dripping. Well, by the time I was able to look up, I looked up at the ceiling and the water was just teeming down.

[00:12:12] Ralph Estep, Jr.: And that was a wakeup call for me. Because guess what? I went and tried to put in an insurance claim and guess what? It wasn't covered.

[00:12:22] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Not good. It was an expensive repair, but it made me reevaluate my approach to insurance. I scheduled that comprehensive insurance review. I talked to several agents. I asked them questions. I talked about the different coverage options. I asked them about potential gaps in what I currently had. And then when I do that, as I chose an agent who took the time to educate me, they talked about my risks, my particular coverage needs, rather than just trying to sell me like that one size fits all policy.

[00:12:51] Ralph Estep, Jr.: And I found a new agent. And this agent created a customized insurance plan that addressed all of my concerns, both in my personal and professional life, because I do work from home as well, sometimes as well. And they gave me that annual review where we sat down, we talked about the coverage. And more importantly, talked about keeping pace with my changing needs. It gave me peace of mind. It gave me that feeling, that calmness of being probably protected against any potential disasters. And that's what I want for you. That's why I'm doing this show today.

[00:13:22] Ralph Estep, Jr.: So let me do a bit of a recap. You know, choosing the right insurance agent is crucial for protecting your financial wellbeing. As I said, look for experience, seek recommendations from friends and family and colleagues. Assess how they communicate. That's going to be key if you have a claim. Evaluate how much they had paid attention to detail. You know, if you've given them information and they forgot about it, that's not good because an insurance claim is a detailed deal and last but not least, talk about the range of projects they sell. Remember this. As I said earlier, a good agent is an investment in your future security.

[00:13:59] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Well, tomorrow we're going to talking about how do I live out my Christian calling. It's not really a financial topic, but we're going to talk about how to do that. And it's a topic that's close to my heart. I'm going to tell you about some things that I've grown through my own life, and I cannot wait to explore that with you. Well, maybe today you're feeling overwhelmed.

[00:14:15] Ralph Estep, Jr.: This whole insurance, you know, conversation has tied you up in knots. I'm not an insurance agent, but I can certainly help you find that agent. And I can ensure that you're protected properly. Maybe you have some financial issues you're dealing with, or you need some business advice. Maybe your business is a mess.

[00:14:31] Ralph Estep, Jr.: You need somebody to help you put it back together, clean it up, or as my grandfather used to say, you know, sand off the rough edges. I can help you with that. The way I'm going to help you is I want you to schedule an appointment with me. I charge $150 and I'll give you a personalized consultation where we can manage your financial life better. We can talk about insurance needs.

[00:14:50] Ralph Estep, Jr.: I can help refer you to somebody or talk about what you're going to, what you got to go do, but you got to start by scheduling that appointment with me. You do that at askralphpodcast.com/store. So I'm going to encourage you. Book your session today and let's work together to create a plan to give you peace of mind and financial security. Remember this. My passion is to help you achieve financial success. I truly want you to live out your dreams.

[00:15:14] Ralph Estep, Jr.: I want you to grow in your faith. I am very confident that together we can master your finances with that Christian perspective. A lot of people do a lot of things about helping you with your finances, but they don't bring that Christian faith into it. And that's the difference. That's why I do what I do.

[00:15:30] Ralph Estep, Jr.: So as I always say, stay financially savvy and I always end it with this because it's that Christian perspective that matters and God bless you.