I've been working on submitting applications for organizations with multiple locations and multiple buildings. It's amazing how much paperwork it takes to submit an application. Today's package landed at around 50 pages – and I haven't even looked at "really complex" organizations yet.
In the mean-time, I've learned a little something about a couple of my more well-advertised competitors on auto insurance... and now they are promoting homeowners and renters insurance. Let me 'splain... no, let me sum up:
There are a couple of steps to the insuring process. An agent or broker (like me) has the responsibility to do due diligence and collect all the necessary data for the insurance company. Based on that information, we are able to provide a price for you to consider. Since we miss something from time-to-time, the second step (after you have committed and paid money) is for an underwriter to review the information and look for things that will raise additional concerns. Enough additional "risk" can actually raise your rates just a couple months into your policy.
A guy recently discovered that the "15%" he thought he saved turned out to be a 50% increase when the underwriter was finished discovering his two live-at-home teenage daughters with at-fault collisions... questions that the agent neglected to ask in the initial discussion. Would you be a little irritated, too?
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