Choose an Insurance Agent in 4 Steps

A good insurance agent is a boon. An agent who keeps your interest ahead of his own is what makes an agent good. It is a known fact that insurance agents work for commissions and money is important to everyone. However, a good agent should not be motivated by commissions and suggest policies that have a higher commission but should understand your specific insurance needs and suggest a policy accordingly.

But how do you choose the right insurance agent? Primarily, the agent should be a licensed agent approved by IRDAI to sell insurance policies. In this article, we have covered 4 steps to find out the right one.

Step 1: Make a Suggestion

One of the best ways to find an agent is to go by the word of mouth. If someone you trust recommends an agent, chances are that they have had a good experience with him/her. However, make sure the agent is not related to this person.

Moreover, choose an agent who is located nearby. Often it happens, that an agent sells an insurance policy and just disappears into thin air. Later on, when you need any service, the agent is not available. Having an agent from the neighborhood will protect you from facing this issue as well. It is good to choose an insurance agent who represents multiple insurance companies. This way, you will be able to have a wider choice and thus you can invest in the right one.

Let’s try to understand the “Make a Suggestion” option practically, in India if you ask someone about insurance; he/she must answer you with the word “LIC”. LIC is the symbol of insurance in India, and the reason behind it is the “Make a Suggestion” option. When LIC start serving people they hire an agent from every city and village, make a suggestion that works everywhere, and with time LIC fulfilled its promise and people start suggesting to their loved ones about LIC and today LIC is top insurance company; in terms of financially and with the number of customers too.

Step 2: Interview the Insurance Agent

Before choosing an insurance agent, interview a few to know who is the right one. So what should you ask them? Ask them about details of policies, give them situations and see what they suggest. If you ask the same question to multiple agents, you will be able to tell the difference between one agent and another. Ask for references from agents. A good agent should have multiple satisfied clients. Judge whether the agent is interested in providing you with a holistic approach or is simply interested in selling you a policy and earning a commission.

We Indians have a very important habit to learn that before spending it on someone, we first assure that the money spent on it will prove beneficial for us and only then we buy the product. Similarly, before buying insurance, you should know completely about the insurance agent, whether the agent is trustworthy or not whether he is selling you expensive policies in the affair of commission, or whether this agent has insured anyone before asking you. All these questions should be answered by you, even if you do not have to spend some time with the agent for this.

Step 3: Find an Insurance Expert

Don’t look for agents, look for experts. What’s the difference? An agent’s job ends at selling the policy to you. An expert on the other hand will guide you on filing a claim, help you with service requests and provide you guidance. Insurance needs are not fixed. It varies from year to year as you go up the ladder of life. If you have an insurance expert, you will be able to modify your insurance policies as per your changing needs. 

It is said that success comes to a person only when he knows everything about a particular thing or is with him who gives him success, something similar often happens with insurance too. Very few of us know about insurance and in such a scenario decision we are more afraid of being wrong than right, so before buying any insurance policy, you should take help from an expert so that without knowing everything about the policy you don’t make a loss deal even by mistake.

Step 4: Check an Insurance Agent Background

Finally, check the agent’s background before finalizing the one. See if the agent is a licensed agent, find out about his educational background, and make the final decision. You will be doing the monetary transaction with the insurance agent. Hence, checking the background is of utmost importance.

Well, it’s the final step towards verifying the agent. Getting the best insurance policy is as hard as getting the right insurance agent and both things are valuable for you as a customer. Knowing the background of an insurance agent gives you leverage to trust the people, look, one thing that we all know is if your claim gets rejected then it’s not the fault of the agent. But the motive behind Knowing the background of an insurance agent is to know whether he is liable or not.

Read our article “Why Agents don’t sell Term insurance policy” for understanding more about Agent.

Having a good agent is extremely important. So, don’t take this exercise lightly. If the agent is not reliable and is more interested in his own benefit than that of his/her client, then it is the innocent insurance purchaser who will be at a loss at the end of the day. A lot of people get rejections while filing a claim and fall into trouble. Therefore, follow these steps to safeguard yourself and your family.