Diffrence between insurance AGENT and BROKER

Is an insurance agent and an insurance broker the same thing?
The answer is NO.

So what is the difference?

INSURANCE AGENT,
works for an individual insurance company like state farm or allstate. There job is to provide you with the lowest possible rate their company has to offer. You will not get a rate from any other company except from the company they work for.

INSURANCE BROKER,
are independent, they do not work for any company. They find you the lowest possible rate regardless of what company it may be. Their job is to place you with the company that provides you the lowest rate.

An INSURANCE BROKER will provide you with rates from many companies but usually are unable to provide you with rates from INSURANCE AGENCIES. These rates are usually exclusive for INSURANCE AGENTS only.

It is always wise to get rates from both AGENTS and BROKERS to help you find the lowest rate possible.

INSURANCE PROVIDED BY CAR DEALERS CAN STILL GET YOU A TICKET

You just purchased a new or used vehicle from a dealer. You currently do not have insurance, so you buy the required insurance from the car dealer to be able to drive off the lot in your brand new car. You are almost home put you get pulled over, you show the officer your insurance papers from the dealer but he still writes you a ticket.

More then likely this will not happen since in most cases the officer will cut you some slack since you did just purchase this vehicle.

But why can he write you a ticket if you got insurance from the car dealer?

In most cases the car dealer will only provide you with comprehensive and collision coverage. NO LIABILITY, and since liability insurance is mandated by most states, the officer has every right to give you a ticket to go along with that brand new car.

When buying a car, your bank/lien holder would like to have its investment (car purchased) insured. Liability would only be required if the vehicle is being leased so before purchasing a car, shop around and get a few quotes.

One of the easiest and fastest way to shop around is online. In most cases you just fill out a form or two, and usually within 24hrs you have at least 3 or 4 different quotes.

In many cases when speaking to an insurance company ahead of time, they will help you by faxing all necessary paperwork to the dealer ship so you can get out that lot with out having to add insurance to your financing. I'm almost sure your car salesman wont like that, but you sure will.

WHEN LEASING A VEHICLE MORE INSURANCE COVERAGE IS REQUIRED

So you are thinking of leasing a vehicle. Did you know your bank or lien holder will require for you to obtain comprehensive and collision and higher liability limits?

Why?

When you lease, your car belongs to the company leasing you the car. It is as if you are renting the car for a long period of time, the car never belongs to you therefore if something should occur to the car they would like their investment (car being leased) to be insured. Most companies will require your comprehensive and collision coverage deductible to be no greater then $500.00.

The company leasing you the vehicle will also protect themselves from any lawsuits if you should be liable for an accident. When such accidents do occur it is easy for the victim of an accident to go after the the company instead of the person leasing the vehicle since their is usually more money to collect that way.
They protect themselves by requiring you to purchase higher liability limits usually being $100,000/$300,000/$50,000

So when leasing a vehicle don not forget to call your insurance company and shop around for rates. Be sure to mention that you will be leasing a new vehicle and you would like to satisfy your lienholder.

COMPREHENSIVE/COLLISON COVERAGE

Comprehensive (sometimes known as "other then collision") and Collision coverage is usually not mandated by any states however many lien holders/lenders will require for you to obtain this coverage. Even if your vehicle is fully paid off Comprehensive and Collision can be a great coverage to purchase.

Comprehensive (other then collision) Coverage
To make things easy, as it is sometimes called it covers mainly everything other then collision. Comprehensive coverage will cover damages if your car is stolen, it will cover vandalism, window damage, even damages caused by a flood, fire or animal minus your deductible.

Collision Coverage
Collision will cover for any damage occurring to your vehicle if you hit or are hit by another vehicle or object. If it is considered a collision it is covered minus your deductible.

Comprehensive and Collision is usually provided as a package, most insurance companies will not insure one with out the other just as most companies will require you to obtain the same deductible for both coverages.

UNINSURED/UNDERINSURED COVERAGE

Most states do not require you to maintain Uninsured or Underinsured Coverage, some states however do require the agent or broker to offer the coverage so you are well aware that this coverage does exist as many people are not aware.

What is Uninsured/Underinsured Coverage?

Uninsured Motorist Coverage
If you are in an accident where the other party is responsible and they have no insurance or the coverage is lapsed, your insurance company will cover for the damages done to your vehicle and sometimes even bodily injury up to the limit chosen.

Underinsurance Coverage
If you are in a car accident and the person who has hit you does not have enough coverage to pay damages for your vehicle or sometimes bodily injury your insurance policy will pay for the balance due not to exceed your coverage limit.

Uninsured/Underinsured Coverage is a good way of protecting your self against uninsured motorist when you choose not to carry full coverage (comprehensive and collision) on your policy.

LIABILITY INSURANCE

Liability insurance, what is it exactly? Well to make things easy liability is exactly what it states it protects you and your assets in case you are liable in an accident. If you are liable for an accident your insurance company will pay for any damages done to the property or person/s injured in the accident up to the limit you have chosen to purchase.

In California for instance, the state minimum requirement is 15/30/5
Keep in mind every state has different insurance regulations.

So now what do does numbers mean?

15 stands for $15000.00.
Your policy will cover up to a maximum of $15000.00 per person if you are liable for their injury.

30 stands for $30000.00.
As stated earlier your policy will cover up to a maximum of $15000.00 per person however it shall not exceed $30000.00.

Now lets break this down, $15000.00 per person for any bodily injury not to exceed $30000.00 per accident. If two people get hurt your insurance will pay up to $15000.00 per person no problem, now lets say 3 people get hurt your insurance can not pay $15000.00 per person because that would exceed the $30000.00 limit. It will cover for instance $15000.00 for one $10000.00 for the second and $5000.00 for the third person because we did not exceed the 15 or 30 limit.

Now moving on to the property damage.

5 stands for $5000.00
Your policy will pay up to a maximum of $5000.00 for damage done to any property you are liable for.

Keep in mind if you are liable for an accident and have only $5000.00 property damage and the car you or a family member on your insurance policy hit is brand new your policy is only paying out $5000.00 You will be responsible for the balance.

Avoid being sewed and even loosing some of your most valuable assets.
Choose liability limits that are right for you. State minimum is not always the best choice for everybody. It never hurts to make that call to make sure you are well insured.