Buy REAL Insurance Coverage or Roll The Dice

Please accept this information as a personal opinion from someone that has been closely involved in over 7,000 homeowners' claims over the past several years.   

With that said, think about how many times you have seen an advertisement for insurance, now consider the psychology of advertising - to reaffirm your previous decisions and/or to influence your future buying decisions.

The Top-5 insurance companies in the country invest BILLIONS* in advertising each year, all to make you feel good about your decision to have purchased their coverage, or to keep themselves top-of-mind as you consider a new insurance carrier.    

With a high rate of retention, insurers can be assured that you will stay with them for years, if not decades, rather than spend the time to work through the truly simple steps of switching to another carrier.

I often hear how well customers are treated by their insurance agents, what great people they are, and how much the agents have helped them over the years.    This is difficult to refute, as many of the top agents in the business are highly-compensated for their sales and relationship-building skills.

But, there is one problem with this "my friend, the agent" mentality, he or she is rarely involved, and is purposely kept far away from the entire claims process.   

The people you will meet in the claims process are true professionals, trained to settle your claim for the least amount possible, and somehow make you feel great about having your claim denied and/or underpaid.

Your claim will be managed by a well-trained insurance adjuster that is paid by your insurance company, and as their employee will always have the carrier's financial interests in mind -- definitely not yours!    With this said, please be careful how you answer questions from an adjuster, especially when these conversations are being recorded.    

Sounds a bit scary, but the insurance claims process is truly YOU vs THEM unless you have assistance from someone as equally well-trained and knowledgeable of the insurance industry on your side.    If you ever feel overwhelmed by an insurance claim, please call me to discuss your claim issues and options. 

If "peace of mind" is why you pay for insurance coverage, then my opinion would be that you seriously consider Alfa Insurance, Geovera or Liberty Mutual as the BEST homeowners' insurance carriers in Alabama.  

Again, having been personally involved in over 7,000 insurance claims, any of these three insurance carriers will react quickly, pay a fair amount for the damages you have sustained, and do so with the least amount of hassle.

At the same time, I would seriously consider moving away from Farmers, State Farm, and All-State IF being paid a fair settlement is why you purchased the insurance coverage. 

Far too often I have been present as insurance adjusters from these three carriers denied claims on the initial inspection, knowing full well that few homeowners understand their rights to appeal these denials.    

From my personal perspective, there is nothing more gratifying than assisting homeowners through this appeals process and having their claims fully-approved following a re-inspection. 

Have a question for me, or feel I am being unfair to the insurance carriers, please write to me:  ward@awgulfcoast.com or call our office:  251.655-1958

Ward Fendley

Source Material*:

https://www.ama.org/publications/MarketingNews/Pages/insurance-companies-spend-marketing-make-more.aspx

https://www.statista.com/statistics/264968/ad-spend-of-selected-insurance-companies-in-the-us/

http://adage.com/article/news/insurance-industry-s-4-billion-advertising-brawl/148992/

http://www.propertycasualty360.com/2014/07/21/among-top-10-advertisers-geico-far-outspends-6-10