Vacation time over…I got in the office “relatively” early…..the stacks of paper on my desk were daunting…and I just had to get through them so I could move on to the next thing……the gym bag sat on a chair as a reminder that my new years discipline was to “get” to Snap Fitness…..every day….

It sat there and beckoned me all day….but all day came and went….near 2:30..I decided to do that which always makes me feel better and clears my mind…..organize..so I opened up my Outlook to tasks…. stacked my “paper” in one big pile..then went through everything one by one….noting on the task sheet that particular job….When I was finished…I had sixteen tasks…all of which were prioritized….(priority #1…is it going to make the agency any $?)

At about 4:30 a call came in…one of my clients…”We think we’re paying too much for our Homeowners Insurance..can you help us?”…. I’ve had this commercial client for about 8 years and every year when I ask..they tell me how much they just love their current agent…okay..now the rates went up again…and they don’t love his anymore…good for us….

“But I don’t want it to hurt my credit when you get quotes for us!” my client cautioned….. This is a bit of an old worry, and was at one time true….. when Insurance Companies first started doing credit checks as an underwriting criteria for rating and eligibility, they would run the check and your credit would take a hit……Since credit rating has become a primary rating factor, most insurance companies have found a way around this not so profitable pebble in the stream….So, I assured my client we wouldn’t hurt them and passed the referral on to our senior Personal Lines Specialist…”Tall Handsome Guy”…..

Credit scoring for those of you who aren’t aware..is a huge factor in determining how much you’ll pay for your home and auto insurance…this process all started about 15 years ago and has survived a mountain of challenges alleging everything from discrimination of poor people to unfair trade practices to a bogus excuse for raising premiums…… Turns out…the lower the credit score, the more likely a person is to file a claim…a statistical fact I’m told and one that means if your credit score is great..you’ll pay less for insurance…the confusing and mysterious difference is that every insurance company measures credit scoring differently…so you could get one score from Safeco and another score from Travelers…. go figure….

Before passing my client on to “Tall’”… I also mentioned that we should quote their automobile insurance as well…. I know…. it sounds greedy..but this is another major factor affecting insurance costs… multi policy discounts…. if you have your home and auto insured with the same carrier…it’s usually cheaper…and many would argue better for you anyway….in the event of a claim that “could” be an auto liability or homeowners claim, the last thing you want are two different insurance companies pointing the finger at the other and declining coverage……Such a claim might exist for example if your house burns down with three cars in the garage…or a guest staying overnight dies from carbon monoxide poisoning……

So as a consumer of insurance…. the primary issues to remember is to work hard at protecting your credit score and buy your home and auto insurance from one carrier..these are two ways to lower your costs….

After all that, the exercise bag and I went home…. and passed two Snap Fitnesses along the way…..