Risk & Business Magazine Gifford Associates Fall 2017 | Page 6

INSURANCE BROKER INSIGHTS
BY : TIM TOKRUD COMMERCIAL LINES MANAGER AND PARTNER AT GIFFORD ASSOCIATES

What Keeps Your Insurance Broker Up At Night ?

Insurance — it is one of those evil necessities in life , isn ’ t it ? We need to buy it but would prefer that we did not have to . As a necessary evil , most of us are inclined to be somewhat non-committed to the whole insurance thing . If we have never experienced an insurance claim , an annually renewing policy is just one more expense .

But talk to insurance brokers and listen to what keeps them awake at night . They do worry about insurance and your need for it . They worry that you are properly covered under the right policy for the right limit . When you submit a claim , they really want it to go smoothly for you and to find you at the end of the process happy to have bought the policy in the first place . That it served you well . Not one of them wants you to be overinsured nor do they ever want you to be underinsured .
Underinsured claims happen with a certain frequency , and though efforts are made to ensure insurance to value
and correct coverage is in play , generally , the truth hits home only after a claim . It ’ s at that time everybody involved starts asking why .
The role of the insurance broker is to help you assess your risks and find policies to lessen them . But they cannot guess at what you own , and they certainly cannot assess the value of it . They need your participation .
So the question that needs to be answered before a policy is purchased or renewed is , what would it cost to replace
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