More of Quincy Needs to Learn Insurance

My partner and I opened our property & casualty (home, auto, business) insurance agency here in Quincy, WA about 4 months ago. Both Henry and I respectively come from different lines of business. Henry originates from the life insurance industry done under his company Quincy Financial Services, which he has been doing for over 8 years, and I come from the real estate industry where I have been running a local brokerage, Sageview Real Estate, for about 2 years now. Since we both worked in the professional service sector, we knew that we could combine our skills and connections to further help our community. We fell into the insurance industry after we realized that a large chunk of our community could not explain what type of auto insurance coverage they had, and whether they even had the proper coverage. Several of the locals we surveyed only knew the term "full coverage" but after looking at their dec pages (the sheet that shows their coverages and premium) they only had coverage limits on liability that were slightly above state minimum with no comp or collision coverage. If you ask any insurance advisor, that type of coverage is rarely recommended -- especially for vehicles with market values above $3,000. Oftentimes, insurance agents will simply sell products to consumers without even going in-depth and thoroughly explaining the product they are about to sell. They just sell the products based off the price and not on the coverage and value. For example, sometimes we will lose some of our clients to a competitor. We are not a perfect agency – and sometimes other competitors do have better products. But what bothers me is when we lose clients to another competitor simply because the competitor had a cheaper price than us but sold them a product that is in fact literally cheaper – not just financially cheaper. The cheaper product leads the consumer into being underinsured and at risk of financial distress. The consumer is no longer protecting his assets as they should be. They were sold on the price that a crooked agent sold them on simply to take over business and turn a quick buck. The agent is deliberately failing to insure them and is instead putting them at risk. That’s the sad reality that too many consumers are facing. It’s not ALL about the price, it’s about the price and the coverage. These types of issues run rampant in our town. Henry and I have been trying for the last couple of months pinpoint exactly why this issue is so common. Why do so many locals not understand insurance? Why are so many of them over-insured or under-insured? Why do they buy on price only and not price and value? We wonder if it is because of the local demographics and the barriers that are faced... Is it because so many of our Hispanic population have struggled with communicating with their insurance agent? Anyways, for now, Henry and I can only do our part to ensure our current and future clients are well taken cared for. We will push to educate the community on an important topic – insurance. We understand “insurance” is often viewed as an overall scam, but it never has been. The agents behind the product are what determines the true worth of the product. When you align yourself with a good agent, you will get a good product. If not, then you’ll be stuck with a product that will be of no value – that you will soon consider a scam. Anyways, thanks for reading this far along, and never hesitate to reach us for any of your insurance needs.