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Sylvia Said:

I need advise on how to pursue Personal insurance sales?

We Answered:

Trying to generate a "book" of customers from scratch is always tougher at the beginning. I've been doing personal insurance sales for about four years now and it gets easier every year. My best referrals come from existing clients, without them your job is already more difficult.

A couple of suggestions for you. First, network, network, network. The more people you speak with, the larger your web becomes. Don't tell people you're selling insurance on the side, they don't want to hear that it's a second thing for you. Tell them you're selling insurance and nobody can service their account as well as you can because you also work closely in the customer service department. Sell yourself.
Think about joining a networking group that meets after five or before nine. BNI is a great one depending on where you are in comparison to where they have active chapters. Also use help from your friends. They don't want to move their insurance, fine. Do they work with anyone who might be interested. If you're too shy to ask for referrals from people you're comfortable with, you'll never make it in a commission sales environment. Do you have a friend that makes websites? Look into putting one up and advertising it on craigslist or with google adwords. Your commissions could cover the cost and then some. Good luck. It gets easier the longer you've been doing it, and the renewal commissions after a few years are nice.

Claudia Said:

Quoting for insurance work?

We Answered:

The insurance companies are very careful about this sort of thing. If they are in charge of selecting the person to do the repair work, they may not accept a quote no matter what the price is from a sole proprietor that is does not have an established business. If they happen to accept the quote, then they might send the cheque to the person with the policy, for them to cash and then pay you.

Sue Said:

Can someone explain to me the coverage in renter's insurance?

We Answered:

Most renters insurance policies include basic limits for those items that you are referencing in the policy, i.e. they are automatically included in the package. In other words as long as you have a high enough dollar limit listed for Coverage C - Personal Property then the sublimit for business property on premises is probably $2,000 or $2,500 on premises and the sublimit for jewelry is probably $1,000. The sublimits are applied when the loss is due to theft. Therefore, if you have more than say $1,000 in jewelry or more than $2,000 in business property, then you would have to declare the extra value and pay an additional charge to obtain the extra coverage. This is automatically part of the quote and the major part of the premium that you are being charged is for the amount of Coverage C Personal Property.

Note that these sublimits do not increase the amount of coverage for Personal Property -- they only serve to limit how much will be paid for losses involving that type of property.

A word of caution though -- if this agent did not take the time to ask you any questions, I would definitely either have a long talk with him or her to make sure that you been quoted everything you need to your satisfaction or find another agent. At a minimum, you should make sure that the Coverage C - Personal Property Limit is sufficient to cover everything inside your apartment or rented home and it should be covered on a replacement cost basis. You should also have at least a $500,000 personal Liability limit and $5,000 medical payments coverage.

If you feel the need to find another agent -- I would Google Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America and go to their "find an agent" locator to find an independent agent in your local community who will be able to fully explain the coverage you need after asking you several questions. This website will not farm out your information and you can choose someone that will devote the time to you.

I hope this information helps. Good Luck

Nelson Said:

Rental Business: Insurance Claim - How do I let a contractor know politely I'm not going to hire him?

We Answered:

"Thank you for your past work. I have decided to accept another bid for this job. Please feel free to use me as a reference in the future."

While he may be disappointed he didn't get the bid, that's part of the nature of his job.