[grego]

As one of the posts states, the devil is in the details.

For clarification, Heacock Insurance is an independent broker, not an insurance company. Their role is to place coverages on behalf of an insured (us) with a carrier that best fits their needs. In exchange for their services, insurance companies pay them a commission for policies placed, usually a percentage of the premiums.

Insurance companies and brokers are licensed by individual states and are precluded from writing insurance policies outside of these approved states. Every policy holder has the right to contact their insurance commissioner for complaints and improper handling of claims or premium payments.

I am a retired insurance executive having run insurance companies around the world for both large commercial enterprises and personal coverages. I am highly aware of the bad reputation insurance companies have created for themselves. Believe me, I've had plenty of experiences where people have literally run away from me during cocktail parties or other gatherings when they found out I was an insurance guy. And I've had my own issues with my personal insurance coverages (I would not insure with my own company due to conflict of interest issues) and had to fight battles to get what I deserved.

So, I always made it my company's mission to treat the customer with the highest respect and better than the other companies. With the bar relatively low, it was not a difficult mission.

My advice to make your experiences with insurance companies less painful is to make sure you know what is in fact covered and what is not, especially with our unique collector cars and other assets we tend to accumulate. Get to know your broker as they are the gateway to your insurance company. A face to face meeting, an annual coverage review, and market review to make sure your existing carrier still meets your needs. This is not so easy if you choose to place your coverages direct, an often cheaper way to go, but also no advocate to act on your behalf, which is a role the broker will hopefully play for you.

My apologies for being so verbose, but maybe this will be of some help rather than criticizing or defending various posts.