The Insurance Agent
Insurance agents are just like other people. There are the Honest, the Dishonest, the Ignorant and the Knowledgeable agents.
Of course, the agent you want combines two of these features, the Honest and the Knowledgeable. The difficulty is in finding this person. I believe that very few agents are completely Dishonest but there are degrees of honesty. Some agents know about their plan but they don't know about the competitive plans. They may be totally honest but if they are ignorant of the competition plans they don't really serve you. If you ask them a specific question they may give you an answer (usually what their boss tells them to say) but it doesn't really answer your question.
STATEMENT - how do I know if an agent is honest and knowledgeable? Shouldn't I just get a health insurance policy on my own?
ANSWER - since there are many insurance companies and hundreds of policies you need to ask yourself "do I really have time to fully research this". It can take you days to intelligently compare all of the options available to you. A good agent spends many hours and days learning what is available and can usually recommend a choice of policies after just a few pertinent questions (choice is always good). If you try to do it alone you will probably wind up with the wrong policy for you. We will then soon be receiving a call from you complaining about the terrible plan you have that doesn't pay anything.
STATEMENT - I do not always trust my intuition, is there another way?
ANSWER - listen to what the agent says, ask questions until you get a satisfactory answer. Be on the lookout for the key statements listed below which may be a sign that this agent is neither honest nor knowledgeable. You must question the following:
"Don't worry about anything; all policies are the same except for price!"
Do not believe this. You cannot get the best price, the best policy and the best service, period. You must decide which of these to give up.
"This policy is the same everywhere in the country."
Every state has its own rules and regulations that must be followed. Even if the plan were exactly the same, more than likely the price would be different. This could also be a clue that this isn't a real insurance policy but instead is a discount plan.
"My policy covers just about everything that could happen!"
There are always exclusions and limitations. You do not usually find this out, though, until you put in a claim. It's not too big of a deal if it's a small claim but a big claim is a big deal.
"This is the best policy on the Market!!"
Every insurance company has the best plan for somebody somewhere, and no insurance company is the best for everybody. If there was such a plan that would be the only plan I'd sell. Also, when you are speaking about Medicare policies this statement would be illegal for the agent to say to you.
