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| Buying
insurance without an agent | | You
can buy many life insurance and property-casualty insurance
products
without help from an agent. Typically potential policyholders
will be
contacted by mail, or they can call a toll-free number
to apply for a
product. The advantage of this type of distribution
system is that
expenses are usually much lower because there are no
agent commissions
to be paid. These savings can be passed onto the consumer
through lower
premiums. The main disadvantage is that the policyholder
does not
receive as much, or sometimes any, personal service
either when buying a
product or filing a claim. Financial ratings of insurers
Since
insurance companies are promising to make future loss
payments in return
for your premium payments, it's important to know an
insurer's financial
health when deciding how much you're willing to pay
for a product. For
example, if all other things are equal, you should
pay slightly more for
a life insurance policy from an insurance company with
a higher
financial rating, or slightly less for a policy from
a company that is
not as financially strong. To help you make your decision,
private
organizations called rating agencies rate the financial
stability of
insurance companies. Major insurance rating agencies
include the A.M.
Best Company, Standard & Poor's, Weiss Research, Duff
and Phelps, and
Moody's. However, each organization has its own rating
standards, so the
financial grades from two different rating agencies
may be different.
Check the financial rating of insurers from as many
rating agencies as
possible to determine the range of opinions of a company's
financial
health.More
FAQ... |
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