Questions to Ask Your Business Insurance Broker

Questions to Ask Your Business Insurance Broker
by Aazdak Alisimo

Is there only one question to ask your business insurance broker? Certainly not. Before you sign any policy, think about the following questions that you should ask your broker.

The first question to ask your business insurance broker is: what is the insurance company's AM Best or Moody's rating? This type of rating is important if you want to know how stable your insurance company is. If a company is not all that stable, they will have a poor rating. However, if their rating is high, you may want to consider this company. Still, before you decide upon one company, you will also want to ask if an insurance broker is right for you.

Does your broker specialize in the sort of company that you are running? If you run your own landscaping business, you may not want to deal with an insurance broker that usually handles accounting firms. Why? Simply put, the types of claims that an account will file are a lot different from those of a landscaper ... make sure your broker knows your business. Equally important is the types of plans that your broker can offer you.

What good is a broker if their available plans do not fit your needs? Although this is an important question to ask your business insurance broker, many people do not consider this question. Find out what sort of plan you are seeking, and then ask whether or not your broker can provide it. Also, you may want to ask whether or not you will be dealing with the same broker every time - some companies will ask many different people to handle your business, and this can be more than frustrating.

Finally, asking about a company's list of personal clients is always a good indicator. If a company cannot produce a list of well known clients (especially those within your field), you may want to look elsewhere. In short, make sure that you thoroughly understand all that an insurance broker can offer you, and never settle for less than what you require.

The most important question to ask your business insurance broker is - all of the above questions. Do not be afraid to ask a slew of questions... after all, it will be your policy on the line if you miss any important piece of information. Insurance does not have to be difficult, but it can be tedious. Still, if you take the time to learn all about a broker, your business will be much better off for it.

Aazdak Alisimo writes about commercial insurance for CommercialBusinessInsuranceBrokers.com, a directory of business insurance brokers.