Travis Gensler Insurance Services

Just to help clear up some of the confusion, back in May I made the decision to terminate my contract with prior insurance company.   During the first few days of May, I turned in my 90 day notice that I after that timeframe I would no longer sell their insurance.  On May 5th, just a few days later they accepted my request and terminated my contract that day.

To my prior farmers clients, I am sorry that I did not get a chance to let you know that I would no longer be able to serve your Farmers policies.  It was my choice, I did not get fired!

Why did I go independent?

For the past year or so, I started feeling stuck.  There were many clients that I wanted to work with, but with the limited products and options that I had available to me through Farmers, the coverage was either too expensive, or I could not even provide the options that my clients were needing.  These were people that I personally wante to work with, but couldn’t because of my situation.   Therefore I made a decision to terminate my contract and find an opportunity where I could decide who I wanted to work with not who the company wanted.

At that time, I left and went fully independent, which is what my health and medicare supplement clients had benefited from.  I had many companies to choose from and finally got away from the “stick everyone in this same box” mode.

Needless to say, it has been much easier to find a solution that works for my clients with the options I have available to me now.  I now have over 100 life insurance companies to find a solution from, over 20 auto and or home companies, around 10 health insurance companies, over 20 medicare supplement companies and around 20 companies who provide commercial insurance.

I am happy to say that I am back to being an advisor and not a salesman.  I can now find a solution!

As you know I am the first to say the system is broken and too expensive, but what the government is proposing is just down right scary.  I believe the system can be enhanced without starting from scratch.

Yesterday I ran across a great article that is a must read if you don’t want to spend the time reading the 1000+ proposal.

Full article here: 5 Freedoms you’d lose in health care reform

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If you are reading this you can probably tell that I have an insurance practice where I assist people on a daily basis choose coverage that works for them.

Being in the health insurance industry, I must say that I spend quite a bit of time helping people understand how insurance works and the details of the different policies available to them.

I am one of the first people to admit that the system needs to be fixed so that everyone can obtain coverage.

I see people on a weekly basis who get denied because of something in their health history, however I have a challenge with the way congress is trying to rush through figuring this reform out.

Insurance works best on the law of large numbers and the more people you get in the “pool” the better things should be, so with allowing everyone to get coverage with no pre-existing exclusions, everyone must be required to have coverage to get the system to work properly.

There are so many aspects to this “reform” to get into here in this post so I will keep that for another day.

The main point I am trying to get across is that you will be directly affected by what ever package gets passed so I challenge you to get informed about what is going on and let your opinion be known.  Call your representative, congressman, senator and write the president.

Do not just listen to the “commercials and press conferences” on tv, dig in and find out what is going on before it is too late, because once this legislation is rushed through it will be hard to make changes.

Ok so I was bored today and while watching tv,  I noticed that safe auto was sponsoring everything that I was watching so I went to the site to get a quote.

Now I recognize that I may not be their typical driver to insure, but I would think that they would want me as a customer because I am typically a safe driver, never been in an accident (knock on wood) and not really one who files claims since I know how insurance should work.  But while getting my quote, I learned that they only offer state minimums which in Missouri is only $25,000 per person protection, $50,000 per accident maximum, and $10,000 property damage (how many cars can you buy for less than 10k?).   I don’t want state minimums I want real protection, so right from the begining I saw a big red flag.  

As a personal insurance advisor, it is my job to tell you that in todays world there is a very very very good chance that if you get into an accident this is not enough coverage.

Well to keep from rambling on, my quote for the following coverage came out to $809 for 6 months for our 2005 toyota corolla and 1999 ford explorer sport.

Bodily Injury/Property Damage 25,000/50,000/10,000

Medical $1000

Accidential Death Benefit $10,000

Comprehensive /  Collision deductibles  $500/$500

Towing & Labor $40

Rental Car Coverage $20/day

Now because I am an independent agent I have multiple companies that I can access and since I know how insurance works here is the policy that I currently have:

Bodily Injury/Property Damage $500,000/$500,000/$100,000

Uninsured / Underinsured Motorist $500,000/$500,000

Medical $5,000

Accidential Death Benefit $

Comprehensive /  Collision deductibles  $250/$500

Towing & Labor $100

Rental Car Coverage $30/day

Comparing the numbers I have now protected myself by 20 times the coverage for only $634 for 6 months.

Now everyones results may differ from mine depending on where you live, your age, driving history, credit, and many other factors.  But the point I am trying to make here is that it is a benefit to you to contact an Independent Agent who has access to many different companies to see what your options are.

Each insurance company has a type of person they want to insure and by my quotes I am fairly confident that the company I have my insurance through wants my business more than safe auto, will that be your case?  I don’t know, but you never know until you try.  It never hurts to get a second opinion, and we are willing to do that for free with no obligation.  No matter who you are with, more often than not, the middle man can help.  Call us today! 816-254-6100

~travis

P.S. Progressive quote is next.

One of the most devastating things that can happen to you and/or your family is to experience a claim from a fire, tornado, flood, or even someone breaking in and stealing your items.  The only thing that can make this situation worse is realizing that when you have to provide a list to the insurance company for your claim, you don’t have a list.

Not having a list can be the biggest financial mistake. Don’t believe me?  Take 2 minutes right now and think of just one room in your house or appartment.  Ok now list 100% of the items that you have in the room, when you are done, go and verrify your list is correct.

Did you miss anything?  What about that picture on the wall, or that book shelf with your 150 most favorite novels, or how about all of your shoes in the closet?  Get the picture?

Now take that experience and add all the other rooms in your house, and make your list while you are emotionally stressed out because everything is damaged and/or missing.  Not going to happen right?  Well guess what, you just short changed yourself on your claim.  Your policy should take care of ALL your items covered up to the policy limit, with special items having special individual limits.

After talking to one of my best friends, who is also a client and an independent claims adjuster,  We highly recommend that you prepare a home inventory list and store it somewhere outside of your home.  Yes outside of your home where you can access it if your home is destroyed or damaged.  Visit our learning center to download some free software to help keep track of your items.  Click Here

If you don’t want to prepare a list, then take 10 minutes with a digital camera and snap panoramic photos of each room and serial and model numbers of higher ticket items.  Those digital photos can be uplated to a google or yahoo photo account and updated pretty easily when you buy new stuff.

Not only can this be used for your renters insurance and home insurance, but also just as effective for your business insurance.

Be prepared & safe.

Call us with any questions you may have.

Travis