As Seen on TV

According to Statista.com in 2017 GEICO Insurance company spent nearly 1.4 billion dollars on advertising. Progressive? 622 Million. State Farm? 521 Million, and so on and so forth. Those are some staggering numbers.

Last week we lost a sale to someone who insisted on a “big name company”. It was a homeowner’s policy. We actually represent the company we lost it to, and had even provided the quote for that company to the customer, but we had recommended Travelers Insurance Company because they were cheaper and had better coverage… a lot better coverage. How do I know? Because the “big-name company” doesn’t offer the coverage… it’s not an option. Now I don’t fault the customer. We clearly didn’t present them in such a way that gave the customer confidence in Travelers. I would like to set the record straight:

As of 2016, Travelers is the 6th largest Property and casualty insurance company in the US, and the 9th largest in Arizona. They are the 6th largest homeowner’s provider in the US and 7th largest in Arizona. Point is we are talking a 29 billion dollar publicly traded company that is 106th on the list of the fortune 500 companies.

As an independent insurance agent, this is our fight. We, by our nature, sell companies that focus more on their products than on marketing. For example, we also represent Safeco, which is part of the liberty mutual group, the 3rd largest insurance company in the US, but they don’t sponsor baseball outs or have a cute mascot. What they (both Travelers and Safeco) do have is awesome coverage, and great claims service.

The point is this:  While you may not have heard of the company we are offering we do our homework. We are very contentious about our customer’s claims experiences, and work to ensure that we only represent quality companies. The insurance industry has a system for defining the quality of a company. AM Best provides ratings that are very much like grades A+, A, A- B+ etc. We only work with A-Rated companies to ensure you are covered by a solid company that is going to pay their claims.

While not all our companies spend millions upon millions on advertising they are good quality companies, that have awesome coverage, excellent claims service, and have chosen to work with independent insurance agents like Gila Insurance Group.

A final thought:  Last year, McDonalds spent 633 Million on advertising. Ruth Chris Steakhouse spent 6.7 Million according to emarketer.com. While McDonalds has its place, I know I would much rather eat a steak and Ruth Chris.

As with food, when it comes to insurance I recommend understanding the quality of what you are buying, and not putting all your stock in “As Seen On TV”.   It’s not always the best!