We Didn’t Save Him $300. We Protected $1.2 Million
Sometimes the value of good insurance advice isn’t obvious when you buy the policy. Sometimes you don’t appreciate it until something goes terribly wrong. And sometimes, even after your insurance advisor’s recommendation saves you more than a million dollars, you still decide to leave them the following year to save $300.
This is a true story.
The Client Wanted Auto Insurance Quotes
A prospective client came to us looking for an auto insurance quote. At the time, the client carried $100,000 of auto liability coverage. We could have simply quoted the $100,000 limit and competed on price.
Instead, we had a conversation.
Based on the client’s circumstances and the potential financial consequences of a serious auto accident, we recommended significantly more liability protection: $1.5 million in auto liability coverage. The client agreed to purchase the higher limit. But they made it clear they weren’t entirely convinced. They felt we were probably overselling them.
That is a common reaction when discussing higher insurance limits. Nobody wants to pay more for something they hope they will never use.
Then the Accident Happened
Later, this very client was involved in a serious auto accident.
A lawsuit followed.
The claim ultimately settled for approximately $1.3 million. The insurance company paid the entire settlement. The client did not have to personally come up with the additional $1.2 million that would have been above the original $100,000 liability limit.
Think about that for a moment.
The recommendation that had seemed excessive turned out to be the difference between having adequate protection and potentially facing a $1.2 million personal financial exposure. The higher limit had done exactly what insurance is supposed to do. It transferred a potentially devastating financial risk away from the client and to the insurance company.
Then Came the Following Year
The next year, the client moved their insurance to another agency.
Why?
The other agency saved them approximately $300 per year.
I eventually asked the client why they had decided to leave. That was the answer. Someone else could save them $300. I reminded the client of the previous accident and the $1.3 million settlement. I told him, in effect:
“Maybe they saved you $300. But we saved you $1.2 million.”
He looked at me with a blank stare. It was as if he hadn’t connected the two things. And honestly, that moment stuck with me.
The Problem With Measuring Insurance by Price
This is one of the biggest problems consumers face when shopping for insurance.
Price is easy to measure.
Value is much harder.
You can compare two premiums. You can compare deductibles. You can compare monthly payments. But how do you put a price on having an insurance advisor who recognizes a potentially devastating exposure and recommends the appropriate protection before the loss happens? You can’t always see that value on your insurance bill. In fact, the better your insurance works, the less likely you are to ever notice it. The client in this story didn’t write a $1.2 million check.
That’s precisely the point.
The $1.2 million was never lost because the insurance was there to protect it.
Cheap Insurance and Good Insurance Aren’t Always the Same Thing
There’s nothing wrong with wanting competitive insurance premiums. We believe our clients deserve competitive pricing too. But insurance should not be treated like buying gasoline where the lowest price is automatically the best deal. The real question isn’t:
“Who can give me the cheapest insurance?”
It should be:
“Who is helping me understand what could go wrong, how much it could cost me, and whether my insurance is structured to protect me if it does?”
Those are very different questions. A $300 annual savings can look pretty attractive when nothing goes wrong. But when a $1.3 million claim occurs, the value of having the right coverage becomes very clear. Unfortunately, by then it’s too late to increase the limit.
Your Insurance Agent Should Be More Than a Quote Machine
At Frost Insurance Agency, we believe our job is to be more than someone who shops your insurance every year looking for the lowest premium.
Our job is to understand your situation, identify meaningful risks, explain them in plain English, and recommend coverage that makes sense for your circumstances. Sometimes that means finding a lower premium. Sometimes it means recommending a higher liability limit. Sometimes it means telling you that the coverage you already have is appropriate.
The important thing is that the recommendation should be based on risk—not simply price.
The Best Insurance Advice May Be the Advice You Hope You Never Need
Nobody buys $1.5 million of liability insurance hoping to use it. You buy it because there is a possibility that something could happen that you cannot afford to handle on your own.
In this client’s case, that possibility became reality.
The additional coverage wasn’t theoretical. It wasn’t an unnecessary upgrade. It wasn’t simply an insurance agent trying to sell more coverage. It was the protection that ultimately covered a $1.3 million settlement. And that is why we believe the real question isn’t:
“How much can I save on my insurance?”
It’s:
“What am I protecting, and is my insurance advisor helping me protect it properly?”
At Frost Insurance Agency, we want to be the people you call before the claim happens—not the people you wish you had called afterward. Because sometimes the most valuable thing your insurance advisor ever does for you is something you don’t realize happened at all. We didn’t save this client $300. We helped protect $1.2 million.
