How to get the most out of a call with an insurance agent

A phone call with a licensed agent is a genuinely better way to shop than an online form, for a specific reason: the form asks everyone the same questions, and the agent can ask why.

Here is how to make the call worth your time.

Have these in front of you

• Your current declarations page. This is the summary page of your existing policy showing coverages and limits. It is the single most useful document, because it lets the agent compare like for like instead of guessing.
• Vehicle information. Year, make, model, and ideally the VIN.
• Everyone who drives. Names, dates of birth, and license numbers if you have them.
• Your actual annual mileage. Not the number on your policy — the real one.
• For home: the year built, roof age, square footage, and any updates to electrical, plumbing, or HVAC.

You can call without any of this. You will just get a rougher answer.

Questions worth asking

• "What would it cost to raise my liability limits?" Usually far less than people expect, and it is the change most likely to matter.
• "Which discounts am I getting, and which am I not?" Ask them to read the list. Things fall off policies quietly.
• "Is my mileage and vehicle use rated correctly?"
• "What is my deductible, and what would changing it do?"
• "How many carriers are you quoting me with?" An independent agent works with several. A captive agent works with one. Both are legitimate — you just want to know which you are talking to.
• "Can you send this to me in writing before I decide?" Yes is the only acceptable answer.

What an agent can do

Look at your situation, place you with a carrier whose appetite fits it, explain what a coverage actually pays for, catch errors in how you are rated, and apply the discounts you qualify for.

What no agent can do

Give you a rate that is not filed. Insurance rates in the United States are filed with and approved by each state's Department of Insurance. There is no discretionary tier, no unadvertised code, and no phrase you can say to unlock pricing that does not exist. Anyone who tells you otherwise is not describing how the industry works.

What varies between carriers is real and often large. What varies within a carrier, for the same risk, is nothing.

Before you say yes

Get it in writing. Read the declarations page. Check that the coverages match what you discussed, that the limits are what you agreed, and that everyone who drives is listed. Then decide.

There is no reason to buy on the first call, and a good agent will not push you to.