Insurance Agent or Shop for yourself?

[Counting_Down]

Hi MMM collective,
I've heard in the past that insurance agents can save you money by having access to multiple companies (some of which may not be available direct to consumer).  I have trouble with the idea that a middleman will save you money, but ok, some industries are set up to require middle men (...real estate).

Trouble is, our insurance rates keep going up - $300 for home $100 for auto this renewal alone.  I think it is time to look around.  Should I start with an agent or go direct to the big name places (allstate, state farm, amica, geico, esurance, etc.)?

Thanks.  And if anyone has a recommendation for Denver, much appreciated.

[ShoulderThingThatGoesUp]

I have found it worthwhile to work with an agent, but you might as well shop around agents.

[dcheesi]

You can try shopping around on your own, just to get an idea of pricing. But I'm not sure I can recommend buying directly online unless you really know what you're doing, or if you are in a hurry and don't care about the coverage details.

I recently changed states and decided to go the online route since my old agent isn't licensed here. Even with the extremely simplified application process that Progressive uses, I had a couple of points where I had questions and there were no clear answers available online. And I wound up having to go back and forth with them after the fact because of a glitch that occurred, apparently due to me changing my mind on a coverage at one point in the process. Also on my renter's insurance there was nowhere to add the landlord as an interested party, and I had to call support to get that done. Just generally more of a hassle than I was expecting, and I feel like an experienced agent could have handled all of those issues properly the first time around.

And most other companies ask far more detailed questions when determining a rate, sometimes things that you might not know off the top of your head. An agent might be able to help with that as well, and maybe get you a better rate as a result.

[Counting_Down]

Great, thanks for the feedback.  Any suggestions how you find independent insurance agents?  Seem to be somewhat difficult to find.

[TheInsuranceMan]

Great, thanks for the feedback.  Any suggestions how you find independent insurance agents?  Seem to be somewhat difficult to find.

Google!
An independent agent should be able to provide you with quotes from multiple companies, which should help speed up your process!

[icemodeled]

We shopped around a late lately. So far the agents win every time EXCEPT for auto insurance. We went through Gieco because they were cheaper though for home and rentals it's been cheaper for us to go through an agent. I would definitely check out both and compare pricing/coverage. Type in insurance and your city/state in Google and you should fine results. There are tons around us! We got quotes from 3-4 before choosing one.

[boarder42]

i call 4 a year including one who is a broker and he has come in the lowest most years .  i also do all the online calculators each year. when you're talking about a few hundred bucks in savings for an hour of work or so its not that bad.