Any disadvantage to having an insurance agent out of town?

[crocheted_stache]

My home and auto insurance renewals are coming up soon, and it occurs to me to wonder: is there any disadvantage to going through an agent who's out of town? The agent is a friend of extended family who used to live there. The agent, in this case, is still in-state, but it would be a solid 5-hour drive to visit that office, not that I have ever had occasion to visit. Of course, the agent has a phone.

The company is a well-known national chain, so there are a couple other agent offices in easy walking distance of home.

As best I can tell, we're getting pretty good rates, or at least, the times I've shopped around, competitors were comparable at best. I do phone every so often and make sure coverage and discounts are appropriate. I've had few occasions to test out the insurance, fortunately. In 20 years, I've made only a couple smaller, routine claims on my car. A chip in the windshield from airborne debris is hardly a big deal, financially or legally.

Is there any disadvantage to having an agent so far away? Is there any value to looking around closer to home, now or when our agent someday decides to retire?

[Metalcat]

I've never dealt with an insurance agent in person. I have a few for different properties in different provinces and my best one is 21 hours from the location of the house.

[merula]

Are you in the US? I'm going to assume you are based solely on my American blinders to the existence of other countries, but if you're not, I would specify your country to get better advice.

There's not an disadvantage to having an agent in a different town, as long as they're in the same state.

Insurance coverage and claims issues tend to be highly state-specific. For example, State A might have case law saying that something is covered by a homeowners policy unless the insurance company can prove that it doesn't apply, while neighboring State B says that the policyholder has to prove that it applies to get coverage. If you're in State A but your agent is in State B (or vice versa), you might get bad advice that doesn't apply in your state, and that can really hurt you.

However, you say that your agent is a "well known national chain", and in the Personal Lines space that really only means a captive agency network like Allstate, American Family, Farmers, State Farm, etc. I would really encourage you to get a quote from an independent agent as well.

Independent agents work with several insurance companies, so they can shop around on your behalf and find the best deal. You can get multiple quotes from a captive network, but it's going to be more like "if you want X limit or Y coverage, that changes the price to this" rather than truly being equivalent coverage from different insurance carriers.

[rothwem]

There's no disadvantage that I've found yet.  I'm in a similar situation--my agent is in the same state but ~5-6 hours away.  The office is in a small town that I used to live in, and its the receptionist and two agents, and I never have trouble getting one of them on the phone.  Its been this way for ~13 years with no problems so far. 

[crocheted_stache]

Are you in the US? I'm going to assume you are based solely on my American blinders to the existence of other countries, but if you're not, I would specify your country to get better advice.

There's not an disadvantage to having an agent in a different town, as long as they're in the same state.

Insurance coverage and claims issues tend to be highly state-specific. For example, State A might have case law saying that something is covered by a homeowners policy unless the insurance company can prove that it doesn't apply, while neighboring State B says that the policyholder has to prove that it applies to get coverage. If you're in State A but your agent is in State B (or vice versa), you might get bad advice that doesn't apply in your state, and that can really hurt you.

However, you say that your agent is a "well known national chain", and in the Personal Lines space that really only means a captive agency network like Allstate, American Family, Farmers, State Farm, etc. I would really encourage you to get a quote from an independent agent as well.

Independent agents work with several insurance companies, so they can shop around on your behalf and find the best deal. You can get multiple quotes from a captive network, but it's going to be more like "if you want X limit or Y coverage, that changes the price to this" rather than truly being equivalent coverage from different insurance carriers.

California, yes, and yes, the national chain is one of the ones on the list.

I don't recall hearing of independent agents, but I've never really gone looking. Thank you for that suggestion. It may wait until a natural time to make a move (the old agent retires, National Chain also squirms out of California, or hikes up rates). Or I may call the old agent again and get motivated to shop around sooner.

[Sibley]

California is known in the insurance industry to be a major PITA. They have more regulations/different rules than other states, and the landscape is complex. I would not recommend  an out of state insurance agent when the policy is in California.

[crocheted_stache]

California is known in the insurance industry to be a major PITA. They have more regulations/different rules than other states, and the landscape is complex. I would not recommend  an out of state insurance agent when the policy is in California.

I would not attempt to go to someone out of state, either. The current agent is in a distant (from me) town but still in California. California is a big state.

[merula]

With California, you have even more of an incentive to look at an independent agent, just because of all the turmoil from various issues. There's no requirement to move if you ask for a quote; insurance people know that they won't write everything they work on and no one holds it against you for staying.

I also wouldn't look at an out of state agent in CA unless maybe it was one in Reno and you were in Tahoe or something, a combination where the agent would obviously have plenty of CA experience. But given the population distribution of CA, that seems unlikely.