Posted On: August 26, 2008, 7:35 am CDT

Posted By: CVanBrunt

This article was intended not to point out obvious theories about customer understanding of insurance policies to well versed insurance professionals; but instead to target homeowners and point out realities about insurance policies they often overlook- purposely or unintentionally.

What's more shocking about the statistics when you look closely is that those surveyed are the homeowners who actually took the time to answer the survey question- more likely informed consumers and not just penny pinchers looking for a quick, low rate. And of the informed consumers, there was still a shocking 54 percent that admitted to knowing hardly anything about their policy.

Is it ultimately the consumer's responsibility to understand their coverage? Of course! A consumer of any product/service carries that responsibility. However, the devastating effects of misunderstanding a home insurance policy are apparent everyday.

While many homeowners DO purchase the least expensive policy available with little regard to actual coverage, is it not still the agent's responsibility to try and recommend the best coverage?

I believe it is. The agent should be an advocate for the customer, before the company. And while you can not make all insurance consumers WISE insurance consumers- you can at least try to best prepare them for a disaster that no one ever expects.

Maybe these sound like lofty ideals to you, but don't we all want to sleep well at night?