Barney "Google" (with the goo goo googly eyes) says:
Like or Dislike:
3
0
I agree that for the most part, “Human beings are inherently lazy”. At the same time, Google is the 800 lb gorilla that doesn’t play by any rules. It’s their free-for-all approach that has led to the EU going after them recently for anti-trust and skewing online comparison sites in their favor. (See this link) http://www.wsj.com/articles/eu-files-formal-charges-against-google-1429092584. Gee, wouldn’t it be nice to conduct business by misrepresentation and trickery like Google. But then again, us little guys would have to answer to the DOI. “According to the Rose, the key difference between his website and other insurance websites is that compare.com offers accurate rates, not estimates or calculations.” Now isn’t that special. But us agents who have online rate comparison capabilities know a rate is only as good as the info that was inserted. So how does Mr. Rose gain accurate and honest info from the consumer? Of course, once the MVR and CLUE reports are pulled then their rates won’t be any better than our rates with the same carriers. So then can they beat us on price? Nope. But can they beat us with deep pockets and unsavory business practices? Of course as has already has been demonstrated. The lesson learned here is that the ability to sell more is the most important thing to an agent’s survival and that can be accomplished as being the local, go-to insurance Google in your community, however that can be achieved.
Barney…you got it right. I’m not worried about the gorilla. Quality clients want personalized service and not calling into a boiler room, especially those clients who have several policies in their file. Google is really competing more with the TV behemoths and not me. Everybody tries to replace the independent agent and it aint gonna happen.
Aren’t they “engaging in the business of insurance” and therefore subject to licensing, regulation and audit by the various state departments of insurance?
They get paid by folks who want to the service of being at the top of a search-engine result, do they also take bids from insurers?
Bottom line – you still need your agent to help you determine what risk to assume, and what is the cost-benefit of the risk transfer. What about mitigation? What about risks the tool isn’t designed to recognize?
I think we’re pretty much in the Zygote phase here. The new-born phase is likely decades away.
Question: Of anyone who bought flood insurance from a big-shop website pre-Sandy – Did the website tell you that below-grade rooms/basements on the standard basic level policy you bought was excluded? — just curious.
Don’t you love people interviewed for insurance articles who appear to know almost nothing about insurance? People who view consumers this way:
“Human beings are inherently lazy”
Are these the kind of people who will have a consumer’s best interests in mind when they buy a product that, if wrong for their unique exposures, may result in bankruptcy?
Or is that more likely to be the insurance agent in your hometown who serves as the Cub Scout den leader for your son or coaches your daughter’s soccer team?
I agree that for the most part, “Human beings are inherently lazy”. At the same time, Google is the 800 lb gorilla that doesn’t play by any rules. It’s their free-for-all approach that has led to the EU going after them recently for anti-trust and skewing online comparison sites in their favor. (See this link) http://www.wsj.com/articles/eu-files-formal-charges-against-google-1429092584. Gee, wouldn’t it be nice to conduct business by misrepresentation and trickery like Google. But then again, us little guys would have to answer to the DOI. “According to the Rose, the key difference between his website and other insurance websites is that compare.com offers accurate rates, not estimates or calculations.” Now isn’t that special. But us agents who have online rate comparison capabilities know a rate is only as good as the info that was inserted. So how does Mr. Rose gain accurate and honest info from the consumer? Of course, once the MVR and CLUE reports are pulled then their rates won’t be any better than our rates with the same carriers. So then can they beat us on price? Nope. But can they beat us with deep pockets and unsavory business practices? Of course as has already has been demonstrated. The lesson learned here is that the ability to sell more is the most important thing to an agent’s survival and that can be accomplished as being the local, go-to insurance Google in your community, however that can be achieved.
Barney…you got it right. I’m not worried about the gorilla. Quality clients want personalized service and not calling into a boiler room, especially those clients who have several policies in their file. Google is really competing more with the TV behemoths and not me. Everybody tries to replace the independent agent and it aint gonna happen.
Aren’t they “engaging in the business of insurance” and therefore subject to licensing, regulation and audit by the various state departments of insurance?
They get paid by folks who want to the service of being at the top of a search-engine result, do they also take bids from insurers?
Bottom line – you still need your agent to help you determine what risk to assume, and what is the cost-benefit of the risk transfer. What about mitigation? What about risks the tool isn’t designed to recognize?
I think we’re pretty much in the Zygote phase here. The new-born phase is likely decades away.
Question: Of anyone who bought flood insurance from a big-shop website pre-Sandy – Did the website tell you that below-grade rooms/basements on the standard basic level policy you bought was excluded? — just curious.
Don’t you love people interviewed for insurance articles who appear to know almost nothing about insurance? People who view consumers this way:
“Human beings are inherently lazy”
Are these the kind of people who will have a consumer’s best interests in mind when they buy a product that, if wrong for their unique exposures, may result in bankruptcy?
Or is that more likely to be the insurance agent in your hometown who serves as the Cub Scout den leader for your son or coaches your daughter’s soccer team?