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Michael D Burke
Citizen
Username: Micdenbur
Post Number: 1
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, January 8, 2004 - 9:07 am: | 
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I am looking for recommendations for an insurance broker for car and homeowner's insurance. I have a an auto & a renter's policy with First Trenton but the policy was switched to a broker in Parsippany (Daniels/TA MPA Insurance) I don't know if I want to keep my business with a broker I don't know, so I am asking for comments on brokers & insurance companies since I am about to buy a condo & want to change from renter's to homeowners.
Any feedback would be appreciated. |
Cynicalgirl
Citizen
Username: Cynicalgirl
Post Number: 257
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, January 8, 2004 - 9:39 am: |
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Go online and compare. Unless you make buckets of money and have very high end stuff, don't assume a live broker is going to provide an advantage over the service you can get from the carrier if it deals direct. Most days you deal with a well-informed customer service person anyway, and not the broker. This stuff is very commodity these days. Educate yourself a tad (sites like insure.com, and about.com's channel) and then do a little comparison shopping online, and with a broker.
A lot of carriers give you a discount if you take both policies with them.
Personally, I've been happy with Liberty Mutual, with whom I started back in Delaware. When we moved here, my auto rate wasn't nearly as nasty as I expected, in part because of duration as a policy holder.
By way of disclosure: I work for an insurance carrier (not Liberty Mutual), but I'm an internet marketing type. Most of the time, the warm fuzzies you think you're going to get from dealing face to face don't materialize or cost more than you may wish to pay on these commodity items. I've gotten more good advice from CS people over the phone than ever I got from my broker. The margins just aren't there for them to pay a lot of attention to you -- unless you have a high end house, antiques and a propensity to go for life insurance.
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Tom Reingold
Citizen
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 1665
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, January 8, 2004 - 9:49 am: |
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cynicalgirl may be right, but here's the info for my broker. (I found him by asking the previous owner of my home who insured her. She thought I was investigating her at first and found my question odd.)
Bruce Roddy
Whitney H Roddy Inc
430 Broad St
PO Box 149
Bloomfield, NJ 07003-0149
973-743-6700
bdroddy@whroddy.com
Tom Reingold
There is nothing
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Jim Bender
Citizen
Username: Jimcoolia
Post Number: 6
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, January 8, 2004 - 9:59 am: |
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Michael D Burke
Try Schechner Lifson on Millburn Ave. Ask for Dave Hilliard. He did a great job of finding the best rates for me (with the highest rated co.) and then was able to marry a diff. company for auto and still get me the 'bundled' discount.
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bobk
Supporter
Username: Bobk
Post Number: 4222
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, January 8, 2004 - 10:04 am: |
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I agree with Cynicalgirl on this. One agent is pretty much like another and the direct writers do a good job.
First Trenton is part of the Travelers Group, which in turn is part of Citigroup. Citigroup is selling Travelers to the St. Paul Insurance group. First Trenton was set up as a stand-a-lone New Jersey company to write personal lines, which is becoming more and more common because of the onerous regulation (from the insurance carrier point of view) of insurance rates, especially personal automobile rates, here in NJ, although they seem to have backed off this at least slightly recently because of all the companies leaving the state.
Given the very unsettled situation and lack of availability for personal automobile insurance if I was in your shoes I would stay with the current agent as long as the rates are reasonably competitive and you are reasonably certain that the company you go with will not be leaving the state in the near future.
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Michael K. Mc Kell
Citizen
Username: Greenerose
Post Number: 180
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, January 8, 2004 - 9:51 pm: |
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Try Riner Insurance Agency in Springfield (973)376-6810 Ask for Andy or Rich.
Michael K. Mc Kell
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