Underwriting
Why a Real Quote Takes Longer Than the Ads Say
You know the ads. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent. Get a quote before your coffee cools.
Here's the thing: those ads aren't lying. Fifteen minutes with one insurance company really will get you one number. What the ads don't mention is that it's the only number you'll get — one company's opinion of your risk, priced by an algorithm, with nobody checking whether the coverage behind it actually fits your life.
When you ask us to quote your auto, home, and umbrella insurance, something different happens. We represent up to a dozen insurance companies, and each one looks at your situation through its own lens. One carrier loves a newer roof and doesn't blink at your dog. Another prices the same house completely differently because of the age of your plumbing. A third has a discount you qualify for that neither of the others offers — but only if we verify it.
Technology helps us submit your information to many carriers at once. But what comes back still has to be read by a licensed agent who knows what each company's number does and doesn't include — the exclusion buried in one quote, the discount missing from another, the coverage gap that would only show up after a claim. A computer can generate a price in fifteen minutes. It takes a person to tell you whether that price is protecting you.
So if your quote from us takes a few days instead of a few minutes, that's not slowness. That's a dozen companies competing for your business, and someone in your corner reading the fine print on every one of them.
What all this work costs you: nothing directly
You don't pay us a fee for any of this. We're paid by the insurance companies we represent, through commissions built into the premium.
The companies behind those fifteen-minute ads work differently. They're direct writers — each one sells only its own policies — and with them, there's no commission. But you do pay for the heavy advertising they use to capture your attention. In effect, you're trading an advertising expense for individualized service: instead of funding the next jingle, you're getting an agent who customizes a quote just for you.
Here's what that work actually looks like.
Start with trust
When you hand us your information, we treat it with the highest integrity. We use it only to benefit you, and we share with the insurance companies only what they need to price your risk properly.
The simple version
At the simplest level, we need to know:
- The cars you own and how you drive them
- The basics of your house — when it was built, its square footage, and the style
Why we ask for more
Behind that simple picture, each carrier asks for much more so it can price your policy individually — and because every company views risk through its own lens, the questions go deeper than you might expect:
- How do you use your car — pleasure or commuting? How long is the commute?
- Where do you work, and what kind of work do you do?
- What's your education level?
- Do you have affiliations that can earn discounts — AAA, veteran or military status, teaching, and the like?
If you're a AAA member, we may need your membership ID for verification. We'll also need the details of each vehicle — year, make, model, and VIN — along with your driver's license number and date of birth, and we'll ask about any violations or accidents in the last three to five years.
The house: where underwriting has gotten harder
Home underwriting has become more demanding than it has ever been, driven largely by claims trends across the industry — roof replacement in particular, which is among the most common and most expensive homeowner claims. Expect us to ask about:
- The age of your roof, and whether it has solar panels
- The condition and maintenance of major systems — HVAC, electrical, and plumbing, including the type of pipes (PVC or copper)
- Pets and pet breeds, especially dogs
- Any unusual animals or farm animals — some of our clients keep chickens and sell eggs; others have goats or llamas. It's all fine, but we need to know up front so we can place the risk with the right carrier and avoid problems later.
One more thing worth knowing: most homeowners policies are subject to an inspection within about 30 days of being written. If the carrier finds issues, they'll want them corrected — and in some cases they can decline the risk. That's why we often suggest keeping your current homeowners policy in force until the new one is firmly in place.
Yes, we run reports
With your authorization, we run an insurance score, which is correlated to your credit report. We also run CLUE reports on your auto and home, which show past accidents and claims, and a motor vehicle report to learn about any traffic violations.
We know this is a lot of information, and we work with you to make the transfer as easy as possible. We usually start with the declaration pages of your existing policies, because much of what we need is already there.
What we look at — and what we can't control
When we review your declaration pages, we focus on the details of your coverage, not the price you're currently paying. Agencies don't control pricing. Premium rates are determined by filings with the Connecticut Insurance Department: each carrier submits public rate filings, the department approves them, and the carriers must follow those approved rules and guidelines when pricing your insurance.
What we can do is tailor the policy. Not every coverage on a policy is required — some are optional, and the optional ones are where we can make adjustments to fit your specific situation, providing more or less coverage according to your needs. We'll recommend deductibles and coverage levels that suit you, and we'll discuss those options with you before anything is finalized.
Then we compare — and tell you the truth
After we've underwritten your risk with the different companies, we compare all of the results and share the best option with you. Our objective is to find you savings — but if we don't, that's okay too. You'll have confirmation that where you are now is the best place for you, and we're grateful to have started a new relationship.
The ads are right about one thing: fifteen minutes really is enough time to get a number. It's just not enough time to know what that number means for you.