Questions to Ask Insurance Agent Interview
For choosing the agent or broker who will handle your insurance, personal or business. These 20 questions cover how they are paid, which carriers they can place, what a policy excludes, what happens at renewal and what they do when a claim is disputed.
The questions
Open any question for the note
Are you an independent broker, or captive to one carrier?
Why ask it
A captive agent can only sell one company's products, however poorly they fit. This single answer explains most of what follows, including which comparisons you will never be shown.
How are you paid on what you sell me: commission, a fee, or both?
Why ask it
Commission rates differ sharply between products, which is why certain policies get recommended more often than others. An agent who answers this plainly is usually worth continuing with.
Which carriers do you place most of your business with, and why those?
Why ask it
The real reason is often easy underwriting or a better commission rather than claims record. Ask how that list would change if you had filed a claim last year.
How many clients do you handle whose situation looks like mine?
Why ask it
Volume in your situation matters more than years in the industry. An agent whose book is mostly personal auto is learning your commercial exposure at your expense.
What licenses do you hold, and in which states?
Why ask it
Licensing is verifiable through your state insurance department, and a missing license in the state where your property or vehicle sits is a genuine problem.
Walk me through how you would work out what I need.
Why ask it
Listen for whether they ask about assets, income, dependents, prior claims and existing coverage before naming a product. An agent who quotes before asking is selling, not advising.
What are the three ways a policy like this most often fails to pay?
Why ask it
Exclusions, sublimits and undervalued replacement cost are where claims get lost. An agent who cannot name specific failure modes has not read many denials.
What is excluded here that people assume is covered?
Why ask it
Flood, earth movement, sewer backup, wear and tear, business use of a vehicle and work by unlicensed contractors are the usual answers. Note whether they volunteer these or wait to be asked.
How was the replacement cost figure for my property calculated?
Why ask it
A number produced by software with no walkthrough is often thousands short, and underinsurance can trigger a coinsurance penalty on even a partial loss.
What are the sublimits inside this policy?
Why ask it
Jewelry, cash, electronics, sewer backup and mold are commonly capped far below the headline limit. Ask for the actual numbers rather than a reassurance.
Which optional endorsements did you leave out of this quote, and why?
Why ask it
A cheap quote is often cheap because things were removed. The reasons are more informative than the price difference.
How does the deductible work here, and is any part of it a percentage?
Why ask it
Percentage deductibles for wind, hurricane or earthquake can be many times the flat figure people assume they have. Ask for the dollar amount at your current valuation.
What happens to my premium if I file one claim?
Why ask it
Ask for the usual surcharge and how long it stays on the policy. This is what decides whether a small claim is worth filing, and a vague answer leaves you guessing at the worst moment.
What do you actually do for me when I file a claim?
Why ask it
Some agents pass on the notice and step back, others attend inspections and argue scope. Ask for a recent example with details rather than a promise.
When did you last get a claim decision changed for a client?
Why ask it
A concrete story is the difference between advocacy and a phone number. If nothing comes to mind, plan on handling disputes yourself.
How often will you review this, and what would prompt you to call me?
Why ask it
A renovation, a new driver, a business change, a paid-off mortgage and simple inflation all change what you need. An agent with no review rhythm leaves you holding the coverage you bought years ago.
Who handles my account when you are away, and who answers after hours?
Why ask it
Losses happen at night and during storms. A one-person agency with no backup is a risk worth knowing you are taking.
Would you look at my current policy and tell me where the gaps are?
Why ask it
Asking them to critique coverage they did not sell is the best test in this list. The specificity of the critique tells you more than any quote.
What is the least profitable advice you have given a client this year?
Why ask it
A real answer might be telling somebody to stay put, drop a rider, or absorb a small risk themselves. It is the clearest check on whether the advice is independent of the sale.
If I take this policy, what should I do in the first week?
Why ask it
Reading the declarations page, photographing the property, and storing documents somewhere offsite are the answers that suggest they think about claims rather than closings.
Choosing who handles your insurance
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the meeting
Bring your current declarations pages
Limits, deductibles, endorsements and premiums for everything you already hold. Most of this conversation only becomes useful when it is held against real numbers.
Write down what you could not replace yourself
The house, your income, a liability judgment, the vehicle you need for work. Coverage decisions get much easier once that list exists on paper.
Check the license and the complaint record
State insurance departments publish agent licensing, and many publish complaint histories for carriers. It takes ten minutes and occasionally ends the search.
Decide what you are willing to self-insure
Knowing which small losses you would rather absorb keeps the conversation on the coverage that actually matters and away from low-value riders.
How to read the quote
- Compare identical limits and deductibles across quotes, or you are comparing nothing.
- Convert any percentage deductible on wind, hurricane or earthquake into a dollar figure.
- Check replacement cost against actual cash value, separately for the building and the contents.
- Find the sublimits: jewelry, cash, electronics, sewer backup, mold, business property kept at home.
- Ask which endorsements were omitted, and price them rather than letting them disappear.
- Note the carrier's financial strength rating and how long they have written policies in your area.
Signals worth noticing
- A quote arriving before any questions about your assets, prior claims or existing policies.
- Pressure to decide today, or a discount that expires during the meeting.
- Vagueness about commission, or about whether they are captive to one carrier.
- No specific example of helping a client through a disputed claim.
- Exclusions described as things that never really happen.
- The good sign: they tell you where your existing coverage is already fine, and where they would sell you nothing at all.