As insurance sales agents, I'm sure many of you are always looking for new and innovative ways to market and spread your message to consumers. And recently, the somewhat new subject of marketing to consumers via text and video message was given the spotlight in this article by Scott Springer, detailing how and why marketers could benefit from sending text messages to consumers.

I wrote a rather lengthy post on the subject over at the InsureMe Insurance blog [which is geared towards consumers] earlier this week, but it occurred to me last night that I should really pass this information on to you guys and gals.

Why?

Because I want to share with you the thoughts and opinions of consumers (myself included) who say that text marketing is extremely bad form. It's my hope that in helping you avoid pitfalls like text marketing, you can spend your valuable time on marketing that brings in new prospects instead of driving them away.

Check out this must-read post [!] and related comments here. And for more worthwhile marketing tips, check out the Insurance Marketing section of our Agent Resource Center.

Posted by Megan Mahan at 11:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

If you've been thinking about starting your own insurance agency, now might be the perfect time to do it. According to a recent report from the Kauffman Foundation, the U.S. is enjoying some very healthy entrepreneurial activity right now. In fact, the new report shows that over 460,000 people create new businesses every month—that's over 5.5 million businesses per year.

Not sure where to start? Get a leg up on your soon-to-be competitors and take a peek at the following articles from our Agent Resource Center:

• Starting Your Own Agency: Setting Out on Your Own
• Jumpstarting a New Agency: Your How-to Guide
• 4 Pitfalls to Avoid as an Insurance Agent
• Legal Issues Facing Insurance Agents: How to Protect Yourself

Of course, if any of our readers have started insurance agencies and would like to share some nuggets of wisdom, we'd love for you to share your ideas here at the InsureMe Agent blog. :)

[Source]: SeedsOfGrowth

Posted by Megan Mahan at 11:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

I attended a class last week titled "Telephone Imagery: Improving Your Customer Service through Excellent Telephone Skills", which was taught from a communications perspective. So, not only did I learn how to improve my telephone skills, I learned how improve the way that I communicate overall. And since I spend my day providing service over the phone it's imperative that my communication skills are top notch.

One thing that I learned that will always stand out in my mind was this: You have 15 seconds or less to make a good first impression over the phone and only 40 percent of your ability to make that impression. At first I was shocked and then I started to think about all of the advantages there are to make that great impression when you are face to face with another person. You are able to present yourself in a professional manner by the way that you dress and act. You are able to shake the person's hand and make eye contact. You are able to express through your posture and body language that you are genuinely glad to meet them. Now try doing all of that with your voice.

The key is putting a smile in your voice. Hang a mirror next to your phone or put up a funny picture so you can smile each time you answer the phone. Sit up straight and make sure that after greeting the caller, you offer them assistance with their matter. Put away what you might be working on at the time so that you can give your full attention. This may seem like somewhat of an inconvenience if the phone ringing interrupts something else you are doing, but remember, you are representing your company or business when you answer the phone. A good experience with you could lead to a new client, which in turn could lead to a good referral and so on and so forth.

So, I ask all you agents out there, whether you do most of your business face to face or over the phone, how are your communication skills? Next time the phone rings try putting a smile in your voice and see if it makes a difference to the person on the other end.

"First impressions are indelibly marked on the fabric of the mind." - John J. Tarrant

[RELATED ARTICLE]: Winning Conversations: How to Make a Positive First Impression on the Phone

Posted by at 07:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

I'm particularly fascinated with yawning. I did a lot of research on the subject for a fiction piece I wrote in college, and I'm sort of captivated by the fact that there's really no conclusive reason behind why we yawn or why yawning seems to be contagious.

Given my fascination, it's no surprise that I was quite intrigued to stumble upon Emilie's Don't Yawn Game. So far, Emilie has tried to make over 500,000 people yawn...pretty impressive. And not that you probably need any help yawning on a Friday afternoon, but check it out and see if you can exercise self-control over this sleepy girl's game.

Have a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend; I'll see you all on Tuesday!

[Hat Tip]: NPR's Mixed Signals

Posted by Megan Mahan at 08:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
 

Alice in Wonderland is still one of my favorite books and this week, I'm feeling quite like the Mad Hatter—seriously pressed for time. This is not to say that I prefer heavy amounts of down time (I don't), but busy days mean less time for me to spend here at the Agent Blog, and you know, that bums me out. :)

So for today's post, I'll direct you to some helpful articles from the InsureMe Agent Resource Center:

• Finding Qualified Prospects: 10 Tips for Lead Generation
• Insurance Agent Success Stories: Tips from the Pros
• Managing Your Time for Maximum Results

That last article is a great to review when you're crunched for time. I happen to be a habitual list-maker, which gives me forward momentum all day long. What works for you?

Posted by Megan Mahan at 11:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
 

Well, Sioux Falls, South Dakota kicked my neck of the woods—Cedar Rapids, Iowa—out of the number one spot for Allstate's city of safest drivers. Cedar Rapids slipped to the third position, with Ft. Collins, Colorado coming in at number two. I shouldn't complain; it's nice to see my two home states representing. :)

Insurance Journal has the full report here; it's interesting stuff. Check it out when you have a minute.

Posted by Megan Mahan at 10:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
 

I've been enlightened recently by the Los Angeles Police Department blog. Not that the content is especially enlightening—more like sobering—but it's interesting just the same.

Recently, the LAPD posted about two women in their 70's who were recently arrested on mail fraud charges. It turns out the women had been running a life insurance scam for the past two years, targeted at homeless men. Helen Golay, 75, and Olga Rutterschmidt, 73, preyed on homeless men by offering them room and board in exchange for their signatures—after which they opened life insurance policies for the men, making themselves the sole beneficiaries.

According to the blog, authorities caught on to the scam after two homeless men were killed in hit-and-run accidents. While the accidents were a few years apart, investigators were struck by the fact that Golay and Rutterschmidt were listed as beneficiaries on both men's life insurance policies. Investigators estimated that the women have collected over $2 million in life insurance claims. Sixteen [!] claims were taken out on one victim; three were taken out on another. And, since the insurance forms were sent via U.S. mail, the United States Postal Inspection has also been brought into the investigation.

Federal mail fraud, insurance fraud and homicide. Those are some hefty charges, associated with some hefty jail time. Not exactly the way I'd want to spend my golden years...

Check out the full post on the LAPD blog here. It's by far one of the most interesting blogs I've seen lately. It's a good blend of COPS and America's Most Wanted, only without the profane language and scary TV show host. :)

[Hat tip]: the Naked Conversations blog

Posted by Megan Mahan at 07:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
 

Today's the day! InsureMe will be at booth 451 at the ACORD LOMA Conference at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas at 4 p.m. As I stated last week, we'll be there to show insurance professionals the ropes of Internet insurance leads, the InsureMe service and all of our cool resources and benefits.

I'd also encourage you to keep an eye out for the InsureMe Blog cards. Modestly speaking, I think they're one of the coolest things we've done lately. And we do a lot of cool stuff. You can see by the prototype here that we've opened the Pandora's box of cool business cards.

So stop by both 451 this afternoon to learn about InsureMe and how insurance leads can change the way you do business. If that doesn't entice you, remember that we'll be holding a drawing for multiple prizes. And there's always the business cards. :)

Posted by Megan Mahan at 08:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
 

If you check out the Insurance Journal every day, you've probably seen this latest story—it's one of IJ's most emailed articles this week.

But in case you missed it, apparently the owner of a St. Louis-area insurance agency is suing Kraft Foods Inc., claiming that he found a rodent tooth in a package of Planter's peanuts.

I have to tell you, as a person who's particularly sensitive about food preparation, this was hard for me to read. A couple years ago when I was still in college, the wife of a professor found a lizard head in her Applebee's salad. I thought I'd recovered nicely from the 2003 incident. And now this.

According to IJ, the lawsuit alleges that Carl Cornett bought a package of Planter's peanuts (packaged by Kraft) at an O'Fallon, Ill. store last August. He was eating them at home when he bit into a "non-human animal tooth." Cornett's lawyer said the tooth looks like it was from "an herbivorous rodent of some type".

Cornett says he became physically and mentally ill at the thought that he could have exposed himself to some kind of disease. The herbivorous rodent kind of disease. Cornett's lawyer said that Kraft asked him to submit the tooth for testing. The lawyer declined that request—he didn't want to part with the evidence.

Now, I'm as grossed out by this as anyone else but I'm a little concerned about the fact that the plaintiff was enjoying a package of peanuts from last year. I assume they were never opened but I also assume that peanuts have a shelf life.

In fact, according to Feridies, [World's Best Peanuts and Specialty Foods], peanuts in cellophane bags have a shelf life of only four to six weeks! Assuming a store-bought bag of Planter's peanuts counts as cellophane storage, those peanuts went stale eight months ago.

And, upon further research, I learned that peanuts—along with other ground and tree nuts—have the potential to grow Aspergillus and Aflatoxin when stale. Aspergillus and Aflatoxin are a toxic, carcinogenic fungi than can make you really sick if you eat it. As I understand it, aflatoxins are similar to mycotoxins and can result in some pretty serious illness. Like liver cancer, for instance.

Biology and chemistry aside, what I'm saying is that I don't doubt for moment that Cornett got sick from eating that bag of old peanuts. But I'm not entirely convinced it was because he found the tooth of an herbivorous rodent in his snack. Yes, I'll definitely need to see some conclusive test results on the origin of the "tooth".

In closing, I'd like to extend my services to Kraft's defense attorneys. With all the research I've done on aflatoxins today, I think I could be of great help.

[FURTHER READING]:

• A 1999 study of human diseases caused by mold [World Health Organization]
• The science behind aflatoxins [International Research Corps]
• One blogger's take on aflatoxins and how to keep your food fungus-free [Here Be Dragons]

Posted by Megan Mahan at 09:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
 

The good times will be rolling next week at the 2006 ACORD LOMA Conference at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas. InsureMe will at booth 451 on May 22, which will open at 4 p.m. We'll have some great information for agents who stop by regarding the benefits of the InsureMe service, our Internet leads and our free-for-all resources: this here snazzy blog and the InsureMe Agent Resource Center.

Word on the street is that there's going to be a drawing for multiple prizes but that's on the hush. You know how it is, fans can get crazy when they hear you're showing up with goodies.

Jokes aside, it'll be worth the visit. So if you're going to be in Vegas next week, remember to grab some friends and stop by booth 451 at 4 p.m. next Monday. I wish I could tell you that it will change your life, but, you know, that wouldn't be right. Nonetheless, it should be a rewarding experience for all. :)

Posted by Megan Mahan at 10:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
 

Check out our new digs!

Yes, we're still the same old InsureMe Agent Blog—same tips, news and commentary. We just got beautified a bit. In fact, all of the InsureMe blogs are getting a few nips and tucks, thanks to our lovely [and talented, no?] user interface designer, Marina.

I feel pretty. :)

Posted by Megan Mahan at 10:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
 

JR posted a comment earlier today regarding yesterday's post, which referenced John Winsor's blog and his belief that sales men and women should make 1,000 personal contacts with their clients.

"That's really hard to do in a personal way on the web," said JR, "any ideas on how?"

As I started my response to JR, one paragraph soon turned into six so I decided it'd be best to answer JR's question for today's post. Because I'm willing to bet that some of you are asking the same thing.

"How" is a great question. And I agree, at first blush, making 1,000 personal contacts with every customer is a pretty daunting task. I'd suggest starting on a smaller scale and concentrate on showing some love to your heavy hitters, which means stepping outside of the web and (gasp!) picking up the phone.

At InsureMe, our Affiliate managers try to contact our largest affiliates once per month. And we have a lot of affiliates. On the agent side, our CRM's contact our entire agent base once per quarter. What do we say? Why do we do it?

Quite simply, we feel it's important to check in with people to see how they're doing. Is there anything new and exciting going on with the client? Building a personal rapport from the outset (and a sincere one at that) shows your client that you care about them. Caring is good. Caring is human. Human is personal and personal appeals to consumers like you and I. But I digress.

As the conversastion continues, ask your client if they're still satisfied with your service or if there's anything you could do to improve their experience with your service or product. And of course, where insurance is concerned, you'll want to make sure their coverage still fits their needs. Ask about new drivers, new home remodeling or purchases, new additions to the family...you get the drift. Trust me, your client will be grateful that you're keeping their best interests at heart.

So. To directly answer JR's question, I'd start by making some smaller goals for yourself and expanding those goals as time goes on. You could start by contacting your biggest clients once a quarter (every three months) and increasing the number of personal contacts throughout the year. Of course, you can always up the ante over the holidays (we send gifts to a certain percentage of our top accounts, etc.) and major life events (wedding, new baby, etc.).

Above all, when it comes to contacting your clients, remember that passion, enthusiasm and empathy are the key to having meaningful interactions with your customers. And meaningful interactions help you secure your client base—and increases the chances that your client will refer you to someone else. And referrals are a beautiful thing.

For more customer service fodder, check out the following articles from our Agent Resource Center:

• Building Client Relationships


• Agent Phone Etiquette: Making a Positive First Impression on the Phone


• Managing Your Time for Maximum Results

Keep the questions coming, everyone. :)

Posted by Megan Mahan at 05:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
 

There's quite a lot of ol' Megan's plate today, so I'm going to save my lengthier post for tomorrow, and for this afternoon, point you in the direction of John Winsor's blog, Under the Radar.

Winsor, who authored Beyond the Brand: Why Engaging the Right Customers is Essential to Winning in Business (and most recently, SPARK: Be More Innovative Through Co-Creation) recently revisited his analogy that engaging customers is a lot like surfing.

Yes, surfing. Check out said post here and see why we keep a copy of Winsor's books in the InsureMe library. :)

Posted by Megan Mahan at 10:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
 

Much like Seth Godin, Kim Klaver is able to aptly and succinctly get to the heart of the sales/marketing matter.

The most recent sales tip from Klaver:

Be the human voice you'd want to hear whenever you talk about your business or product. Skip the bombastic boasts and puffed up language no one understands or cares about. Tell your authentic personal story as you would to a friend over coffee, where you are not trying to sell it, just tell it.

"Puffed up language" is a veritable no-no for insurance sales agents, where it's essential to spare prospects and clients the industry jargon. So how do you find the happy medium between talking down to a customer and talking over them?

Asking some open-ended questions about their previous insurance coverage is a good way to gauge a client's knowledge of insurance. What were their previous auto coverages? What was their previous health insurance deductible? What did they like best about their previous insurer? Your client's answers to these types of questions will reveal their savoir-faire about insurance, as well as their purchasing motivations—both of which will help you tailor your pitch accordingly.

Of course, by "pitch", I'm referring to Klaver's suggestion of talking to a client as you would a friend...tell it. Don't sell it.

[More insurance sales tips from the InsureMe Resource Center]:

• Educating Your Clients...One Step at a Time


• The Telling Information Behind Consumer Choices


• Superior Customer Service: The Key that Unlocks the Door to Client Retention

Posted by Megan Mahan at 04:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

Flamin' Hot Cheetos are creating quite a stir in some school systems. Check out NPR's report on these "extruded snacks". It's pretty educational...and probaby the funniest thing you've heard all week.

Big thanks to James Omdahl for catching this bit on the radio. Good stuff.

Posted by Megan Mahan at 08:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

According to the Insurance Journal, Vermont's legislature has passed a bill making insurance fraud a specific crime, leaving only Alabama, Oregon and Virginia without insurance fraud laws.

If Vermont governor signs the measure, it would take effect on July 1 and criminalize:

• bogus claims by policyholders


• fraud by insurers (like the sale of fake insurance)


• scams by agents (such as stealing client premiums)


• scams by public adjusters (such as claim inflation)

Lying on insurance applications won't be covered by the measure, notes IJ, and prosecutors would have to cite other criminal law in order to convict a policyholder of falsifying application information.

So...I hate to sound like an incompetent jerk about this, but I was quite surprised to learn that insurance fraud isn't a "specific crime" in all U.S. states. What did Vermont do before this? "You sold fake insurance? Well, that's not cool, Bob. We're going to politely ask you to please stop selling fake insurance. We hope you consider our request."

Seems to me if there's such a thing as a National Insurance Crime Bureau to deal with insurance fraud, and if insurance fraud is robbing the country of $80 billion per year, insurance fraud ought to be considered a "specific crime" in every state. I'm not totally sure what a "specific" crime is either. A crime is a crime, right?

$80 billion could buy a lot of shoes be used for great things, is all I'm saying. Seems strange that Alabama, Oregon and Virginia are just hanging out without fraud laws. Sort of like driving cars without built-in seatbelts. Just doesn't seem right.

Posted by Megan Mahan at 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

Alright, so maybe the Bureau of Labor didn't say "where it's at" verbatim, but the Bureau did report an insurance industry employment surge of over 10,000 in April, bringing the total number of insurance jobs to over 2.3 million. We've reported similar growth spurts in the past (here and here), and according to experts, the insurance industry is going to enjoy some stability for some time to come.

Think a career as an insurance agent is a good move for you? Learn all you need to know by browsing our articles on how to become an insurance agent:

• How to Become an Insurance Agent


• Becoming a Health Insurance Agent


• Becoming a Life Insurance Agent


• Becoming a Home Insurance Agent


• Becoming a Auto Insurance Agent

Things are looking good for the insurance industry in 2006. Might be a good time to get on board.

Source: Insurance News Net

Posted by Megan Mahan at 07:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
 

I've been paying a lot of attention to Kim Klaver lately because of her insight and ability to tactfully pose questions that challenge the sales community. Oh, and she's a girl, which you don't see a whole lot of in the professional blogosphere. I dig Kim Klaver. And so should you. Okay, moving on...

In one of her recent posts, Klaver asks, "Will you be embarrassed that you sold this?" To illustrate her point, she cites Seth Godin's recent interview with the Electronic Recruitment Exchange (ERE) during which he said:

[...] What I say to marketers who are stuck selling third-rate widgets in shrinking markets is that they should leave. Because when 10 years from now you're no longer at the company, no one's going to want your explanation that the stuff you marketed for all those years wasn't worth marketing.

But I'm not selling widgets, you say. I'm selling insurance. Right. But, in 10 years, will you be embarrassed that you sold insurance? Or that you sold insurance for ABC Company? Klaver continues by saying, "While Godin is referring to big companies in this interview, the same principles apply to us. In the end, we all have to live with ourselves and you may be asked to account for what you did today."

I'm not a big fan of saying something is good "food for thought", but I'm afraid the age-old cliché is spot on this time around.

[RELATED KLAVER POST]: For Love or Money? (This one's a goody, too.)

Posted by Megan Mahan at 07:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
 

Good tip today from April H., one of our customer relations managers (and future Affiliate department team member), regarding www.zip-codes.com.

Zip-codes.com is, as the URL suggests, is a database that you can use to pull local zips from your area—allowing you to target areas you might not have been aware of. This is also a great tool for those of you receiving insurance leads from InsureMe, as it can enable you to locate take advantage of new zip codes in your area before your competitors.

Check it out and let me know what you think. Of course, if you have questions about receiving insurance leads via the web, be sure to check out the InsureMe agent page, or call 800 INSURE-ME to speak to one of our awesome CRM's.

Enjoy!

Posted by Megan Mahan at 07:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
 

Case of the Mondays? Try Case of the Fridays. The rainy, cold Fridays.

Not much happening here in the office...come to think of it, I haven't heard a phone ring since before lunch. Yes, it's a dull day and unfortunately I don't have any crazier than average news to report. So instead I thought I'd just toss out some links that I enjoyed this week and hope you enjoy them, too.

So without further ado, here are the Friday Links:

• Seth Godin talks about mass marketing, niche marketing and the almighty average.


• Kim Klaver maintains that cold-calling still brings in heavy hitting customers


• Autoblog shows us the extreme hybrid—that goes 250 miles on one gallon of gas.

Back with more insurance happenings on Monday. Have a great weekend!

Posted by Megan Mahan at 10:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

I get wind of a lot of interesting stories via Google Alerts, which send me headlines from all over based on keywords and topics (like "insurance") that I've entered. Yesterday, I came across this article from the Korea Times about the inability of life and non-life insurance companies to sell each other's products.

Cross-selling between the two types of insurers was supposed to be allowed in August 2003 but it's been delayed for three years. Now, life and non-life insurers won't be expected to cross-sell for two more years.

According to the article, life and non-life companies will now be banned from cross-selling until 2008. And believe it or not, insurance agents are cool with that.

Cross-selling was suppose to allow agents to maximize their income and enhance consumer convenience, but some Korean agents say they fear the opposite would happen. An unnamed car insurance agent stated that she feared her income would decrease if life agents started selling car insurance policies—she even said she wouldn't be competitive if she started selling life insurance as it was totally new to her.

"Cross-selling is not as simple as it seems. Each insurer has different ideas and calculations, but most of them agree that they need more time to get prepared," said Park Jun-Shik, PR manager for the Korean Non-Life Insurance Association.

Jun-Shik went on to say that if an agent started cross-selling, he or she might sell a policy without fully educating the consumer about it.

"Only a few insurance salespeople at the top welcome the cross-selling. Most of the ordinary salespeople are reluctant to open the arena," said an unnamed PR manager of a Korean insurer.

Wow. I must be seriously missing the boat Korean insurers are seriously missing the boat here. While I appreciate Jun-Shik's comment about agent knowledge and consumer education, there are some logical steps to bridge this gap and make cross-selling a reality. Moreover, I'm inclined to say that agents who are shying away from cross-selling need to step it up. This is evidently an untapped market and salespeople should be more than willing to stand out from the rest.

What does all this mean for American insurance agents?

Although insurance professionals can cross-sell freely in the states (with proper certification...) not all do. And that means some of you out there could be missing out on new clients. Check out the other benefits of cross-selling and what you need to do to get started by taking a look at some articles from the InsureMe Agent Resource Center:

• Expanding Your Horizons: Cross-Selling Successfully


• Earning Additional Insurance Licensure: What it Can Do for Your Business


• Educating Your Clients...One Step at a Time

Stay competitive. Take advantage of your ability to cross-sell and make sure you're offering everything your clients may be interested in.

Posted by Megan Mahan at 05:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

I just noticed that yesterday marked the 100th post here on the InsureMe Agent Blog. This makes me happy for a lot of reasons, which I will present to you in a short outline:

1. Blogs are awesome.
a. I'm stoked I get to author one at work.
b. I get excited to see other people blogging about insurance.
c. InsureMe is a pioneer in insurance-related companies that blog and it's very cool to be part of that.

2. I learn something new almost every day.
a. I'm starting to better understand when blogs like InsuranceScrawl discuss insurance law—which makes me a better insurance blogger.
b. I'm better able to see issues though the eyes of an agent
c. Commenters often help me to see views opposite from my own.

3. The future of the InsureMe Agent Blog looks bright.
a. I have high hopes that the Agent Blog will help foster a community in the insurance industry.
b. Sharing ideas, best practices and even a good story will continue to be shared and welcomed here.

I've been doing the blogging thing for two and a half years but posting to the Agent Blog has been more rewarding than I anticipated. I hope you all have gotten some value out of it too—whether you picked up a new sales tip or found a new way to set yourself apart from your competitor—I hope you've found something in the last 100 posts that made you say, "Hmm..." And, if not, I'm always up for suggestions. :)

Here's to the next 100 posts. Happy blogging, y'all!

Posted by Megan Mahan at 12:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
 

Just a week after GEICO threatened to sue New York's Tri-State Insurance Company, the gloves are reportedly back on.

According to Newsday.com, both sides came to an agreement today. Tri-State [also known as as TSC Direct] will discontinue the ads that GEICO alleged were unfair and harmed the super-insurer's image. Accordingly, GEICO will withdraw its lawsuit.

Despite the truce, Tri-State's president, Penny Hart, maintains that the company's ads were within the confines of the law and competitive advertising.

Hart went on to say:

Without any admission of liability, TSC Direct has chosen to discontinue running print and radio advertising relating to the GEICO gecko and the firm as been notified by GEICO's attorneys that the lawsuit has been dismissed.

I believe we created a marketing program that conjured up GEICO's gecko in a totally fitting and appropriate manner, using humor to present competitive choices to the consumer. [Emphasis mine] However, it is time to use a new creative advertising program that shifts attention away from the courthouse and back to protecting the consumer's pocketbook.

Classic. Small company gets bullied by big company; small company concedes rather than get caught up in a lengthy and expensive legal battle.

I'm interested by Hart's comment about presenting competitive choices to the consumer. Makes you wonder—is the consumer really benefiting from big names stomping on the smaller guys? I'd hate to think that deeper pockets determine justice...not what's right.

[Big thanks to InsureMe's James Omdahl for today's link.]

Posted by Megan Mahan at 09:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
 

The Hattiesburg, Miss. newspaper, The Hattiesburg American, is giving insurers a big thumbs down regarding the cancellation of numerous homeowners policies along the Gulf Coast. Despite the fact that hurricanes cost insurers over $53 billion in 2005, the paper says, insurers still turned a profit.

"The truth is, insurance companies have the financial ability to continue providing homeowner's insurance—at reasonable rates—throughout the hurricane zone."

The paper also takes issue with the Mississippi Windstorm Underwriting Association, as the state-backed group will go before the state to request a 400 percent rate increase for homeowners insured through the MWUA. (Side note: is MWUA a funny acronym or it just me?)

I'm not really sure what side of the fence I'm on with this. On the one hand, insurers need to cover their risk, which may mean cancelling policies and/or increasing rates in higher-risk areas. On the other hand, homeowners in these areas need access to proper coverage.

I hate sitting on the fence. It's mighty uncomfortable for me. Leave me your thoughts and opinions on the Hattiesburg article and see if you can't sway me one way or another.

Posted by Megan Mahan at 08:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)