Back in the 1990s, recently-retired tennis star Andre Agassi starred in a series of commercials for Canon cameras in which he said, "Image is everything." The tagline had two meanings--one referring to photo quality, the other to Agassi's iconoclastic and ill-advised fashion sense.

(If he doesn't cringe every time he sees himself in a mullet and denim shorts, I'd be really surprised.)

"The insurance industry's image is still in the mullet and jean shorts stage."

From anecdotal evidence, I'd say insurers are down there with journalists and lawyers in terms of popular support, battling it out with each other to prevent falling down the list into the area reserved for tobacco company executives and used-car salesmen.

It doesn't have to be that way.

It doesn't have to be that way because insurance companies provide an invaluable service: they solve the age-old problem of risk with a remarkably simple and effective solution: they pool and spread it. That's it.

Without insurance we'd never build houses, drive cars or wrestle anacondas--the risks would be too great. What if hail wrecks my roof? What if one of my dinner guests sues me for tripping on the stairs? We'd never start businesses, either.

The other day, flipping through a magazine, I noticed a full-page Allstate ad that brought up this very notion. Front and center was an image of a guy tip-toeing his way through a morass of banana peels. The headline read, "You probably don't spend much time think about insurance. But trying doing anything without it." Clever, right? Without insurance, the risk associated with even mundane daily stuff would be too great; we'd be constantly slipping on banana peels.

I, for one, tend forget this about insurance--and that's pretty incredible coming from someone who writes about it every day. I, like you, gripe about cutting a check every six months for auto and home insurance, not realizing that I am actually getting something for my money even if I never file a claim--peace of mind in the face of risk.

So here's a bit of free advice for the unpopular insurance industry: we all need to be reminded why we pay you once or twice a year. It may improve your image a bit.