Google to Sell Insurance

[VolAgent]

P.S. I hear that their customer service number will be 1-800-WHO-R-U? and their claims number will be 1-800-GET-LOST. I'm not sure how reliable my source on that was though.

That is the crux. This may end up benefiting agents.

Buying stuff on the internet is all good, until you have a problem. Then when you dial a 1-800 and get random person who really isn't that interested in solving your problem? You tend to avoid it in the future.

Now Josh on here says he has used Geico for years and has been pleased with the people on the other end of the 800 number. He is also or at least was a licensed P&C agent. His level of knowledge is much higher than the average consumers.

I'm with Aram, agents may end up with the cream of the crop, all the preferred business, while Google and Amazon are stuck with high risk and/or price shoppers.

 

[stuy119]

That is the crux. This may end up benefiting agents.

Buying stuff on the internet is all good, until you have a problem. Then when you dial a 1-800 and get random person who really isn't that interested in solving your problem? You tend to avoid it in the future.

Now Josh on here says he has used Geico for years and has been pleased with the people on the other end of the 800 number. He is also or at least was a licensed P&C agent. His level of knowledge is much higher than the average consumers.

I'm with Aram, agents may end up with the cream of the crop, all the preferred business, while Google and Amazon are stuck with high risk and/or price shoppers.

Exactly. P&C is a commodity - until you have to use it. At that point, an automated claims service that won't get your claim paid is worthless.

Agents will need to be able to capitalize on that.

 

[VolAgent]

Another thing I will add.

Google isn't going to give a flip about a carrier's profitability and appetite. They will shove every round peg into a square hole they can make fit. For any carrier that is use to agents managing this for them, they are going to be in for a rude awakening.

People who think life agents are bad at this haven't seen nothing yet.

 

[scooter33]

It's my understanding that Amazon is also getting in on this game. I'm not terribly worried about it. There have always been places people could go to buy insurance without having an agent. But the people who prefer to do business that way probably weren't going to do business with us anyway. Even when competing with other local but much larger agencies, I quite often win out because of the personal touch. People quite often feel like they are ignored by larger agencies. How are they going to feel when they're with a mega agency? If they get special pricing, that could be a problem for us. But it could end up being a blessing in the end. Here is how. If they get a special rate, it will be a rate set, which will adjust based on their loss history. If they're getting primarily price shoppers, these don't tend to be the best of the best when it comes to risk. They may eventually end up with HIGHER rates than what we can offer people. I've seen this happen before where some companies have a group rate that is supposed to save people money, but due to loss experience that group rate eventually ends up higher than the retail rate. The bottom line is, if you're threatened by the likes of Google or Amazon getting in the insurance business, you're not doing business the right way. ---------- P.S. I hear that their customer service number will be 1-800-WHO-R-U? and their claims number will be 1-800-GET-LOST. I'm not sure how reliable my source on that was though.

You need to get yoUr head out of the sand. No gives a damn about youR silly newsletters and birthday cards!

 

[andrewraymondmarcu]

Guys if google can sell insurance better then you can why do they need you. GEICO has not agents they pay no commissions and it is a good investment. Its like the millions of dollars we pay the president and executive staff to retire put them on social security like the rest of us.

 

[pcbinsurance]

Geico has agents and insurance centers.

 

[geoagency]

Geico has agents and insurance centers.

Geicio agents are salaried employees with very low commissions. There are 2 in all of Illinois. That hardly constitutes an agency force. It was more of a pilot project to see if they could gain more market share with agents in brick and mortar.

 

[scooter33]

I'm not positive but I don't think Google or Amazon will have agents, I think they will act as just a distribution hub and the carriers will service the policies. If this is true, pretty much we will be completing some more with the very carriers we write with.

 

[VolAgent]

Geicio agents are salaried employees with very low commissions. There are 2 in all of Illinois. That hardly constitutes an agency force. It was more of a pilot project to see if they could gain more market share with agents in brick and mortar.

So they have pretty much hit the maximum market share they are going to get by selling over the phone and internet?

 

[scooter33]

So they have pretty much hit the maximum market share they are going to get by selling over the phone and internet?

I do think they are max'd or seeing very little growth. With all the money they spend on advertising, crappy retention and you know they have loss ratio issues since most their clients are crap on preferred.