Shop the Agent
While talking to a trucking insurance carrier today and
trying to match a competing quote, we were told the more quotes are run, the more
the price will increase! They could see the five quotes already run under that
DOT, and every extra quote was pushing the premium higher.
Insurance carriers see every version of your info that hits
their system. New AI algorithms are cross-referencing VINs, drivers, and
submissions. When the same DOT gets shopped over and over, the carrier reads it
as instability. They do not reward instability. They up rate it.
It gets worse. Too many submissions can knock you out of
preferred markets completely. Some carriers will only look at you once a year. That shot you had at a good rate is gone.
The info you give the agent is what gets relayed to the
carrier. If you hand that same info to five different agents, you are trusting
five different people to tell your story the same way. They will not. They
cannot really.
Little things get changed. Operation type. Radius. Driver hire
dates. Underlying coverage limits like uninsured/underinsured motorists or
deductibles. You don’t like the first price so on the 2nd quote with
a new agent, you leave off a truck? NOT
GOING TO FLY ANYMORE!
Sometimes it is a mistake. Sometimes it is laziness. And
sometimes it is an agent trying to “game the system” by tweaking the operation
to get a rate that is not even real.
Every version documented in the carrier’s system. Now you
are five different companies on paper. That is how underwriters get confused.
That is how you get declines. That is how the premium climbs with every new
submission.
If you already have an agent who is not afraid of hard
conversations and trust us, there have been a lot of those this year, trust them! If they check details and know how to present a trucking account the right way, why
choose to believe a random agent you talked to for five minutes? That person
does not know your operation. They do not know your story. They do not know
your long game. They do know how to jam your info into a portal and hope it
sticks.
In Jessica’s words, be picky. Shop for a good agent, the
rest will fall into place. A clean story from one skilled agent will beat five sloppy
submissions every time.
We all have the same carriers. There is no secret menu. What
changes your price is not how many agents you talk to, it is how clean and
consistent your operation is. One strong agent with full knowledge of your
business will beat ten random ones every single time.
If you want better pricing, control the message.
Pick someone who knows your operation and let them work. Give them the right
data. Let them build the right story. That is how you get a real rate, not one
inflated by noise you did not need to create.
You do not need more agents. You need the right one!
If you want a real quote built on clean data instead of five agents fighting over the same carriers, call us. We keep your story straight and your footprint clean with the markets that matter.
You can reach us at 254-294-7798 or info@trucku.biz.
This post is for educational purposes only. It is not legal advice, insurance advice, or a substitute for calling your agent. Truck U is good, but we are not psychic. Policies vary, laws change, and courtrooms get weird. Do not make decisions based solely on something you read on the internet unless it is from us, in writing, with your name on it.
All opinions are our own and do not represent the views of any carrier, employer, or underwriting department that occasionally wishes we were quieter on LinkedIn.
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