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Originally Posted by retiredguy123
I agree that you should definitely seek out a knowledgeable insurance salesperson. But, I think the term "agent" is a misnomer. I once bought an Allstate auto policy from an agent who took my check, cashed it, and gave me a written insurance binder that stated that I had purchased a policy. But, 3 days later, after I had cancelled my old policy, the agent called me to say that the company had cancelled the new policy because he, the agent, had made a mistake on the application. Obviously, he was not a legal agent for the company. Try to get an insurance agent to answer a question, in writing, about a specific item that is covered in the policy. They won't because they don't represent the company, like a real agent would.
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Yes, we need to define “sales agent” and “sales rep” (sorta like real estate agent and villages sales rep) - in insurance, there are those sales personnel who work directly for a single carrier, and only sell policies for that specific carrier. They are employees of that carrier, and are accountable to that carrier for all their actions, and are hired (and possibly fired) by that carrier. Then there are independent agents that sell policies for multiple carriers (think Villages Insurance), and are employed by a specific agency owner, or self-employed (they are not employed directly by an insurance carrier).