SPECIAL REPORT
ONE MAN’S QUEST
FOR A FAIR PRICE
T
hough I’ve never met her
in person, my insurance
agent, Carol Ann, has
been a constant presence
in my life for more than a
decade. She was one of the
first people I called after
I got engaged. My spouse
and I didn’t make the down
payment on our dream home
until we had her blessing.
When my father died, Carol
Ann offered her sympathy,
along with patient guidance
on settling his estate. When
life gives us lemons, some
people make lemonade. What
I make is a call to Carol Ann.
We speak infrequently.
When we do, it’s usually
about things I don’t discuss
with anyone else and,
frankly, would rather not
think about. Like whether
my spouse could afford to
keep our house if I were hit
by a bus. In other words,
we talk about the big stuff.
And a funny thing happens
when you seek someone’s
counsel about intimate fears
like death and lawsuits and
losing everything you hold
dear. It creates a bond, and
an inclination to forget the
fact that our relationship,
when it really comes down
to it, is purely transactional.
She provides me with the
protection from peril and
penury that I need; I help her
meet her goals at work and
maybe—for all I know—win a
trip to Cancún. But like many
relationships, ours is greater
than the sum of its parts.
Carol Ann is a source of
security in a world that can
feel dangerous, and she’s a
skilled navigator of a sphere
that is foreign to me.
Which partly explains why
I can’t remember the last
time I shopped around for
lower rates, in spite of the
fact that CR experts say it’s
the only way to make sure an
insurer isn’t taking advantage
of my loyalty. The truth is,
I don’t want to break up
with Carol Ann.
Still, protestations to the
contrary notwithstanding,
most loves do have their
limits, and being taken
advantage of is one of
mine. So when I learned
that CR was working on
a story with The Markup
about “personalized
pricing” in insurance rates,
which could leave some
consumers vulnerable to
paying higher premiums than
warranted, I was dismayed.
When I learned that my
demographic—middle-aged
customers—was potentially
on this “suckers list,” my
indignation displaced any
sneaking sense of infidelity,
and I got busy finding
out what the competition
had to offer.
I was quickly reminded
of how tedious and time-
consuming insurance
shopping can be. I have
renters, homeowners, auto,
and umbrella policies, and
needed to speak to three
separate representatives to
get quotes on all of them at
two companies. At another
company, one representative
was able to provide quotes
for all those policies, but only
after I’d spent more than
an hour on the phone with
her. (On the upside, it was
anything but boring: While
her computer was crunching
numbers, the agent gave
me travel advice and movie
recommendations, and told
me how she and her mother
had decades ago contracted
whooping cough from a
nurse who assisted in her
birth, which led to their being
quarantined and featured in
the local newspaper.)
Requesting a homeowners
quote from an online-only
algorithm-based insurance
provider was as fruitless
as it was painless: It took
3 minutes to enter the
information required and
only an instant for its bot to
let me know my home didn’t
qualify for coverage.
After a few hours of
research, none of the four
insurance companies or the
broker I contacted could
offer a better deal than the
one I’m getting from Carol
Ann. One came close, but the
others were significantly
more expensive. I’d always
hoped that Carol Ann was
charging me fairly for my
insurance coverage. Now
that I’m certain she’s giving
me a square deal, I trust and
value her even more.
I don’t know what I would
have done if someone else
had offered me a lower
price. What I do know is that
it’s better to weigh all your
options than it is to simply
hope that you’ve made the
right choice—even when it
turns out you have.
BY KEVIN
DOYLE
24 CR.ORG APRIL 2020