Consumer_Reports_-_April_2020

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