The IA Risky Business

When running an Insurance agency that operates on behalf of you - the Insurance purchaser - the topic of insurance companies over charging comes up almost on a daily basis. Whilst yes we 100% work on behalf of our clients in dealing with Insurance companies we have a strong relationship with these same companies to negotiate the best terms and conditions for you. So over the years we have gained a respect for how pricing of insurance works. My first job in Insurance after leaving the media full time was with GIO. It was at the time that GIO were establishing the new inbound call centre for domestic sales. ie: Home, Car and Caravan Insurance. It was in Toowoomba and after making the decision to leave Radio I figured with 180 jobs available surely I could talk myself into one with GIO. I knew nothing about insurance, probably like much of the community, however very quickly grew an apreciaiton of the role it played within our lives. One of the 1st points we learned during orientat...

The value for money question is one we ask ourselves in everything we do in life. We have have just gone through it with our Family Health Insurance. I guess being in the same industry we pay a bit more attention to it, but it is easy to get dragged into the 'cheapest' deal when a salesman is pushing it on you. We used one of the comparison companies who obviously earn a commission if they place you through a certain company. It was an interesting process as it proved again that all we seem to peddle in Australia is "Cheapest is best." We were happy to stay with our current provider even though $35 a month more as it had more cover. There was research done in the past decade showing what clients in various countries look for during a sales process. For example in Germany the customer looked for efficiency, USA looked for the 'whats in it for me,' whilst Australians purchased on the desire to have a relationship. We didn't care what it cost as long as w...