What Does an Independent Ohio Insurance Agency Mean?
Agency or Direct
Insurance companies today take 3 different paths to sell and service insurance policies. The first is to market and sell directly to the customer and employ customer service representatives to service the policies. The second is to go through insurance agents who sell and service the business for the company. They work on the companies’ behalf and the company pays them a portion of the premium on the policy called a commission. The third is a hybrid model where the company does both. They sell and service direct policies holders while also working through agents that sell and service their policies.
Independent or Captive Agency
There are primarily two types of agencies today. Captive agencies only sell for one insurance company which typically is a national insurance company and the name of the agency is the name of the company. Independent agencies have multiple companies they work with some can be smaller and others national companies. Every company and agency relationship can vary but in general independents have more control over the agency and companies they work with. They also have companies for various eligibility and rating needs to find the best fit for the customer. Captive agents have a closer relationship to the insurance company but independents still have a contractual agreement with their companies to represent them appropriately.
Ohio Insurance Coverage
States have many different laws in place when it comes to insurance. If you are coming from another state with different laws, it is important to talk over those changes with a licensed Ohio insurance agent. Not only do we have different coverages but also might have different options that were unavailable in your state.
In the state of Ohio the minimum limits for car insurance is $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident, and $25,000 property damage. That means that if you hit some one and cause bodily injury to them, we will pay on your behalf $25,000 or their pain and suffering, lost wages, and medical bills. Once you reach the limit the insurance company stops paying and you become responsible. If multiple people are injured then they will split the $50,000 and may not get the $25,000 depending on the per accident limit. Then for property damage we will pay for the other persons car and any resulting damage. If you were to hit someone into another car, then a they went through a fence into a house we would pay for all that up to the property damage limit. Obviously, the state minimum limits are rarely enough coverage even for the most trivial accidents. We recommend increasing your limits of liability and would love to give you optional quotes that are still affordable for your family.
Ohio Insurance Trends
Insurance is constantly changing and that is no exception in Ohio specifically. Companies are always changing as well with rates and underwriting. That has dramatically increased with the reliance on computers and monitoring losses and underwriting factors. Now companies can pinpoint certain factors and how they all play together for predicting losses. So as that information changes company’s rates and entire strategies change. As independent agents that see this information constantly, we are able to recognize those shifts and help our customers find the policies for them. This means using your information to not just find the best rates but also utilize the most applicable coverages (new and old) to your situations.
Ohio Insurance Agency licensed for Ohio only
Since every state has their own insurance law, coverages and protocols insurance agents have to hold a license for every state they do business in. They also have to maintain that license with continuing education requirements. We at Oyer Insurance Agency are licensed as Ohio Insurance Agents for property and casualty. We don’t do business outside the State of Ohio or life, health and annuities.
Our Ohio Insurance Agency is Unique
Over the last 41 years we have been in business and really since my grandpa started selling insurance in the 1960s our family has prioritized service over sales. These are 3 specific things about us.
- Local Ohio knowledge and commitment to education through the National Alliance CIC program.
- Personalized long-term service relationship not one time sale.
- State wide service with the use of technology making it easy to access us in person or virtually.
