How To Buy Business Insurance In Georgia

When it comes to business insurance in Georgia, there's a few different ways you can buy insurance for your business:

1. You can buy online or direct through a carrier- DIY Insurance
2. You can buy through a captive agent
3. You can have your problem solved with an independent insurance agency

Do-It-Yourself Business Insurance

This is a really bad idea and the worst of your 3 options. This is when you try to buy insurance without the help of a licensed agent. It's like trying to diagnose yourself for a medical condition through WebMD. 

Why is it a bad idea? 

It is unlikely that you're aware of all of the different coverage options and how they may be able to apply to your business. In addition, you probably aren't aware with what coverage limits will be applicable to your business based on the operations. At the end of the day, if there is a claim that isn't covered and it could have or should have been, that's 100% on you and you'll be paying out of pocket. 99 out of 100 times, a licensed insurance agent is going to give you much better advice and insight into the available coverage options and help you find a plan that works best for you and your business. If they do make a mistake or give you bad advice, they're insured for that through their errors and omissions insurance policy. .

Another major reason to avoid DIY business insurance is that you're probably going to end up paying way more than you have to for one of 2 reasons:

1. As a DIY'er, you do not have access to as many carriers (options) as an independent insurance agency. There's going to be REALLY competitive companies that are available that you will have no idea existed OR that won't do business with you directly. Instead of getting access to one of the top 10 carriers for your business, you're going to be stuck with being insured by #11. 
2. Premium audits- if you don't know what these are, then you absolutely need to have a licensed agent review your business insurance ASAP. Those that do their business insurance themselves are 10x more likely to have an increase of 30% or more in their premiums after their audit. This is because they are unaware of how policies with auditable premiums operate and they are unaware of the pay-as-you-go billing options which help tremendously. Just the other day we received a call from a local business that had received a $13,000 additional premium invoice for their workers compensation. Since they were DIY'ers, they had no one to call except the 1-800 number. In this instance, their policy was set up and rated incorrectly from the get-go. With a licensed agent, this could have totally been avoided. 

Buying Through A Captive Agency

When you buy insurance through a captive agency (State Farm, Geico, Allstate, etc.) you're buying from a company that usually has just one option available for you. These agents are often very knowledgeable when it comes to the features of their products (because they only have one line of products to master) but you, as the business owner and consumer, are only getting that one option. This would be like going to dinner to a restaurant that only offered one appetizer, one entree, and one desert. 

With the limited options, there are many times that the captive agency may not be the best fit for a particular company both because of the price they charge and the coverage offered. We see policies from captive agencies every day that do not have vital coverage such as cyber, EPLI, professional liability, and more. 

Lastly, it is unlikely that one company would be the best fit for all of a businesses needs. Many businesses have complex needs that includes many different policies packaged together. If you have your liability, business property, commercial auto, and workers comp all with one company, chances are you're paying more than you need to and missing out on important coverages and features. You're losing money today and when there is a loss to the business. 

As businesses grow, evolve, and change, it is important to have options.

Solving Your Problem With An Independent Insurance Agency

The third way to buy business insurance is with the use of an independent insurance agency or broker. 

Independent insurance agencies, like The Roberts Insurance Group, tend to specialize more in commercial insurance and have access to hundreds of carriers and markets to best fit your business' needs and budget. An independent insurance agent will shop your coverage around to make sure your company is getting the very best price and coverage available, giving you the best overall value. 

This is exactly what we do for our clients at the Roberts Insurance Group. We make sure the businesses we insure have the coverage they need at the best possible price available. 

We're the business insurance specialists in Canton, GA and can help you navigate the market and workforce changes to guarantee you're getting the right coverage without being overcharged. 

Give us a call today at 678-250-8133 to see what we can do for your business!

The Roberts Insurance Group is a Georgia Insurance Broker specializing in commercial and personal insurance for our clients throughout the state of Georgia. We help our clients lower their cost of insurance with our superior claim and risk management expertise and our extensive carrier access. We are in the business of building relationships with our clients to help them grow and succeed. Contact us today to see what we can do for your family or business.

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