How to Find a Good Health Insurance Agent

It’s important that you find a health insurance agent that you trust and whom you feel comfortable with and feel confident in. When looking for an insurance agent, often times, the best source of information comes in the form of a a referral of a trusted family member, friend, co-worker, business associate or your financial advisor. If you are looking for an insurance agent put the word out and listen to as many stories as you can, both positive and negative, before making your decision.

It may seem elementary, but you can save a lot of trouble down the line if you make sure right upfront that your prospective insurance agent is licensed as an insurance agent in your state. This is a must. Any agent that you do business with MUST be licensed by your state’s insurance department. If you buy insurance online, be certain to ask point-blank if the agent you are dealing with is licensed in your state.

While a string of initials following your insurance agent’s name do indicate that your agent is serious about his profession and has sought out additional education, merely having a long string of initials following a name does not insure that an insurance agent is right for you. It is at least as important that you feel comfortable with your agent and that you trust your agent as it is that your agent has a string of initials following his or her name.

Being involved in professional associations, however, may indicate that your agent is going out of his or her way to stay current and on top of changing conditions in the health care insurance field, and this may be important to you. When talking to your prospective agent about any professional associations that he or she may be affiliated with, you may to keep in mind that the largest associations include the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) and The Million Dollar Roundtable (MDRT). There are additional associations as well.

The bottom line is that you get along with the agent and that you feel confident that your agent is looking at the big picture and considering your specific situation and not just pushing some easy cookie-cutter one-size-fits-all insurance package that pays the biggest commission.