I know Blake from my many years at the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce, so when I went into business for myself, I went straight to him for my Business Insurance. Never shopped him.
Before signing up with him, I asked to meet in person. He hemmed and hawwed about it, but finally relented. I just thought he was busy. But this became a pattern; apparently he doesn't like to meet people in person.
Each year there was an annual increase of +/- 15%, even there there were no claims. And when I asked if he was shopping other carriers, I was always told that only this one carrier would cover me. I always found this strange, because my business is a Service. I don't manufacture or install anything, so if I mess up nobody will be harmed. Insurers shouldn't be running away.
Eventually I had a client file a claim against my Errors and Omissions policy. Admittedly it was rather large, but $88k compared with a $1M policy seems rather benign.
AJL did little to assist with the claim. I had to handle the bulk of it all myself. And once the claim hit, Ken Donathan, my AJL agent, ran as fast as he could from me. Only Blake Longo would communicate with me, and he refused to meet with me in person to help resolve/answer my concerns.
My renewal went from $2800 to $11500. Ken later send me a quote with a "very generous deduction..." of $1500, revising the total to about $10200.
Neither Blake nor Ken were willing to discuss with me how devastating it would be to pay $10200 for insurance. And when I extrapolated it out five years, showing that with the typical 15% increases I had gotten, my policy premium would be over $21000! Their reaction? Silence.
Out of good faith I asked Blake to just write me a GLI policy so that we could continue to seek an E&O policy at a more reasonable rate. He refused to do so.
I had no choice to leave them and seek a policy elsewhere. I found one with the exact same coverage, for about 1/3 the premium.
Oh, and one last insult...
My new agent has requested a recent "LossRun Report". Agencies are required to supply these to each other within 10 days of asking. AJL has completely ghosted me on my requests.
I still think that Blake Longo is probably a very nice guy; but he doesn't run a very professional business. read more