After buying insurance from them for 20 years, I've moved on…read more
Cynthia Pasciuto was my original agent, and she was great. Then, one day, she was gone. That agency was sold to a new owner.
After that, service was mixed (calls not quickly returned, deadlines missed, etc.) until I started working with Carolyn there, who was very responsive.
But, a few events recently left me very disappointed with the new agency owner, Carmen:
1. Coverage gap for personal umbrella policy
I learned today, Dec. 14, that they had sold us a personal umbrella policy in August that in fact didn't fully cover us. Carmen called me in October and left a general voicemail ("Hi, give me a call"), which I thought was a marketing call.
He contacted me today after I informed them about a car accident we were in last night, which prompted Carolyn to go to Carmen to see if he had in fact informed us about our coverage gap. He had not.
So, yes, I've paid for four months of a policy that didn't cover us fully.
When I asked Carmen when he learned of the gap, he claimed it was two weeks ago, which was clearly wrong, given his Oct. call. I think mentioned that knowing about what gaps existed is one of the reasons I rely on an agency. Carmen didn't apologize or express any remorse.
On a later call, after I produced evidence of his October call, he denied ever saying that he had said he first learned of the gap two weeks ago, and also said that it was my fault for not calling him back.
2. Homeowner's coverage
We bought a new home and the policy they sold us didn't cover the cost of our home. When asked, Water St. said that the appraisal had come in at that number. My new broker claimed that the limits came from the carrier they picked, and Water St. instead should have worked with third parties to get us a policy that fully covered the cost of our home. They optimized their own economics, in his opinion, rather than giving us the coverage we needed.
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So, I've moved on.
Friends in the insurance business tell me that some agencies "ride into the sunset"; they no longer aggressively find new customers, and just "manage the book" by getting commissions on renewals with existing customers.
Well, Water St. has lost a long-time customer who bought all of his insurance from them for 20 years. I'm glad to go.
Our new insurance adviser, who is the owner of his agency, is fantastic, plugged in and very responsive. He believes that the best way to serve a client is through great customer service. He is young and hungry.
He quickly replaced our three policies and made everything smooth.
One agency's loss is another's gain....
