In the movie "The Blind Side," Sandra Bullock's character, Leigh Anne Tuohy's opening narration…read moresays "Every housewife knows, the first check you write is for the mortgage, but the second is for the insurance." As a home-owner, I can say that this is true.
Houses burn down, blow up, have cars launched into the living rooms from the street. You think of the catastrophe, and it's probably happening to someone's residence somewhere in the United States right now. The same can be said of your car, motorcycle, and personal being. And unless you're keeping yourself in a hermetically sealed bubble that is under the direct care and protection of God (with a written guarantee), there is a very real possibility that a catastrophe may befall you.
This is why there is insurance in all its various forms.
Insurance can be described in a single sentence: plan for the worst, hope for the best. You don't want your house to burn down or be flooded out, but these things can and do happen. So, unless you're either obscenely wealthy, it's best to get some insurance.
As much as they are loath to admit it, Insurance Brokers are salespeople that in most cases are no different than, say, a car dealer. Their job is to get you to buy the maximum amount for the highest price. This is their job, and why they are hired by their respective agencies.
But let me make this clear, not all insurance brokers are like this. Many want to help you get the exact coverage you need at an affordable price that won't evaporate in a fine-print, non-coverage clause that ends up paying out a laugh and a fart for all the money you put in. Mark Neilebeck, I'm happy to say, is one such agent.
When we bought our first house a year ago, we realized that we would need insurance. After shopping around, we talked to Mark. Rather than do the song-and-dance that the others had done, Mark sat down with us, and worked with us, step-by-step, in first determining what type of insurance we would need, why it was needed (surprisingly dissuading some options that turned out were completely unnecessary), and within our budget.
Sure, many people will say (especially those in the insurance racket), "That's what I/my person does!" That may be so. But honestly, how many people would invite their insurance broker to a birthday party, out to dinner, or to an intimate family event such as a Christening? I imagine that the number of agents takes a steep dive after that. Mark, though, is that kind of guy. He's the kind of agent that goes above and beyond just being a mere insurance broker and into the realm of being a friend who does give a rat's ass about your well-being.
But most importantly, Mr. Mark Neilebeck is the kind of agent that you can and will recommend to friends and family without hesitation.
